Batch Allocator
The Problem. . .
Pharmaceutical manufacturers face unique production problems. Translating customer orders into production lots is definitely one of these hurdles. The consolidated order quantities that pharmaceutical companies need to produce are rarely in agreement with the certified batch sizes that they are required to produce. For companies using an ERP system, the process is even less precise because the ERP model assumes infinite production capacity and automatically generates production orders for new lots whenever it calculates that one lot has been consumed. These imprecise assumptions result in unexpected overproduction and other costly problems.
Our Solution. . .
Batch Allocator solves these problems by intelligently and accurately allocating individual customer orders to production batches. Batch Allocator takes the production plan generated by ERP and applies two decision techniques to best match packaging or customer orders to production lots.
Firstly, Batch Allocator allows you to define business rules for how you want to allocate available production among the customers in your distribution chain—these rules can be hard or soft. For example, create a soft rule enabling the system to vary the actual quantity of an order by 10 % in a regional warehouse or create a hard rule specifying that orders from a particular distribution center must be manufactured at a particular plant.
Secondly, Batch Allocator rebuilds the ERP production plan by rapidly evaluating numerous alternatives until it finds the one that meets your production constraints. If necessary, Batch Allocator will recommend the creation of new batches or the deletion of batches planned by ERP.
Key components of Batch Allocator include the following features:
- User-defined business rules enable you to define the hard and soft rules that Batch Allocator uses as it assigns orders to production lots, reflecting the decisions you've made about how to run your business.
- What-if capability allows each user to simulate alternative solutions before selecting the preferred plan.
- Unit of Measure Conversion lets you define unit of measure conversions so you can manage each order in its appropriate unit of measure.
- Multiple responsibility levels enable you to assign one of three authority levels (supervisor, planner or simulator) to each user.
- Flexible reporting allows you to access the database to define your own reports in addition to those already provided.