7 myths about APS

Something that catches the attention of the academic and professional public is the lack of bibliography that specifically discusses the subject of APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling). Basically, what is found on the internet is material with a commercial bias (a bias we strive to avoid in content like this on our blog, but anyway, here we are). The natural consequence of this is the limited knowledge of the general public on the subject, who end up learning about APS in two basic ways: in practice, actually using and/or implementing such a solution in their work with the help of a specialist consultancy; or by word of mouth, talking to people in the first group or even attending a lecture at some event. And that's how myths arise. Let's look at some of them:1. With APS, I will stop delaying my orders and generating stockouts.Contrary to the joke that teaches us to put 50 clowns in a taxi, a factory does not have infinite capacity. Possibly the great trick of APS is really working with finite capacity, that is, considering the limits and constraints of a production system to be able to assess what will be possible to produce within the desired deadlines or not. At the mestime, APS will seek to do this in an optimized within the chosen heuristics, which really generates more efficiency and allows doing more with the mes(or with less). However, this last advantage makes some people think that delays will simply disappear, as well as stockouts for those who produce for stock. In some cases, there is clearly a lack of capacity and, mesoptimizing the factory schedule, it mesnot be enough to meet demand. In these cases, APS will end up being useful to simulate capacity increments in specific sectors and assist in Capacity Planning so that, in the medium/long term, delays and stockouts are actually eliminated.2. APS will automatically schedule my factory every time there is an unforeseen event in my production throughout the day.The programming process within APS software is constantly improving, starting from a practical and effective process for PPC Product Control Planning) to achieve agility and good results from the very beginning of its use, and gradually evolving with automations that are only captured through continuous use of the solution. Ultimately, we can reach the point of generating a completely autonomous schedule that does not depend on human intervention. However, this is a long road and, messo, it is a discreet process with limitations. In most cases, the APS user performs the programming once or twice a day, and only when there is a major unforeseen event in the factory, such as a machine breakdown or a parachute order. It is also important that constant minute-by-minute reprogramming does not occur; otherwise, the schedule becomes, as we call it, very "nervous," changing sequence all the time. In this sense, it is good to have a frozen programming horizon and try to avoid continuous changes to mes. In the end, if there is any specific short-term problem on the factory floor, the factory itself will be responsible for resolving it.3. APS only works if we have 100% of the engineering records updated and correct.This observation is possibly the most recurring and the one that will never be true. No industry will always have 100% of its records correct and updated (here we are talking about engineering records such as manufacturing routings with process times and resource alternatives, as well as product structures). As a factory is also constantly changing, even mesexcellent study can be outdated after only 3 mes. To minimize the impacts of these imperfections intrinsic to reality, the ideal is to control the adherence to the schedule, that is, how much of what is being scheduled is being executed. If this adherence is low, the main reasons may be poorly designed scheduling rules, resistance on the factory floor to follow the schedule due to power struggles, inconsistent production performance indicators, inefficiencies, or times and resource groups with registration problems. By isolating the other reasons, it's possible to identify where your records might have the most problems and create task forces to resolve them. Finally, the use of APS is also very effective in identifying problems because it is very visual. If, for example, a production time is much higher than it should be, the Gantt chart itself will immediately indicate the problem, showing one operation exceeding the others.

If you depend on all the registrations before starting, you probably won't ever start.4. APS will help me analyze my historical efficiency (OEE) and diagnose what problems I have in production.The word "scheduling" already implies that it refers to the future. An APS system is focused on scheduling orders/demand in the future period. That is, in this process, the past is not the protagonist. Of course, it can help, especially the short-term past. NEO uses short-term shop floor data to generate views of scheduling adherence (KPI discussed in the previous item), which is extremely useful. However, one cannot expect that APS will store a history of years and provide detailed analyses of this history. Technically, it is entirely possible, but it is already a different scope of solution, much more focused on Production Control and MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems).solutionMESin use. system MES is important for having a real-time (or as up-to-date as possible) overview of production; however, as in myth 2, scheduling is usually done once or twice a day. That is, if the key user schedules at 8 AM and 1 PM, what is really necessary is that the scenario of what has been produced up to that moment is updated, not that everything is updated at all times. Therefore, entries at specific times for each shift, or entries by movement units (pallet, reel, etc.) are already sufficient for good, detailed scheduling in APS.6. APS is not useful for automotive assembly lines.An automotive assembly line does not truly fit the traditional use of APS, but there are advantages that can be very positive with its use. There will not be a very complex synchronization between resources and operations caused by cross-flows in production that occur in other segments, but there are critical material synchronization problems. And the APS performs this synchronization and helps ensure that all processes adjacent to the assembly lines meet its needs in the best possible way, identifying when inputs are needed in each line operation, as well as when changes to the line are essential due to labor constraints, which can cause line stoppages and are handled in the APS. Ultimately, due to the criticality of keeping the "factory drum" always efficient, the use of APS focused on material synchronization and constraint control is very useful.

[Caption: Automotive line]7. I don't need APS because we implement the Lean Manufacturing System here.Incredibly, concepts that should synergistically complement each other are often confused and understood as conflicting. Besides the Lean Manufacturing System being more than a methodology, but a philosophy, mescan greatly collaborate with APS and vice versa. The example in myth 6 already shows us this, inserting APS into an environment that traditionally breathes Lean. At the mestime, the adherence analyses we saw in myth 3 can be raw material for organizing a Kaizenblitz; Quick Tool Change (QTC) can constantly update the setup times used by APS, and so on. messame time, Lean, on its own, cannot handle the increasingly frequent and extremely dynamic bottlenecks in production environments where the volume of SKUs and product diversification is rapidly increasing, causing one sector to become overloaded and another idle, depending on the product mix. This dynamism demands a quick and intelligent response that only an expert system can provide, with heuristics and simulation capabilities capable of adapting to each situation and moment in the factories. That's APS. Of course, these are just some of the myths (yes, there are many more!) and those who "believe" in them don't always defend them tooth and nail. But we notice, implicitly or explicitly, that these are questions that haunt the minds of those who study or practice APS. Reflection is worthwhile to understand what not to expect and what not to fear from it. Have you heard any other myths?! Share with us here! [noptin-form id=2822]