APS and the Steps to Industry 4.0

Having emerged a few years ago through public-private partnerships between the German government and leading innovation companies in the country, the topic of Industry 4.0 is emerging in the industrial sector. The concept encompasses a series of technologies, now widespread in other segments of the economy, which are interconnected in order to generate solutions for manufacturing. These technologies include automation, the internet of things, robots, simulation, augmented reality, big data, additive manufacturing (3D printing, for example), the cloud and artificial intelligence. With the help of these tools, we are moving towards digital manufacturing through digitization. In other words, not only are our work objects digital, but the processes that involve the entire production chain must also be digitized, and this need is evident given that companies' processes and products are becoming increasingly complex. With this in mind, SIEMENS has been investing heavily in PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) for many years, providing solutions to make the processes of product development and production planning more robust and agile (this planning in the context of the design of the production system, not the planning of execution, as in the case of APS systems).With Siemens PLM solutions, companies reduce development costs, increase the quality of their products, better manage knowledge about their portfolio and also drastically reduce their time-to-market. Many companies today are replacing entire prototyping factories with much more efficient digitalized solutions.

But it's still not enough. There's no point in developing products and processes properly if they can't be implemented in the time expected by the market and with the necessary efficiency, since they are absorbed by a mass production system. Understanding this need, SIEMENS acquired PREACTOR APS in 2013.BUT WHAT ISAPS? A few decades ago, APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) systems emerged to assist in Production Planning and Scheduling with a finite capacity vision, considering the constraints of production resources, as well as those relating to the availability of materials for production and tooling, physical storage space, among other possible criteria. In addition to constraints, each industry has a series of rules for scheduling its production orders, such as time limits between operations, transfers, perishability, breakdowns and batch controls, among other aspects. PREACTOR is one of the pioneers of this trend and, created in 1993 in England, it has become what it is today: a world leader in APS solutions. The implementation of APS software brings stability to PPCP processes and confidence in the promise of delivery times, reduced stocks and lead times, as well as making it possible to optimize manufacturing efficiency through intelligent algorithms that can reduce setup times, for example. The gains are really significant and implementation is feasible in many industry segments. Once you have developed the product quickly and correctly in PLM, you can validate by A + B that it can (or cannot) be produced in the time required by the market. If it can't, you can simulate different scenarios to better meet these needs and have visibility of the result beforehand. That's APS! FUTURE VISIONAlthoughwe live in the present, we need to think about the future. That's why, in addition to having a state-of-the-art APS solution integrated with the most complete PLM portfolio, NEO is thinking ahead and is meeting the technologies of Industry 4.0. We envision a future in which production scheduling is autonomous, equipped with artificial intelligence and advanced optimization algorithms. In this way, PPCP will be able to dedicate itself to activities with the highest possible added value, enabling more in-depth analysis of its scenarios, becoming more present in the production environment itself and only being triggered in situations that require human intervention.Today, NEO is proud to have customers with the same innovative mindset and willing to become early adopters in this shared vision and the first steps of this innovation are being taken. By bringing together the best tools and the best people, we will make the future a reality as soon as possible![noptin-form id=2822]