Certified by

Advanced Planning and

Scheduling-System (APS)

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production

World Leading
Advanced Planning System
of Lean Production

The world elite of lean production use Asprova:

In Japan, Asprova‘s Advanced Plannung and Scheduling System (APS) holds a

market share of 52,4 %
(according to Fuji Keizai)
No contradiction anymore:
cost reduction and maximum flexibility

How to deal with uncertainty?

How to balance the demands of market and production?

Current Demands
market demands towards manufacturers

ê ê
„„ increasing product vari- „„ low stock levels
ation
„„ shorter lead times
„„ shorter delivery times
„„ precise and effective use
„„ shorter ordering inter- of available resources
vals (material, machinery,
„„ unstable costs of raw personnel, etc.)
material „„ meeting delivery deadlines
„„ fluctuating demand „„ minimisation of scheduling
„„ short product lifecycles and steering effort
„„ etc. „„ reduction of fixed costs by
lowering of capacities

Example:
Market demands towards manufacturing companies become The higher the inventory, the more difficult it is to control.
more and more complex. Many enterprises react by an Due to a lack of transparency the number of defective parts
increase of stock levels. The result is a growing number of increases.
“shelf warmers”, which will have to be disposed annually.
In spite of high stock levels, meeting delivery dates becomes
Both problems considerably increase expenditures.
more difficult.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 2
Asprova APS - the solution
to scheduling problems in manufacturing

ERP systems require complementation for advanced scheduling

Scheduling on the basis of predictable developments
is outdated. Today industrial production is facing a Asprova APS responds to inquiries like
growing dynamisation of markets. Like a well-trained these in real time:
body, production has to be able to react immediately
and flexibly to any kind of change. „„ What is a realistic delivery date for a new
order?
ERP systems support the management, especially
from the perspective of controlling. They are a top- „„ How high is capacity utilisation – in total
to-bottom solution with sequential logic for data and by resource?
management and are not suited for advanced plan- „„ What are the effects of prioritising the manu-
ning purposes such as: facturing of a certain order?
„„ What is the optimal starting point for indi-
„„ 100% visualisation of production processes and
vidual manufacturing orders?
orders
„„ Where are overlaps, bottlenecks or unused
„„ quick planning computation
capacities?
„„ production scheduling and optimisation
„„ What is the optimal work plan/order
Asprova is a complementation to existing ERP sequence for individual resources?
systems. „„ How to optimise production lead times and
inventory?
„„ How to steer orders within the available
resource capacities?

ERP system
(SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Baan, . . .)

ing
h e miss een
T
betw
link und MES
Advanced Planning System ERP
Asprova Advanced
Planning System
is the missing
MES complementation
to existing ERP
systems.

The Leading Planning System for

3 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
Successful companies
are lean, quick and flexible

Consistent implementation of lean production with Asprova APS

Many talk about the necessity of lean
Typical success reports of Asprova users: production but fail at implementing
it consistently.
„„ shortening of process lead time by 50%
Asprova is specifically tailored to the
„„ reduction of inventory of WIP by 50%
demands of lean production. It is for
„„ reduction of inventory of finished items by 30 % a reason that the system is utilised
„„ increase in productivity by the world elite of lean production.
„„ drastic decrease in scheduling effort
„„ reduction of fixed and variable costs
„„ significant increase in flexibility and speed when adjusting to
changing conditions

Advanced planning with Asprova

(simplified diagram)

7 1
The shop floor situation changes The ERP system regularly transfers new
constantly. With the help of Asprova, the production orders to Asprova, including
planner can easily control and optimise the master data, process routes, stock levels
current situation through re-scheduling. etc.

6 2
The individual processes regularly send Precise advanced production planning
feedback to Asprova via ERP/MES, with Asprova by means of 100% visualisa-
reporting the progress of orders. tion of manufacturing by the system.

5 3
Or: Asprova sends work instructions to The planner can steer and optimise the
all work places concerned via ERP/MES. settings easily and quickly.

4
Asprova issues work instructions and
sends them directly to all work places
concerned.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 4
Take the lead through
speed and efficiency in scheduling

High speed scheduling enables real time picturisation of production

With 5000 arithmetic operations in 3 seconds, Asprova
is the fastest scheduler on a worldwide scale. This
makes it possible to
„„ synchronise complex manufacturing processes
including supply chain, taking into account all
capacity- and deadline-related dependencies and
material availabilities in real time
„„ conduct simulations of various alternatives
regarding feasibility, costs and delivery times.
Other conventional schedulers need a computing
time of up to several hours for 100,000 arithmetic
operations. Asprova masters this within less than 20
seconds, taking into account over 1000 parameters
for each individual order. With 5000 arithmetic operations in 3 seconds, Asprova is
Thanks to Asprova you are able to picturise the the fastest scheduler on a worldwide scale. Through various
current production process 100 % and to create a simulations, the scheduler is able to calculate for example
simulation identical to the current situation. the optimal lead time within seconds.

Most APS systems are not capable of this, or only to

a small extend. They often require further manual
adjustments or even individual programming.

Compared to the previous version, the current generation of

Asprova has increased operating speed by a factor of 4. 5000
arithmetic operations are carried out within only 3 seconds.
This fast pace enables you to immediately determine the
effects of any kind of change to the production process.

The Leading Planning System for

5 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
A pilot can only steer
if the instruments display the reality

Exact advanced scheduling through 2400 parameters and 4000 properties

Over 2400 different parameters and 4000 proper- „„ individual setting of work schedules, shifts,
ties within the Asprova system consider all conceiv- working days and hours, overtime and weekend
able standard situations in production. This enables hours, absences for every resource and employee
a 100% picturisation of the current manufacturing „„ automatic scheduling of events, e.g. mainte-
process by the software without any individual nance after a certain period of use (e.g. 2 hours
programming. after 500 hours of service), by frequency of use
(e.g. 4 hours after 10,000 casts) or by fixed date
The most significant parameters and setting options
(e.g. 1 hour at 7 p.m. on the last work day of the
of Asprova:
month), etc.
„„ setting of productivity matrix for workers
Resources: „„ skill matrix (setting of available resources and
their processing speeds)
„„ simultaneous consideration of all resource
„„ periods of validity (availability of resources
capacities for the calculation
restricted to certain times/days/periods)
„„ simultaneous consideration of availabilities
„„ restrictions of subsequent resources (conditions
of main resources and sub-resources (e.g.
for resources conducting subsequent processes)
machinery, right mould, left mould, workers,
tools, etc.) „„ resource lock
„„ setting of resource priorities „„ configuration of resource evaluation
„„ timing of events (e.g. maintenance)
Processes:
„„ setting of setup time (internal/ external setup,
teardown) for individual machine, product,
order
„„ maximum/minimum periods of stagnation or
transport for intermediate processes
„„ allocation of splitting or merging processes
„„ maximum suspend times for setup and produc-
tion
„„ splitting of lot sizes
„„ lot merging

100% picturisation of manufacturing processes in the sched-

uling system is an essential requirement of exact advanced
scheduling.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 6
 Why Asprova is used in diverse industries:
„„ 4000 properties and 2400 parameters enable
near 100% visualisation of production processes
and methods
„„ additional programming only necessary in
exceptional cases
„„ short and inexpensive implementation

100 % picturisation of current production in the scheduling system

Orders: Quality:
„„ instant calculation of realistic delivery dates for „„ setting of yield and scrap rate by product, by
specific customer inquiries (in consideration of process and by resource in order to reach desired
capacities and material availability) output volume (number of units), i.e. automatic
„„ scheduling for months in advance adjustment of volume discrepancies for the first
„„ individual setting of order priority process.
„„ automatic issuing of manufacturing order, trig-
gered (in advance) by minimum stock levels of
Over 100 different
WIP or finished products
customer require-
„„ automatic issuing of production schedule based ments are already
on sales plan provided by
„„ serving of orders from inventory, automatic Asprova as
issuing of manufacturing orders for missing scheduling para-
volumes meters.
„„ dynamic handling of rush orders: calculation of The versatility and
effects on existing orders and simulation of deliv- high performance
eries to assure on-time delivery of all orders of its scheduling
logic meet the
needs of more
Raw material: than 1300 Asprova
customers.
„„ scheduling on the basis of raw material avail-
ability, i.e. no scheduling without raw material
„„ consideration of the timing of incoming order-
related material
„„ automatic order replenishment through 1-to-1
production (flexible volume adjustment
according to stock levels and fixed volumes)
„„ pegging of inventory and period-specific safety
stock, material constraints
„„ scheduling of standardised material in- and
output for weeks/months in advance

Planning rules and priorities can be set individually

for each order.

The Leading Planning System for

7 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
Speed through visual
recognition of graphic elements

Graphic user interface for instant recognition and reaction

Scheduling results are displayed in the form of Gantt
charts and visualise the entire production process Main specifications and functionality
from incoming order in take to delivery of the of user interface:
finished product. You are able to overview the entire
production within seconds, both in the present state „„ graphic highlighting of problems (delays in
as well as several months into the future. delivery, etc.)
„„ visualisation of connections between proc-
Through the graphic preview, you are able to instantly esses and orders
recognise e.g. looming delays in delivery and to
„„ individual display settings (colours, manner
initiate necessary measures to prevent them. The
of data display, margins, tool bars, data tip,
respective numerical information can be displayed
etc.)
additionally.
„„ creating and checking the schedule for
several months in advance
„„ consistent and continuous display of in-
and outgoing inventory, material planning,
incoming orders, outsourcing, etc.
„„ individual changes of machine shifts
„„ manual assignment of orders (including
undo/redo function) via mouse and
keyboard
Overview of all orders in one diagram. It is possible to „„ filtering by particular processes/resources,
highlight and filter delayed orders. All processes connected e.g.: shift changes, result entry, result
to this order (including starting and ending times) become display, processes/resources
visible. „„ instant visualisation of production results
„„ reduction of time axis to required units
(calendar days, work time)
„„ zoom on individual processes
„„ switch to respective master data, diagrams,
custom charts
„„ very quick rendering
„„ print function

In this situation, the scheduler simulates a different scenario

in order to avoid a delay in delivery.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 8
Practical examples of Asprova’s user interface

Graphic display of changes in: raw material inventory,

production, consumption, incoming material, shipping,
Resource Gantt chart displaying availability of machines, production and consumption volume, etc. Changes are
personnel and material. visible in advance. Inventory data can be issued and
exported periodically.

Different display formats:

Excel-like spreadsheet view enables copy/paste to and Display of load for all resources. The view can be
from Excel, search, replace, auto fill, undo, error check expanded to trace the load back to individual orders.
(errors signalised by change of background colour). Easy export of load data, e.g. to Excel.

Graphic display of master data enables graphic

control of inserted data and of process flow.
Custom charts: Different diagrams can be combined on
one screen.

The Leading Planning System for

9 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
Asprova makes the scheduling
of complex relationships possible

Additional functions for highly efficient scheduling

Time constraint MAX

Pegging of sales and manufacturing „„ setting of maximum time in between processes
„„ automatic issuing of manufacturing orders based „„ application: semi-finished products with limited
on sales data, backwards scheduling and assign- durability, e.g. foods, chemicals, etc.
ment to required deadline
„„ pegging of manufacturing schedule and sales
orders with regard to delivery dates
„„ issuing of sales schedule based on annual or
monthly manufacturing schedule

Resource lock
Resources can be locked for certain periods after
completed manufacturing, e.g. for refuelling, lubrica-
tion, etc.
Pegging of purchasing and manufacturing
„„ issuing of medium and long term purchasing
schedules
„„ consideration of current purchasing schedule as a
restriction when issuing manufacturing schedule
„„ setting of purchasing lot sizes Event settings for all resources
„„ replenishment of raw material inventory in regard E.g. automatic scheduling of maintenance after a
to delivery data and sales orders certain frequency or period of use, setup times, etc.

KPI (key performance indicator) Optimisation logic

Calculation for entire projects or for individual orders, Optimisation of work sequences according to prop-
resources or products from a total of 51 values; exam- erties, e.g. integration of product lots from the same
ples for available KPIs and settings: turnover, material period, sorting from lighter to darker colours, from
costs, hourly rates, external costs, total costs, profit, thin to thick sheet metal, from high to low oven
quota of delivery date reliability, production lead time, temperatures, etc.
setup time quota, level/value of inventory, etc.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 10
 Asprova APS has
been certified by
most ERP deve-

C ERTI FI E D B Y
lopers and can be
combined with over
200 different infor-
mation systems, e.g.
SAP, BAAN, Micro-
soft AX and NAV,
JDEdwards, etc.
Swift integration
into existing systems

Maximum flexibility due to high integration ability and plug-in system

Easy and swift integration into existing IT systems is
one of Asprova’s great strengths. Most important technical features:
Should adaptations be necessary nonetheless, appli-
„„ Built-in expression editor renders subsequent
cations can be integrated as plug-ins in Visual Basic, programming unnecessary
C++ or via the integrated expression editor. This
„„ supports modern XML-technology, enabling
allows for menus, dialogues, data display and config- communication with ERP system via internet
uration, scheduling logic, etc. to be extended through
„„ import and export of master data and sched-
individual expressions.
uling results
Since the plug-in system is based on Microsoft „„ supports Visual Basic for Applications, certi-
Standard COM technology, anyone acquainted fied by Microsoft
with Visual Basic or macro commands for Excel or „„ communicates with customary OLE databases,
Access is able to create plug-ins for Asprova APS. No e.g. SQL Server, Oracle, Access, etc.
changes to the core system are necessary and update „„ import and export property conversion expres-
capability remains. sion
Asprova features a differential import and export „„ differential data import and export
function for data transfer in order to minimise data „„ primary keys can be adapted
volumes. In doing so, actualisations only consider „„ data sequence in database is insignificant
changed data and make alterations visible on the
„„ data filter expression
spot.
„„ text files as CSV or tab-separated; supports
Unicode
„„ individual labelling and sequence of elements
„„ separate selection of chart elements for
import/export
„„ individual setting for each chart

Built-in expression editor renders subsequent

programming unnecessary:
Formulae can have an influence on several aspects of oper-
ating setup, timing, user interface, database connection, etc.
Their programming is similar to that of macros and even
covers complex situations which would otherwise require Through field mapping you can easily define corre-
external programming. Efficient settings of master data can spondences between Asprova and external systems.
drastically reduce data volume.

The Leading Planning System for

11 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
Become a time winner
in manufacturing with Asprova APS

Extensive scheduling parameters from top lean manufacturers

Ingenious scheduling logic with A complex

numerous real life parameters used by real life example inspection
lean manufacturers:
assembly
„„ scheduling with finite resource capacities
„„ backwards or forwards calculation of each sand
Strahlen
blasting sand blasting
individual order
„„ backwards: from date of delivery to latest pressing
Pressen pressing
possible starting point (just-in-time calcula-
tion) lubrication lubrication lubrication
„„ forwards: earliest date of completion from
point of scheduling (for rush orders) sand blasting
„„ bottleneck calculation (pull-push calcula-
tion): priority on reduction of overall lead forging forging
time, i.e. starting point of upstream is
optimised according to process availability cutting
of bottleneck operation
„„ automatic operation splitting
„„ assignment with load levelling (Heijunka)
Within the operation flow, the product passes through
„„ variable property settings for pegging four different machines two to three times. Scheduling can
similar lots become highly complex when handling hundreds of orders
„„ minimisation of setup times for each containing different products, cycle times and volumes.
process through product pooling Asprova masters these challenges easily.
„„ automatic pegging of orders with complex
conditions
„„ pegging of inventory and period-specific
safety stock, material constraints
„„ operations can be performed while sched-
uling, e.g. keep assigned location, changes
in master data, import & export
„„ prioritisation of scheduling parameters
„„ selection of certain offers, processes,
resources and products through filter
option
Scheduling optimum timing of setup. Setting of setup
timing for all machines.
→ setup never takes place on two machines simultaneously
in order to optimise resource usage of setup team and to
avoid interruptions in work flow.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 12
 Achievements of Asprova users:
„„ reduction of scheduling effort: 2 staff-hours per
day instead of two employees
„„ reduction of inventory of WIP by 60%
„„ increase in productivity by 20%
„„ increase in manufacturing capacity by 20%
through shorter changeover times
„„ high improvement in on-time delivery

Lead time reduction: Scheduling with bottleneck planning parameters

Before: lead time of 21.03 days

Through fast and realistic analysis of

manufacturing processes, bottlenecks can be
localised promptly.

After: lead time of 14.55 days

Lead times are shortened drastically through

optimisation of respective operations down to the
last detail.

The Leading Planning System for

13 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
The lean scheduling instrument
for the entire manufacturing industry

Asprova users: from multinational corporation to medium-sized business

The users of Asprova are companies from both make-
to-order manufacturing and batch production, from Counting a number of more than 1,300
medium-sized business to multinational corpora- users, Asprova can be found in all areas
tion. of the manufacturing industry:
A further significant performance parameter is „„ Electric/ electronic industry:
Asprova’s orientation towards the requirements of LEDs, connectors, micro processors, wafers, circuit
lean production. Established in 1994, it has ever since boards, speakers, ceramics, clocks, semiconductors,
been the goal of the Asprova developers to meet the DVDs, electric wires, LCD screens, stereo systems,
specific demands. Today Asprova is regarded as mobile phones, TFT units, fibreglass wires, digital
the best lean scheduler worldwide – which is only cameras, refrigerators, lighting, sensors, signals,
confirmed by the list of references. solar equipment, batteries, computers, notebooks,
etc.
The world elite of lean production „„ Automotive industry:
use Asprova: Engines, doors, bodywork, design, component
development, plastic parts, mould manufacturing,
bumpers, cables, tubes, rubber parts, brakes, seats,
gearboxes, motorcycles, etc.
„„ Mechanical engineering:
Machine tools, agricultural engines, industrial
engines, optical instruments, ventilation systems,
heating systems, electric tools, centrifuges, test
machines, tanks, turbines, vacuum pumps, packing
machines, etc.
The most renowned Asprova users in Japan read like a „„ Metal processing:
“who-is-who” of Japanese top businesses. With a market
share of 52.4 %, Asprova is the outstanding market leader Finishing tools, wires, steel construction, steel
among schedulers. production, sheet metal parts, fences, blades, sheet
metal, coils, cogwheels, metal springs, sheet copper,
ship panels, tool cutters, magnets, etc.
Renowned Asprova users in Europe:
„„ Non-metal parts:
Plastic products, corks, packaging, textiles, paper,
rubber products, UV ink, ceramics, catalysers,
dental materials, etc.
„„ Consumer goods:
Foods, plastic bags, stationery, apparel, cosmetics,
toys, etc.

Also the European manufacturing industry is discovering „„ Medical goods:

the outstanding advantages of Asprova for lean production. Medical equipment, laboratory equipment, medica-
tion, hospital equipment, etc.
A current list of references
can be found online at www.asprova.eu „„ Chemical goods:
Polyethylene, silicon, motor oil, asphalt, etc.

The Leading Planning System for

Lean Production www.asprova.eu 14
Flexible system architecture
enables optimal adaption

Asprova’s modular structure for versatile scheduling functions:

„„ APS (= LS + MS + sales option + purchasing option): long, medium and short term scheduling of
sales, manufacturing and purchasing – in one module
„„ MS: medium term scheduler; issues detailed advance scheduling for individual work places and
issues work instructions
„„ LS: long term scheduler; conducts high-precision long term scheduling
„„ MRP: calculates material requirement in ultra-high speed
„„ BOM: input and editing of BOM (product master data)
„„ MES: display of Gantt charts (=scheduling), e.g. for workshop; result input
„„ KPI: calculation and evaluation of key performance indicators
„„ DS: (Data Server): data integration from different Asprova modules
„„ NLS: (Network License Server): enables access to Asprova from any computer within the network

Funktionsmodule Optionen Abbreviations:

„„ GIU = graphic user interface
Optimierungs-Logik
GUI / Ergebnisse

Aufträge Verkauf

„„ OM = bill of material
B
Aufträge Einkauf

Zeitbedingung
BOM Eingabe

„„ MRP = manufacturing resource planning

Resourcen

„„ FCR = finite capacity rough scheduling

Ereignis
sperren

„„ FCS = finite capacity scheduling

max.
MRP

FCR

FCS

KPI

System-
Module „„ KPI = key performance indicator;
APS             economic indicators determining
progress of essential goals or critical
MS             success factors
LS        „„ MES = management execution system;
MRP       link between machine controls and
management system
BOM  
„„ DS = data server
MES  „„ NLS = network license server
KPI  
DS

NLS

The Leading Planning System for

15 www.asprova.eu Lean Production
 Talking is silver,
testing is golden

Free trial* version with full functionality

The free trial version is equivalent to the fully functional The free trial version includes detailed documenta-
Asprova APS full version, however limited to a number tion to help you learn to use Asprova and to conduct
of 250 operations. a model calculation.
With this trial version you can test all applications, If you are a manufacturing company, we will be
enter master data, install interfaces for external systems, pleased to send you a free trial version. Please feel
adjust table elements, develop and set plug-ins, etc. free to contact us!
Essentially, you can do anything except for scheduling
based on extensive data volumes.
Available Asprova language versions:
Should you decide to purchase a full version later on, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish,
you will be mailed a hardware dongle which will enable Lithuanian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
you to process greater data records.
The trial version is in English.
*) only for confirmed manufacturing companies

Worldwide support

Asprova branches worldwide:

„„ Asprova Japan (headquarters)
„„ Asprova China (Shanghai)
„„ Asprova Korea
„„ Asprova America
„„ Asprova Germany/Europe

A worldwide partner network in nearly all industrial countries (marked green on

map) enables on-location customer support.
06/2009

Your Asprova system partner:

AG Europe
Leihgesterner Weg 10, D-35625 Hüttenberg Integrated Management Solutions (Global) Ltd
The Granary, Mappleton,
Tel. +49 (0)06403- 774 41 30, Fax: - 7 62 79
E-Mail: [email protected] North Hykeham,
Lincoln. LN6 9TQ
www.asprova.eu Tel: 0845 130 8499

www.imsolutions.info