Four Strategies to Optimize Production Schedules in Real Time

Market demand can seemingly shift overnight, and mid-tier manufacturers—who often supply products, parts and components to multiple industries—need to respond quickly to those shifts. That is why the ability to optimize production schedules in real time is more critical than ever. In fact, more than half of manufacturers tell us that having short-notice production capabilities is the value-added service their customers valued most.

Let’s look at four strategies that manufacturers can adopt to optimize production schedules in real time to enable short-notice production and improve overall performance.

1. Provide Visibility into Real-Time Data and Metrics
   A key factor in production agility is having data and metrics available in real time across each area of the business. Shared, real-time access to information empowers operators, technicians, schedulers, and managers to form quick huddles when necessary so everyone affected sees relevant information and can decide what to do next together. Because employees are working with the same version of the truth, they become comfortable with in-the-moment decision-making. This serves to streamline the scheduling process, make setups more efficient, and maximize production capacity while also helping to reduce unplanned interruptions and the production of non-conforming product.
   Another aspect of visibility is automating the capture of operations data from production machines, inspection equipment, and tooling, which makes it possible to process and display metrics on cycle time, production counts, scrap reporting, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
   Oversight can be extended further by integrating automatically-captured equipment measurements with statistical process control (SPC) software to predict equipment and quality issues before a failure arises. This use of automated SPC avoids gaps and outright mistakes in the source data and helps to prevent skewed analysis. Additionally, the analytic software can alert key personnel when a parameter starts to trend out of control, enabling proactive adjustments and maintenance to assure product quality with minimal disruption to production.
2. Implement Finite Capacity Planning
   If a manufacturer’s business model involves high-volume, repetitive production or has a very short manufacturing cycle time (i.e. minutes to hours), scheduling can be done with unlimited capacity presumptions. This type of base logic can be executed with classic materials requirements planning (MRP), production requirements planning (PRP) calculations, or Kanban visual/virtual “card” methods.
   However, in high-mix/low-volume situations or where process equipment has very specialized capabilities, the flow of product through these processes needs to be planned more precisely. This must be done to address the availability of specialized materials and variable throughput based on the number and complexity of the tasks to be performed at each operation. Optimizing the mix of materials by machine to reach optimal output levels in these scenarios requires finite scheduling applications and workflows.Modeling finite (real) capacity constraints is the foundation to optimize production schedules and performance across the shop floor, as it takes into account every quantifiable source of variation in production efficiency. These factors typically include:

• required training levels
• machine health and OEE levels
• stability and reliability of work order instructions and operations for production machinery
• the calibration requirements of tools to reach optimal levels
• fine-tuning of algorithms for the specific output goal of a given production run
  By taking into account all of these considerations, machinery will require less retooling for specific product runs. This, in turn, minimizes setups and teardowns, enabling more work to get done on the production floor in less time.
  Finite planning and scheduling enable operations planners to use what-if scenarios to fit shifting demands into every bit of processing time available over the following days and weeks to maximize output while following validated processes. This approach can provide useful insights into what “available to promise” and “capable to promise” commitments manufacturers can keep, along with capacity for additional business.
  If the scheduling software has the sophistication and efficiency to optimize production schedules and processes in real time, manufacturers may apply finite capacity constraints for some of the production floor and then utilize classic flexible capacity methods for the rest. This hybrid approach can enable the best of both approaches, depending on the nature of the work flow through different parts of the plant.

3. Automate Equipment Maintenance
   Having automated machine and tooling maintenance schedules within scheduling calculations and visual screen cues enables production scheduling specialists to avoid the downtime associated with waiting for the current status or even the actual time for maintenance to be performed. Additionally, planners and managers can quickly adjust work order priorities as they orchestrate the use of alternative equipment or carefully postpone setup work.
   Manufacturers also can take a cue from company that has streamlined maintenance activities by using machine and tooling maintenance schedules based upon actual run times and cycle counts versus arbitrary standard day counts. The manufacturer piloted machine monitoring in stages, starting with a couple of work centers in one plant with smart sensors on older machines and direct connections to controllers on newer ones.
   As the team gained experience analyzing real-time metrics and dashboards, they refined their focus to the few key measurements that reliably indicate equipment health. This has helped prevent unexpected disruptions. It also saves time and money by eliminating unnecessary maintenance work for equipment that proves to be more durable and reliable than expected.
4. Maintain Production History Records
   Last, given the intense focus on consumer safety and regulatory compliance in many industries, manufacturers may need to establish production history records (PHRs) in databases that allow rapid recall and analysis of past production activities. Attempting to capture this information manually would be not only be cost-prohibitive; it would also introduce the risk of errors.
   Therefore, manufacturers will want to invest in integrating smart machines, sensors, and other Internet of Things (IoT) technology with their software for managing PHRs. Key benefits include the ability to view instant feedback alongside historical process detail, provide robust product traceability, achieve 100% accurate inventory tracking, and engage mistake-proofing logic in the setup of production jobs.
   With modern, affordable operations technology to streamline the electronic capture of critical information needed for smart real-time scheduling, production monitoring, maintenance, and quality measurement, manufacturers have the potential to increase their utilization of production assets and resources on a consistent basis. And that translates into the ability to deliver on the predictable short-notice production capabilities key to attracting, retaining and growing customers in today’s dynamic manufacturing market.