Powerful software tools are available to make sure that strategic and operational planning decisions can be made effectively, with the result that many benefits may be achieved.
For large manufacturing corporations and their departments overall planning of resources is a vital, primary business function. If not performed well then major setbacks can occur in the production stage and in subsequent delivery of products to customers. Powerful software tools are available to make sure that strategic and operational planning decisions can be made effectively, with the result that many benefits may be achieved.

Implementing tools at this level requires close cooperation between the software supplier and the customer.

Philips DAP/IMS is the tooling and prototype department of the Philishave business, part of the Domestic Appliances and Personal Care Division of the multinational Philips Corporation.

The department is based at a manufacturing site in Drachten, The Netherlands.

Planning was a major issue for Philips DAP/IMS as the existing software for this purpose could only be run once a week.

As a result, for projects and parts, both lead-times and promises-to-deliver were hard to control, leading to other difficulties further down the line.

Working jointly with supply chain planning specialist SynQuest, Philips DAP/IMS is close to completing the implementation of new planning software.

Earlier, the department had conducted a rigorous evaluation of several major suppliers of supply chain planning products.

The Virtual Production Engine from SynQuest was chosen because it was the solution that could potentially meet most of the customer's demanding requirements.

Philips DAP/IMS wants to optimise production planning, improve delivery reliability and timeliness, and cut production lead-times.

With SynQuest's Virtual Production Engine, it is expected that reduced lead-times will also provide additional benefits to the company such as reducing inventory and improving business processes, including development and product release activities.

Virtual Production Engine is designed to make possible several other functions, such as the ability to simulate planning scenarios and ask 'what if' analysis questions.

It will also provide a clear and informative graphical interface for shopfloor operations leading to better decision-making.

In addition, it is designed to enable effective optimisation of resources to be achieved, thus saving costs and improving profitability.

Besides these capabilities, there is another important benefit arising from the investment.

Already, according to Philips DAP/IMS management, there is a feeling of more confidence at the planning level in the department.

This attitude also positively influences other colleagues, up and downstream in the organisation.

Before, with the previous system, overall planning was hard to achieve and affected production and delivery.

Now, coupled with the expertise of the supplier, the department knows it will be able to do things better in the future.

The advantage of the SynQuest Virtual Production Engine is that, in real time, it can link operational planning and execution and simultaneously synchronise order fulfilment activities and resources.

Its reality-based planning, dynamic synchronisation, real-time execution and continuous feedback functionality is designed to let the Philips DAP/IMS department control every level of manufacturing operations including master planning and load balancing, resource allocation and production scheduling.

Philips DAP/IMS management expect that they will be able to better decide which jobs to run and when, identify capacity bottlenecks and counter the risk of late orders.

SynQuest claims that these activities can be managed without compromising revenue, cost, profitability, throughput or on-time delivery goals.

The software also is designed to shorten feedback response time, which should enable better use to be made of equipment and human resources by improving the reliability of planning, and extending the life of production tools.

The Virtual Production Engine is part of an integrated suite of supply chain management software from SynQuest.

About Royal Philips Electronics - Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 32.3 billion in 2001.

It is a global leader in colour television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products.

Its 189,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, and medical systems.

Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges.

News from Philips is located at www.news.philips.com About SynQuest - SynQuest specialises in providing supply chain planning software that is designed to significantly reduce manufacturing and logistics costs and, at the same time, enable companies to meet customer requirements.

SynQuest software uses financially focused technology to solve specific, high-value supply chain problems for target markets including automotive, consumer durables and industrial manufacturers.