“You can’t plan what’s broken” – On Production Planning
Finding a production planning solution has always been a nightmare for manufacturers as both the solutions and the implementation process were expensive and time-consuming.
Thankfully, new cloud technologies, intuitive operations, and agile process models have caught up with better user acceptance and efficient project deployment.
In light of this, we interviewed Stefan Zeeb, who is calling for a revamped, more effective approach to the digitalization of production planning. Stefan is the CEO of th Data GmbH and the mastermind behind the next-gen production planning solution planeus.
What do you think are the major problems in today’s Production Planning and Control (PPC) solutions?
Stefan Zeeb: To answer this question, we must first understand that many “traditional” production scheduling systems were developed over time – by slowly adding different functions. That’s why they are always getting more and more complicated day by day. Now, even the vendors have to sometimes rely on their veterans to do the lecturing because they’re the only few who’ve fully mastered the systems.
And we know teaching users these very specific and exclusive know-hows often costs a lot of money and man-hours. This stage of implementation is where a large portion of attempts fails because reality is often way more complex than expected by an ossified system to adapt to new changes. This often results in high additional costs for companies in the long term – not to mention release changes and updates, which will further increase the risk of system crashes and bugs.
Production Planning is always complex. What do you suggest for manufacturers trying to modernize their Production Planning?
Stefan Zeeb: Let me pick out a few examples. First, you’ll need the right structure to make the planning possible, like a genuine methodology to quantify, analyze, and manage the projects. This takes effort, and for many manufacturers, it is still uncharted territory.
After successfully creating a structure, you’ll also need to fill these structures with suitable content, which are the production processes. A key principle here is “plannability” – in other words, you should design processes so they are plannable in the first place. This principle applies to operational processes on the shop floor and the information-processing procedures in management.
And this is where we talk about our new approach because new technologies have already opened up these new opportunities and potentials that help manufacturers to tackle those obstacles in a different way.
Does your new approach still come with long consultation time, massive overhauls, and hefty budgets?
Stefan Zeeb: Definitely not. A typical project actually requires just a few man-days for us. The key factor here is: With our planeus solution, you’ll only need to take the training occasionally. This not only saves money, but also increases the employees’ acceptance rate. We often start small and gradually develop the solutions together with the customer in high agility. The essential Cloud functionalities in planeus are also activated step by step, so the users will not be overwhelmed by too many features.
What does a development journey look like for companies using planeus?
Stefan Zeeb: At first glance, the journeys all seem different and come from everywhere, but interestingly, they can always be summarized into a simple formula as the same logic often applies to different kinds of product planning.
Our development journey begins with the creation of the “Plannability”, which means that we have to establish structures and certain preconditions that can be planned later. The journey then continues with “Transparency” – what the production planner should literally be able to see in the system, including the interconnectivity and effects of their planning decisions.
Last but not least, it is about “Responsiveness”, where we will close the control loop between planning management and shop floor feedback with our Shop Floor Data Collection system.
How can manufacturers solve long- and short-term production problems that hinder output using planeus?
Stefan Zeeb: Before we solve the problems, we must first see them. Once we’ve collected the production data, we can react to the situation immediately and analyze the information after the fact. This allows us to identify short-term anomalies and ideas to improve the entire production mid- and long-term. Only when we have pinpointed the root problems can we work on them and prevent them from happening again in the future.
And what’s your tip to improve a production plan?
Stefan Zeeb: You simply can’t plan properly if the planning process itself is already broken. Many manufacturers think that’s going to happen, but the unexpected just occurs all the time. The only way to out is to strengthen our control over the production processes so that we can predict our results based on a solid ground of facts.
Talking about predictions, what future trends do you foresee among digital production planning systems?
Stefan Zeeb: What we’ve been seeing is everything moving to Cloud. From a technical standpoint, it is just a superior and smoother way to get things done. Our newer generations are now asking for slick and modern software at work – just like those in their private lives. Besides, given the current shortage of skilled workers, does anyone still want to work with pen and paper anymore?
planeus – A New Hope for Production Planning
planeus is a cloud-based and modular Production Planning and Control system that fully digitalizes and modernizes the outdated planning approach – for better manufacturing processes management, production plan optimization, and real-time schedule adjustment.
The trial version of planeus is free to use for 14 days!
Further reading:
Zeeb, S., 2022. “Ein gestörter Prozess ist nicht gut planbar” – IT&Production.
