PlanetTogether

• A website link to PlanetTogether is provided herein.
• PlanetTogether is a "global leading planning & scheduling platform that provides greater lean, agile and capacity planning that enables agile manufacturing for an ERP that has Gantt scheduling for sequencing with a scalable, per plant, per month subscriptions."
• Its Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) technology is a manufacturing, production, and capacity planning & scheduling software that enables fast and flexible capacity planning, production scheduling and material requirement planning (MRP) connected to an existing ERP system.
• Advanced Planning and Scheduling systems are reshaping and augmenting ERP and MRP software by allowing faster and more accurate performance results that have improved operations planning as a whole.
• PlanetTogether's APS software helps companies grow sales with quicker production lead-times, cut inventory by aligning production with demand, reduce unit cost with more efficient production runs, and improve decisions with capacity visibility & scenarios and analytics.
• These systems use capacity performance models with real-time data and analysis to determine what capacity is needed. Capacity constraints are automatically applied to ensure that every machine is capable of performing the work that is assigned to it.
• The features of the software include capacity planning, constraint management, resource scheduling, plan & schedule optimization, scheduling tools, key performance indicators, integration, alerts & reports, analytics, and inventory & distribution planning.
• Other features of the software are described here.
• A video description of its operating methods and steps is provided herein.
• Its competitive advantages include;
• Creation of optimized schedules that balance production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximizing throughput on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronization supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provision of company-wide visibility to resource capacity
• Enabling scenario data-driven decision-making.

Katana

• A website link to Katana is provided herein.
• Katana is an all-in-one smart manufacturing solution that gives you the tools to help companies carry out their resource capacity plan, along with:
• Inventory management;
• Production management;
• Sales orders; and
• Integration features to manage your entire business, all from one dashboard.

• Its features include product planning, real-time inventory control and optimization, sales order fulfillment, shop floor control for workshop users, purchasing, accurate costing, and integration with online services.
• Its unique auto-booking engine tracks inventory in real-time, automatically allocating available material and finished products to fulfill orders; if the order priority changes, Katana will redistribute your inventory to fit the new production schedule.
• The platform offers an 80% productivity boost, 3x material inventory control, and less than seven days implementation time.
• A video description of its operating methods and steps is provided herein.

Asprova MRP

• A website link to Asprova MRP is provided herein.
• Asprova is an Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) system that creates production schedules at high speed for multiple items and multiple processes, fully integrating sales, manufacturing, inventory, and purchase plans.

• It is equipped with standard features covering everything you need on the production floor.
• It can be implemented in multi-industry, including injection molding, wire harness, metal processing, and job order production.
• Its features include ultra-fast logic, visual management, inventory and lead times reduction, and seamless system integration. Other features of the platform are provided herein.

• A video description of its operating methods and steps is provided herein. A step-by-step guide to using the tool is contained herein.
• Its competitive advantages include an extensive set of essential features, backing efficient proposals, improving usability, and other optional functionality.

ClickUp

• A website link to ClickUp is provided herein.
• ClickUp is the world’s top-rated project management software.
• It is used by 200,000+ ultra-productive teams across startups and tech giants like Google, Ubisoft, and Webflow, it’s the one-stop solution for all your capacity planning and project management needs.
• Features of the ClickUp Workload view include an understanding of the available capacity, and planning and visualization of team capacity across any given day, helping users gauge individual workloads and identify if someone is overworked.
• Other features of the platform include pulse, timeline view, Gantt Charts, dashboard and reporting, box view, profiles, mind maps, and native time tracking.
• Its competitive edge includes high user-friendliness and intuitive interface, customizable features for Agile teams, document feature, drag and drop functionality, powerful team performance monitoring, ability to customize task Statuses, and multi-integrations.

Throughput Inc.

• A website link to Throughput Inc. is provided herein.
• ThroughPut’s ELI is an AI-powered bottleneck elimination engine that analyzes existing industrial data in real-time. ELI continuously detects, identifies, prescribes & prevents shifting bottleneck operations to create optimum Capacity Planning strategies that can save millions in delays, inefficiencies & lost revenue.
• ThroughPut’s ELI software suite taps into existing time-stamped data tied to your sales, purchasing, distribution, and manufacturing activities and puts operational improvements on autopilot.
• ELI predicts demand, reorients production capacity, reassigns warehouse space, and reorders materials just-in-time, so you never miss out on customer demand again.
• Its features include product monitoring, real-time data, predictive analytics, and performance modeling.
• ELI uses AI-powered Supply Chain Intelligence to help you gain complete visibility right from your Upstream to Downstream operations.
• It automatically collects data and prepares it through uploaded files, APIs, and collectors. Furthermore, it analyzes the data to separate the critical and non-critical bottlenecks. Next, it automatically highlights inefficiencies by scanning all sources of data thoroughly and applying process-enhancing methods to prescribe the best solutions.
• ELI automatically determines ROI and ROA by showing operational savings using real-time root-cause analysis.
• Its competitive advantages include an intuitive user interface, clear and concise information flow, absolute quality and documentation control, and match capacity with utilization hours.

Capacity Monitoring and Planning Tools

Project Manager

• A website link to Project Manager is provided herein.
• ProjectManager.com’s award-winning project management system combines powerful project planning and scheduling features with collaboration tools for teams.
• Its features include Dynamic Gantt Charts, robust task lists, fluid Kanban Boards, team management tools, real-time reports, and MSP compatibility.
• ProjectManager.com is a project planning software that keeps users on schedule and lets them report on progress along the way.
• Its operating method consists of 10 steps which include creating the task list, adding task description, switching to Gantt Chart View, team onboarding, defining the team’s availability, among others.
• The competitive advantages of the platform include supporting online Gantt Charts, task scheduling, timesheets, team management, collaboration, online share, and the import and export of documents.
• ProjectManager.com is trusted by 375,000+ project managers worldwide.

 

Source

 

Saviom

• A website link to Saviom is provided herein.
• Saviom claims to be the most powerful capacity planning and resource forecasting software. It is a disruptive resource capacity planning tool to forecast and build an optimized workforce to beat market volatility and significantly reduce project resourcing cost and improve profitability.
• The features of the platform include scheduling, forecast & capacity planning, resource planning, businesses intelligence, and integration.
• A video describing its operating techniques is contained herein.
• The competitive advantages include 10-30% reduction in resource cost, futureproof workforce against market volatility, 10-20% increase in productivity, and support for real-time forecasting and monitoring.

• Other competitive edge include project reports, business analytics trackers, data cybersecurity, and configurability.

 

Source

 

Trello

• A website link to Trello is provided herein.
• Trello is the easy, free, flexible, and visual way to manage your projects and organize anything, trusted by millions of people from all over the world.
• It is a free project management tool that can be used by design, engineering, HR, marketing, product management, remote, sales, startups, and support teams.
• Its features include;
•  Trello board, which empowers teams with the ability to view board data from many angles and remain updated in the way that suits them best.
•  Trello cards, which provides teams with more organized work—where every single part of your task can be managed, tracked, and shared with teammates.
•  No-code automation 
•  Top work tools integrations.
• A full list of its capabilities and features is contained herein.

• Trello gives users a clear visual of how many projects their team is working on to know if they are taken on too many projects or if someone on their team is overloaded with too much work.

• Its methods of operation are outlined herein.

• The competitive edge of its features includes unlimited cards and activity logs, built-in automation, desktop, and mobile app support, unlimited boards and power-ups integrations, and lots more.

• Trello is used by over 1,000,000 teams worldwide.
• It is built with simplicity, flexibility, and power in mind, so users can focus on other tasks that matter most.

 

Source

 

ResourceGuru

• A website link to ResourceGuru is provided herein.
• ResourceGuru's resource management tool includes capacity planning features.
• With ResourceGuru, users can view their entire staff’s available hours and their skill sets to see who can work on which projects.
• Users can also view time off and vacation days so they don’t accidentally overload someone when they should be taking a break from the office.
• Its features include resource scheduling, resource management, leave management, project scheduling, equipment management, meeting room booking system, capacity planning, and project forecasting reports.
• Its competitive edge includes early detection of under-capacity, online collaboration, minimizing burnout through effective workload planning, project health monitoring with reports, efficient experience, single dashboard, centralized projects & clients, and billable & non-billable work.

 

Source

 

Galileo

• A website link to Galileo is provided herein.
• Galileo is a proactive, data-driven solution for IT capacity and performance management.
• Its deep, predictive analytics and access to unlimited historical data help organizations innovate and accurately align diverse infrastructure assets with capacity needs.
• The Galileo Performance Explorer ensures effective capacity planning to meet the needs of internal users and the most key infrastructure systems and applications.
• With Galileo, IT teams can increase uptime, pinpoint usage trends, forecast demands, right-size environments and accurately plan for the future.
• Not only does Galileo ensure infrastructure performance, but it can also serve as a strategic consultant, accurately monitoring the current environment with Galileo will provide a roadmap to a successful project.
• The key features of the platform include data security, enterprise dashboard, operational intelligence, performance monitoring, predictive analytics, and tag management.
• Its competitive edge includes data center migration, health assessment, HPC, performance optimization, and server consolidation.

Best Practices: Tracking Time and Level of Effort

• According to Katana, the first best practice for capacity planning is to track time and effort.
• You might be under the impression that completing a task takes 30 minutes, but in reality, it might take up to one and a half hours.
• If this is the case, you’re going to need to figure out where the discrepancies are occurring.
• Ask team members how long it takes them to usually complete a task, or have them fill in timesheets.
• This will help you make better forecasts on manufacturing completion times in the future.

Identify Bottlenecks

•  Identifying bottlenecks in production and monitoring the amount of work passing through these points can allow you to not overload a workstation or cause a production stopping problem.
• You can keep on top of your bottleneck management by using MES software to:
• Monitor production progress;
• Redistribute resources to address bottlenecks; and
• Check-in with resources to see task status.

Schedule Buffers for L&D

• According to one survey, 70% of workers believe they haven’t mastered the skills needed for their current jobs.
•  Learning and development (L&D) shouldn’t be considered an optional perk for your workers or exclusive training for managers.
• L&D is an important part of ensuring the delivery of quality products and improving your manufacturing lead time.
• This is why, when you’re putting together your resource capacity plan, it’s important to leave some time free to schedule L&D sessions for your workers.

Calculate Your True Availability

• You’re going to have moments where employees are involved with tasks that will only be focused on their workload.
• Some examples of this could be:
• Checking emails;
• Searching for information; or
• Even sitting in unproductive meetings.
• You’re going to need to calculate the amount of time that an employee spends on these tasks, to figure out their true availability when doing your resource capacity planning.

Prioritize Project to Allocate Resources

• Finally, a good practice for developing your resource capacity plan is to prioritize projects and manufacturing orders.
• The criteria for a priority project can be:
• Time-sensitive orders; or
• An important opportunity for your business.
•  Finding a tool that can help you prioritize manufacturing orders will allow you to easily communicate with your employees about which tasks need to be completed sooner rather than later.

Case Studies: Nectar Communications

• Nectar Communications is a fast-growing PR agency that's taking over the tech community.
• With high-profile clients like Salesforce, Workday, and LinkedIn, it's critical that Nectar is able to deliver exceptional service at a moment's notice.
• One of the key challenges for a PR firm is to understand which employees have bandwidth to work on projects that suit their particular skill set and role.
• Nectar, like many PR firms, originally used an Excel spreadsheet to track employee time and capacity. This approach was difficult to manage and maintain, as spreadsheets lacked version controls, and more importantly, failed to provide high-level insight and analysis into employee availability.
• Before ClickTime, it was challenging for Nectar to understand how the client teams were performing against forecasts or have proactive conversations with budget managers about the health of projects and teams.
• Other challenges experienced by the company included lack of insight into employee capacity, difficulty in comparing actuals to estimates, version and data control issues with Excel, and inaccurate, static data.
• With ClickTime, employees and managers are empowered with real-time data on actual hours worked as compared to forecast or budget. It allows teams to have more effective conversations — both internally and externally — and make strategic decisions about servicing highly active accounts.
• According to Sarah McGeary, Vice President of Strategy and Operations, "ClickTime showed Nectar exactly how much time employees have to dedicate to any project. It's significantly improved how it managed client budgets and staff allocations — and the company was able to be proactive and get ahead of any issue that may arise."
• Resource Planning fundamentally changed how Nectar managed and optimized employee capacity. It gave the executive team, and budget and account managers unprecedented insight into company operations.
• Using ClickTime's Resource Planning tool, Nectar is able to gain real-time visibility into project staffing, track employee time, and ultimately, increase profitability.
• The company achieved a 40+ employees tracking time.

Nidec Motor Corporation

• Nidec Motor Corporation is the leading manufacturer of commercial, industrial and appliance motors and controls.

• When switching to a new time tracking platform, the Nidec team required a system that was incredibly easy to use for their engineers and other team members.
• Other challenges faced by the company were that incomplete understanding of engineering productivity, need to track R&D labor costs, and the lack of functionality of the in-house system.
• In addition to the more than 70 out-of-the-box reports on employee utilization, task allocation, timesheet completion, and more, ClickTime built a number of custom reports for Nidec -- specific for their organization.
• The custom reports extract data from multiple ClickTime sources and compile them to provide a comprehensive picture at how time is spent across various businesses and locations.
• Through ClickTime, Nidec Motor Corporation is able to accurately track time, and document employee research and development activity.
• ClickTime brought about easy time tracking, more accountable and engaged managers and employees, comprehensive understanding of productivity, and a platform to track and audit R& labor costs.

• Nidec Motor added 30+ new users to ClickTime each year and saved 100+ IT hours annually.