Hi There. As well as Abel’s automatic scheduling capabilities, we have some handy features that help schedulers make more informed decisions when they are fine tuning the schedule. In this blog I am writing about a particular feature that helps schedulers identify jobs with similar setup, so they can minimize work center setup time to maximize production throughput.
This capability suits operations that have a mixture of jobs but with some common factors in the work center setup. e.g. jobs with the same machine settings or the same raw material. For these operations, information is key to helping schedulers significantly reduce work center setup times.
With Abel, you can configure up to six parameters for each work center in your plant that are significant for your operation. (Consider factors that cause the longest setup times and are common across your typical work stream). This enables your schedulers to:
- Optimize the production sequence to reduce setup time and maximize production throughput.
- See the impact of commercial pressures on the schedule e.g. If we do this urgent job now, what does it cost us in terms of extra setup time? When can we slot in this urgent job with minimal setup time?
- Track KPI’s around minimizing setup time to gain efficiency in the plant with Abel’s reporting.
The below example highlights the savings in setup time across 5 jobs in a work center. In this case, the parameters are length and width of the item being made. Two of the jobs don’t need any setup time because the length and width are the same as the prior job. One of the jobs (highlighted in blue) only needs half the setup time because the width is the same and only the length differs from the prior job.
This a small feature within Abel’s extensive scheduling functionality but it’s gold for operations that can use it to maximize their throughput. If you would like to know more about Abel’s functionality and how it can help your business, please contact your Abel Consultant or an Abel Distributor.
Until next time.
Rik