Capacity and resource planning
Respond flexibly to short-term fluctuations in demand for long-term success.
Services in the field of production and logistics
Services in the field of production and logistics
Transparent approach
Volatility and dynamics of the markets as a challenge in capacity & resource planning
The volatility and dynamics of the markets are a major challenge in the context of capacity & resource planning. Often, the planning tools implemented in the company do not provide comprehensive support in this regard.
However, capacity & resource planning is an important basis for many other operational and strategic decisions at site & network level. In addition to the dimensioning of plants and factory buildings, medium-term investment & personnel decisions are made on the basis of capacity & resource planning. In the short term, it provides the basis for production planning & control and workforce scheduling.
We support you with capacity and resource planning
- Strategic capacity planning
- Synchronous capacity planning in the network
- Investment and personnel planning
- Series start-up, ramp up and ramp down
- Flexibilization of capacities
- Workforce Management / Staff Scheduling
Strategic capacity planning
Strategic capacity & resource planning is used to make long-term decisions. It forms the basis for CapEx decisions to build or expand sites and is part of any factory planning.
Synchronous capacity planning in the network
Do you see opportunities in the network to leverage synergies and increase overall utilization and efficiency? However, isolated solutions have been created in your network that do not allow you to create an overarching plan? Together with you, we develop a continuous, cross-departmental planning and control process and provide you with the appropriate tools and methods.
Investment and personnel planning
In the medium term, resources—in terms of machinery and personnel—are defined through investment decisions and workforce planning as part of the budget planning process. As part of this planning process, in addition to capacity utilization in the current concept—for which your production planning system (PPS) provides support—you should also consider adjustments to production processes (e.g., adjustments to the work schedule model and changes to assembly organization—keyword: flow principle) and the impact on OpEx.
Successful series startup, ramp up and ramp down
The demand for your products is growing by leaps and bounds? A new product launch is imminent? Due to the ramp down, the space efficiency decreases? Then you should urgently adjust the capacities. We support you in planning and help you to implement suitable measures for the (temporary) adjustment of your capacity.
Flexibilization of capacities
We show you which measures you can take to make your capacity more flexible in order to respond to volatile demand at short notice. Staffing, machinery, maintenance, make or buy: together we define a suitable setup for increasing your flexibility.
Workforce Management / Staff Scheduling
Having the right employees in the right workplace at the right time is the goal. We support you in establishing the appropriate processes, creating the organizational structures, and selecting and, if necessary, implementing a suitable IT system environment.
Challenges in the area of capacity & resource planning in practice
Practical issues in capacity and resource planning
- What capacities must be maintained in the coming years?
- Which areas, personnel capacities and machines are required?
- To what extent should flexibility and mutability be considered?
- What capacities and investments in resources and technologies should be considered as part of the next budget planning?
- How can continuous planning be mapped in the face of increasing volatility of demand and changing requirements?
- What is the impact of the capacity change on relevant KPIs and OpEx?
- What proportion of the required capacity should be available internally?
- What flexibility models do exist? To what extent should external capacity be used?
With foresight to long-term success in order to react flexibly to short-term fluctuations in demand
Stage / 01
Increase planning horizon
We know that long-term forecasting (> 5 years) is a big challenge. But would you plan a new factory without foresight? Factory planning is our hobby. We support you in aggregating existing information, assessing risks, avoiding mistakes made by others, and thus generating viable capacity planning for the future.
Stage / 02
: Applying Practical Experience Across Industries
We know the stumbling blocks in reality and help you to implement short-term capacity changes flexibly. Wir haben bereits zahlreiche Kapazitätserhöhungen in der Praxis umgesetzt und wissen, worauf es auch am Shopfloor ankommt.
Stage / 03
Tools & Methods
You have an ERP system in use, but the resource planning does not match the reality? Our consultants support you in creating transparency with suitable tools & methods and in developing the appropriate approach for your task, if necessary taking into account future-proof software solutions.
Level / 04
: Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer
We live a collaborative project mode. We work with you on the project result and gradually transfer method & tool competence so that the necessary knowledge is built up internally at your company.
Factors of success
ifp consulting supports an internationally operating group during the Covid-19 pandemic with a short-term capacity increase by a factor of 5. The goal was to temporarily increase the existing capacities significantly. To this end, appropriate measures were developed on the basis of extensive medium-term capacity planning and continuous workforce planning was established. By adjusting the working time model, establishing training concepts for qualification and adjusting the workplace design, among other things, by introducing the flow principle, not only efficiency was increased, but also compliance with the AHA rules was supported and the output target at the end of the year was achieved.
Accompanying services
- Factory Planning
- Ramp Up Management
- S&OP Prozess
- Network optimization
- Production Footprint
- Production control
- How to increase in overall equipment efficiency (OEE)
- Ideal vertical range of manufacture
- Assessment & Benchmarking
- Production planning process
Key Takeaways
Capacity and resource planning
Capacity & resource planning is therefore an indispensable part of every company. Reliability of results, adaptivity of the methodology and transparency on the approach are therefore important factors that should be considered in the context of comprehensive capacity & resource planning.
