240 232 8550

Tailor-made Scheduling Logic

The best scheduling result requires more than simple forward or backward scheduling. Requirements for production optimization are varied and complex: bottleneck processes, load leveling, sequence optimization, order prioritization, the optimal ratio of make-to-order to make-to-stock production, are some of the many variables which need to be considered when scheduling production.

The best possible schedule for your factory can only be realized through a scheduling logic that is tailored to your specific circumstances. Asprova provides customizable scheduling parameters and rules for complete and highly detailed mapping of every single production facility and resource.

Order Priorities

Asprova lets you tell it how to schedule orders—you can set priorities for individual orders, or automatically consider priority according to due date, technical parameters, customer, or a combination of these and countless other factors.

Asprova determines how to best utilize resources according to the parameters you give it. The schedule Asprova creates will consider load leveling, minimizing setup and/or wait times, minimizing order delays, reducing inventory, and many other factors according to your business model.

  • It is impossible to optimally schedule a complex factory through purely mathematical optimization. 
  • In order to obtain the best scheduling results possible, Asprova uses completely customized scheduling logic that you can run through step-by-step.
  • The scheduling logic is created during implementation, and is always easily accessible and configurable down the line, when fine-tuning is required or business targets change.
  • After implementation, a new scheduling run can be completed with the press of a button. Asprova's powerful scheduling logic is brought to bear, and a new optimized schedule for the next shift, week, month, or year is at your fingertips in minutes or even seconds.
  • The following is an example of several successive planning steps, that would commence with the press of a button:
    1. Import production feedback and update the schedule.
    2. Import new orders and update the schedule.
    3. Schedule all production orders forward (to minimize capacity).
    4. In the case of delay, split order quantities across alternative resources (where applicable).
    5. If, during forward scheduling, an order is completed more than three days early, initiate backward scheduling from the due date for that order.
    6. Compress other orders that are excluded from backward scheduling (to fully utilize resource capacity).
    7. Schedule upstream processes backwards with regard to the bottleneck process (to avoid push-production and shorten lead time).
    8. Optimize the order sequence on bottleneck resource(s), in order to reduce changeover times (and boost production capacity thereon).
    9. Level out resource load before bottleneck process(es).

When specified, Asprova will distribute processes evenly across all available or key resources, in order to level out overall resource load.

  • In addition to the resource leveling and optimization capabilities mentioned previously, Asprova can also perform bottleneck scheduling—consisting of the combined use of the pull and push principle.
  • The production tact is determined by the bottleneck process; upstream and downstream processes are scheduled around it.
  • This leads to minimized waiting times before and after bottleneck processes and thus also an overall reduction of total lead times.

The optimization logic feature of Asprova lets you optimize the order sequence within set periods of time according to:

  • Setup time minimization
  • Resource load leveling

Examples of changeover time optimization:

  • Painting and coating systems: automatically sequence from light to increasingly dark colors
  • Sheet metal manufacturing: sequence from thin to increasingly thicker sheets
  • Heat treatment: sequence from high to low temperatures

Examples of a set optimization time period (merge period):

  • Painting and coating systems: Orders within a time period of four hours are grouped and the sequence within each group goes from light to dark product color.
  • Heat treatment: Orders are grouped within three-day blocks, and within each block, the sequence is arranged from high to low process temperature.
Brochure Production Planning Software
Download now

Please click on the image of the brochure to download it as a PDF file, or click on the download button below.

Download (1,57 MB)