Chippenham, U.K.-based planning and scheduling specialist Preactor International has received certification from Wonderware under which it will provide the Finite Capacity Scheduling module for the Wonderware Operations system ― Factelligence ― to you and me. Linking manufacturers’ shop floor activities with production planning and scheduling will, it is argued, give Wonderware users the ability to make intelligent plant decisions in real time.
Preactor and Wonderware have worked closely together to ensure that Wonderware Operations is integrated seamlessly with the Preactor 400 APS system using Wonderware’s supply chain connector technology.
Integration of MES and APS has been identified as a critical issue by leading research organization Aberdeen Group. Research across a wide range of manufacturing companies in North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific found that the top 20% of implementers of lean manufacturing technology tightly integrated scheduling with MES and ERP.
“Wonderware is used in over one third of the world’s plants and facilities and many of these sites can make further efficiency gains by integrating their plant floor and production planning capabilities,” said Preactor International CEO Mike Novels. “Preactor has a long history of its systems being used in an enabling capacity with Wonderware solutions in many different industries. This is a logical extension of providing the proven benefits of two leaders in their fields to manufacturers the world over.”
