Delivering Operational Flexibility — an Industry Imperative
Like every automotive and heavy truck manufacturer, PACCAR faces tough challenges. It must balance long lead times and frequent supply chain disruptions — like material shortages — with delivery speed and reliability. It also must achieve profitability despite uncertain demand, and an increasing need for vehicle personalization. The key to meeting these challenges is operational flexibility.
Yet automotive production is not built for flexibility and agility. In scheduling its customer orders, PACCAR faces practical challenges like complex order configurations, diverse plant requirements, multiple assembly line attributes and constraints, and complex production rules.
PACCAR needed a robust Advanced Planning & Scheduling solution that could transform its operations for increased flexibility, cost control and responsiveness to changing conditions. By ingesting real-time data, the solution would help smooth production by identifying and responding to disruptions on both the demand and supply sides. The solution would need to integrate seamlessly with PACCAR’s existing IT system for real-time data import and export.
Driven by Data, the Blue Yonder solution Steers Production Toward Market Needs
After a thorough review of various software solutions, PACCAR chose flexis — a part of Blue Yonder — to address its need for flexible production scheduling. flexis APS ingests real-time demand and supply data, then considers multiple order attributes and production constraints as it automatically creates an optimal manufacturing schedule.
As the Blue Yonder solution schedules, slots and sequences orders, it leverages advanced optimization engines to consider a wide range of data. It accounts for different product configurations, plant capabilities and production requirements. Even unusual scenarios, such as multi-color paint jobs that require additional time in certain areas, are easily managed. This solution also monitors truck production in real time to ensure adherence to constraints and optimize assembly workflows.
Today PACCAR can balance rapid, reliable customer delivery with cost-effective production that makes the most of labor, equipment and other resources. Production is smoother and more balanced, even in the face of demand volatility. Schedules can be easily updated and replanned as conditions change, and any issues or constraints are flagged and addressed in real time.
PACCAR’s collaboration with the Blue Yonder team has resulted in continuous improvement, and consistently achieving its production goals.
