Mold manufacturing enterprise production scheduling needs and solutions

The production schedule of mold manufacturing companies has the following characteristics:

  1. Orders are usually single and there are rarely duplicate orders;
  2. There are many types of equipment and complex processes;
  3. The composition and processing technology of each product are different, and each order needs to define the BOM and process flow;
  4. The production process often changes, so the process model is uncertain, and there are often repeated mold trials and mold modifications.

There are several difficulties for mold manufacturing companies to introduce production scheduling systems:

  1. Model maintenance is difficult because the BOM structure and production process of each product are different. Each product needs to define the process flow, select equipment, and define production parameters. The model maintenance methods commonly used in APS systems are not applicable;
  2. There are many changes in the execution of production plans. All kinds of rework and mold repair happen at any time. Standard working hours are inaccurate and it is difficult to predict production time;
  3. Emergency orders can happen at any time;
  4. During the production process, the process flow will suddenly change, and processes will be temporarily added or deleted;
  5. The same set of molds is divided into multiple work requirements such as new product manufacturing, repair, maintenance, and material replenishment. Each process requires different processes and equipment.

We consider solutions from the following aspects:

  1. Convenience of model maintenance: You can pre-define standard processes, specify equipment and operation time, and simplify product modeling as much as possible. When modeling, you only need to combine standard processes, and there is no need to select equipment for each process. For example: automatic milling machine – large – 120; automatic milling machine – medium – 80; automatic milling machine – small – 60; CNC-60; CNC-50. For the above predefined process, the allowed equipment and time are defined in advance. When modeling, you only need to select the predefined process without reselecting the equipment. Processing time can be redefined.
  2. It is allowed to copy models between products, modify the copied model, add or delete processes and modify production time.
  3. The process flow can be modified at any time during the schedule. If there are additions or subtractions of processes, they can be immediately transferred to the schedule and the plan modified. For example, if a process is added to the model, the new task can be immediately inserted into the existing plan.
  4. Allows temporary tasks to be inserted into the schedule, such as rework.
  5. Order classification: Classification management of normal production orders, or temporary orders such as maintenance, modification and maintenance. Normal work orders are scheduled according to the processing technology model, and temporary work orders can individually define the required production processes and equipment, and specify the start date and equipment.
  6. Allow some components and processes to be outsourced.
  7. A mold includes multiple parts, and the processing progress of each part of an order is tracked.
  8. Problem of reporting work: Due to single-piece production, most mold companies will not import the MES system. The timeliness of reporting work is the key to the operation of the APS system. Using Planmate’s mobile reporting module, every time a processing task is completed on site, reporting is made in a timely manner. The operation is simple and convenient, so that the actual progress of the plan can be updated in time, and the planner can follow up the progress at any time.
  9. Traditional mold production management uses scheduling meetings. Planmate’s mobile planning report module allows various departments to understand the production plan and current progress at any time, saving a lot of meeting and communication time. Workshops can not only see the plans and progress of their own workshops, but also understand the production progress of related upstream and downstream workshops.

In summary, the difficulty in mold enterprise production scheduling lies not in the algorithm, but in convenient and flexible model maintenance, plan modification, and timely feedback of on-site data.