Production systems

Production organization

How to optimize the structure of your production

Nowadays, customers not only expect a wide range of variants, but also flexible offers. At the same time, companies need to produce as efficiently as possible in order to remain competitive in the long term. But how can you optimize your production?

We work with you to analyze your entire product portfolio. From this, we derive how your products and assemblies can be structured in the best possible way. We then integrate the results into your company structure, for example by making make-or-buy decisions.

In a further step, we also determine a suitable production structure based on the developed assemblies. This ensures that your production is extremely flexible and that the key parameters in the manufacture of your products are not neglected at the same time. We have supported a wide range of projects in the field of production organization in various industries. We therefore have the in-depth experience to provide you with optimum support.

Service packages

• Analyze relevant product characteristics and define product groups
• Determine optimum assembly structure
• Select, develop, and evaluate manufacturing concepts
• Developing a holistic production concept

Your benefit:

1. Tailoring your production to your product portfolio
2. Objective evaluation of existing and optimal design of new production systems
3. High responsiveness to a wide range of customer needs

Strategic capacity planning

The best possible planning of your capacities

The theoretically planned capacity often differs significantly from the actual quantity of units produced. It is a very complex task to plan capacities in detail and as precisely as possible. However, this is essential in order to correctly dimension warehouses as well as production and assembly areas, to meet the quantities demanded and at the same time to be able to utilize machines and systems in the best possible way.

With our experience from numerous projects in this field, we support you in mastering this challenge. To do this, we first analyze the current situation based on the existing production capacities and the required quantities. We then dimension storage and production areas. In doing so, we take all technological restrictions into account to ensure the smooth interaction of your machines and systems.

Service packages

• Record quantities for relevant product variants
• Calculate production capacity based on production steps and lead times
• Evaluate and coordinate machine and plant capacities
• Determining the size of storage, buffer, and production areas
• Simulate future scenarios and capacity expansions

Your benefit:

1. Stable production processes without bottlenecks or ripple effects
2. Transparency regarding future investment needs
3. Early detection of capacity bottlenecks
4. Basis for factory or manufacturing footprint planning
5. Planning certainty for growth and capacity expansions

Order management and material provision

Align your production to the needs of your customers

Every manufacturing company wants to be able to fulfill its customers’ orders on time. However, this is often made more difficult by restrictions and requirements arising from production. It is therefore often a major challenge to align production processes with customer ordering behavior.

We approach this challenge with a clear, systematic approach in order to gradually and optimally align your production with the needs of your customers. To do this, we examine exactly what framework conditions your internal processes are subject to and what your external requirements are. Based on this information, we define a production strategy from which a production concept can be derived, which we develop together with your experts.

The concept is created with a clear focus on the KPIs that are important to you, such as throughput and cycle times or batch sizes; depending on the product group, different order types (make-to-order, engineer-to-order, make-to-stock, etc.) can be defined for production – depending on requirements. We also use our in-depth experience in the area of work preparation to support you in controlling your production process in the best possible way to ensure an efficient workflow. The ultimate goal is to ensure that all processes in production are coordinated with each other and interlock with the greatest possible efficiency.

Service packages

• Analyze customer ordering behavior
• Define order types for production per product group
• Determine target lead times and identify optimal lot sizes
• Optimize individual production steps
• Derive process-related requirements for material provision
• Dimension buffers and stocks

Your benefit:

1. Alignment of your processes with strategic goals
2. Interlocking production and customer needs
3. Reduced inventory and lower capital tied up
4. Less waste and more efficient use of resources
5. Greater transparency and control over production processes
6. Efficiently coordinated processes throughout the entire value chain

Personnel deployment planning

Make your staff a success factor

Demographic change and global competition for talent are increasingly causing a shortage of personnel in the industry. It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to recruit qualified specialists for open positions. However, as wage costs continue to rise at the same time, it is becoming all the more important to make optimum use of existing capacities.

We take a holistic view of your production system – and that expressly means that we also support you in proactively counteracting the shortage of skilled workers and optimizing your personnel deployment planning. We want you to make the best possible use of your employees – this also ensures greater satisfaction, especially among specialist staff.

In order to achieve this goal, we examine the requirements and framework conditions of your current personnel situation in detail. Based on this, we work with you to develop a suitable catalog of measures to deploy your specialist staff in a targeted manner and attract new talent.

Service packages

• Determine staffing requirements based on the number of skilled workers and the level of automation
• Analyze and evaluate different shift models
• Develop measures to enhance the company’s appeal as an employer

Your benefit:

1. Higher productivity through optimal utilization of personnel capacity
2. More stable production despite a shortage of skilled workers
3. Technically and economically optimized degree of automation
4. Increasing workplace appeal and employee satisfaction
5. Future-proof workforce planning in the manufacturing sector

Production planning and control systems

Always one step ahead of your customers’ ordering behavior

There can always be short-term, even sharp fluctuations in your customers’ ordering behavior for a variety of reasons. To prevent this volatility from having a negative impact on your company, it is important to be able to anticipate changes with reliable forecasts.

At the same time, however, it is of course important to be able to offer a consistently excellent service and to offer and ensure on-time deliveries. Only with fast and effective processes for production planning and control can they achieve such a high level of responsiveness.

We support you in setting up these processes, defining coordinated planning rhythms and clear responsibilities. Optimized order intervals are then also part of the best possible coordinated control logic. In order to anchor these processes permanently, we can also advise you on finding and implementing a suitable software solution.

Service packages

• Analyze customer and sales requirements
• Develop and coordinate a production planning process
• Calculate capacity and determine optimal utilization
• Evaluate, select and implement a suitable product planning system

Your benefit:

1. Early detection of bottlenecks
2. More stable and reliable production processes
3. Greater planning reliability across all production areas
4. Optimal utilization of production capacity
5. Improved ability to adapt to customer and market requirements

Quality management

High product quality for first-class customer satisfaction

Our society and the markets are undergoing an ongoing process of change. This also means that customers often have justified and higher demands on products and services than in the past; the resulting quality requirements pose major challenges for many companies.

If you want to proactively meet these demands with your company, a focused strategy for quality management is a great help. We recommend Total Quality Management (TQM), a holistic method that focuses on quality.

To implement TQM, we work with your employees to define a quality strategy that is aligned with your corporate objectives. It is anchored in your production system by identifying the central points of your quality control(incoming goods, intermediate inspections, final inspections, etc.) that are optimal for the individual processes. In this way, we enable quality assurance that is as effective as it is efficient. The optimized quality of your products makes it possible to satisfy your customers in the long term and permanently – with positive effects for your business success.

Service packages

• Derive quality objectives from the corporate strategy
• Developing a Consistent Understanding of Quality Within the Company
• Develop and optimize quality assurance processes
• Integrating key quality control measures into existing production processes

Your benefit:

1. A consistent understanding of quality throughout the company
2. Greater awareness of quality among the workforce
3. Quality assurance optimally embedded in production
4. Avoidance of waste through early defect detection
5. Increase in customer satisfaction