MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of mirror and camera systems for commercial vehicles, will begin planning and controlling its production processes with wayRTS (Real Time Simulation), an Advanced Planning and Scheduling software developed by Wasserman AG. MEKRA Lang has been successfully using the Wassermann waySCS (Supply Chain Simulation) solution since 2001. This will now be replaced with wayRTS, which allows real-time planning. MEKRA Lang will thus be able to react more quickly and flexibly to changing market conditions. In turn, the company will succeed in improving delivery availability and reliability over the long term.
Following an analysis of their value-added chain, MEKRA Lang decided to rely on Wassermann's supply chain management experts in optimizing its supply chain. During the audit, the team of consultants evaluated the current status of the production system and its planning sequences.
As a supplier to the automotive industry, MEKRA Lang is no stranger to stringent requirements. The automotive market is characterized by ever smaller lot sizes and the need for more flexible means of production under tight deadlines. The adaptive control and real-time planning of the entire supply chain are crucial factors of the company’s success. The improvements devised by Wassermann will be introduced at the start of the project in November. These include the implementation of a planning and production model specific to MEKRA and the enhancement of employee qualification in the area of lean production. Furthermore, the planning and control software currently in use, Wassermann’s waySCS, will be replaced with wayRTS, which provides real-time capability.
Completely transparent manufacturing process with wayRTS Thanks to the graphic visualization of the overall process chain and the diverse filtering possibilities, wayRTS gives planners a transparent overview of the entire manufacturing process at all times, in terms of both orders and resources. The continuously updated display of data calculated in real-time replaces the former complex simulation process. wayRTS is also uncoupled from the operative systems, meaning that planners are able to view queries or any other "what if" scenarios and their implications for resources, deadlines, and capacities without interfering in operations.
"With the introduction of wayRTS, we have made it our goal to further increase process stability and planning accuracy within the company; in other words, to safeguard it under ever rising demands," explains Volker Tichy, Manager of Logistics & Controlling and member of MEKRA Lang’s board of directors. "At the moment, we are able to meet about 95 percent of our delivery deadlines. wayRTS lets us significantly reduce the time and effort involved in planning and controlling our production processes, which have become increasingly complex over recent years. The audit carried out with Wassermann revealed that we can further improve our adherence to delivery dates by identifying and eliminating planning conflicts much earlier on with Wassermann's real-time software, for example. In the same way, we can now optimize the value chains in the production process, for example by gradually reducing the safety margin which has been necessary up until now to ensure high process stability."
Seamless integration of all production-relevant data The goal of offering the company’s planners maximum transparency is achieved through bidirectional integration of the "way" software and a perfect interplay between the individual system components of the IT landscape. The data required for resource planning, such as customer orders, planned or call orders, production orders and parts masters, work schedules and bills of material, is available in full in the real-time wayRTS application over the wayConnect interface. Similarly, the planning results from wayRTS are passed on to existing ERP applications in a compatible format. MEKRA Lang is thus able to integrate all relevant supply chain processes into the "way" software’s standardized and consistent real-time planning model.
Additional information is available at www.wassermann.de or upon request.
MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG
The MEKRA Group is a leading manufacturer of mirror and camera systems in the commercial vehicle sector and covers the full range of possible applications for trucks, buses, vans, agricultural machinery, construction machinery and special purpose machines, as well as resulting system variants. The family company, which employs some 2,000 staff throughout the world, is represented at 13 sites in 9 countries and operates production locations and agencies around the world.
Following an analysis of their value-added chain, MEKRA Lang decided to rely on Wassermann's supply chain management experts in optimizing its supply chain. During the audit, the team of consultants evaluated the current status of the production system and its planning sequences.
As a supplier to the automotive industry, MEKRA Lang is no stranger to stringent requirements. The automotive market is characterized by ever smaller lot sizes and the need for more flexible means of production under tight deadlines. The adaptive control and real-time planning of the entire supply chain are crucial factors of the company’s success. The improvements devised by Wassermann will be introduced at the start of the project in November. These include the implementation of a planning and production model specific to MEKRA and the enhancement of employee qualification in the area of lean production. Furthermore, the planning and control software currently in use, Wassermann’s waySCS, will be replaced with wayRTS, which provides real-time capability.
Completely transparent manufacturing process with wayRTS Thanks to the graphic visualization of the overall process chain and the diverse filtering possibilities, wayRTS gives planners a transparent overview of the entire manufacturing process at all times, in terms of both orders and resources. The continuously updated display of data calculated in real-time replaces the former complex simulation process. wayRTS is also uncoupled from the operative systems, meaning that planners are able to view queries or any other "what if" scenarios and their implications for resources, deadlines, and capacities without interfering in operations.
"With the introduction of wayRTS, we have made it our goal to further increase process stability and planning accuracy within the company; in other words, to safeguard it under ever rising demands," explains Volker Tichy, Manager of Logistics & Controlling and member of MEKRA Lang’s board of directors. "At the moment, we are able to meet about 95 percent of our delivery deadlines. wayRTS lets us significantly reduce the time and effort involved in planning and controlling our production processes, which have become increasingly complex over recent years. The audit carried out with Wassermann revealed that we can further improve our adherence to delivery dates by identifying and eliminating planning conflicts much earlier on with Wassermann's real-time software, for example. In the same way, we can now optimize the value chains in the production process, for example by gradually reducing the safety margin which has been necessary up until now to ensure high process stability."
Seamless integration of all production-relevant data The goal of offering the company’s planners maximum transparency is achieved through bidirectional integration of the "way" software and a perfect interplay between the individual system components of the IT landscape. The data required for resource planning, such as customer orders, planned or call orders, production orders and parts masters, work schedules and bills of material, is available in full in the real-time wayRTS application over the wayConnect interface. Similarly, the planning results from wayRTS are passed on to existing ERP applications in a compatible format. MEKRA Lang is thus able to integrate all relevant supply chain processes into the "way" software’s standardized and consistent real-time planning model.
Additional information is available at www.wassermann.de or upon request.
MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG
The MEKRA Group is a leading manufacturer of mirror and camera systems in the commercial vehicle sector and covers the full range of possible applications for trucks, buses, vans, agricultural machinery, construction machinery and special purpose machines, as well as resulting system variants. The family company, which employs some 2,000 staff throughout the world, is represented at 13 sites in 9 countries and operates production locations and agencies around the world.
