This continues a weekly series on the concept of a Superplant. Every Monday will be a new entry in this ongoing series. This is week three.

Here are our other entries: Week 1 Week 2

Vertically integrated companies tend to be a good fit for multi-plant planning software. Multi-Plant Planning is the first, and some would say the most critical, component of the Superplant process. As a refresher, Multi-Plant Planning models and makes decisions based off schedule production between internal production locations produce the same product. Companies that have components and subcomponents of final finished goods that are moved between factories have a multi-plant planning requirement. Many of these stock transfers of intermediate product are between facilities owned by the same company.

In the image below, we can see the difference Multi-Plant Planning can make to the flow of materials (routings).

The more resources a company has, the greater likelihood it has of benefitting from the multi-plant planning functionality and the Superplant methodology by extension.

Taking the “business as usual” approach to managing factories is no longer a stable way to run a company. Change is necessary, and – if history is any indicator – the manufacturing industry is not exempt from the need to examine new approaches to big problems. Software capable of handling multi-plant scheduling like PlanetTogether APS can transform a company and strengthen workers to succeed. Companies can output more goods because all workspaces are working together as a cohesive unit. With multi-plant planning functionality in place, the business is better prepared to manage requirements and provide support to areas that need help. An example of a multi-plant planning scenario features a routing, the path through operations that materials and goods follow, which should lead through sites to produce finished goods. 

The scenario below depicts a pair of duplicate factories which produce the same product. In cases of high production rates, operations on resources B and E are available to be “shared.” So another routing is produced.

In the image above, we can visualize how a duplicate factory with extra routing might work. Multi-Plant Planning rewards designs with more routings. Plant 1 reports to Resource D in Plant 2 (Routing 1). Another routing features Plant 2 reporting on the capacity of Resource E (Routing 2). Plant 2 is connected to resources C and F through Routing 3. 

Routing 4, in the image above, sends materials through a Subcontractor on Resource E. Now Plant 2 has the option to report manufacturing capacity to the subcontractor. A rigid, static, plan does not enable this flexibility. The more options that are available to you the less chance there is of a malfunctioning machine or other unforeseen issues slowing down company progress.

Come back next Monday for another entry in this ongoing series.