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What does APS mean? Understand the acronym and the concept

APS stands for Advanced Planning System, in free translation Advanced Planning System. It is a software that aims to carry out the planning and programming of production flows, in an assertive and optimized way.

The function of an APS is to synchronize the schedule of production flows within the finite capacity under restrictions and allow the graphic visualization of the real occupations of resources.

The APS extracts information regarding sales volume, production orders, manufacturing routes, calendar availability and traces the best feasible manufacturing program, considering finite capacity, in a fully automatic way.

Why use an APS?

Many companies, even today, use spreadsheets to plan their production. The problem with this starts with the fact that these spreadsheets do not account for the complexity of a factory's production scenarios. Also, multiple versions of the same file on different computers further complicate the situation.

In a production reality, processes are diverse, restrictions are numerous and capacities are finite. Given this, it is impossible to achieve 100% customer service rate with Excel spreadsheets alone.

In this already complicated scenario, chaos ensues when unforeseen events occur in production.

Let's use an example: a machine will be down for 5 days for maintenance. How will this affect delivery times?

Predicting this is quite challenging for an expert, who only has static spreadsheets at hand and not integrated into the ERP. He will have to think about everything at the same time and as good as he is at what he does, he will have extreme difficulties getting it right.

What the APS solution brings is essential in view of the objective of solving the various production bottlenecks.

APS has the ability to handle multiple data simultaneously, and using advanced artificial intelligence, suggest actions and changes in complex scenarios.

Main Benefits of APS

Using an APS in the operation of a factory brings several benefits to the areas of planning, scheduling, production and commercial.

A central benefit of using PHC is being able to respond to complex day-to-day questions with agility. See some examples:

1. The customer asked to advance an agreed deadline, is it possible to do this?
2. If production on machine A stops for maintenance, can I move orders to machine B? Will this affect deadlines?
3. Can I be sure that all deadlines for a given period will be met? If not, what is the exact delay in negotiating with customers for a longer wait?

Reacting quickly and accurately to such questions is a competitive advantage that the company can acquire by implementing an APS.

See highlighted, the main benefits of APS in summary:

• Considerably improves the level of customer service.
• It synchronizes the production flow, reducing production lead times and inventory levels.
• It makes visible the factory occupation, resources and bottlenecks.
• It includes PPCP activities in the digital age.
• It allows specialists to focus only on exception handling and the search for continuous improvement.

Which APS to use?

This is a common question for many industrial or supply chain managers.

It is likely that reading this far, you have already understood that using an APS will raise the level of delivery of your factory as a whole and that this will only bring benefits. However, you may have no idea where to start looking.

It is important at this point that you take into account some factors when looking for an APS software:

• Adaptation of the solution to the needs of your factory.
• Level of integration that the APS will have with its ERP, so that everything is really based on the reality of the business.
• Performance of the solution presented in demonstrations in the face of real production bottlenecks.
• Success stories in companies in the same or a similar segment.

Important note: in addition to the right APS solution, look for a company that has the know-how to implement it, with years of experience in different sectors, this will make a lot of difference in the particularities of your business.

DELMIA Ortems: advanced planning and scheduling

DELMIA Ortems is the APS software belonging to the French company Dassault Systèmes. It is the only market solution that actually interacts with the planner in the event of any unforeseen event, clearly demonstrating the impact of events and considerably increasing the company's ability to react.