• OPTANO production – the solution for optimization-assisted production planning

Make faster and better decisions in production

Rapid
planning

Create comprehensive production plans with little effort and create a high degree of transparency for your decisions.

Better
production plans

Improve your adherence to delivery dates, increase  your production capacity and reduce resource costs.

Stress-free
application

Let easy-to-operate software support you – and profit from an integrated one-source solution.

Suitable for
your processes

Use established procedures of experienced planners which are adapted to the individual requirements of your processes.

Challenges

Optimized production planning

Typical experiences of production planners

“The orders build up in front of one workstation and other workstations have to wait. On the following day, the same station is only working at 20% capacity.“

“I don’t know whether we’ll manage the orders in two weeks or when we’ll be finished by.“

“Planning is often abandoned due to short-term orders. This results in small batch sizes and high setup costs.“

“Because production steps are not coordinated well, we have to store a lot of semi-finished products.“

” A great deal of  effort is required for planning, partly because of the many cross-dependencies.“

“We often cannot comply with the production program, so that customer orders are completed too late.“

Challenges for production planning

Planning machine utilization in production is a demanding task!

Planners have to solve an extremely complex planning task characterized by a huge choice of options and a large number of cross-dependencies, planning risks or competing targets.

In addition, process-related demands are made on planning. As a result, there is only little time left in the course of everyday work to incorporate short-term changes, prepare alternative planning strategies or take care of other tasks.

OPTANO production supports you in solving this demanding task by using Prescriptive Analytics.

Ensure adherence to delivery deadlines

For an order to be completed on time, all steps have to be planned carefully. OPTANO production plans these steps and all delivery deadlines.

Known delivery deadlines are included in the optimization of machine utilization as part of  planning. The result: production plans which ensure adherence to your delivery deadlines. If a deadline can still not be adhered to, you hear about it in good time and can take the necessary measures.

Maximize machine utilization

Machine utilization is a key performance indicator (KPI).  Production is leveled out to increase machine utilization. This allows you to increase production capacity.

You can use the potentials made available to increase sales, improve quality or reduce your costs, etc.

Shorter setup times lead to shorter cycle times

You can reduce the number of setup processes required by defining optimal production batches.

In addition, the setup times and costs can be reduced providing they depend on the sequence of production orders. For example, the use of different colours or raw materials can lead to additional expense or the additional use of resources during retooling. This depends on the previous production process in each case.

Reduce setup processes and save time and money! OPTANO production puts your orders into the best possible sequence.

Software OPTANO production

OPTANO production – fast and easy

The standard for individual planning solutions in production

OPTANO production is a software for planning machine utilization in production. It includes all the functions of the OPTANO platform and also supports special production planning requirements.

OPTANO production is ready to use immediately and includes detailed planning and general planning. We have included the experiences of a large number of production planners in OPTANO production in the form of best practices.

The solution is highly adaptable and modifiable. Like building with Lego, we can remove, modify or add parts – exactly as required for the success of your company. Experienced OPTANO experts can advise you on the precise elaboration of the solution.

OPTANO production integrates fully into your existing IT landscape. The possibility of flexible expansion with little effort and the professional support we provide make sure you get a software solution with long-term capabilities. The result is an investment that pays off for you after a very short time!

Scenario comparison

Have all the data at your fingertips

The data necessary for planning is imported from other data-keeping systems (such as ERP). An automated data interface allows the planner to carry out extensive analyses and evaluations on this data. In addition, the data in OPTANO production can be modified in any way desired in order to map alternative planning scenarios on the basis of adjusted data.

Enjoy the flexibility allowing you to modify planning data and validate all of your entries without changing the data in your data-management systems.

OPTANO production for general tactical planning

A preview showing the utilization of the capacities and production deadlines is provided in general tactical planning. The mathematically optimized execution of planning allows you to check whether the existing capacity is adequate, etc.

The production orders and requirements are planned on machines in general time slices without taking the specific sequences into account. The size of the time slice and the planning horizon depend on the individual situation of the company and are set accordingly. Typical quantities are planned to the exact day or week for several months into the future. Times for setup processes and machine downtimes can be estimated by mathematical means.

As the demands made on the data requirements are low, you can introduce and utilize general tactical planning with little effort.

Typical planning questions for general tactical planning

  • How can the quantities predicted be produced?

  • Which (alternative) work plans are required for this?

  • What are the bottleneck resources and what is their degree of utilization?

  • What are the resulting mean lead times and circulating stocks?

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Overview of planned degrees of capacity utilization for production machines.

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Graphical visualization of selected data.

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Individual adaption of data presentation

Create an optimized preview easily and rapidly

  • Prospective planning

    Combine orders and requirements intelligently and increase machine utilization.

  • Rapid reactions

    Include changed basic conditions such as adjusted order forecasts or machine availabilities in planning easily and rapidly.

  • Transparent planning

    Detect bottlenecks at an early date and derive times for resource requirements from them.

Do you want to optimize your general tactical planning? Our experts will be glad to advise you free of charge and gain an initial impression of your individual potentials and data requirements.

Contact us

OPTANO production for detailed operational planning

In detailed operational planning, production orders and requirements are planned for machines precisely to the minute while taking the sequences into account. Times and costs for setup processes can be entered in detail and included in optimization.

Use OPTANO production to gain further optimization potential for reducing costs and runtimes.

Typical planning questions for detailed operational planning

  • How can customer orders be fulfilled according to their prioritization?

  • What does the new optimum production order sequence look like?

  • Which short-term delivery deadlines cannot be adhered to?

  • Which capacity utilization do the individual resources have?

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Planning of production orders accurate to minutes

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Visualization of multiple stages of production

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Individual adjustment of data presentation

Detailed planning of order sequences using Prescriptive Analytics

  • Planning that can be implemented operationally

    Use plans which are exact to the minute for operational application in production. The sequence of orders is prescribed in order to minimize the effort required for setup.

  • Rapid response

    Include short-term disturbances such as order changes or machine downtimes in your planning quickly and easily.

  • Flexible adjustment

    If you  have to postpone or exchange an order for example, you can do this easily in the Gantt view using drag-and-drop.

Do you want to optimize your detailed operational planning? Our experts will be glad to advise you free of charge and gain an initial impression of your individual potentials and data requirements.

Contact us

Profit from all integrated functions of the OPTANO platform

  • Prescriptive Analytics

    Optano production uses powerful methods of mathematical optimization technology to draw up optimal plans.

  • Easy to operate

    Work in structures you know from Microsoft Excel® etc. and customize your views according to your requirements.

  • Visualization

    Make use of extensive data visualization functions and carry out evaluations directly or in the form of structured reports.

Consulting

Well advised for important decisions

Mathematically assisted consulting for optimum decisions

Have you got a project in which you have to make an important decision in the field of production planning? We can help you to find a good solution using OPTANO production and the competent consulting of the OPTANO experts.

We  conduct studies for you as part of consulting projects in which we recommend which decision to make to help you solve your individual problem.  Consulting is based on optimization technology (Prescriptive Analytics), which we use for you at no additional cost in order to provide optimum decision proposals.

Typical tasks for the preparation of consulting studies

  • Investment decisions for machines, warehouses or sites

  • Operational planning to meet rare complexity requirements

  • Contract design and selection of suppliers and partners

Do you want to know more? Just make an appointment with our experts and find out how you can use innovative planning methods in your production. The results are sure to impress you.

Contact us