Daimler | MODEL-MIX-PLANNING
RELIABLE SCHEDULING. OPTIMAL PRODUCTION CAPACITY UTILIZATION. CONTROLLED STOCKS.
In the automotive industry, many processes and functions depend on the pulse of assembly planning: Starting with production planning, through materials planning, to the management of warehouses and distribution systems. The challenge? Optimal utilization of the assembly lines despite increased customer and market requirements.
The challenges
When planning, both the capacity of the line (e.g. number of engines per shift) and other restrictions such as quantities, distances or blocks must be taken into account.
The CONSILIO solution
The processes were transferred into a template based on SAP ERP and SAP SCM. Based on the harmonized high-level processes, the individual steps and functions were detailed and specified in a business and IT concept. Already in the conception phase, the requirements were compared with SAP ERP and SCM on the basis of prototypes. The template solution uses demand planning in SAP SCM as well as model-mix planning from the SAP Automotive solution.
Classical functions from SAP ERP, such as work centers, routings, bills of material, production orders, configurable materials and material variants are also taken into account.
Result: By using model-mix planning, the order backlog was smoothed and then brought into a meaningful sequence.
Global Template
In cooperation with Daimler AG, a planning template was developed for the global network of aggregate plants. It covers the entire supply chain from order processing, sales and programme planning, to assembly planning including assembly control & material planning with shop floor connection - right through to delivery.
Challenge: Assembly
In the automotive industry, many processes and functions depend on the pulse of assembly planning: From production planning and material planning to warehouse management and distribution systems. The challenge? Optimum capacity utilisation of assembly lines despite increased customer and market requirements. The industry therefore relies on flexible software solutions in supply chain management (SCM) in order to remain competitive.
Even Capacity Utilisation: Cycle-based
Assembly lines in the automotive industry are planned on a cycle basis. The different products must be planned on the individual lines in such a way that all workstations on a line, especially the bottlenecks, are utilised as evenly as possible using a model mix. Of course, they should not collide with the cycle times! Due to shorter product cycles and throughput times, this task can only be mastered today with software solutions that
- smooth the order backlog and
- it into a sensible sequence.
This is the only way to achieve even utilisation of the assembly lines and minimise deadline deviations and restriction violations.
The solution also reduces work in progress and calms the production flow. The illustration on the right shows such a system using the example of vehicles. In the medium to long term, the aim is to create a feasible mix of vehicles for a specific period (e.g. day or week). In the short term, the actual sequence in which the vehicles run along the assembly line is then created.
What the Software Solution offers
When planning, the capacity of the line (e.g. number of engines per shift) and other restrictions such as quantities, distances or blocks should be taken into account. The use of model mix planning (MMP) is not limited to vehicles or units in the automotive industry. It can also be used in other industries with synchronised assembly lines, such as mechanical engineering and the electrical industry.
Template Solution
The harmonised processes for sales, programme and assembly planning, as well as integration into a shop floor system, were derived from the requirements of the German sites in Mannheim, Gaggenau and Kassel.
The processes were transferred to a template based on SAP ERP and SAP SCM. Based on the harmonised high-level processes, the individual steps and functions were detailed and specified in a business and IT concept. During the design phase, the requirements were compared with SAP ERP and SCM using prototypes.
The template solution utilises demand planning in SAP SCM and model mix planning from the SAP Automotive solution. Classic functions from SAP ERP, such as work centres, routings, parts lists, production orders, configurable materials and material variants are also taken into account.
In the medium to long-term horizon, an optimal mix of aggregates is formed on a daily basis and the material requirements for procurement are determined. The planned orders are finely planned on the basis of restrictions in the short-term horizon. When the production sequence is converted into production orders, the data is transferred to the shop floor for processing via the PI interface. Resequencing takes place in SCM if required. Progress and status messages are transferred from the shop floor system to SAP ERP and therefore also to SAP SCM. The production progress as well as malfunctions and breakdowns are therefore visible in SAP at all times.
Sequence Planning Board
Various functions and analyses are available to the planner for analysing the medium-term smoothing in order to carry out the planning and assess its quality. The central tool of the planner with which the lines can be planned is the sequence planning board.
The sequence planning board offers several functions for creating a buildable order sequence. All important fields such as deadlines, availability of components, technical buildability and feature ratings are displayed in the order table. The order volume can be scheduled manually using drag & drop or automatically using heuristics or the optimiser, taking into account the active restrictions.
To maintain an overview, orders are coloured based on restriction violations or active user status. It is also convenient to check the availability of components, which can be started directly from the planning board. The planner can also set user statuses directly from the planning board in order to add further information to the order.
The conversion of planned orders into production orders and their release or deletion are further functions provided by the planning tool. Once the order sequence has been created, it can be assigned unique sequence numbers and made available to the shop floor.
Template Rollout to Detroit
New drive for Daimler Trucks' business in the USA: local series production of transmissions has been taking place at the plant in Redford near Detroit (Michigan) since the end of 2015. The plant uses the planning template created on the basis of SAP ERP and SAP SCM APO to handle the processes.
