Scheduling
The term “scheduling” can mean different things to different people. To some it is more of a strategic issue. A forester may wish to answer a question: “What month do we harvest tract x?” This seemingly simple question may have many complex related variables such as standing inventory, trucking resources, weather, delivery requirements, harvest costs, and mill requirements.
To a manufacturing manager the question might be: “Which plant should make order z?” In a multi-mill setting there are many considerations. Freight cost is often a big factor, as is customer preference, inventory, manufacturing capabilities and costs as well as a myriad of other elements.
To an individual mill the question might be: “How can I make sure that all the orders ship by Friday?” In this environment sequencing, production rates, in-process inventory, yields and other elements are very relevant.
Optware Enterprise modules can be configured to model the manufacturing and logistics environment to optimally answer all of these questions. The detailed nature of our process ensures that all relevant variables are considered in a realistic way.
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Steve Killgore, President, McKenzie Forest Products
“We picked up well over 35% savings in our manufacturing costs in a one year period”
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Michael McCollum, President Procurement, Georgia-Pacific Corporation
“We saved 1.5-2% of total fiber costs in transportation savings alone using Optware”
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Mark Shuholm, Manager, Containerboard Division, Willamette Industries
“Optimization allowed us to substantially improve our paper machine utilization across the Division”
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Richard Dutchak, Engineering Manager, Loewen
“We documented wood cost savings of just under $1,000,000 in the first year of using the software”