Scheduling at Nashville Tempered Glass

The Planner from Keyvak delivers scheduling benefits to Nashville Tempered Glass

The decision had been made that Nashville Tempered Glass (NTG) was going to move to an ERP system in order to meet demands from existing and new clients.

After a selection process, in which it identified an ERP system that best suited its needs for the given selection criteria, NTG focused on improving plant floor efficiencies.

Like many ERP systems, the one chosen had infinite capacity scheduling methodology.

It was going to primarily address the material and accounting needs of the corporation.

Due to time and cost constraints NTG knew that choosing a finite scheduling system that was easy to implement and integrate with its main system was of paramount importance.

Furthermore, while they understood that unnecessary inventory accumulation, increasing WIP queue, and high expedite costs were inherent in most ERP infinite capacity scheduling systems, they could not afford such luxuries.

"Once we had reviewed The Planner and its capabilities, it was an easy choice," said supply chain director Michael Hobbs.

"We didn't have the luxury of spending months setting up and implementing a complicated system".

"We had already implemented a new ERP system and we wanted to take full advantage of the access to information, but not be constrained by many of the deficiencies associated with infinite capacity scheduling methodologies".

Hobbs said that The Planner was ready to go, out of the box, and was already integrated with the new ERP system.

"It was also easy to use and even easier for our employees to learn and understand," he said.

Michael Hobbs says "With The Planner, the effects of a schedule change are immediate".

"We can now immediately identify which jobs will become late due to a schedule change, and how the desired change will alter the WIP queues".

"By utilising the 'Multi-User' functionality everyone with security can now view an approved schedule and take appropriate action to insure we are meeting our customer demands via our production schedule".

"This has drastically reduced calls to our customer service associates, scheduler and to the factory floor".

Vitomir Radojevic, the materials scheduler says "With The Planner we are able to seamlessly integrate data from our MRP system".

"We can look at a realistic schedule based on actual capacity".

"The heightened visibility has allowed the materials group to focus on materials and allowed the production department to account for machine availability and uptime all in a coordinated effort to meet our customers' demands".

As a result of implementation of The Planner Nashville Tempered Glass has:.

* Improved its inventory turns.

* Reduced its WIP queues.

* Reduced direct labour and costs.

* Increased machine utilisation.

Some technical information:.

* There are more than six hundred pages of documentation provided on The Planner CD.

* Detailed installation documentation.

* Implementation services and expertise available.

* Schedules and reports are available through an internal intranet.

site using Crystaland#129; reports.

Crystal report templates are provided free of charge with the The Planner software.

* The Planner runs under Microsoft Windows XP.

* The Planner's multi-viewing system will run under MS Access, MS Sql Server, Oracle, or Progress.

Back to top