Production process improvement
Running Head- Production process improvement
ProPlanner software- a Tool for Production Process
Improvement
Animish Bhatt
Chao Tang
Ethan Wang
Yue Dong
White Paper for Professional Writing (GEB5212: 0199)
Dr. Priscilla Berry
University of Florida
28 January 2014
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Production process improvement
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ProPlanner Software- a Tool for
Production Process Improvement
Author:
Animish Bhatt
Chao Tang
Ethan Wang
Yue Dong
Production process improvement
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Executive Summary
Today TATA MOTORS is competing to be the best at all facets of operation. Without a
doubt, production planning and inventory control are the most difficult stages of manufacturing.
Minor errors in predicting demand and planning resources can lead to costly mistakes. To avoid
these problems, it is essential to be accurate in the planning and management of the available
resources.
The ongoing method of production planning proving to be inadequate to meet up with the
customer demand and increasing unnecessary wastages. So it is a proper time to switch to a more
cost-effective option. ProPlanner, a production planning software developed by ProModel
Technologies proves to be a perfect solution for this problem. It provides the organization with
objective information and scientific insights to improve the overall performance based on its
deterministic, probabilistic and dynamic simulation problem solving techniques.
This paper cites the weaknesses of the present production planning methodology and
provides a production and inventory planning solution custom designed for TATA MOTORS in
line with their immediate operational needs.
Production process improvement
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Introduction
Scheduling and sequencing are important aspects in manufacturing which aims to
maximize the efficiency of operations and reduce costs. Inventory carrying cost is one of the
major components of losses faced by automobile industry. Improving the scheduling and
sequencing pattern could reduce this cost.
Backward Scheduling is a process that schedules the activities by commencing with the
deadlines and working backwards in reverse order. This technique allows to identify the potential
bottlenecks and problems in advance which helps in controlling the inventory and the costs
related to it. The installation of ProPlanner software which works on the fundamentals of
backward scheduling would help TATA MOTORS to solve the problems related to production
planning methods and inventory costs.
This paper will provide a thorough insight about the proper balance between production
planning and reduction of unnecessary expenses.
Phases of production planning
In this section we study the planning phases in detail. The basic idea of production
planning cycle along with its four phases are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Production Planning Cycle
Production process improvement
Current Problem
TATA MOTORS, currently using Forward scheduling method for production is facing a
problem of high vehicle roll-out lead time. The production starts on a fixed date without
considering the market delivery due date, leading to increment in the annual inventory carrying
cost and loss of customers.
The major areas of concerns are1. Vehicle Drop-in Sequence
2. Post Roll-out activities
3. Assembly line balancing
The Annual Average Lead-time for vehicles to roll out resulted to be around 5 days
(Bhatt, Kulkarni & Raut, 2013) for the year 2012, as shown in Figure 2.
10
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3
2
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0
Days
Source: Business Excellence Department
Figure 2: Lead-time for vehicle roll-out in 2012
Solution
ProPlanner software is developed by ProModel Technologies to offer remedies to the
problems emerging in the sequencing and scheduling for production lines. It is capable of
generating different types of production models depending upon the data provided by the
manufacturer.
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Production process improvement
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The software works on the principle of backward scheduling and addresses all the
problems discussed above offering the best possible solution. Thus, increasing the productivity,
reliability and cutting down inventory carrying cost.
The Annual Average Lead-time for vehicle roll-out was calculated to be 3.5 days (Bhatt
et al., 2013) by ProPlanner for the demand in 2012 which is 20% better than current situation, as
shown in Figure 3.
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5
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3
2
1
0
Forward Scheduling
Source: Business Excellence Department
ProModel Results
Figure 3: ProPlanner results for lead-time in 2012
Working of ProPlanner
This section describes the advantages of using ProPlanner software over the current
method in detail. It also focuses on the technical aspects of ProPlanner which simulates solutions
for1. Alternate production methods
2. Line Balancing
3. Inventory cost reduction
Additional Features
ProPlanner software incorporates three additional functionalities, which provides remedy
to the problems of Production and Distribution engineers. These functionalities are:
Production process improvement
1. Supply Chain Optimizer: ProPlanner helps to accurately analyze all of the stages of
the supply chain, including production, warehousing and distribution.
2. Manufacturing Performance Improver: ProPlanner’s predictive technology helps to
reduce the risk in optimizing an organization’s performance.
3. Lean & Six Sigma Initiator: ProPlanner accurately predicts the impact of Lean
methodologies and Six Sigma changes considering the effect of variability and
uncertainty with time.
Conclusion
For many years, Inventory carrying cost has become one of the most critical component
of wastage in automobile industry which is primarily driven by the production planning. A
thoughtful investment is needed to overcome this problem and to reduce the business risk.
Implementation of ProPlanner as a production planning system will reduce the complexities and
will enable the organization to cut down on their annual inventory carrying costs and improve
the overall efficiency.
“Best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value
system and ethics.” (TATA MOTORS, 2012)
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Production process improvement
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References
1. Chugh, T (2008). Backward scheduling- An effective way of scheduling warehouse
activities
Retrieved from:
http://www.tcs.com/sitecollectiondocuments/white%20papers/Backward%20Scheduling
%20%20An%20effective%20way%20of%20scheduling%20Warehouse%20activities.pdf
2. Singleton, D (2011). How MRP and production planning and scheduling software differ.
Retrieved from: http://blog.netronic.com/guest-blog-mrp-production-planningscheduling-software-differ
3. Figure 1, Production planning cycle,
Retrieved from: http://www.parmarlabs.com/wp-content/gallery/production-planning-23nov-2011/production-planning.jpg
4. ProModel, 2014, URL: http://www.promodel.com/solutions/capacity-planning.asp
5. Business Excellence Department, TATA MOTORS, Pune (2013)
URL: http://www.tatamotors.com/
6. Core Logistics Consulting, 2013, URL:
http://www.corelogistics.com.au/Inventory_management_lead_time_reduction.html