Shop Floor Control Production Software Benefits

Project and operations managers are running into the same issues - high inventory cost, production inefficiency, and a substantial amount of waste within their manufacturing process. Even with attributes such as a quality ERP or MRP system, production still may come up short, and it is costing you a fortune. With this recurring issue, plant managers are looking at shop floor control as viable option. As the common misconception of ERP alone being enough for production is fading, APS has came in and filled in the gaps where ERP lacks. With the diverse features that are associated with shop floor control, there are various benefits that are associated with it as well.

Benefits of Shop Floor Control Production Software

The benefits of shop floor control production software includes the following:

• ERP Improvement - With a correct and adequate APS system, you can integrate shop floor control software with ease to your ERP or MRP system. This will increase the efficiency of your ERP system and enable the operation to take a much more specific approach. With advanced planning and scheduling software, you are able to manage real time individual orders and generate achievable production scheduling while taking into account shop floor constraints.
• “What If” Analysis - Locate the best production scheduling and method through utilization of “what-if” scenarios. “What-if” scenarios are crucial in terms of allowing you to visualize your production scheduling before actually implementing the scheduling. This feature enables you to enter variables into production, ultimately allowing you to choose the most advantageous production scheduling method.
• Visibility Enhancement - Visibility is key within your supply chain. Efficient APS software enables you to display need-to-know information in a simple yet effective manner that is easy to understand. This is conducted through color coding, setting alerts, or utilizing dialog boxes that will increase knowledge among users of the manufacturing operation.

A form of shop floor control production software includes PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software. APS can easily boost efficiency and reduce waste within your manufacturing operation, ultimately boosting profitability and cutting cost.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software has become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations due to customer demand for increased product mix and fast delivery combined with downward cost pressures. APS can be quickly integrated with a ERP/MRP software to fill gaps where these system lack planning and scheduling flexibility and accuracy. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans.

• Create optimized schedules balancing production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

Implementation of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency, taking advantage of the operational data you already have in your ERP.

Capacity Planning with PlanetTogether APS: Smarter Shop Floor Control

See how PlanetTogether APS takes capacity planning beyond ERP to drive smarter shop floor control. In this capacity planning video, you’ll see how APS uses real-time data from your ERP/MRP system to model machine and labor capacity, highlight bottlenecks, and generate realistic production schedules that consider shop floor constraints. It’s an ideal next step if you’re looking to reduce inventory, cut waste, and improve schedule reliability by moving beyond spreadsheets and basic ERP planning.

 

ERP Tracks the Work—APS Controls the Shop Floor

In this article, you’ve seen the limits of relying on ERP or MRP alone. Even with a quality ERP system, project and operations managers still face high inventory costs, production inefficiencies, and significant waste. That’s why more plant managers are turning to shop floor control powered by Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) to fill the gaps where ERP falls short.

You’ve also seen how APS-based shop floor control improves your operation:

• ERP improvement by managing real-time individual orders and generating achievable schedules that respect shop floor constraints
• What-if analysis to test alternate production methods and choose the most advantageous schedule
• Visibility enhancement so planners and supervisors can quickly see priorities, alerts, and bottlenecks instead of digging through spreadsheets Our white paper, “Why ERP Alone Is Not the Answer,” explains exactly why ERP systems were never designed to handle detailed, constraint-based scheduling—and how adding APS on top of ERP gives you the shop floor control you actually need.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Turn ERP/MRP data (orders, routings, BOMs, capacities) into realistic, optimized production schedules
• Use APS to balance production efficiency and delivery performance, maximizing output on bottleneck resources while meeting customer due dates
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories and avoid costly expediting
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity, so operations, planning, and leadership see the same picture
• Enable scenario-based, data-driven decision making instead of relying on tribal knowledge and reactive firefighting

If you’re ready to move from “ERP plus spreadsheets” to true shop floor control with APS, this white paper is your next step.