Why we chose ROB-EX to control our production

The companies that contact us to hear more about ROB-EX and how we can help them improve production scheduling have typically already experienced one or more of these issues:

• No clear overview of production

• No tools for maintaining an overview when changes are made in the production plan

• No clear overview of consequences of changes in the production plan

• Current scheduling tools no longer adequate for controlling and managing production

The companies have come to the realisation that the lack of overview cannot be retrieved with their current systems and setup. This is a critical situation, especially today where the need for flexibility is exacerbated by increasingly volatile supply chains.

More and more companies have realised that they need to change their systems setup, if they are to maintain a competitive edge. They wish to improve the reliability and efficiency of production through efficient and transparent production scheduling. They want a full overview of production and to improve productivity, but also to ensure reliable delivery times and efficient customer services. A lot of these companies start a process of searching the market for solutions, and a lot of these companies choose ROB-EX as their new production scheduling system.

Full overview was obtained from day 1 with ROB-EX

In 2022, J.A. Plastindustri in Thy (the northern part of Denmark) chose ROB-EX as their new production scheduling system. With their existing scheduling system, they had lost their overview of production. Production Manager, Jan Nielsen from J.A. Plastindustri, explains: “We are, for all intents and purposes, an order producing company. We process products ranging from stage 0 to finished product. With our policy of a 10-day delivery time, it is not easy to maintain a full overview of machines, manual processes and drying with resting times. This is mainly because our production is not a one-track process, all the way through. There are several routes through production and several products that are shipped for the same order. This really requires a detailed overview, and we simply didn’t have it. The minute our data had been exported and set up in ROB-EX, we had our overview! I had never imagined that it would be possible that fast. Today we maintain a full overview at all times, and that is pretty evident in our daily operations. We keep track of workloads in all of the different areas of production, and we can see that we are able to move things around and react faster. And this is both as regards machines and manpower. We have always prided ourselves on being flexible and good at moving people around, but we were always reacting too late. It is significantly easier to equalise workloads now. ROB-EX has become a fixture in production. And no one here would dream of questioning this decision.”

An immediate and full overview was also achieved by the Danish producer of food packaging materials, Kellpo, when they switched to digital production scheduling with ROB-EX, in 2022. Head of Quality and Production Planner at Kellpo, Jimmi Svensson explains: “Before ROB-EX, we really didn’t have any formalised production scheduling. Our production manager had all of our scheduling inside his own head. Unfortunately, he became ill due to stress. This meant that I had to take over our scheduling. I ran everything on spreadsheets and notepads. Actually, it would be fair to say that we simply didn’t have any production scheduling at all. And we really needed an overview. We were under a lot of pressure, and this was because everything had, in fact, been hinging on a single person. Everything was really fragile in production, and we were very vulnerable in relation to sickness and holidays too. So, we got started with ROB-EX really quickly, and we got a full overview immediately. In fact, on the very day that we learned to place our orders in the system.”

An unpredictable world requires predictable scheduling

Today, we live in a world where we simply cannot know what tomorrow brings. This has been especially clear over the later years, where we have seen that the world can change in a split second. We saw it during the Covid crisis, where a lot of companies came under a lot of pressure, and were unable to produce and deliver on time, due to failing logistics, delayed materials etc. Right now, a lot of industrial production companies are headed into even more challenging times. Many of these companies are already experiencing a decline in orders and consequently, also in production. So, even though we may not be able to prevent such things from happening, we are able to strengthen the flexibility, agility and resilience of production companies with ROB-EX. With ROB-EX, changes in daily operations are dealt with as variations rather than disruptions. Having tools for managing variations provides production scheduling with a much stronger foundation for efficient and prompt reaction to sudden changes in production or in the world in general.

The Danish producer of cosmetics and products for personal care, Australian Bodycare, has used ROB-EX since 2021. At the time, they needed a system that provided a more detailed overview of production, so that production scheduling would be more flexible and manageable, and more easily adjustable.

“It used to be that a plan was made by the planner, and then posted on a notice board in production. But the world keeps spinning, and things could change from one day to the next, leaving us with a plan that was not up to speed. It became very clear to us that we needed a more efficient and flexible system,” says Esben Kristoffersen, Supply Chain Manager and Co-Owner at Australian Bodycare. He continues by highlighting two main benefits achieved with ROB-EX: “I want to emphasise two major benefits that we have with ROB-EX today. The first one is flexibility. In a production company such as ours, you never know what the day brings. If a machine breaks down or something unforeseen happens, requiring a change of a product series to another line, it is EXTREMELY difficult to move things around in NAV. With ROB-EX we are able to react immediately, make a new plan where all consequences are fully visualised, find out whether we have all the needed materials, and we can see if we are falling behind in relation to the delivery time that we have given to the customer. The other major advantage is the overview. Our production plan is presented graphically in ROB-EX and it is accessible to everyone in the company. This means that everyone gets the big picture. This is, naturally, of great importance to our decision-makers, but it also generates a lot of motivation in the operators in production. He or she has a clear impression of how important his or her work is as an integral piece in the whole operation. When you understand the importance of what you do, there really is hardly anything more motivating.”

ROB-EX visualised bottlenecks and provided steadiness and stability to daily operations

With a full overview of production, bottlenecks become much easier to pinpoint. When you know where the bottlenecks are, you are able to act proactively. J.A. Plastindustri experienced this first hand. “We needed to be able to act faster and proactively, and this was one of the reasons that we chose ROB-EX. If we have an area with bottlenecks, ROB-EX provides the overview that allows us to allocate some of the production to another machine, so that we reduce the work load in that area. We now have a graphic overview that can alert us to problems that may be three steps ahead, and we are able to take proactive steps now so that we don’t run into a bottleneck later. This is something that the human brain is not well-equipped to do, and we used to detect bottlenecks way too late. This meant delays and it was a stress factor for our operators,” says Production Manager, Jan Nielsen at J.A. Plastindustri.

ROB-EX makes changes easier to manage efficiently, without generating chaos

An improved overview and the possibility of reacting proactively generate a more stable and steady work life, both for the company as a whole and for operators in production in particular. This was one of the benefits that was experienced by the family-owned production company, EME Hydraulic. They have used ROB-EX as their system for controlling production since 2021. Susanne Provstgaard, the company’s investor, explains: “To be honest, we were in distress. We were under pressure to implement digital scheduling, because we were losing our overview – but at the same time, we also knew that we would have to make the switch to digital scheduling sooner or later. We needed tools for improving our processes and procedures and freeing up time for other things than the managing of production.”

Managing Director, Jesper Provstgaard, from EME Hydraulic continues: “ROB-EX delivered on all of our demands. Today, ROB-EX is the core of our production scheduling, providing us with an overview over all orders and providing us with more steady and stable workflows and workdays. And I can clearly state that today, we simply cannot do without ROB-EX. It has improved our customer relations, as we are now able to provide our customers with precise and reliable delivery times. We are able to rely fully on ROB-EX and avoid panicky quick-fixes. The constant state of emergency that used to characterise our daily operations has simply vanished with the arrival of ROB-EX. Our planners now have peace and quiet to carry out their jobs – and they no longer have to spend hours writing everything on whiteboards and answering questions all day. We have succeeded in getting the overview and the stable and efficient workflow that we dreamed of. Everyone is able to see and prepare for what they will be doing next and what they will be doing tomorrow. There are still a lot of changes from day to day, because that is the way of the world, but these changes are far easier to handle, and they no longer generate chaos.”

Standing strong with ROB-EX

Production scheduling is, without question, an area in production companies that quite literally touches the main part of the company’s values and assets every day. Both in relation to machines, materials and manpower. It is extremely important that production companies do not to down-grade or neglect this area. Without a full overview, the daily variations that occur unexpectedly will disrupt an otherwise calm and productive day. This stresses the company and affects both productivity and efficiency. When unexpected things happen, it requires a full overview to be able to make the right adjustments in the plan and still ensure optimal use of capacity and production. If a customer suddenly wishes to push delivery of their order to a later date, a clear overview will allow planners to find and put in other orders to maintain efficiency in operations. If materials are delayed or if machinery breaks down, a full overview will mean that customer services are able to provide customers with new and reliable delivery times very quickly. Today, production companies need a dedicated scheduling tool that can provide all of these tools.

ROB-EX is based on the basic assumption that everything varies, and the system is constructed specifically for handling variations in daily operations. ROB-EX is designed to meet and deal with variations, to be agile and flexible, because we know that even for the best laid plans, things still happen that are beyond our control. No one anticipated the Covid crisis or the challenges that many industrial production companies face right now. And it is a fact of life that such variations occur. At ROB-EX, we are motivated by understanding the extreme importance of production companies having the best possible scheduling tools, so that they are able to navigate safely and efficiently through all the minor and major challenges that they face every day.