Optimize your operations - Increase throughput.

Efficiently planning resources of human, machine and materials, while scheduling the tasks for these resources within the finite capacity of the environment is a key element to a successful operation.

The PdMAIN software has the ability to schedule all employees and the specific machines, the materials they consume and the business constraints they use through built in modules. The results are more efficient delivery of products to the customer and proper utilization of the work force.

By introducing work centres and work orders, which consume items to build a finished good, and applying skill levels to each employee the PdMAIN system can run capacity planning, based on current and future sales order demand, to schedule the work force and machinery for each shift. This ensures that the right people are working on the right tasks using the correct machinery. This will minimize machine idle time and maximize worker effectiveness.

The PdMAIN software is an integrated system that not only manages the inventory and workflow but it can suggest an optimal work plan, based on current constraints and which work centre and when to best deliver to the customer. It allows the management staff to have complete control of the shop floor to maximize profits. PdMAIN can become an invaluable management tool.

BENEFITS OF RESOURCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING:

• Optimize capacity of operations
• Improved customer service levels
• Reduced work-in-process
• Improved engineering change control
• Reduced inventory levels
• Improved visibility
• Shortened lead times
• Increased productivity

Planning

The MRP aspect of the PdMAIN Resource Planning module provides information for Purchasing to ensure the time-phased acquisition of materials to meet the Master Schedule. The Capacity Planning aspect of this module provides shop load visibility matching requirements and resources resulting in reliable order promising and manpower scheduling.

The Distribution Requirements Planning module assists with the scheduling of customer deliveries and provides truck loading and route planning information.

PdMAIN Forecasting modules provide the tools to assist with the planning process. Simulation of Business and “What If” models allow management to experiment with various scenarios and to select the most favorable outcome.

The PdMAIN Planning module is used to control all aspects of Financial and Sales Budgeting as well as Resources. No more guessing or speculating as to what each person is working on, assign expected durations for each task and measure each activity. Use the PdMAIN MRP (Materials Resource Planning) module to order inventory to arrive JIT (Just In Time) to minimize unnecessary stock in the warehouse and reduce the warehouse costs.

PdMAIN Resource Planning will calculate the supply and demand on all your resources (Materials, Production Capacity, Distribution Capacity etc.) based on current and forecast Orders to determine a time-phased schedule that levels the load on the shop floor and maximizes customer service.

Feature Highlights:

• PdMAIN offers both finite and infinite Capacity Planning
• Resource Planning can run anytime, even during the day without affecting other transactions on the system.
• Extensive manpower scheduling functions
• Comprehensive "What If" modeling capability
• Resource Planning will suggest Work Orders and Purchase Orders with auto-release capability.

Modules that incorporate PdMAIN planning include:

• Business Plan
• Cumulative Balances
• Cumulative Received Quantity
• Cumulative Shipped Quantity
• Export Future Purchase Report
• Future Purchase
• Future Supplier Split
• Material Schedule
• Planned Orders
• Plant Loading
• Purchasing Requirements
• Resource Planning
• Seasonal Requirements
• Suggested Purchase Orders
• Suggested Resource Schedule
• Suggested Work Orders
• Time Fence Query
• Work Centre Loading
• Work Centre Re-Scheduling
• Work Orders Re-Scheduling
• Sales Planning
• Create Budgets
• Budget Tree
• Forecasting
• Sales Trends

With PdMAIN’s planning, you can: increase production; improve inventory turns; retain customers through accurate order promising and on-time deliveries; reduce inventory; improve market and global positioning.

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Scheduling

PdMAIN's scheduling software encompasses scheduling, organizing and controlling of the processes and resources from acquisition and replenishment of initial raw materials, to purchasing and inventory control, to the ultimate consumption of the finished product. PdMAIN provides the scheduling software tools for managing the functions within the company to efficiently manage materials, labour and operations.

Scheduling has unique capabilities for the manufacturing and distribution, including network scheduling, up to the second sequencing, and resource management. Its scheduling and allocation functions model multiple constraints and are easy to implement to your specifications. Options include finite or infinite capacity scheduling according to due time, deliver time, critical path, priority rules, or minimal changeover times.

Feature Highlights:

Using PdMAIN's Scheduling, a scheduler can automatically:

• Forward, backward, throughput, midpoint, priority, bottleneck, due dates, user-defined and other work scheduling
• Multi-level, inter-related work dependency scheduling
• Work pool scheduling
• Extensive operation sequencing controls
• Create, size, and schedule production runs
• Visual scheduling board with drag and drop functionality for optimal work center management
• Resource scheduling
• Highlights scheduling conflicts, bottlenecks and potential problems long before they will occur.
• Allocate resources to equipment against finite capacity
• Schedule locations and other intermediate storage facilities
• Schedule labour
• Schedule materials and work in process
• Synchronize the various stages in the production process
• Powerful simulation features
• Alternative work routing
• Make schedules visible, indicating constraints and scheduling options on-line
• Perform “what if” analysis and capacity simulation studies
• All accomplished in on-line real-time.

Using PdMAIN's Scheduling has benefits such as:

• Optimizing production increases output and improves reliability of delivery dates.
• Modeling to optimize manufacturing efficiency.
• Rapid impact on the bottom line due to quickly increasing throughput and visibility of the production schedule, while simultaneously requiring less safety stock.
• Can be implemented in a short period of time, often in a few weeks, depending on the availability of data.

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Resources

The PdMAIN Resources modules provide the tools to manage all your resources including people, equipment and technology.

Feature Highlights:

• Real-time shop floor data collection systems capture transaction information at the point of origin and this data is immediately available to the enterprise. Information from this application includes Human Resource management, productivity measurement, manufacturing definitions and plant maintenance data.
• Capacity planning and Work Order tracking systems are integrated with the Time and Attendance system to develop employee schedules that match anticipated production activity.
• The Resources modules are used by the Materials, Work Orders, Planning, Job Tracking, Production Reporting, Touch Screen, Time and Attendance, Payroll and Service Order modules.
• Resource module functions include:
  • Shop Floor Control
  • Routing Maintenance
  • Human Resources
• The Resources module provides detailed information about your shop floor resources including employees, work centres and operations.
• Features of these modules include:
  • Integration with data collection, Touch Screens, Scanners and Wireless Networks
  • Integration with Payroll and Time & Attendance
  • Unlimited Routings, Operations and Work Centres cab be established
  • Extensive use of bar code technology
• Work Orders are automatically generated by the Planning/ Scheduling applications.
• Provides the capability of assigning specific work centres per operation in a work order.
• Allows for entry of estimated duration of the operation and tracks the time logged against the operation.
• Allows for setting skill codes against operations and only individuals with that skill code can perform the operation.
• Controls flow and forces resources to work on assigned tasks in the operation.
• Multiple Time card entry methods.
• Special and rework work orders.
• Actual costing capabilities.
• Integration with mobile wireless applications.
• The PdMAIN Time and Attendance modules are used to track and classify the time an employee spends at work and their absences from work. This information is forwarded to the Payroll system for creation of pay cheques and financial reporting.

PdMAIN provides Human Resources with integrated systems that encompass Time and Attendance, Payroll and Employee information and scheduling. Employee information is kept securely in restricted access files and information from many PdMAIN modules is brought together in the PdCUBE Data Warehouse to provide amazing efficiency, utilization and productivity analysis of the Human Resources in your organization.

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Equipment

Managing the work centres and the associated equipment in the work centres is a key element to properly planning the internal operations of a manufacturing facility. The PdMAIN software has the ability to properly run capacity planning for each and every defined work centre and all the machinery that is associated with that work centre.

Feature Highlights:

• Define the operation and assign a work centre to the operation. Each operation can have multiple work centres so that the equipment associated with a work centre is fully utilized.
• Assign skill codes to each work centre and allow the system to plan the capacity and properly assign the human resources based on shift availability.
• Associate costs for each work centre and skill code for employees to do a cost rollup and determine the actual value of running operations in that work centre.
• Schedule down time for the equipment and the capacity planning will incorporate this into the calculation
• Determine duration, hourly rates, outputs per hour, scheduled down times and setup cost associated with each piece of equipment.
• Associate equipment to defined operations and calculate and schedule the capacity.

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Labour

Labour is a integrated component of manufacturing that can be measured and properly planned. The PdMAIN system uses the Capacity Planning modules to schedule the right activities to be performed when the right employees are scheduled. The system will also account for shortages and warn when capacity cannot be met.

This is a component of the complete PdMAIN integrated system and tightly coupled with the Human Resources system.

Feature Highlights:

• Create an employee schedule to define the shifts when an employee is scheduled to work.
• Attach employee skill codes to each employee and associate these skill codes to work centres.
• Associate Labour rates for each employee and account for shift premiums and special conditions.
• Run Capacity planning and allow the PdMAIN system to schedule the employees with the operations to best utilize the Labour force.

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