Orchestrate Scheduling Software Focus Feature
Company: MAHLE Group
In choosing a system to help with planning and scheduling many companies have similar criteria:
"It must be easy-to-use, quick to implement, integrate easily with existing ERP and Shop Floor Monitoring systems, and require the minimum of IT support."
In the past, this has not always been attainable within budget. So many companies chose to supplement their planning and scheduling activities using a variety of spreadsheets. Now with increased market pressure, companies are reviewing what they need and are looking at the Orchestrate planning system from UK based Production Modelling.
According to Roger Randle, Marketing Director of Production Modelling, "It is not uncommon to find companies relying heavily on an expert to use a complex and unwieldy spreadsheet. We often find situations where it can take several days to produce a one week plan. In today’s environment, this is unacceptable."
"To make good and timely planning and scheduling decisions, people need access to clear, well presented information. They need to be clear what the plan looks like and how it will affect the business performance metrics such as profitability and on time delivery."
The ability to make good and timely planning decisions is exactly what MAHLE Filter Systems UK Salisbury has gained from implementing Orchestrate.
MAHLE Salisbury is among the top 5 automotive suppliers globally and is the world market leader for combustion engine components, systems and peripherals. MAHLE decided that with an increasing variety of products, demand from customers for improved service levels and on-time delivery, they could no longer rely on legacy ERP and planning systems to cope. Although MAHLE have corporately decided to move to SAP, this is some way off being implemented throughout the Group. So they needed a solution that works with the existing ERP system, and, with the minimum of disruption, could work with SAP in the future.
Furthermore, having invested in a modern Real Time Monitoring (RTM) system for the shop floor MAHLE Salisbury needed the planning system to be seamlessly linked, and at the same time, receive demand information from their current ERP system. This would ensure accurate, up-to-date information being visible to, and accessible by, planners, production staff and managements alike.
People at MAHLE Salisbury are delighted they chose Orchestrate
"Orchestrate is now an integral part of the business, having exceeded our expectations and is being used daily to schedule production," said Guy Miller, Plant Manager at the Salisbury site.
Production Engineer and Systems Administrator at the Salisbury site, Royston Allfrey was keen to add, "Not only does it form the heart of our Production operations - occupying the dual, key pivotal positions of finite capacity scheduler and systems interface (between the ERP and RTM systems) - but is also, with its extremely flexible and bespoke nature, programmable to our exact requirements. Its benefits are measurable in the difference between being able to look forward, whereas before, we could only look back".
Orchestrate is a modern, yet low-cost, planning and scheduling system which is used for strategic capacity planning, supply chain planning, sales and operations planning, and day-to-day operational scheduling.
