Automotive-focused solution broadens support for JIT sequencing

Apriso says its new production management solution for automotive manufacturers will facilitate making multiple products on a single line—an essential capability for just-in-time (JIT) business models.

Apriso unveiled the new solution, FlexNet for the Automotive Industry, in late September. "The need to support a greater mix in automotive production requires the flexibility to make multiple parts down a single line, with rapid changeover and support for JIT sequencing," says Fred Thomas, Apriso's automotive industry director. "[FlexNet for the Automotive Industry] supports the end-to-end supply chain-to-distribution business process."

Thomas claims FlexNet extends the traditional manufacturing execution system (MES) into a "global operations execution system," linking the entire value chain from supply through distribution via an adaptive business-process platform. This platform is said to accommodate changes in the software as easily as it does variable, multi-mix production on the line.

FlexNet allows creating graphical representations of business-process flows. The flows outline how applications linked to the platform will interact to manage production, labor, quality, and warehouse management activities, Thomas says.

Says Greg Gorbach, VP of collaborative manufacturing for Dedham, Mass.-based ARC Advisory Group, "One of the big things in automotive manufacturing today is inline vehicle sequencing, and Apriso has the capability to support receiving [the broadcasts of what sequence customers want products delivered] and quickly setting up and error-proofing the sequence. [FlexNet] takes a more operational view than traditional MES to do scheduling and movement of material to various places on the line to facilitate production."

Thomas says the applications work together using a single united database. "FlexNet technology is double bit-enabled, supports multiple currencies and languages, and is time-zone-independent," he says. "We've taken MES to a whole new level."