Jiuzhang Intelligence
This article is about the Advanced Planning and Scheduling System (APS, Advanced Planning and Scheduling), including the concept, core value and functional embodiment, application scenarios and specific cases of the Advanced Planning and Scheduling System.
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Total text: 2012 words
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
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01
What is an advanced planning and scheduling system?
Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) is the core system used in the manufacturing industry to intelligently optimize production planning and resource scheduling. It is based on operations research models and industrial-level algorithm engines (such as genetic algorithms and tabu search algorithms) to transform complex constraints such as corporate orders, resources, materials, and delivery dates into executable plans, aiming to maximize resource utilization, minimize production cycles, and achieve precise order delivery.
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The core values and functions of APS are reflected as follows:
(1) Realize dual optimization of planning and scheduling.
Planning level:Solve "what to do" and conduct medium and long-term resource allocation, such as: order prioritization (critical path management of multi-projects in ETO mode; material demand forecast (inventory level balancing in MTS mode))
Scheduling layer:Solve the "how to do it" and perform short-term task execution, such as: process-level equipment/personnel allocation (to avoid bottleneck resource conflicts); dynamic order insertion and emergency task rescheduling (minute-level response fluctuations)
(2) Carry out collaborative processing of multi-dimensional constraints.
Time constraints: work calendar, order delivery date, process interval
Resource constraints: equipment capacity, personnel skills, mold/jigs availability
Logical constraints: process route (serial/parallel/alternative process), material consistency
Business rules: customer priority, minimum model change batch, environmental shutdown requirements
(3) Deep integration with ERP/PLM/MES/WMS
Obtain order master data from ERP, synchronize BOM and process routes from PLM, issue work order instructions to MES, and link with WMS to verify the complete set of materials, forming a "plan-execution-feedback" closed loop.
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Image source: https://blog.csdn.net/qq_38880380/article/details/127203433
APS vs Traditional Plan Differences
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02
APS in enterprises of different production types
What are the application scenarios?
1
ETO (engineer to order) companies
ETO companies often face the dilemma of "design changes are made 10 times, and production is delayed by 3 months." APS automatically calculates the critical path of large equipment through multi-project parallel management, and dynamically balances design delays and production resource preemption risks from a global perspective. Example: In ship manufacturing, linkage scheduling of segmented welding and outfitting processes can avoid shipyard occupancy conflicts.
2
MTS (make-to-stock) companies
Based on demand forecasts, optimize economic production quantity (EPQ) to reduce inventory costs while avoiding stockouts. Example: A fastener factory intelligently merges similar orders based on equipment mold change time costs to reduce mold change losses.
3
ATO (Assemble to Order) Company
Real-time matching of semi-finished product inventory and order demand supports rapid configuration under the postponement strategy.
Example: Server manufacturers dynamically schedule the assembly sequence of motherboards, hard drives, and power modules based on customer configuration requirements.
03
APS application examples
1
Corporate background
A large mechanical equipment enterprise adopts the ETO project-based production method and manually uses Excel to formulate a production master plan. The planning logic is design forward + production assembly reverse. Afterwards, the design team leader and team leader separately formulate process-level plans. Enterprises are faced with the problem of delayed delivery of a large number of orders and use APS to improve their delayed delivery problems.
The two core processes of large-scale machinery and equipment manufacturing are
(1) Segmented production:
The whole machine is decomposed into multiple "segments" (such as base, compressor, container), which are cut, processed and assembled into large modules in the workshop, and then transported to the final assembly site for final assembly and welding (assembled into a complete machine like Lego).
(2) Final assembly:
When installing large modules produced in each branch factory on the final assembly site, such as engines and compressors, the final assembly process sequence must be followed, such as placing the base first, and then welding the containers, compressors, etc. on the base.
2
APS adopts a three-level planning and scheduling system that links segmented production and final assembly.
Milestone plan: Manage and control segmented module design/production nodes (such as base design completion date)
Master production plan: segmented production time windows accurate to the hour (for example, the compressor module will be offline before 17:00 on October 31)
Job scheduling: process-level resource scheduling (for example, equipment a in the work center processes process 021 from 9:00-12:00 on October 25)
The APS linkage system aims to reduce delayed delivery, minimize production cycles, and increase equipment utilization. Consider constraints such as:
(1) The design and production work calendars are different. The design is a single shift with two days off, while the production is a double shift with one day off.
(2) There are capacity limits for each work center and assembly site of segmented production.
(3) The materials are in complete sets. Only after checking the inventory and in-transit quantities can the materials be put into the resource usage sequence.
3
Typical conflict scenarios
The final assembly site is a scarce resource. Suppose that the segmented production of a large module of machine A is not completed on time, resulting in the site being occupied. The final assembly process of machine B that was originally planned to be carried out at this site cannot start as planned, thus causing delays in the entire production chain. It's like a "high-speed rail rear-end": Project A was delayed and occupied the final assembly track, and Project B was forced to brake suddenly. APS is an intelligent dispatch center that resurfaces the track network in real time.
How does linkage scheduling solve problems?
The APS system will do two things:
(1) Reverse calculation of key nodes:
Taking the "order delivery date" as the end point, the latest start time of the final assembly and the latest completion time of the segmented production of each large module are calculated backwards.
For example: If the final assembly takes at least 30 days and the delivery date is December 1st, then the final assembly must start before November 1st → The segmented production of the first final assembly base module must be completed before October 31st.
(2) Dynamic balancing resource conflict:
When the segmented production of machine A is delayed, the system automatically:
a. Are there other free final assembly sites (for example, the final assembly of machine B is moved to another site)?
b. Should we give priority to calling more workers or working overtime to speed up the production of the delayed part of machine A?
c. If the delay cannot be avoided, the supply chain will be automatically notified to postpone the subsequent final assembly of machine A and the arrival of all large modules of machine B.
4
How effective is it?
After the enterprise applies APS:
✓ Planning time from 7 days to 1.5 hours
✓ On-time order delivery rate from 58%→82%
✓ The utilization rate of final assembly site increased by 41%
5
Case summary
The segmented production (affecting the start time of the final assembly process) and final assembly sequencing (depending on site availability) of large-scale machinery manufacturing must be scheduled collaboratively. Essentially, it is solving: "How to make limited site resources seamlessly connect between different processes and projects." This is the core value of the APS system in complex manufacturing industries - to achieve optimal arrangement of resources across processes and projects through algorithms.
04
Full text summary
APS uses operations optimization algorithms as its technical engine to upgrade your production plan from "human brain experience" to "algorithm-driven", significantly reducing plan formulation and adjustment time, and winning in the era of intelligent manufacturing!
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Machine-translated from the Chinese original 制造业计划革命：APS 如何让复杂生产排程从数天缩至 1 小时 (published 2025-03-04). WeChat original ↗