Advanced Planning and Scheduling on the Manufacturer's Assembly Facilities - Case Study Example

This is a case of planning and scheduling for which primarily the concepts of application of Advanced Planning and Scheduling -- APS that is a decision support tool have to be used. T facility’s almost entire (98%) production is bought by a single customer who needs to be shipped on every production day. This calls for zero downtime as the items have to be ready for shipment on a daily basis. However, there is a constraint of floor space for storing incoming parts and materials. The P facility’s entire production facility is bought back by the same customer hence the scheduling timing of both the facilities i.e. Printer and its Toner has to be optimized.

In manufacturing, APS gives a methodology of concurrent synchronization of material and capacity with customer orders. With APS to be used is also Lead Time Management, which is the time between the start of a process and its completion. In planning parlance, the lead-time is usually an estimated time. As the plant’s finished product consists of Printer and Toner, though different categories of products, one item is the consumable product of the other. For the printer, the toner is the consumable item and as such a printer will be of no use until it is loaded with the Toner.

Hence the model of Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment -- CPFR will be useful which provides customer level visibility across the supply chain in order to attain the inventory reductions, revenue lift and cost reductions which remain the final objectives of collaborative initiatives. The solution meets limited materials and production planning against controlled and uncontrolled demand plans to meet the normal goals of profitability, productivity, competitive customer lead times, and backlog levels.

CPFR has the promise to deliver increased sales, organizational streamlining and alignment, administrative and operational efficiency, higher cash flow, and improved return-on-asset -- ROA performance.