Our Supply Chain Management solution takes the current demand for a specified scheduling horizon, and in seconds, performs a full material and capacity explosion concurrently. The result: a load-to-capacity graph showing the total load of each work center. The load-to-capacity graph helps you identify the constraints - the most heavily loaded work center(s) - which are the weakest links in the manufacturing process. Scheduling starts at these work centers first to optimize them for company profitability. Our solution uses strategic placement of time buffers - where material arrives a bit earlier than needed - to maximize throughput, eliminate missing parts in assembly and obtain high on-time delivery. These time buffers protect against the effects of normal shop floor variation (“Murphy”). To maximize throughput, we place a time buffer in front of the constraint(s) - a “constraint buffer” - to ensure variability does not disrupt the flow of material to the constraint. A time buffer is then placed in front of assembly - an “assembly buffer” - to prevent other non-constraint parts from arriving at assembly after the constraint part. Finally, to prevent disruption of the assembly operations that would jeopardize on-time shipping performance, a time buffer is placed in front of shipping and is called a “shipping buffer”. With these time buffers in place, the entire manufacturing process is protected against shop floor disruptions. Our solution backward-schedules all orders based on customer due dates through the constraint: the constraint is finitely level-loaded. And it exploits the capacity of constraints to maximize throughput while maintaining customer due date promises.

Using knowledge of the process, the scheduler interactively saves setups, off loads to alternative work centers and applies overtime. The financial and the on-time delivery impact of each decision is immediately calculated to help the scheduler create the most profitable schedule possible. Since it is impossible to create rules that cover every scheduling scenario, a rules-based "black box" system will always deliver a sub-optimal schedule. SCM synchronizes material flow through the plant at the pace of the constraint, eliminating wandering bottlenecks. With time buffers in place protecting against shop floor variability, material is released at the correct time for it to arrive at the constraint, final assembly and shipping when it is needed. As the product mix increases, so does the computational effort, and if done incorrectly, speed and stability on the shop floor are not achieved. This is the most common reason manual implementations following this methodology achieve sub-par results. Our solution helps you generate a manufacturing plan that is resilient to variability and eliminates shop floor firefighting. And as a result, everyone trusts the accuracy of the schedule and the capability of management.