For process manufacturers, staying ahead of the competition is paramount. Think of it as a high-stakes race, where companies are competing for the lead position with customers in various vertical end markets.

In this analogy, a production scheduling model is like a high-performance race car designed for navigating the inevitable twists and turns of supply and demand disruptions. The schedule is the lifeblood of successful supply chain and manufacturing operations. It acts as the critical link between fulfilling customer expectations and ensuring the smooth orchestration of internal operations and execution processes. When a customer places an order, the promised delivery date often hinges on the precision of the production schedule.

Just like a finely tuned race car is key for a driver to achieve victory, a scheduling model that gets regularly calibrated is critical.

The Need for Speed: Why Calibration Matters

Imagine a race car with a misaligned steering wheel, worn-out tires, and an engine in need of a tune up. The driver, no matter how skilled, would face an uphill battle trying to control the car and lose precious time on the racetrack.

Similarly in manufacturing, master manufacturing data includes essential inputs that are considered in a scheduling model, including things like assumed processing times for different materials in different equipment, equipment setup times, equipment cleanout times, production yields, and grade-to-grade transition times.

The problem arises when this data, which is typically meticulously gathered and scrubbed during the scheduling model’s implementation, changes over time. When new efficiencies (or inefficiencies) emerge, the reality on the shop floor begins to diverge from the static assumptions employed in the scheduling model.

For example, trial runs of a new material being manufactured for the first time may take a very long time. This requires new manufacturing master data to get created. As the material is produced more regularly and as team members become more proficient in making it, it likely takes less and less time to produce it. If there is employee turnover in manufacturing and new colleagues need to become trained and proficient, overall setup, processing and cleanout times may become longer. In both cases, the manufacturing master data should get updated to reflect the latest capabilities and realities. If the master data is not updated, the scheduling model becomes gradually less accurate over time and this phenomenon can compound when you consider the vast amount of master manufacturing data ingested by a scheduling model.

The Domino Effect: How Inaccurate Schedules Impacts the Business

The consequences of a non-calibrated scheduling model, much like a neglected race car, can result in a series of problems.

• Missed deadlines and customer dissatisfaction: Sales and commercial teams may find themselves making promises to customers they can’t keep, leading to disappointment, lost business opportunities, increased churn and a tarnished reputation.
• Frustration and Inefficiency: Manufacturing teams tasked with achieving unrealistic production targets will often feel frustrated and demoralized.
• Lower profit margins: The financial repercussions of inaccurate schedules are equally alarming, including inefficient allocation of resources, increased overtime costs to meet unrealistic deadlines, and premium freight shipping charges to appease frustrated customers. All of these take a bite out of profit margins.

The Importance of Regular Calibration: Keeping your Scheduling Model in Synch with Reality

Calibration becomes the equivalent of a pit stop for our race car. This involves revisiting the assumptions underpinning the scheduling model and aligning them with the latest realities of the production process. This means gathering and analyzing data related to demonstrated performance, including accurate data on actual production times, setup times, cleanout times, production yields, and any other relevant parameters that influence the scheduling process.

The common hurdle faced by companies in calibrating their scheduling models is lack of time and resources. Manually reviewing and updating thousands to tens of thousands of data points can feel like a monumental task, often losing priority to more immediate concerns.

AspenTech Solutions: Your Pit Crew for Schedule Model Calibration

AspenTech provides solutions that streamline and automate the often-cumbersome calibration process. Like a highly skilled pit crew, AspenTech’s software helps fine-tune your scheduling model, ensuring it is always performing at its best.

The solution lies in the synergy between two powerful software solutions: Aspen Plant Scheduler™ and Aspen Production Record Manager^®. This duo can work in tandem to keep your scheduling model in synch with reality.

Aspen Plant Scheduler is the primary scheduling solution, responsible for generating efficient production schedules based on the provided master data and demand data. Think of it as the race strategist, charting the most efficient course to victory based on the capabilities of your race car and changing supply and demand track conditions.

Aspen Production Record Manager acts as a meticulous batch production record historian, capturing actuals production data, and enabling visibility to how your production process is performing. Think of it as a telemetry system on your race car, continuously monitoring and recording every detail of performance.

AspenTech’s “Smart Calibration” synergy capability enables these two systems to work better together and unlock new value for customers. It enables automated analysis and detection of discrepancies between data inputs used in the scheduling model versus actuals and demonstrated plant performance. Based on the identified discrepancies, it becomes possible to quickly calibrate the scheduling model.

By automating this once time-consuming and often neglected process, AspenTech’s “Smart Calibration” synergy capability eliminates the need for time and effort intensive data gathering and analysis. It saves hundreds of hours and ensures that the scheduling model remains as finely tuned as a championship winning race car.

Crossing the Finish Line and Winning the Race

The pursuit of delivering outstanding customer experiences, increasing sales and profits, and decreasing working capital is enabled by strong scheduling capabilities. By regularly calibrating their scheduling models, either through dedicated manual effort or by harnessing the power of AspenTech’s “Smart Calibration” capabilities, companies achieve greater efficiencies, gain a competitive edge, and ultimately savor the sweet taste of victory in the demanding race in the marketplace.