Minimize waste

Philosophy Planning Avoids Waste

Four of the seven Muda are primarily caused by inadequate planning and scheduling.

Some writters about lean thinking recognize Human Talent as the eighth type of waste “Muda”. If we assume this fact, an APS system will help to minimize this kind of “Muda” by simplifying and shortening scheduling process. Schedulers will invest their talent in optimization resources and improvement company key performance indicators intead of collecting data and developing spreed sheets.

A Lean-Production Tool

A Lean-Production Tool Asprova has been developed in close cooperation with leading Japanese manufacturers of all kinds of industrial sectors. With advancing methods and techniques in lean-philosophy, Asprova has kept pace through continuous upgrading and refinement of its functionalities.

Basic functionalities include:

  • Improve On-Time Deliveries
  • Shorten Lead Times
  • Shorten Waiting Times
  • Optimize inventories of Semi-Finished Products and Finished Goods
  • Improve On-Time Deliveries
  • Shorten Lead Times
  • Shorten Waiting Times
  • Optimize inventories of Semi-Finished Products and Finished Goods

With the help of Asprova, it becomes possible to run various Kaizen (“change for the better”) activities and see the impact they are going to have on performance, including individual resource output and factory output.

Instead of capacity planning with Excel: Visualizing the Production Process’ Situation for Fast Spotting and Acting

Visual presentation of scheduling results in the form of bar graphs (Gantt-Chart and others) perfects your grasp of and on the entire production process, from customer order to finished-good delivery. In this way, you have the ability to view and control everything weeks and months into the future and in seconds-accuracy.

Issues such as inbound order delays become apparent in advance, making them avoidable in the first place through pre-emptive plan adjustments. Additional information that is related to the order can be pulled up swiftly.

Inventory Reduction: Inventory reduction of work-in-process inventory is achieved naturally when production lead times are shortened.

An APS tool can further reduce inventory levels of finished items and bulk-produced parts by performing pegging between sales orders and manufacturing orders.

In the case that an inventory shortage appears in the schedule, Asprova can automatically replenish the inventory by generating manufacturing orders according to the lot of sizing rules you specify, while continuing to minimize finished item and work-in-progress item inventory levels.

Inventory Levels Reveal Your Just-In-Time Standard

Reducing variable costs and fixed costs through just-in-time production

 

Long lead times and excessive inventory stocks signify underlying problems. Less inventory stocks and short lead times bring any such problems to the surface where they can be solved.

  • Turnover rate of 6 = material lead time of 2 months (reception until delivery)
  • Inventory turnover rate of 12 = 1 month “JIT Level”
  • Inventory turnover rate of 24 = 2 weeks “JIT Level”
  • Inventory turnover rate of 100 = 2.5 days “JIT Level”