Asprova High Speed Scheduling

1
AsprovaHigh Speed Scheduling

• Melissa Brankamp brankamp.2_at_osu.edu
• Erin Johnson johnson.1915_at_osu.edu
• Gerald Eheduru eheduru.1_at_osu.edu
• Rosaida Cestari cestari.1_at_osu.edu
• Suprena Isaac isaac.22_at_osu.edu

2
Basics from Asprova Corporation

• Production scheduling is the central mechanism
  for controlling production in a factory and
  making decisions about what to produce, when to
  produce it, and what resources to use in its
  production. It is also the key to knowing and
  understanding what is going on in your factory -
  not just now, but hours, days, and weeks into the
  future.
• Enormous improvements have been made in
  production scheduling in the past years through
  the development of high-speed automated
  production scheduling software. Most noted among
  these is the scheduling system Asprova, which has
  its roots in the artificial intelligence boom and
  Japanese just-in-time manufacturing practices,
  and which has long been accepted as the de-facto
  standard for production scheduling among Japanese
  manufacturers.
• Asprova is a production scheduling system
  developed and distributed by Asprova Corporation.

3
How Does Asprova Work?

• It manipulates input and output data by default
  via the operating system's file system, so that
  it is not dependent upon any particular database
  format. The data is comprised of files
  containing Project Settings and Guide Settings,
  as well as multiple table files. As all this data
  is read into memory when the project is loaded,
  file access during scheduling is unnecessary,
  allowing computation to be performed at extremely
  high speeds.
• A single schedule along with all related data is
  called a Project. Asprova is capable of having
  multiple projects open at the same time. Each
  project includes multiple tables (databases)
  which contain the data upon which the schedule is
  based.
• Asprova's scheduling engine is extremely rich in
  features. But when viewed from a different angle,
  the activity of the scheduling engine is quite
  simple.
• The fundamental function of Asprova's Guide is to
  display information from the project's tables
  visually from every possible angle. An example is
  changing assigned resources and times by dragging
  a job on the Gantt chart. The core of Asprova's
  GUI is the Gantt chart and the other graph
  windows. These windows display the table contents
  along a time line or display the aggregate
  results in a histogram.

4
Asprova's Main Window

• (1) Menu Bar
• Used in executing various Asprova functions. The
  menu items available for execution will vary
  depending on the type of window in the
  foreground.
• (2) Toolbar
• Allows execution of Asprova commands with a
  single button click.
• (3) Windows
• Multiple windows can be open at the same time,
  including project windows, Gantt charts,
  evaluation graphs, table views, and custom HTML
  views.
• (4) Tab
• Click on a tab to bring a different window into
  the foreground.
• (5) Output Window
• Currently consists of a single message window
  tab.
• (6) Output Window Close Button
• Click this to close the output window.
• (7) Status Bar
• Displays short messages describing the object at
  the current location of the mouse pointer.
• (8) Number of Unassigned Jobs
• Displays the current number of unassigned jobs.
  Note that this number will be zero if job
  generation has not yet been performed, or if all
  jobs have been successfully assigned.

5
Asprova's Project window
6
Environment Settings
The data specified in the environment settings
dialog affects the whole of Asprova. Environment
Settings has the following pages General
Settings Display Color Messages User
Registration Sound Log Toolbars Commands Options A
dvance Settings
7
Project Settings
The data specified in the project settings dialog
affects the currently active project. Project
name You can specify here a name for the current
project, which will be displayed in the title bar
of all related windows to distinguish them from
windows of other projects. The project name does
not affect the actual functionality of Asprova.
Table holding results data You can specify here
whether results data will be entered and
maintained in the results table or in the job
table. This choice should generally be made
before introduction of Asprova into the factory,
as it will affect the way in which Asprova is
integrated with other data management
systems. Comments You can enter here comments
regarding the current project. These comments do
not affect the actual functionality of Asprova.
8
Project Settings (contd.)
Scheduling basis time The scheduling basis time
generally refers to the "present
time. Scheduling period You can specify here the
start and end times of the scheduling period via
the time setting dialog. Scheduling freeze time
Defines the end of the scheduling freeze period.
The meaning of the scheduling freeze period is
that whenever the project is loaded, Asprova will
automatically mark all jobs within the scheduling
freeze period as "frozen", which will prevent the
assignment status of those jobs from being
changed when rescheduling is performed. Display
period start time You can specify here the start
time of Asprova's display period. The end time of
the display period is always the scheduling end
time. Day demarcation time The time at which one
day is considered to end and the next to start --
as a time of day between 00000 and 235959.
9
Project Settings (contd.)
You can choose here the method for handling
inventory data in Asprova.
10
Project Settings (contd.)

• Reflect reported quantities onto scheduled
  quantities
• Suppose that a certain job was scheduled to
  produce 100 of its output item, but results data
  was reported saying that the job was completed
  after producing only 90 items. If this option is
  checked, then the fact that this job completed
  only 90 percent of its scheduled output will be
  reflected onto the schedule of the entire lot by
  decreasing the scheduled production quantity of
  the finished item by 10 percent. It this option
  is not checked, then the schedule will remain
  unchanged, regardless of the possibility of an
  item shortage in later jobs.
• Automatically delete result records not bound to
  jobs
• You can specify here whether or not to
  automatically delete result records which have
  fallen out of use because of the deletion of the
  corresponding job or because of the existence of
  a more recent result record for that job.
• Don't calculate setup time for results jobs
• Skip calculation of setup time for jobs with
  results.

11
Scheduling Parameter Settings
Dispatching A dispatching rule in Asprova is
defined by up to 5 different sort keys, with the
first sort key having highest precedence. You
should first specify the number of sort keys you
will use, and then for each one specify the type
of sort key and whether it will sort the
jobs/lots in ascending or descending
order. Weights You can specify here the weights
to be applied to the various criteria for
evaluating the tentative assignment of a task to
a candidate resource during scheduling. Options Yo
u can specify the methods you will be using to
determining the resource to which a task will be
assigned. Target Lots On this property page you
can specify various conditions for filtering the
target lots to be assigned with the current
scheduling parameter. Target Period You have the
option here of explicitly defining the start
and/or end time of the assignment period, in
which jobs will be assigned.
12
Calendar Settings
The calendar settings dialog allows you to set
the available time and the shift of each resource
for each day.
13
Tools Settings
The tool settings dialog allows you to register
external tools in Asprova.
14
Plugin Settings
The plugin settings dialog allows you to view
information for currently registered plugins and
to register new plugin modules which you have
created to customize Asprova's capabilities.
15
Asprova's Graph window
16
Asprova's Graph window (contd.)
17
Asprova's Graph window (contd.)
18
Asprova's Graph window (contd.)
19
Asprova's Graph window (contd.)
20
Asprova's Graph window (contd.)
21
Asprova's Graph window (contd.)
22
Asprova's Basic Samples
23
Asprova's Basic Samples (contd.)

• One way to express these on the database is by
  grouping. For example, designate the group of
  items which can be produced with K1 as group A1,
  and the group of items which can be produced with
  K2 and K3 as group A2 in the Item Table. Then in
  the resource capacity table, set the output item
  of resource K1 to group A1, and the output item
  of resources K2, K3 to A2. Note that this example
  is a simple one and you can perform the same
  designation job without grouping. Just set the
  output item of each resource in the resource
  capacity table one by one.
• In this sample, two resources are used in one
  production process. In this case, the molding
  machine is called the main resource and the metal
  mold is called the secondary resource. When the
  secondary resource is used, it is necessary to
  define the required data in the resource table.

24
Asprova's Basic Samples (contd.)

• This is a sample of an automobile
  parts-processing factory.
• There are 5 items to be produced, namely, XT1,
  XT2, XT3, XT4, and XT5.
• XT1, XT2, and XT3 are produced through 13
  processes as shown in the above figure. XT4 and
  XT5 are produced through 16 processes.
• In the cutting process, the setup time varies
  depending on the sequential relation of items.
  First set the Spec1 in the Item Table, and then
  set the setup time of Cutter 1 in the Spec 1
  Setup Table.

25
Asprovas Benefits

• Helps to reduce on-hand inventory.
• Dramatically reduces schedule generation time
  from several hours to seconds.
• Cuts order turnaround time.
• Promotes consistency in production schedules and
  delivery schedules across the plant. Greatly
  improves shop-floor discipline by following the
  schedules generated.

26
Asprovas Benefits (contd.)

• Impact customer satisfaction by providing 100
  on-time delivery.
• Significantly reduces Work In Process.
• Cuts overtime and material variance.
• Has a fast implementation cycle through a host of
  database systems.

27
Asprovas Benefits (contd.)

• What-if analysis capabilities are able to
  determine the possibility of eliminating a shift
  without negatively affecting throughput.
• Increases clients on-time delivery rate to the
  warehouse.

28
Asprovas Benefits (contd.)

• Minimizes clean-up and changeover times by
  employing simulation-based scheduling rules.
• Helps to predict late orders, giving the client
  time to respond to them more effectively.
• Provides end-to-end visibility across the entire
  production process.