Driving APS: supply chain efficiencies
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/1998
More companies-typically large manufacturing firms-are choosing to install APS (advance planning and scheduling) software. From 1996 to 1997, worldwide sales of these systems shot up 61%, says a market study by Automation Research Corp., Dedham, Mass.The driving factor in this growth, says ARC analyst Steve Banker, "is increasing user awareness of the critical role this software plays in driving supply chain efficiencies and service improvements." Prime buyers of the software are "tier 1 manufacturers with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion," he adds.
The systems can be installed project by project, yielding what he calls a "rigorous" return on investment. Or they can go in as "big bang projects" that involve substantial business process reengineering, can cost millions of dollars, and take years to implement, Banker explains.
Currently, five types of software are part of the APS suite (see pie chart), ARC says. But the business "is evolving into a supply chain management product suite," Banker declares, "that will also include transportation management, warehouse management, manufacturing execution, and advanced order management systems.
"The need to integrate with these complimentary systems is driven by the need for dynamic scheduling, better planning, and an increased desire on the part of manufacturers to participate in vendor managed inventory and continuous replenishment programs," Banker concludes. [For more on the ARC study, call 781-461-9100 or go to the web site, www.arcweb.com.]
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