A capacity planning system fundamentally provides a means to determine whether a
company's resources are loaded properly.
Overloads can result in confusion of priorities, and uncoordinated production leading
to poor service. Conversely, under loading promotes inefficiency, wastes valuable resources and when not
detected, denies other resources capacity which might be transferred.
Implementing TurboRoughCut requires the following steps:
- Define Resources
- Specify Capacity
- Establish an Order File
- Define Loading Profiles
- Regenerate Resource Loads
- Analyze Reports and Graphs
Step 1 - Define Resources
Step 2 - Specify Capacity
Each resource has one or more associated capacity statements. These capacity statements contain information on resource capability for a given period. The ability to have multiple capacity statements allows the system to vary the capacity for a resource over time.
There are three types of capacity defined in the system: calculated (theoretical), demonstrated, planned, and maximum capacity.
Calculated capacity is a theoretical number based on the number of people, machines, shifts, hours and a resource factor. Demonstrated capacity is the historical actual output of the resource. Planned capacity is the figure most often used in the system and generally is equal to the demonstrated capacity +/- any planned changes. Maximum capacity represents the maximum that can be produced without adding additional resources. These capacity values can be compared against actual resource loading to see overload and under load situations.
Step 3 - Establish an Order File
The information that "drives" the capacity planning process is the order file. The order file represents a plan of supply that the capacity planning system either validates or invalidates.
The order file may originate from a Master Production Schedule, a Sales & Operations Production Plan, a DRP Plan, or it could be the "little mrp" plan if TurboRoughCut was used to plan capacity at a component level. Each of these are examples of plans of supply that can be validated in the TurboRoughCut system.
TurboRoughCut can be interfaced to existing MRP, S&OP, and DRP systems to utilize data in existing manufacturing systems. Once configured, the user simply runs a "Download" function that transfers the order file into TurboRoughCut.
Step 4 - Define Loading Profiles
Once the order file has been established the load on each resource needs to be calculated. TurboRoughCut uses a resource loading profile (or profile) to determine exactly how much each resource is loaded during the production process.
A profile is similar to a routing...only less detailed. It is a "recipe" that specifies which resources are used and how much each resource is "used up" in the production process. It is a list of resources loaded by any given part # and the load resulting from each unit of production.
The TurboRoughCut profile maintenance screen is shown below. Planners can add profiles using this screen, import profiles from a spreadsheet, or run the Add a Profile Wizard for step-by-step instructions.
Step 5 -Regenerate
The Regeneration Process is the "number crunching" function. Each order is exploded though the appropriate profile to generate load. Resource capacities are summarized on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis for comparison to demonstrated, planned, or maximum capacity figures.
The output of the regeneration process is a load summary and load detail file. These files are the basis for reports and graphs.
Step 6 - Reports & Graphs
After the Regeneration has been processed, the planner can examine each resource for overloads and underloads. Bar graphs present the resource loading situation in a visual format. Planners can see overloads (red), underloads (yellow) and normal loads (green). Loads can be displayed in daily, weekly, or monthly time buckets.
The type of order that contributed to a load can be determined by looking at the pattern of the bars. Released orders are shown in solid bars; Firm-planned orders are shown in diagonal fill; Planned orders are shown in horizontal fill.
Once a bar is selected, the user can perform "drag and drop" leveling using the mouse. Double-clicking on a bar brings up the load window where orders can be modified.
Step 7 - Upload to Manufacturing System
Once the planner is satisfied with "the plan", it can optionally be uploaded back to an external system.
TurboRoughCut was designed from day one to be an offline system that can be linked to other systems. Most information systems professionals find our upload interface easy to work with and can write the system interface within a couple of days.
Conclusion
Using TurboRoughCut resources can be defined and managed to provide a higher level of output from existing personnel and machinery.
The software is the perfect add-on to an existing manufacturing system providing advanced planning capabilities.
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