Project of the month


"Replacing Excel as the production planning tool "


Initial situation

  • An international manufacturer of retail environments employs a variety of Excel spreadsheets to plan and control the order processing and production
  • A continuous flow of information from order processing through engineering and work preparation to order execution and on-site installation is not available.
  • The usage of planning and control functions within the existing ERP system is very limited
  • No transparency to order backlog, production progress and key production data is available

Improvements achieved in this project

  • Eliminated the need for staff and work center related Excel spreadsheets for planning and controlling of production orders.
  • Enabled high transparency of production progress, online and in real time
  • Plan, manage, and control production orders are now based on actual process data instead of relying on gut feelings of staff members

Approach

  • Preparation of a current state analysis of order processing processes from receipt of order to delivery.
  • Development of an optimized continuous order processing process with emphasis on:
  • Implementation of central production planning and scheduling position with the following responsibilities:
  • Planning and management of order processing from engineering to installation.
  • Coordination with area supervisors to prevent impending delays
  • Systematic production capacity planning utilizing ERP-system functionality
  • Leading the daily/weekly planning meeting
  • Preparation of Make-or-Buy decisions
  • Determination of key performance indicators for internal supplier reliability, production cost and productivity.
  • Analysis, monitoring and ongoing updating of key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Extension of ERP-system modules
  • Implementation of a planning cockpit overviewing all production orders, displaying the processes involved and the specific processing states.
  • Implementation of a resource planning module for engineering, work preparation and production
  • Production control station with real time production progress data
  • Automatic generation and publication of key performance indicators utilizing the ERP-system
  • Provide support and assistance from analysis, conceptualization to job site implementation.
  • Audit the new order processing processes once implemented.