If you’ve watched the news recently, you know environmental sustainability is at the top of the mind for consumers and businesses alike. According to a survey from Nielsen, 81 percent of consumers think it’s “extremely” or “very” important for companies to implement programs that help protect the environment.
For manufacturers, focusing on sustainability is not only about pleasing the environmentally conscious consumer. It can also be a strategic financial choice. Many people assume “going green” will be expensive and time-consuming, but in actuality, creating a sustainable and efficient plant actually saves money and time.
One of the most valuable tools in developing efficient processes is an optimized plant schedule. Advanced scheduling and planning tools help manufacturers increase output, lower costs, and conserve energy to minimize environmental impact in a number of keys ways, which we’ll discuss below.
Improved Resource Management
Over the past ten years, manufacturers have hit a lull in their ability to decrease waste. Since 2010, production-related waste disposal has remained steady at about 1.4 billion pounds per year, according to the EPA. Although there will always be some degree of waste as a byproduct of manufacturing, there is still work to be done preventing the disposal of misused materials. Improving your plant’s resource management through efficient planning and scheduling will help cut down on unnecessary waste. Mismanaged planning often leads to poor control over inventory and disjoined equipment processes, which result in costly wasted material and overuse of machinery. With an optimized schedule, your plant can better identify your ideal inventory and the timing of each process, with the ability to make quick adjustments if needed to generate less waste and minimize the effect on the environment.
Enhanced Energy Efficiency
In 2018, the industrial sector was responsible for nearly one-third of the total energy consumption of the United States. To lower the energy used by manufacturing production, equipment must be running at an optimal level to produce your desired output. If equipment is not needed for hours at a time throughout the production process, consider turning off as many parts as possible, or shut the machine off completely rather than letting it idle. Shutting down equipment can extend the lifespan of the machines, leave time for planned maintenance and lower utility bills.
With an advanced scheduling tool, manufacturers can identify ideal shut-down times of each piece of equipment, saving nonrenewable energy and lowering overall operating costs. In short, scheduling and planning will keep your plant from straining equipment when it’s not producing output and consuming unnecessary energy.
Higher Capacity Utilization
In addition to minimizing idling time, an optimized schedule will also identify how to maximize equipment output while in use. High changeover time can be one of the biggest roadblocks to reaching manufacturers’ output targets. Scheduling software can identify the constraints contributing to overall higher changeover times and help test potential solutions. For the biggest initial impact, concentrate on the processes with the greatest changeover time first, and then continue on to adjust the shorter changeovers where needed. The end result is higher product output and reduced energy usage.
Clear Communication
In order to lower waste, employees across the plant need to be able to communicate in real time as issues come up. Without streamlined communication, details can fall through the cracks. The ability to communicate back and forth keeps the flow of work moving most efficiently across the entire plant. A simple message about a delay can allow employees to enact short-term conservation efforts, which quickly add up to create a big impact on your company’s bottom line, as well as the environment.
An advanced scheduling and planning software tool, such as VirtECS, should include a communication module allowing any employee to access schedules and chat with others across the location. Here at Advanced Process Combinatorics, we can provide VirtECS Symphony, a web-based module which allows everyone in the plant to access the VirtECS schedule and send messages to other users. Our scheduling tool can also be updated quickly or automatically to reflect the plant’s current status and shift timing to account for delays communicated by employees or MES system. To learn more about VirtECS Symphony, download our overview here.
