Reference waySuite
Efficient production planning at ABB Switzerland
ABB is a leading global technology company that offers solutions for electrification, drive technology, robotics, and automation. At its production sites in Untersiggenthal and Baden, ABB Switzerland focuses on customer-specific production in the drive (traction & system drives) and batteries segments.
Capacity planning creates transparency
ABB is a leading global technology company that offers solutions for electrification, drive technology, robotics, and automation. At its production sites in Untersiggenthal and Baden, ABB Switzerland focuses on customer-specific production in the drive (traction & system drives) and batteries segments. Here, ABB produces the whole spectrum of frequency inverters and converters for the global market.
Benefits at a glance
Solid decision-making basis thanks to up-to-date information about capacities and resources
Real-time dynamic response along the entire job chain
Optimized assembly space planning
Personnel deployment planning (wayWFM)
Improved on-time delivery
Patrick Strickler
Value Chain Engineering, ABB Switzerland
”To put it bluntly, our previous scheduling was out of date by the time it was created. Far too often, it was necessary to reschedule at short notice in order to satisfy customers. Our current operations planning in waySuite is characterized by real-time information about available and required capacities and resources. We detect possible delays early and we have ideal production sequences for all production steps at every workplace.“
Reference ABB Switzerland: Capacity planning creates transparency
Discover how ABB Switzerland boosts transparency and efficiency with capacity planning. Download the reference now!
The initial situation
Very complex assembly manufacturing
The production of control cabinets involves a small proportion of in-house production but very complex assembly. In ABB Switzerland’s production planning, the challenge is that there is a large share of customer-specific products. The weaknesses of the old planning system were clear due to missing parts and insufficient missing parts testing on the one hand and high storage costs on the other.
waySuite identified as the suitable planning solution
Overloaded capacities, which had to be rescheduled manually, resulted in higher process and labor costs.
Two aspects made it clear that the solution would be suitable planning software. Scheduling in ERP was based on unlimited capacities and constant availability – a constant source of error. The need to plan had led to a proliferation of workarounds, as was evident at the beginning of the project: More than 120 different Excel tools were in use.
Our approach
After a design phase, the roll-out of wayRTS at ABB Switzerland began in 2021. valantic trained the end users and ran test loops. The ABB team cleaned up master and transaction data in order to create a good data basis for the future. The assembly workstations and their assignment have always been a bottleneck. Since this concerns not just the space requirement but also the availability of the right employees, the waySuite module wayWFM was introduced in a second step starting in 2022.
Workforce Management mit wayWFM
Workforce management recognizes that, in terms of production planning, each individual worker is a special resource that cannot be scheduled at will. Different qualifications, working hours models, overtime accounts, labor law requirements, holiday planning, further training, and sick leave make the allocation of personnel capacities complex; wayWFM makes this complexity manageable.
Production planning offers numerous benefits
ABB Switzerland can look back on a successful APS implementation and has already made a first wayRTS release change. Production planning has benefited significantly from the fact that it can rely on real-time information about capacities and resources. Planning transparency improves communication with customers, who now receive a faster response to their requests, and also with suppliers, as purchasing is informed about the specific impact of changes in production or delivery delays.
Conclusion
Patrick Strickler sums things up this way: “If you, like us, have to allocate your capacities to a large number of customer-specific projects, it’s good to depict your order network clearly and ensure that there is comprehensive planning across the company. What I learned from this project: Change management is very important to encourage employees to accept changes. And you should not underestimate the work required: Cleaning up the data in the ERP system is an essential task in a project like this.”
About ABB Switzerland
ABB is a leading global technology company in the fields of electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. By combining technical expertise and digitalization, ABB ensures that industries achieve high performance while becoming more efficient, productive, and sustainable to exceed their goals. At ABB, we call this “Engineered to Outrun.” The company has a history spanning more than 140 years and employs over 105,000 people worldwide. ABB shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ABBN) and on Nasdaq Stockholm (ABB).
For more information, visit www.abb.com
Capacity planning creates transparency at ABB Switzerland
Find out here how ABB Switzerland increases efficiency in production planning with the support of the valantic waySuite.
