Introduction

APS is a multi-plant and multi-user system designed not only for collaboration between planners and schedulers, but between plants that whose processes are interconnected. For example, Jobs can be started in one facility and then shipped to another for finishing or for assembly. To this end, there are a number of controls in place to specify how Jobs are completed in a multi-plant environment.

Can Span Plants:

At both the Job and Manufacturing Order levels, the “Can Span Plants” setting needs to be set. If the Job is set to “Can Span Plants,” each of its Manufacturing Orders are eligible to be scheduled to different plants. For example, if a Job is comprised of two Manufacturing Orders, one for a table and the other for several chairs, the chairs may be produced in one plant and the table in another. Each Manufacturing Order’s Operations, however, will be scheduled at the same plant.

If the Manufacturing Order itself is set to “Can Span Plants” the separate Operations belonging to the Manufacturing Order can travel between plants. In the example of building chairs, a Manufacturing Order that can span plants may have a cutting operation start in one plant while the next operation, a sanding operation, might occur in another facility. “Can Span Plants” must be checked as true at the Job level in order for the Manufacturing Order setting to take effect.

Is Locked:

Similar to locking an Activity to a Resource, a Manufacturing Order can be locked to a Plant to ensure — for any reason — that the Manufacturing Order is started and finished within that plant. A common reason for locking a Manufacturing Order to a plant is proximity to the customer who’s ordering the product. If a Manufacturing Order is locked to a plant, every Operation belonging to the MO will also be locked to that plant.

Note: When Jobs are scheduled across multiple plants, material can flow between plants without having to issue transfer orders. This assumes that both plants are supplying the same warehouse. 

Operations cannot span plants, unless the Operation has been split. Otherwise, all Resource and Capability Requirements must be present in the plant in order for the Operation to schedule. If the Operation fails to schedule, the Job will be marked as “Failed to Schedule” on the Jobs view.