You will never be ready to implement an APS solution!

We are always looking to provide relevant content for our blog and answer the top questions we receive. In this article, we’ll discuss a delicate topic that makes everyone a bit uneasy: the realization that we will never be 100% prepared for an APS implementation (or any other software, for that matter). This is a crucial subject because people often feel stuck, thinking everything must be perfect before taking the first step. We need to understand that our "house" won't always be in order before starting a project, and often, all you really need is a little push to overcome inertia.

‍But after all, what does it mean to be ready? When will I be mature enough for an APS project?

‍To start this discussion, it’s helpful to look at what usually holds companies back: production routings. Most companies believe they need a complete, total overhaul of all production routings, process times, machine capabilities, and bill of materials details before starting the project. We know that, often, this review ends up being driven more by cost management than by actual scheduling needs. It’s also worth remembering that this stage is part of the project itself, with dedicated time to carry out this review in a guided manner.

To be quite realistic, no company has all the necessary data at the required level of detail before adopting APS software. In our experience, having worked on hundreds of projects across different companies, not one was 100% ready. A second point of anxiety for those planning an APS project is the need for production reporting and the level of detail required. This is actually a major dilemma: is it better to start with an APS project, where all scheduling is done first, or is it better to start with a MES initiative—the well-known production control systems—to see what is actually being executed and focus on control first? The answer is: it depends. There is no explicit requirement for either system to function. The main point here is: how do you schedule? You can use an APS system without necessarily having a MES, but we will still need a minimum level of reporting to know what is happening, just as we can manage control without necessarily having detailed scheduling. In other words, there is no dependency, but there is synergy, and the demand arises naturally.

A very interesting strategy is to implement MES after APS. This allows us to equip the MES with a detailed schedule, so we aren't reporting production execution against nothing, but rather against what was actually scheduled. Consequently, we gain the ability to work with schedule adherence indicators. In short, we can consider that reporting at a frequency similar to the scheduling process is the baseline of readiness needed to start an APS project—the minimum required to get the ball rolling. A very interesting complementary topic is that we here at NEO have an exclusive methodology developed by our team for readiness analysis to define a company's level of maturity for an APS project. This methodology works with 4 pillars that evaluate various aspects.

‍Want to know more? Follow our channel on YouTube and Spotify, where you’ll find the full content discussing the pillars of readiness analysis and strategies companies can define when implementing APS software. You can also get in touch with us to analyze your case.

YouTube: https://bit.ly/ciborguesdaindustria

‍Spotify: https://bit.ly/ciborgues