Intelligent management instead of detailed scheduling - a proposition for companies that recognise the limitations of standard APS and MES systems. Based on a predetermined schedule, they do not pass the test in the face of dynamically changing production conditions. An alternative and also a breakthrough solution is the IPOsystem - work, customer feedback confirms this - and production management using this system, enter a completely different dimension.
IPOsystem work - opinions about the existence of factories of the future have become fact
IPOsystem is not another IT system or just a mathematical model. The development of this innovative tool is the result of six years of intensive work by a team of Polish specialists - programmers, technologists and managers from the UIBS Teamwork company from Rybnik, who combined their knowledge and experience to create a comprehensive solution supporting production management.
With IPOsystem, the work - opinions are one thing, but there is hard evidence for it - of factories has become much more efficient and cheaper. This is because IPOsystem is the world's first autonomous decision-making system, which manages production autonomously and aims to execute orders on time with maximum utilisation of available working time of resources. It is currently operating in more than 70 companies in Poland, but the multiplicity of its functionalities makes it successful in any latitude. Expansion into further new markets is only a matter of time.
A completely new approach to production management
IPOsystem is the world's first autonomous decision-making system for production management, automating the planning and direct resource management processes on the shop floor. What makes this innovation unique is, above all, its autonomy, which consists of autonomous decision-making and management of all available resources without the need for planners and direct supervision. Thanks to IPOsystem, work - the opinions of the managers and the actual production needs were the impetus for the development of this innovative solution - is possible without scheduling.
The traditional production planning model of production management uses systems that help calculate production schedules. This approach requires frequent adjustments and the need to create further schedules. This is caused by unexpected events such as new orders and order revisions, changes in the availability of workers and materials, machine breakdowns or deviations from planned process operation times.
IPOsystem revolutionises production management by eliminating the need for scheduling and direct management of employees through direct supervision. Thanks to its dynamic approach, it allows ongoing, real-time adaptation of production activities to current conditions and challenges. Each subsequent decision of the system and the issuing of a work order optimised for the moment takes no more than five seconds. Such an action is not possible when working in APS systems. Even if the scheduler made the necessary changes to the scheduling system in such a short time, the APS system would still need another few minutes at least to calculate the new schedule. And this always results in longer or shorter downtimes for resources.
IPOsystem outclasses APS systems
In planning systems of the APS class (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) it is possible to create schedules on the basis of simplified or even false (theoretical, not reflected in the actual conditions on the production floor) technological records. And unfortunately, many companies still operate in this way.
Planners develop production schedules based on simplified technologies, bypassing some of the logistics and control processes. Then, managers on the production floor, using the plan thus prepared and their experience, manage resources and the flow of orders. Such a method results in reduced resource productivity due to unavoidable downtime and micro-downtime and problems with on-time order fulfilment.
IPOsystem is an ADS-class decision-making system (Autonomous Decision Systems). It makes decisions autonomously based on real-time data, eliminating the need for direct human resource management. Using narrow artificial intelligence and autonomous decision-making algorithms, the system processes available information about the production environment in real time, adapting its operation to the current situation on the halls, optimising the operation of each resource on the fly.
Thus, IPOsystem's work - these opinions are a fact - and the operation of the system is not based on simplified or false technology records. During the pre-implementation analysis, the correctness of the technological records at each customer is checked. During the implementation, the actual production and production-related operations required to manufacture products are identified. These are then mapped into IPOsystem and the correctness of their recording is confirmed by relevant tests in the real environment on the production floor. As a result, the system is able to autonomously manage any type of work in the production process and logistics.
IPOsystem work - feedback on performance
According to suppliers, it takes between 3 and 6 months to implement APS systems. IPOsystem implementation takes longer, between 6 and 16 months. This depends mainly on the complexity of a company's production processes, the amount of production resources and the state of the customer's organisation. The investment in the IPOsystem pays for itself within 8 to 18 months after the start of production in the system, thanks to more efficient use of available employee time and a significant reduction in management costs.
What do customers who have implemented the IPOsystem say? Work - the feedback is unanimous on this point - without the system, would have been quite challenging for them. Due to the high volatility, timely execution of orders would have been very difficult and the level of utilisation of available staff time would have been as much as 30% lower compared to the results achieved by IPOsystem.
Factories with IPOsystem in place record an average increase in the productivity of their production resources of 20-25% after just one year of implementation. Importantly, the solution integrates with any ERP system, with which it exchanges a range of data, providing managers with reliable information on the actual progress of production processes and the degree of resource utilisation during order execution.
The IPOsystem can be used in factories with different production profiles and scales, both in unit and small batch production and in high volume production. It is particularly useful in factories where a large number of different production orders are carried out simultaneously, as well as in nest production.