There’s something rather odd about APS projects, at least when you compare them to ERP projects. With ERP, large sums are spent without particularly sound justification – in my view, you can only really call it an investment if you have a clear picture of future revenue. With APS projects, on the other hand, there’s a much stricter focus on whether the expenditure will actually be recouped. Fortunately so, and with an APS project, that’s generally easier to predict.
Is an APS necessary at all?
An APS can be used to improve delivery reliability, ensure shorter lead times, lower work-in-process and inventories, higher efficiency, lower maintenance costs, and so on. But to start with, a company will have to answer the question of whether it needs and can deploy an APS at all. This is the case if the process involves complexity, a certain size, predictability and limited flexibility.
1. Complexity
First, a complex primary process and complex demand in many cases means complex scheduling. Lean-adepts will not always agree with this: they assume that all complexity in the process should be removed by constantly continuing to remove obstacles. This is a good aim, but somewhere one runs into technical limits, which will remain for decades. By deploying an APS, the planner can deal with the complexity and produce a better plan.
2. Size of the process
Second, a certain size of the process is needed to bear the investment in an APS. Now, APSs come in many price ranges, from less than 10,000 euros to more than a million. However, those cheaper APSs tend to have limited deployment, and customers will have to settle for functional shortcomings.
3. Predictability
Third, predictability is a prerequisite for scheduling. Now, an APS can assist in rescheduling faster, should something happen. But if the plan can hardly be brought to execution, planning is of little use.
4. Limited flexibility
Fourth, if production assets are very generic, it is a lot easier to solve scheduling problems manually, and less likely to need an APS.
Too high, or wrong expectations from an APS
As with ERP, there are APS projects that succeed, and fail. A major reason for failure is that there are far too high, or wrong expectations of what an APS can do. I therefore advise every company to invest in APS knowledge among its own staff before contacting APS vendors.
Vincent Wiers – Planning & Scheduling Expert
