In the world of manufacturing, one of the most fundamental problems is that of planning and controlling the complexities in each job that manufacturing consists of. Each job consists of a series of operations using limited resources, which adds complexity for businesses. That being said, EFACS E/8 has a solution for this: the Capacity Planning Workbench. This streamlines manufacturing scheduling by consolidating crucial tools and data into a single application. Within this workbench, the user can perform what-if scenario-based scheduling by leveraging multiple scheduling data sources, which allows easy assessment of the impact of various factors on production plans. This allows the user to explore multiple scheduling scenarios and to make informed decisions based on real-time data.
The user can seamlessly visualise each scenario by utilising intuitive Gantt charts, and can understand resource utilisation and availability using the utilisation view. Using data query views, the user can extract any and all relevant information. These versatile views allow analysis and interpretation of scheduling data from multiple angles.
Using the workbench, users can fine-tune scheduling by adjusting resource allocations, manipulating overtime and downtime, and managing manual operation overrides independently for each scenario.
The scheduling process itself is organised into distinct planning windows, including history, published, planning, and draft. When satisfied with this plan, the user can publish it to commit to the schedule, and the planning window will automatically advance according to the specified time frame.
Scenarios can be evaluated effectively with Key Performance Indicators (KPI). These customisable keys can be assigned unique scores to different scenarios based on specific metrics. This enables quick and accurate comparisons, identifying the best scheduling solution for the organisation’s needs.
The Capacity Planning Workbench consists of various benefits for businesses, particularly those in the manufacturing sector. User-friendly dashboards, what-if scenario-based scheduling, informed decision-making based on real data, and the evaluation of scenarios using customisable KPI’s are just a few of the Capacity Planning Workbench’s benefits.