Week of September 14, 1998 New Products Factory Optimizer and Supply Chain Optimizer QAD (Carpinteria, Calif.; www.qad.com) has introduced its Factory Optimizer and Supply Chain Optimizer advanced planning & scheduling (APS) solutions. These components of On/Q, QAD's full-function supply chain management solution, offer plant-level and advanced APS in one unified application suite and data model. For manufacturers who are ready to take the first step toward advanced supply chain functionality by optimizing plant-level operations, Factory Optimizer provides a practical solution using two of the company's seven APS components. The Material and Capacity Planner and Reactive and Dynamic Scheduler enable manufacturers to move from "what if" to "what's best," improving asset utilization at every node of the factory. In addition to the APS components available with QAD's factory solution, Supply Chain Optimizer adds five additional components, including the Global Strategic Planner, Global Real-Time Available-To-Promise (ATP), Supply Chain Planner, Real-Time Event Monitor, and Optimization Agents. Material & Capacity Planner: enables plant-level production planning and scheduling based on dynamic, simultaneous consideration of capacity and materials. It includes industry-specific templates, performs "what if" analysis, interfaces with ERP and MRP for material availability, and provides plant-level available-to-promise (ATP) and capable-to-promise (CTP). Reactive and Dynamic Scheduler: generates detailed, sequenced schedules that work in conjunction with the shop floor schedule, identifying and eliminating bottlenecks, synchronizing production flow, and enabling the user to evaluate alternative production scenarios and re-schedule on-the-fly. Global Strategic Planner: An executive-level optimization tool for strategic, enterprise-wide supply chain planning and demand planning. It calculates optimal product mixes, optimizes distribution and sourcing alternatives, identifies best locations for distribution centers and plants based on demand, and optimizes resource allocations. Global Real-Time ATP: Provides access to real-time available-to-promise and capable-to-promise information, including delivery dates and the status of orders. It provides attribute-based ATP, and allows entry, checking, editing, and verification of orders and quotes — anytime, anywhere — through the LAN, WAN, intranet, and Internet. Supply Chain Planner: Uses the Global Strategic Plan to create a tactical-level supply chain plan. It performs simultaneous material, manufacturing and distribution planning by modeling the enterprise-wide supply chain; provides superior planning performance to best react to uncertain forecasts; and calculates global real-time available-to-promise and capable-to-promise information for fast order fulfillment. Real-Time Event Monitor: Continually monitors execution on the shop floor and provides real-time status and feedback on production events. It keeps the execution plan constantly feasible by reacting intelligently to unexpected production events; compares actual manufacturing events to the plan; evaluates the impact; and decides whether rescheduling is needed. Also includes built-in interfaces to a wide variety of MES and other shop floor systems. Planning and Optimization Agents: Based on business rules and processes, intelligently synchronizes purchasing, supplier communication, inventory management, and order fulfillment within and beyond the enterprise, dramatically reducing information lead times. It can be embedded within ERP order-entry and procurement systems. The Manufacturing Report © Copyright 1997, 1998 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. E-mail Editorial Dept: tmr-editorial@lionhrtpub.com Lionheart Publishing, Inc. 2555 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 299, Atlanta, GA 30339 USA Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969 E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com Web Design by Premier Web Designs E-mail: lionwebmaster@preweb.com