Scheduling Porcelain Production

Fine tune your production with optimal order sequencing

The long and complex porcelain production process consists of numerous production steps: mixing, pressing, forming, glazing, decorating, and so on, several of which are interrupted by a firing process. A porcelain manufacturer has the challenge of optimally synchronizing made-to-order with batch processes—further complicated by having different raw materials, glaze compositions, and item forms. Additionally, these variables combined have many varied and adjustable firing process requirements.

  • Holistic process synchronization
  • Minimized lead times and inventory stocks
  • Flawless delivery reliability
  • Significantly less time spent on planning and scheduling

Challenges

  • Processes need to be scheduled according to raw material availability, and alternate routings based on input material at different steps in the process need to be considered.
  • Wait times between processes must be tracked, and the schedule needs to minimize buildup of work-in-process inventory.
  • Asprova can specially consider furnace requirements, batching orders together wherever possible, and optimizing kiln sequences to account for different settings as well as startup/cooldown times and other requirements.
  • With Asprova, orders can be batched automatically by color or other constraint within any specified time window—using resources more efficiently while still maintaining on-time delivery. 

With Asprova APS

  • Shorter delivery times
  • Holistic process synchronization through optimal sequential scheduling
  • Drastically shortened lead times through bottleneck-oriented planning
  • Massive reduction in intermediate parts
  • Increased resource efficiency
  • Improved transparency in factory and order status
  • Greater flexibility in case of order changes, rush orders, or machine failure
  • Drastic reduction in time and effort spent on scheduling