APS and the steps for industry 4.0

Having emerged a few years ago through public-private partnerships between the German government and company in the country, the topic of Industry 4.0 is emerging in the industrial sector. The concept encompasses a series of technologies, now widespread in other segments of the economy, interconnected to generate solutions for manufacturing. These technologies include automation, the Internet of Things, robots, simulation, augmented reality, big data, additive manufacturing (3D printing, for example), cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. All of this is embedded in the context of industry needs. With the help of these tools, we are moving towards digital manufacturing through digitization. In other words, not only are our work objects digital, but also the processes involving the entire production chain must be digitized. And this need is evident given that the processes and products of company are becoming increasingly complex. In this sense, SIEMENS has invested heavily in PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) for many years, providing solutions to enhance the robustness and agility of product development and production planning processes (this planning within the scope of the production system design, and not the execution planning, as in the case of APS systems). With Siemens' PLM solutions, companies reduce company costs, increase the quality of their products, better manage knowledge about their portfolio, and drastically reduce their time-to-market . Many company are now replacing entire prototyping factories with much more efficient digitized solutions.

But even so, it's not enough. Properly developing products and processes is pointless if they mes n't be implemented within the timeframe expected by the market and with the necessary efficiency, since they are absorbed by a mass production system. Understanding this need, Siemens acquired PREACTOR APS in 2013. BUT WHAT IS APS? A few decades ago, APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) systems emerged to assist in Production Planning and Scheduling with a finite capacity perspective, considering production resource constraints, as well as those related to the availability of production materials and tools, physical storage space, among other possible criteria. In addition to these constraints, each industry has a series of rules for scheduling its production orders, such as time limits between operations, transfers, perishability, breakages, and batch controls, among other aspects. PREACTOR is one of the pioneers of this trend and, created in 1993 in England, has become what it is today: a world leader in APS solutions. Implementing APS software brings stability to PPC and confidence in the mes , inventory reduction, and lead times mes It also enables optimizations in manufacturing efficiency through intelligent algorithms that can reduce, for example, setup times. The benefits are truly significant, and implementation is feasible in numerous industry segments. Thus, after developing the product quickly and correctly in PLM, you can validate through A+B testing whether it can (or cannot) be produced within the required market timeframe. If it can't, you can simulate different scenarios to better meet these needs and gain visibility into the results in advance. This is APS! VISION OF THE FUTURE Even so, despite living in the present, we need to think about the future. Therefore, in addition to offering a cutting-edge APS solution integrated with the most comprehensive PLM portfolio, NEO is forward-thinking and embraces Industry 4.0 technologies. We envision a future where production scheduling is autonomous, equipped with artificial intelligence and advanced optimization algorithms. This way, PPC can focus on activities with the highest possible added value, enabling more in-depth analysis of its scenarios, becoming more present in the production environment itself, and being activated only in situations requiring human intervention. Today, NEO is proud to have clients with the mes innovative mindset and willing to become early adopters of this shared vision, and the first steps of this innovation are being taken. By bringing together the best tools and the best people, we will make the future present as soon as possible! [noptin-form id=2822]