Is a high coefficient of utilisation always a good thing?

At a conference in the Netherlands, Hans Jørgen Lynggaard discussed production optimisation, highlighting how lead time and the coefficient of utilisation are linked.

In October 2017, Hans Jørgen Lynggaard, Managing Director of Novotek Planning Systems, and GE Digital co-attended the Industrial Automation Event in Breda in the Netherlands. ROB-EX has many users in industrial and food manufacturing sectors in the Netherlands. GE Digital, Novotek Planning System’s sister company in the Netherlands, had invited new and seasoned customers and suppliers to the event, to discuss production optimisation.

In his presentation “Optimising your production capacity”, Hans Jørgen Lynggaard discussed the interrelationship between lead time and the coefficient of utilisation, and he started out with somewhat of a provocative question: Is a high coefficiency of utilisation always a good thing?

“You need to have a strategy for your production scheduling. What is really important? – Do you wish to focus on being able to make deliveries at short notice, or do you wish to focus on utilising your machines optimally? Focusing on both these aspects at the same time, will not generate the best results.” High level customer service and high productivity pose conflicting positions – and you need to ask yourself, if a high coefficient of utilisation always constitutes an end in itself.”

Hans Jørgen Lynggaard explained the ways that ROB-EX can serve as an operational tool, ensuring that the company follows the chosen strategy. ROB-EX is primarily a tool for production planners and is designed to ensure efficient production scheduling. The system, however, also generates data that can be used at managerial levels, e.g. reports and management dashboards. This provides management with access to valuable data from ROB-EX Scheduler’s production plan, ensuring that they receive all relevant information concerning capacity and the scheduled coefficient of utilisation – or due delivery success rate.

To supplement Hans Jørgen Lynggaard’s presentation, Henny van de Bek, one of our Dutch ROB-EX experts, presented ROB-EX Scheduler 6.2. The 6.2 Scheduler was released in 2016, and included an array of new features. For the remainder of the day, Henny van de Bek was hard at work, getting into close dialogue with several Dutch companies that wished to learn more about the benefits of, and possibilities for, using ROB-EX.

ROB-EX in the Netherlands

Novotek Planning Systems’ Dutch sister company is located in Breda. A team of 5 specialists are dedicated to working on the ROB-EX Scheduler. In the Netherlands, the use of ROB-EX has spread rapidly over the last 6-7 years, and ROB-EX is now used in companies from many different industries.

“ROB-EX has established a strong foothold among food manufacturing companies, and we find that we raise a lot of interest and get a lot of postitive response to our presentations of the system from food manufacturers”, Hans Jørgen Lynggaard continues. “We have found a good match, and great potential in the Netherlands – not least due to the hard work and effort that our sister company has put into servicing the Dutch customers. Our Dutch ROB-EX team consists of specialists with expert knowledge and knowhow regarding all features and applications of the ROB-EX Scheduler.”