ModelEnterprise

Optimal Economic Planning of process manufacturing enterprises

ModelEnterprise enables you to maximize asset utilization and optimize cash flow using a single model of your enterprise.

ModelEnterprise is advanced enterprise modelling software for optimal economic planning of complex process manufacturing facilities.

It can be applied to any scale of operation, from optimization of cash flow in a multi-national, multi-site, multi-product enterprise to the optimal scheduling of a single unit.

ModelEnterprise Optimal Economic Planning

What does ModelEnterprise do?

ModelEnterprise performs economic planning using a mathematical model of the enterprise, to determine optimal asset utilisation.

For example, it allows you to directly answer questions such as:

"Can we fulfill our current set of orders on-time and in full?"

"If not, what is the economically best alternative?"

"How do I manufacture this range of product, given current orders and some expected scenarios?"

"How do I minimise Work-in-Progress and thus provide the best cash flow?".

"How can we reduce the environmental impact of our supply chain?"

"Can we achieve our three-year objectives?"

"Do we need to invest?"

"If so, where is our money best spent?"

Where is it applied?

ModelEnterprise is typically applied to multi-purpose, multi-product, multi-site plants with complex production requirements or with complex supply chains.

How it works

ModelEnterprise applies rigorous mathematical optimisation to a model of a production site or the enterprise to optimise an economic, environmental or performance objective function under specific operational constraints – for example, material and personnel availability, product demand levels and so on.

This provides high-accuracy quantitative information for decision support in a range of planning activities – from the week-by-week planning of production to the question of where to site new facilities or the size of facilities required given the demand scenarios.

Typical applications

ModelEnterprise is typically used to provide high-accuracy information for:

optimal production planning – can the required products be made in the required timescales?
maximising asset utilisation – what production plan will provide higest return on assets?
optimising cash flow – what production sequence will result in minimum cash flow exposure?
optimal campaign planning – what is the most economic way to manufacture a range of products in the same facility?
inventory optimisation in supply chain management – what is the minimum inventory level we can safely work with?
environmental optimisation for green supply chain management – how do we minimise environmental impact within economic constraints?
investment planning – what is the optimal investment strategy to meet anticipated production demands? Will the new facilities be capable of handling certain changes in demand?
optimisation of key unit operations – what is the best way to operate a complex or costly unit in order to minimise costs within production constraints?
many more – because ModelEnterprise applies rigorous mathematical optimisation, it can be used to determine optimal values using virtually any objective function.

What are the benefits?

Optimal planning brings many manufacturing and financial benefits. However these arise, they all result in better economic performance of the plant or enterprise.

These can be capital benefits – for example, the decrease in investment identified based on a better understanding of likely operating scenarios and the ability to release capacity in existing plant through a better understanding of operational requirements and constraints.

Alternatively they can be operating benefits – for example, reduced cash flow requirements because of reduced work-in progress and reduced stocks, or better compliance with delivery times leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and reduction in penalties, or improved environmental performance.

looked at another way, benefits include, depending on the nature of the application:

Financial benefits:

Greater utilisation of assets, resulting in a better return on investment (ROI)
Reduced working capital tied up in work-in progress (WIP) or stocks
Reduced operating costs

Manufacturing objectives:

The ability to meet demand on-time and in full, leading to greater customer satisfaction and the potential to accept additional orders
Maximisation of capacity or utilisation, or maximisation of throughput, leading to financial benefits