Enhancing Polymer Production Planning for Increased Efficiency and Profitability

The Challenge

A leading global manufacturing company faced significant challenges in its polymer production planning. Tasked with creating production plans for a diverse range of polymer products on limited production lines, each product required adherence to specific constraints and delivery deadlines. The existing manual and iterative planning process was time-consuming and inefficient, often resulting in schedules that did not optimally utilize time and resources.

How We Create Value

To tackle this issue, a suite of four cloud-hosted AIMMS tools was developed, each specifically designed to generate feasible operational schedules for different polymer production plants. These tools aimed to optimize various factors, including minimizing transition times between production runs and reducing startup and shutdown costs. By leveraging the power of these optimization tools, planners were able to focus on higher-value tasks such as scenario analysis, which could significantly influence strategic decisions.

Impact & Benefits

The deployment of AIMMS tools has delivered substantial benefits to the company's operations and financial performance:

• Significant Financial Impact: The implementation of just one of these AIMMS tools has led to a confirmed annual EBITDA improvement exceeding $250,000.
• Increased Planner Productivity: Production planners have noted a significant enhancement in their quality of life, with the tools enabling them to dedicate more time to strategic activities.
• Efficiency Gains: Optimized scheduling facilitated by the AIMMS tools has resulted in a more efficient allocation of both time and physical resources across the production lines.

The company's investment in advanced planning tools underscores its dedication to innovation and continuous improvement within its manufacturing processes. The successful integration of AIMMS technology has not only yielded financial gains but also significantly boosted the overall effectiveness of the company's polymer production planning.