Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) techniques are applied primarily during the
operational planning stages and
day of operations scheduling. APS is appropriate at any point in a supply chain where existing finite capacity needs to be used efficiently to meet short-term demand for production.
Application of the latest APS technology solution techniques allows the opportunity to integrate different planning environments into one inter-connected system. Not only does this minimise data integrity issues, but it also allows each sub-system to evaluate different planning decisions and the impact of their decisions on the rest of the system.
Operational Planning
At the tactical planning level, APS focuses on the planning of upcoming operations over the 3 month to 3 year horizon. For example, an APS tool could be used to identify upcoming bottlenecks over this period, and to assist in how to address them, or to decide which mix of customer orders yields optimal profitability against available resources.
The main advantage in using APS tools for purposes such as these is the speed with which solutions can be generated in comparison to traditional methods, which often involve manual approaches with little or no automation. APS tools also provide uniformity in planning criteria and KPIs, offering business-wide visibility of a single, up-to-date schedule or plan.
Day of Operations Scheduling
Detailed scheduling is focused on:
• operational efficiencies
• managing bottlenecks
• managing changes to schedule timetables, and
• scheduling the co-ordination of activities and resources, such as the loading of ships.
Feedback from operations, via MES (Mining Execution Systems) allows for real-time scheduling, that is, automatically re-scheduling as and when things change. APS tools with this capability are able to simultaneously plan and schedule production considering multiple constraints, such as available materials, labour and production capacity, as well as respond quickly to changes in system states.
The result is the generation of operational plans and schedules that are not only feasible for implementation, but that also produce the best possible outcome given the current state of the system.
Application areas for APS
APS solution techniques can be applied to a variety of areas in mining operations, including:
• Mine logistics planning and scheduling;
• Planning and scheduling of production and processing;
• Stockpile modelling and yard planning;
• Grade control (blending);
• Process plant planning and scheduling;
• Shipping, despatch and demurrage planning;
• Workforce and roster planning;
• Integrated planning of the above;
• Minimising data integrity issues between multiple sub-systems by having a single plan;
• Reducing the cycle time for planning iterations, allowing more time for decision making;
• Improved visibility of the plans for personnel across the whole supply chain;
• Standardising the business processes and reducing reliance on key staff;
• Reducing risk through improved system supportability and system flexibility.
In fact, APS is appropriate at any point in a mining supply chain where existing finite capacity needs to be used efficiently to meet short-term demand for production.
Read more: See how APS and DES can work together