Quintiq, provider of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions, and KME Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of semi-finished copper and copper-alloy products, has announced that KME has selected Quintiq to provide three implementations of planning solutions at plants in Italy and Germany.
Following the signing of an agreement in late December, Quintiq has already begun implementation of the Quintiq Scheduler and Company Planner solutions at the KME plant in Osnabrück, Germany.
Simultaneously, implementation of the Quintiq Company Planner has also begun at the KME plant in Fornaci di Barga, Italy.
The current coordinated project builds on the successful, long-time use, since 2005, of the Quintiq Scheduler solution at the Fornaci di Barga plant. The solutions are expected to be live by the end of the third quarter of this year.
“Quintiq effectively supports our business since more than three years in our plant in Fornaci di Barga, says Francesco De Nola, Manufacturing Director for copper tubes and rolled products.
With the Quintiq scheduler, we are able to handle all short term planning challenges and respond quickly to our customer.
With implementing the company planner, we expect a quick reduction of inventory costs, better delivery performance and a company-wide visibility.
Partnering with Quintiq therefore was our natural choice.”
Quintiq Scheduler, which streamlines short-term operational planning and execution, is primarily used by the planning and production departments at the Fornaci di Barga plant, and likewise will facilitate short-term scheduling at the Osnabrück facility.
The sales and marketing departments at both sites will be the main users of the Quintiq Company Planner, enabling optimized production to meet demand, with automated tactical planning and interactive decision support.
The combined Quintiq solution will be integrated with KME’s existing SAP ERP system.
Instituting a centralised Quintiq solution at both plants will automate the vast majority of planning tasks and enable more sophisticated and flexible planning and scheduling.
It will also provide transparency through the planning process and improve communication between the two plants, enabling new economies of scale, reduced inventory costs and improved delivery performance.
The Fornaci di Barga and Osnabrück plants both produce a variety of rolled copper products for building and industrial applications.
It is expected that Quintiq will later be extended to the other KME rolled products plants in Europe, enabling company-wide centralized planning.
Arthur Torsy, Business Unit Director Metal and Manufacturing at Quintiq, said: “Planning is a major determinant of business success, and, by upgrading its planning capabilities at this time, the KME Group is acting with well-placed confidence.
While KME, like metal companies across the board, is currently facing extremely tough economic times, it is taking the right steps now to be ready when the economy turns again.”
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