Production process improvement

Running Head- Production process improvement

ProPlanner software- a Tool for Production Process Improvement

Animish Bhatt Chao Tang Ethan Wang Yue Dong White Paper for Professional Writing (GEB5212: 0199) Dr. Priscilla Berry University of Florida 28 January 2014

Production process improvement

ProPlanner Software- a Tool for Production Process Improvement

Author: Animish Bhatt Chao Tang Ethan Wang Yue Dong

Production process improvement

Executive Summary
Today TATA MOTORS is competing to be the best at all facets of operation. Without a doubt, production planning and inventory control are the most difficult stages of manufacturing. Minor errors in predicting demand and planning resources can lead to costly mistakes. To avoid these problems, it is essential to be accurate in the planning and management of the available resources. The ongoing method of production planning proving to be inadequate to meet up with the customer demand and increasing unnecessary wastages. So it is a proper time to switch to a more cost-effective option. ProPlanner, a production planning software developed by ProModel Technologies proves to be a perfect solution for this problem. It provides the organization with objective information and scientific insights to improve the overall performance based on its deterministic, probabilistic and dynamic simulation problem solving techniques. This paper cites the weaknesses of the present production planning methodology and provides a production and inventory planning solution custom designed for TATA MOTORS in line with their immediate operational needs.

Production process improvement Introduction

Scheduling and sequencing are important aspects in manufacturing which aims to maximize the efficiency of operations and reduce costs. Inventory carrying cost is one of the major components of losses faced by automobile industry. Improving the scheduling and sequencing pattern could reduce this cost.

Backward Scheduling is a process that schedules the activities by commencing with the deadlines and working backwards in reverse order. This technique allows to identify the potential bottlenecks and problems in advance which helps in controlling the inventory and the costs related to it. The installation of ProPlanner software which works on the fundamentals of backward scheduling would help TATA MOTORS to solve the problems related to production planning methods and inventory costs. This paper will provide a thorough insight about the proper balance between production planning and reduction of unnecessary expenses.

Phases of production planning

In this section we study the planning phases in detail. The basic idea of production planning cycle along with its four phases are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Production Planning Cycle

Production process improvement Current Problem

TATA MOTORS, currently using Forward scheduling method for production is facing a problem of high vehicle roll-out lead time. The production starts on a fixed date without considering the market delivery due date, leading to increment in the annual inventory carrying cost and loss of customers.

The major areas of concerns are1. Vehicle Drop-in Sequence 2. Post Roll-out activities 3. Assembly line balancing The Annual Average Lead-time for vehicles to roll out resulted to be around 5 days (Bhatt, Kulkarni & Raut, 2013) for the year 2012, as shown in Figure 2.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Days

Source: Business Excellence Department

Figure 2: Lead-time for vehicle roll-out in 2012

Solution
ProPlanner software is developed by ProModel Technologies to offer remedies to the problems emerging in the sequencing and scheduling for production lines. It is capable of generating different types of production models depending upon the data provided by the manufacturer.

Production process improvement

The software works on the principle of backward scheduling and addresses all the problems discussed above offering the best possible solution. Thus, increasing the productivity, reliability and cutting down inventory carrying cost.

The Annual Average Lead-time for vehicle roll-out was calculated to be 3.5 days (Bhatt et al., 2013) by ProPlanner for the demand in 2012 which is 20% better than current situation, as shown in Figure 3.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Forward Scheduling

ProModel Results

Source: Business Excellence Department

Figure 3: ProPlanner results for lead-time in 2012

Working of ProPlanner
This section describes the advantages of using ProPlanner software over the current method in detail. It also focuses on the technical aspects of ProPlanner which simulates solutions for1. Alternate production methods 2. Line Balancing 3. Inventory cost reduction

Additional Features
ProPlanner software incorporates three additional functionalities, which provides remedy to the problems of Production and Distribution engineers. These functionalities are:

Production process improvement

1. Supply Chain Optimizer: ProPlanner helps to accurately analyze all of the stages of the supply chain, including production, warehousing and distribution. 2. Manufacturing Performance Improver: ProPlanners predictive technology helps to reduce the risk in optimizing an organizations performance.

3. Lean & Six Sigma Initiator: ProPlanner accurately predicts the impact of Lean methodologies and Six Sigma changes considering the effect of variability and uncertainty with time.

Conclusion
For many years, Inventory carrying cost has become one of the most critical component of wastage in automobile industry which is primarily driven by the production planning. A thoughtful investment is needed to overcome this problem and to reduce the business risk. Implementation of ProPlanner as a production planning system will reduce the complexities and will enable the organization to cut down on their annual inventory carrying costs and improve the overall efficiency. Best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics. (TATA MOTORS, 2012)

Production process improvement References

1. Chugh, T (2008). Backward scheduling- An effective way of scheduling warehouse activities Retrieved from: http://www.tcs.com/sitecollectiondocuments/white%20papers/Backward%20Scheduling %20%20An%20effective%20way%20of%20scheduling%20Warehouse%20activities.pdf 2. Singleton, D (2011). How MRP and production planning and scheduling software differ. Retrieved from: http://blog.netronic.com/guest-blog-mrp-production-planningscheduling-software-differ

3. Figure 1, Production planning cycle, Retrieved from: http://www.parmarlabs.com/wp-content/gallery/production-planning-23nov-2011/production-planning.jpg 4. ProModel, 2014, URL: http://www.promodel.com/solutions/capacity-planning.asp 5. Business Excellence Department, TATA MOTORS, Pune (2013) URL: http://www.tatamotors.com/ 6. Core Logistics Consulting, 2013, URL: http://www.corelogistics.com.au/Inventory_management_lead_time_reduction.html