APS automatic production scheduling system-user FAQs and answers

  1. Which companies need to import APS?

Answer: Any enterprise that has difficulty in preparing production plans can start to consider importing the APS system. Generally speaking, there are many varieties, small batches, many equipments, and many processes, which makes planning difficult. Or companies with unstable materials, frequent changes in orders, and frequent modifications to plans can consider importing APS to improve production scheduling.

  1. Is APS only suitable for companies with stable orders?

Answer: Enterprises with unstable orders and frequent changes in demand need to frequently modify their work plans. It is very difficult to manually modify the plan. In the case of multiple processes, it will cause conflicts and chaos. The rescheduling capability of APS can help users quickly modify plans. Therefore, the more frequently a company needs to revise its plan, the more it needs the help of APS.

When evaluating the APS system, users should pay special attention to the system’s abnormal adjustments and plan rescheduling functions to determine whether the system can meet needs. Graphical display and operation, convenient plan modification and analysis, and quick rearrangement are all necessary functions.

  1. Can the material be imported into APS if the material condition is unstable?

Answer: APS schedules according to material constraints, including in-stock and in-transit inventory, which is the delivery plan given by the supplier. If the inventory in transit is uncertain and the supplier cannot give a clear delivery plan, the order can be temporarily pushed back during scheduling.

Some customers may feel that our company’s material conditions are unstable and not suitable for importing APS. Our concept is: APS can help customers improve material supply. Many problems with suppliers are caused by uncertain demand dates for materials provided by the company, or frequent changes in demand dates. Suppliers must also organize production and transportation according to the order date. If the demand date given is uncertain and changes frequently, the supplier will naturally not be able to deliver on time.

APS can formulate a more accurate long-term work plan (1-6 months), generate material requirements (MRP) based on the long-term plan, and the demand date will not change much. With the help of tracking and supervision by purchasing personnel, material supply can be greatly improved. improve.

  1. If I import APS, what data needs to be exchanged with ERP?

answer:

The data APS needs to read from ERP includes:

  • Material number, BOM
  • customer order
  • Production work order
  • Inventory: materials, semi-finished products, and finished products. Included in inventory, IQC. Many in-transit inventories are not managed by ERP and can be imported from external files.
  • Work order material shortage list or issued material list: Materials that have been issued by the work order, or work order material shortage list.

Data that APS can return to ERP:

  • The start date of the work order
  • Production line production plan. Some ERPs do not include this part, so there is no need to return
  • Some APS can provide functions such as work order splitting and merging reports, demand date adjustment, etc., which are customized parts.

 

  1. What does the integration and data exchange between APS and MES include?

answer:

  • The data that MES needs to obtain from APS: the work plan of the production line, including equipment, processes, work orders, product material numbers, planned start time, planned end time, planned production quantity, etc.
  • The data APS needs to obtain from MES: actual production progress, mainly including: equipment, work orders, product material numbers, actual completed quantities, start and end times

It should be noted that there are more MES sites than APS devices, and there is no one-to-one correspondence. It is necessary to analyze which site of MES is the most reasonable to collect data from. PlanMateAPS establishes a comparison relationship with MES by defining a matching table.

  1. Can companies without MES import APS?

Answer: An important factor in the successful introduction of APS is the ability to accurately and timely obtain the actual production progress of the production line. APS needs to adjust the plan based on the actual progress. For enterprises that have imported MES systems, APS can obtain this data from MES.

But MES is not the only way to obtain real-time production progress. Importing MES is a big project, and you don’t necessarily have to wait for MES to be imported before starting to implement APS. The same effect can be achieved by:

  • Production progress report: Production reports will be entered during shift changes, and APS can obtain the progress by reading the report data. The disadvantage of this method is that report entry may not be timely, affecting the collection of progress data.
  • On-site reporting software: You can choose some simple reporting systems to implement on-site reporting. For example, PlanMateAPS supports the mobile phone reporting RateFactory. Operators can report work on their mobile phones, or they can install a PAD next to the machine production line to operate, similar to a simplified MES. RateFactory can display and query plans, report work when work orders are started, completed, and when shifts change, and abnormal equipment shutdowns can also be reported immediately.

Some industries do not have complex test data and just need to know the on-site progress. Mobile reporting is a good choice. Mobile reporting also requires some investment, but it is much smaller than the MES system and is very simple to implement.

  1. If our company wants to import APS, how to evaluate it?

Answer: If you have enough time and personnel arrangements, you can try the software. The APS system has a certain complexity and takes several days to learn.

If you don’t have the time and energy to try it out independently, we recommend implementing a sample project. The example project means that the user collects the model data (Excel) and orders of his own factory, lists the main scheduling requirements, and then asks the APS manufacturer to use the factory data to make a production scheduling demonstration. From this, we can see the advantages of the scheduling system. Function, ease of operation, and consistency with the factory’s needs.

Users should choose several APS manufacturers and provide the same test data to compare the functions of each system.

  1. What is the cycle and cost of introducing the APS system?

Answer: The introduction time of most APS systems is 2-6 months, depending on the complexity of the process. The cost varies greatly depending on customer needs, and 200,000-1 million is within the normal range.

  1. What preparations are needed to import APS?

Answer: You need to prepare the following information before importing APS

  • Production process model data (for details, please refer to another article by the author of this article? Basic knowledge of APS system-process model). The model mainly includes production line equipment, product BOM, product technology, auxiliary resources, etc.
  • Scheduling requirements: Detailed description of the enterprise’s scheduling requirements
  • Data interface: ERP, MES and other system interfaces. There are no technical difficulties in this part, and it can be implemented by any APS manufacturer.

 

  1. What are the key factors for successful APS import?

Answer: First of all, you should choose correctly. If you choose a wrong product with incomplete functions and difficult operation, then it is impossible to succeed. We assume that there is no problem with the APS system and the following factors are the key to successful import:

  • Maintenance of model data: must be timely and accurate. APS schedules according to the model, and model errors directly lead to planning errors.
  • Execution of the plan: The production line must be executed according to the plan and cannot change the plan at will. If the plan is unreasonable, the PMC must be notified to adjust it and cannot be adjusted on its own. Otherwise, there will soon be discrepancies between the plan and the actual situation, and subsequent schedules will not be able to continue.
  • Real-time progress feedback: Even users who have imported the MES system may have inaccurate production progress. Repairs, off-line passes, quality abnormalities, etc. will all cause abnormal progress data. PMC will check with the workshop over the phone for work orders that appear to be abnormal, and intervene manually.