Changing product volumes and product mix along with the introduction of new products and manufacturing practices present a constant challenge to plants and distribution centers in terms of assessing equipment capacity bottlenecks, storage requirements, space requirements and headcount requirements for different skills.

Most manufacturing environments drive efficiency through shared equipment, multi-tasking workforce, cellular layouts and other similar techniques. Therefore, complex interactions exist between different products and the loading that occurs on the different work centers and labor required. These interactions are further complicated by choices faced by the management on how to operate a plant in terms of shift structures or overtime.

SCA’s solutions provide sophisticated operational models that provides accurate representations of manufacturing activities (routings, equipment manning, shifts, etc.) and distribution activities (picking, packing, shipping, receiving, etc). These solutions provide a rigorous framework to enable a much more detailed and accurate understanding of:

• Capacity requirements
• Headcount requirements and
• Space requirements

at the desired granularity levels and also provide a comprehensive view of the financial (P&L) implications. SCA’s solutions also offer the ability to optimize the operations based on the lowest cost profile. They therefore allow the users to evaluate tradeoffs between technology upgrade (capital) or operating expense (shifts, overtime, etc.) and also between various lean improvement options and strategic choices (e.g. outsourcing of products or operations).