Planners can use Abel to help them optimize the schedule for jobs that have similar setup. The goal is to minimize setup and clean times and therefore improve throughput. This suits operations that have a mixture of jobs with common factors in the setup, such as the same machine settings or the same raw material. For these operations, information is key to helping Planners reduce work center setup times.
In 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). These settings enable Planners 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 is a small but useful feature that can help Planners minimize setup and improve throughput.
