Simulative planning in production: advantages & modules
Simulative planning enables companies to analyze future scenarios in advance and optimally align their production and delivery processes. With the simulation solutions of our software solutions, various factors such as capacities, materials and demand can be simulated and dynamically adjusted before actual changes are made.
This gives planners the opportunity to react flexibly to bottlenecks and changes in the market, minimize risks and increase efficiency.
Advantages of simulative planning
Early identification of bottlenecks
By simulating different scenarios, potential bottlenecks in production or delivery can be identified and avoided at an early stage.
Optimization of resources
Simulative capacity and material planning enables demand and supply to be precisely matched, thus avoiding over- and undercapacity.
Reduction of costs
Thanks to the improved planning accuracy, unnecessary costs, for example due to excess stock or late deliveries, can be reduced.
Fast decision making
Real-time simulations and well-founded forecasts allow decisions to be made more quickly and on the basis of solid data.
Integration with real data
The simulated plans can be seamlessly linked to the real SAP master data to ensure a smooth transfer to operational planning.
Modules of simulative planning
Capacity planning
With capacity planning in LabScheduling, you not only optimize costs, but also ensure on-time and high-quality quality control. Thanks to the precise comparison of capacity requirements and available capacity, all areas of the logistics chain – from production to procurement and sales – benefit from improved adherence to delivery dates and excellent delivery reliability.
Manual coordination by telephone or e-mail is significantly reduced and managers can make well-founded decisions more quickly and transparently. The laboratory manager receives a comprehensive overview of all relevant exceptions and capacity evaluations for his own and other assigned laboratories. Long-term trends are identified at an early stage, allowing proactive action to be taken in the event of potential conflicts. This creates a solid basis for efficient capacity planning of the laboratories and thus guarantees a smooth production process.
Strategic capacity simulation: planning with changed capacities
While operational-tactical planning only involves planning within given resources, strategic capacity simulation also allows resources to be varied, e.g. to simulate capacity expansions and reductions. The solution for strategic capacity simulation supports this by
- Simulating the creation of additional resources / workstations
- Simulating changes to the available capacity
- Simulative blocking of existing resources
- Simulatively modifying existing routings, e.g. by adding created additional resources as alternative production versions
- Planning using the added capacities
With our solution for strategic capacity simulation, optimized capacity adjustments can be determined with simulation support and linked directly to the real SAP master data.
Strategic material simulation and portfolio management
Our Strategic Material Simulation module can be used with the Enterprise Workbench Demand & Inventory Balancing. With this solution, materials, articles and material hierarchies can be created and modified with simulation support. This enables you to make precise predictions and well-founded decisions as early as the planning phase. The solution supports your planning processes by Simulating the creation of new materials and simulatively modifying existing parts lists and recipes and using added materials.
Added value: This type of simulation allows you to comprehensively check the effects of new products or material adaptations in advance. You gain valuable insights into possible bottlenecks or optimization potential and can thus minimize risks and increase planning reliability and flexibility.
Finalization of S&OP planning and transfer to the Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) process
The S&OP master plan (consensus or rough-cut plan) results from the coordination process between Demand Planning and Supply Planning. It forms the central element of rough-cut planning and also acts as the interface between strategic-tactical and operational planning.
Holistic approach to rough-cut planning
With the help of analysis and simulation tools, demand and supply are matched in terms of capacity in the S&OP process, checked against stocks and fine-tuned with detailed planning. All of this can be based on a complex multi-stage production process, a multi-layered supply network or make-or-buy decisions.
The aim and result of rough-cut planning is a feasible S&OP master plan that takes into account all relevant production steps, stock levels, purchasing quantities (raw material requirements), resource utilization, demand coverage and production requirements (planned independent requirements or firm planned orders).
The S&OP master plan is discussed in S&OP meetings, adjusted if necessary and then communicated to all areas of the company and transferred to the Advanced Planning & Scheduling process.
CTP module
The planning solution CTP (Capable-To-Promise check/calculation) carries out simulative availability checks in terms of quantity and delivery date, taking into account current stocks, already planned production and the capacity of production and supply.
This module supports the sales department with reliable suggestions and the potential for economic optimization. There is great potential for optimization both in terms of production costs through better production planning (production sequence, machine selection) and in assigned processes such as cutting or mixing optimization.
The CTP functionality is triggered automatically as soon as new or updated customer orders, customer contract items or delivery schedule lines are recognized.
The following application options exist within the module:
- CTP algorithm for the requested delivery date,
- Processing the request several times a day (automatically) and on demand
- Simulative creation of new replenishment requests (e.g. feasible production orders or purchase requests),
- Concrete delivery information for a customer inquiry in just a few seconds,
- Support for the sales department through more reliable suggestions,
- Potential for price optimization through production planning (production sequence, machines) and assigned processes,
- Potential for economic optimization.
Subcontracting module
The “Subcontracting” module is used to support processes and workflows involving subcontracting and/or external production:
- Support of purchasing processes with material provision
- Consideration of external processes
- Mapping of stocks of materials provided by suppliers and consideration in simulative production planning
It allows in-house production to be simulatively outsourced to the extended workbench (external production) and thus to react to capacity bottlenecks in in-house production at an early stage. The familiar prerequisites for external production and subcontracting from the SAP environment apply.
The module contains various displays to provide an overview of external production and/or subcontracting processes:
- External processes for master and transaction data
- Overview of the stocks of materials provided by suppliers
- Purchase requisitions, purchase orders and purchase scheduling agreements for requirements for materials provided
- Overview of subcontracting orders and associated MRP elements
- Planned order components (requirements to be provided)
- Resource overview with external production
- Planning folder for subcontracting
VMI module
The module is a customizable vendor-managed inventory solution.
It provides an inventory overview and visualizes the logistics chain between supplier and customer. In this way, the “VMI” module supports the user in the permanent comparison of supply and demand. It helps to reduce superfluous safety stocks in the warehouses and thus increase the efficiency of the flow of goods. Customer data from SAP ERP is used for this and planning takes place in the supplier’s SAP system
Possibilities of the VMI module:
- Evaluation of information and automatic generation and sending of potential delivery proposals (proposals) for finished goods (as sales orders),
- Automatic simulative creation of the associated production orders for end products and, if necessary, simulative creation of production orders for semi-finished products for end products
- Feasibility check for production using simulation of the logistics chain,
Calculation of capacity utilization, - Forwarding proposals for confirmation,
conversion of confirmed proposals into sales orders, - Own rules for creating proposals (range, goods receipt processing time to be observed, special delivery days)
- Algorithmic support of the process,
- High flexibility and customizability of the solution
Get in touch!
Would you like to know more about our solutions? Then please write us using the contact form. My colleagues and I look forward to exchanging ideas with you.
Dominik Weggler
Head of Sales Germanedge