While Opcenter APS is an excellent solution for optimizing production and material supply, its application in the pharmaceutical sector brings very specific challenges, mainly related to its complex and regulated nature, as in the case of Vetnil® by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA).

The need for traceability of the batches produced and the perishability of inputs throughout the production process require companies in this segment to perfectly synchronize each of their operations.

In addition, the control of work-in-process inventory, the WIP, requires constant monitoring throughout the chain, in order to ensure the production flow and, above all, the quality of finished products. Additionally, Vetnil® uses raw materials that are controlled by the National Army, due to their high degree of sensitivity.

Before implementing the Opcenter APS software, Vetnil® faced major challenges regarding production planning, scheduling and control, with a completely manual sequencing process that limited visibility of shop-floor scheduling, making accurate delivery-date promises difficult. As a result, the constraints of the production process were controlled only by the shop floor, limiting the PPCP team's capacity for more detailed analysis of the scheduling. Shop-floor reporting was carried out only on the finished product, making it impossible to accurately update the sequencing, as well as to control scheduling adherence.

In pursuit of the continuous improvement of its processes, and aiming to reach the level of Industry 4.0, Vetnil® took another step toward the company's digitalization by contracting Siemens' Opcenter APS software, a global benchmark in the optimization of production planning and scheduling processes, in partnership with NEO Engenharia de Produção.

The Opcenter APS software works in a fully integrated way with the TOTVS Protheus ERP in Vetnil®'s solution, receiving from it all the data needed to generate the production sequencing. In this way, minutes after the data integration, it is possible to view the production sequencing, considering all the production orders already scheduled, and continuing the optimization of setups and priorities of new demands, according to the rules defined by the company.

The solution developed by NEO Engenharia de Produção for Vetnil®'s environment enabled the company to generate several production scenarios per day or on demand, differentiating the production orders serving the domestic market from those intended for export, in order to prioritize demands according to the company's strategy. In addition, the setup times for product changeovers, previously treated as empirical information before the project, were centralized in Opcenter APS, generating greater reliability in the simulations carried out, and thus facilitating the monitoring of factory execution.

With the implementation of Opcenter APS, it was also possible to create specific business rules for Vetnil®'s sequencing scenario, through which scheduling is carried out by prioritizing the grouping and the sequential order of the production batches, and by the ABC curve of finished products, ensuring, respectively, the production efficiency of all product lines and the intelligent replenishment of inventory.

Given the need for rigorous control of the products' Compounding and Filling operations, as mentioned earlier, and considering several constraints, such as the limited use of the compounding room as a production resource, Opcenter APS was configured to optimize the use of these constraints, enabling more accurate scheduling that mirrors Vetnil®'s reality. In the case of the product Weighing operation, Opcenter APS allowed the grouping of the weighing of all batches of the same production campaign, thus balancing the use of the weighing rooms and scales, and minimizing total processing times.

With regard to operations carried out by Third Parties, the solution developed for Vetnil® integrated these processes into the complete production scheduling, considering the lead time agreed with suppliers and the synchronization with the other operations, thus enabling a complete view of the process, the occupancy of the third parties, as well as the monitoring of deadlines.

Some of the more complex challenges that Vetnil® faced when scheduling production manually were considering the minimum waiting time to start the next operation of some manufactured products, as well as the processing of incremental bottle sizes in the liquid filling process. With Opcenter APS, it was possible to configure the minimum waiting times before the next operation, considering the times of all stages to form the total lead time, and thus ensuring the correct sequencing of the products. As for the liquid filling process, a business rule was created that enabled the processing of the different bottle sizes incrementally, from smallest to largest or vice versa, optimizing the gradual setup time of the line.

To handle the items that are being processed on a given resource while the Coding operation occurs simultaneously, NEO's project team developed a business rule whereby it is not necessary to finish preparing the formula in the Weighing and Compounding operations for the packaging Coding operation to begin — that is, these operations can occur in parallel. According to André Resende, PCP Manager, the team today uses all the reports from NEO's standard report package, highlighting mainly the Materials Analysis and Scheduling Adherence reports, which prior to the project were not measured or controlled by Vetnil®, as well as the Scheduling by Resource report, which was made available in Power BI and published on the internet to be available to all stakeholders.

The implementation of Opcenter APS at Vetnil® by the NEO Engenharia de Produção team brought gains that went beyond the automation of production sequencing. With the development of the project, it was possible to carry out a study of the need to increase reporting stations, expanding their use to the Weighing and Compounding operations, and thus increasing their frequency. As a result, reporting was no longer carried out only on the finished product, enabling a more constant update of the scheduling, with better control over its adherence.

In addition, the production scheduling, which previously considered only the current week and the following one, began to take into account a firm sequencing horizon twice as large, thereby increasing the accuracy of the delivery-date promise for the sales team, the availability of products in stock and, consequently, the satisfaction of the end customer.

"After implementing Opcenter APS, we began to have a real-time overview of the 2 factories (supplements and medicines). We are able to track the status of each production run and alert the production supervisor about delays. The Opcenter APS reports made communication between the departments involved easier; today there is no longer a need to exchange emails to update information, because everyone has access to the updated, online reports."— André Resende, PCP Manager

The time spent by the PPCP team to carry out production scheduling was also considerably impacted by the use of Opcenter APS. Before the software, the team required more than 04 hours per week to generate the sequencing, and now the same activity requires 40 minutes per week to be executed. In addition, production scheduling was under the responsibility of the company's Operations Director; however, with the implementation of a complete and reliable solution that considers all the constraints fundamental to Vetnil®'s scenario, the responsibility passed to the PPCP team.

Through the scheduling-by-resource report, all areas of Vetnil® began to have a real-time view of the scheduling, without the need to send Excel spreadsheets by email, thus facilitating internal communication between areas, as well as the decision-making process with greater accuracy.

Since Vetnil®'s solution takes into account the lack of inputs and pending purchase orders, and thus does not allocate production orders before the arrival of the necessary materials, production stoppages due to a lack of raw materials no longer occur, ensuring continuous production and reducing its inefficiencies.

In addition, the implementation of Opcenter APS was accompanied by a time-study analysis of all of Vetnil®'s operations. The measured processing times and setup times, in turn, were registered in the databases of the TOTVS Protheus ERP and Opcenter APS, respectively, allowing the calculation of the real production time per batch of each product. In this way, scheduling adherence improved, in addition to having provided a more reliable and detailed view of production times. Overall, the implementation of Opcenter APS brought countless gains and benefits to Vetnil®, from agility in production scheduling, real-time production visibility, cost reduction, improved communication between areas, elimination of stoppages due to lack of materials, as well as increased scheduling adherence.

"Weekly scheduling used to take hours to complete; today we can do it in a few minutes. We have already managed to double the firm horizon (previously 2 weeks, now 4 weeks), with the possibility of increasing it even further. Rescheduling has become easy and is now done very quickly. It is undoubtedly a solution that will help us greatly in the coming years."— André Resende, PCP Manager