SNAPPS AP      Asset Planning

Introduction

Sustaining high operating rates while smoothly launching new products requires effective and precise production asset planning.  SNAPPS AP is designed to support advanced planning methodologies to rapidly develop and update precise operating plans.  

SNAPPS AP leverages SNAPPS probabilistic supply (plant) and demand models to capture the detailed plant operating capabilities and process constraints. This digital plant model facilitates precise capacity planning so that production plants can be continually operated close to their maximum capabilities. SNAPPS integrated discrete event simulation facilitates extensive scenario planning to determine the optimal supply decisions for new product introductions.  Multi-period operating plans can then be executed with confidence by operations.

SNAPPS AP leverages investments in ERP, SCM and / or MES to provide the latest plant conditions so that planners have more time to fully investigate the complete range of demand scenarios to develop the best tactical supply plans.

Most advanced planning and scheduling (APS) software packages on the market, whether part of enterprise resource planning or supply chain management suites, can only manage simple production processes. The inability to address key manufacturing constraints properly leads to unrealistic plans or ones that do not utilize the true capabilities of manufacturing operations.  Imprecise planning translates into inefficient operations.

Precision Modeling

SNAPPS PM, SherTrack’s demand-driven predictive manufacturing solution, is driven by customer orders and the probabilistic synthesis of orders expected in the execution time horizon.  SNAPPS AP applies this probabilistic approach to convert monthly demand forecasts into a very realistic stream of customer orders over the planning horizon. These detailed customer orders are used with the digital plant models in the discrete event simulator to determine the supply plans that maximize the business’s performance in terms of expected on-time-delivery (OTD), overall-equipment-effectiveness (OEE) and profitability.

SNAPPS AP

High Performance Planning

Asset planning generally uses discounted planning rates to account for product set ups, yield losses, resource constraints, etc.  To ensure feasibility, planned capacity must be less than actual plant capabilities. In contrast, SNAPPS AP maintains an accurate digital model of the production line(s), including transition times, product specific yield losses, inventory limitations and process constraints. This plant model is coupled with powerful optimization engines and integrated with discrete event simulation to create tactical supply plans that are informed by detailed operating considerations over the entire planning period.  SNAPPS AP provides high performance planning so that you can effectively run your facilities at their maximum sustainable levels all year long.

Profitable tailoring of products and services to individual customers or segments is enabled by combining information from sales, marketing, operations and supply chain to evaluate and select the most profitable options and policies for guiding day-to-day business execution. This allows sales and marketing to make more profitable sales proposals to increase both sales revenues and customer loyalty. The business can optimize the use of resources to support demand. By consolidating disparate and complex information into a digital model, firms can determine the appropriate offerings for increasing revenue, improve resources utilization, and maximize profits. SNAPPS is fully aligned and integrated with process improvement methodologies such as Lean/Six Sigma & Theory of Constraints.

Product Introductions

In complex manufacturing environments, the planning of product introductions can be challenging due to the need to consider detailed operating and resource constraints.  Material restrictions, shared resources, storage capacity and labor constraints must be considered, but can rarely be addressed by rough cut capacity planning.  Traditional planning policies use discounted “average” production rates that are observed in actual operations. 

However, with new products these discounted rates are usually informed guesses and the proposed plans have hidden barriers that render them infeasible in operations leading to significant improvisation by operations or, at worst, failed product launches. SNAPPS AP detailed digital plant models resolve the operating constraints to ensure successful product launches.  Because SNAPPS AP is updated directly from the ERP system, it can be invoked on demand to deal with rapidly changing demand projections, as market feedback to the new products is digested.  

SNAPPS Value

For process manufactures, SNAPPS enables agile demand-driven facilities capable of operating at the limits of their operational constraints.  SNAPPS improves OEE, total effective capacity and service levels with less working capital.

SNAPPS simulation provides powerful tools for evaluating a wide range of strategic & tactical policies, setting key performance targets and the ability to achieve these targets in operations.