ŽĎAS will be using an advanced production planning and scheduling system from IBM, LOGIS and i2 Technologies

At the beginning of this year the project for the implementation of an advanced production planning and scheduling system commenced in the engineering–metallurgical complex of ŽĎAS, a.s., with registered office in Žďár nad Sázavou. IBM Czech Republic and its alliance partner, LOGIS are the suppliers of this project. The implemented product is the i2 Factory planner from i2 Technologies. The objective of the project is in particular to improve the performance of production and logistics parameters, which includes not only reduction of the continuous time necessary for production and increasing the reliability of fulfilment of the production plan, but also reduction of the volume of stores of incomplete production and materials. In addition to this the improvement in deliveries to the customer and in the economic parameters of production, such as evaluation of the production plan and the planned business cases, will also be manifested positively.

Žďár nad Sázavou, 5/4/2006

Qualitative improvement of the production planning and management process is the purpose of the contract that was signed with ŽĎAS, a.s. (ŽĎAS) following thorough preparation at the end of last year. The suppliers of the project, with the working title of the “APS Project” are IBM Czech Republic and LOGIS, which operate on the Czech market in the sphere of APS/SCM as alliance partners. The i2 Factory planner product from i2 Technologies is the implemented product. “ŽĎAS has been profiling itself as a customer-orientated company for some time now,” said managing director Ing. Miroslav Šabart, continuing, “In today’s highly competitive environment this is a condition for success. Even though we’ve been achieving significant improvements in this field in recent years, which apart from anything else have also been reflected positively in our economic management results, reserves still exist. One of the areas where we see opportunities for improvement is better coordination throughout the entire supplier-customer chain, starting with purchase and ending with sales. This is why we’ve decided on a project of advanced production planning (APS Project). We’ve chosen IBM and LOGIS, who offered a state-of-the-art solution tested in many projects abroad and at home, as partners for its realization.” According to Ing. Vladko Šlezinger, Industry leader, IBM Business Consulting Services, by combining the global strength and expertise of IBM in the sphere of SCM and implementation of information systems with state-of-the-art technologies from i2 Technologies and the abilities of LOGIS in successfully realizing APS/SCM projects, ŽĎAS will gain the opportunity to adopt the best business procedures (so-called best practices), know-how and advanced information technology available in the Central European locality. Thanks to this, it will be capable of reacting to changes in the situation more sensitively by quickly finding the optimal solution and will learn to achieve higher speeds, reliability and flexibility with reduced costs. “A healthily developing company is aware that without continuous pressure on the improvement of customer services and its own operating perfection, future success on ever more demanding markets is hard to imagine,” said Ing. Vladimír Seibert, executive director of LOGIS. He added, “In this project we have demanding targets before us, such as increasing the reliability of the fulfilment of plans, reducing the continuous time necessary for production or reducing the volume of stores. To achieve these targets it’s essential that we build a realization team that will be able to manage not only the technical aspect of implementation of the APS system, but also – in the first place – the management of changes connected to the new company planning process. For this reason, we released specialists to the project team, who have experience from successful projects in a number of engineering companies here and abroad.” Ing. Igor Kliment, assistant to the production director and coordinator of the APS project on the part of ŽĎAS, adds, “We really devoted a lot of attention to the preparation of the project team on our part. Because the project will affect a number of activities, which have been going on in our company without change for many years, we had to take into account not only the expertise of the individual members but also their ability to accept and enforce the change, while putting together the team. I believe that we’ve managed to put together the team so that it will truly fulfil the demanding tasks provided by the project.” Thorough preparation preceded the launch of the project. A number of meetings took place at the level of specialists on both sides, the objective of which was to evaluate the suitability of the proposed solution and to assess the consequences of introducing it in the conditions of the ŽĎAS company. In connection with this, Ing. Libor Šlechta, project supervisor of IBM, says, “From the very beginning ŽĎAS has approached the project very responsibly. We soon agreed that the APS project was not primarily an information project, but that by its scope and the complexity of the connected changes it passes through all the decisive divisions of the company. Thanks to this, key users – representatives of the specialist division – entered the game and first acquainted themselves with the experience from application of the proposed solution in similar manufacturing companies and then, together with the supplier’s specialists, they worked up a proposal for the process of realization of a business case using APS and evaluated its effects. Only then did we start further meetings, which concluded with the signing of the contract. The responsible approach that ŽĎAS took within the scope of preparation of the project guarantees good cooperation during its realization.” The project in ŽĎAS is divided into two independent phases. The first is focused on the sphere of engineering production. In the second phase, expansion of APS functionality into the metallurgical production section will occur. “A long-term Unification project is taking place in our company in the IT division, the objective of which includes the technological and functional renewal of our information system. APS is becoming one of the key components integrated into the ŽĎAS company information system. Coordination with the Unification project has influenced the definition of the extent of the individual APS project phases and its overall period of duration. I believe that within the scope of the APS project, together with our partners, we’ll manage to establish not only a system on a high technological level, but also an instrument with which we will more effectively use the data riches stored in our company information system to the benefit of our company,” said Ing. Pavel Kantor, manager of the informatics department of ŽĎAS.

About ŽĎAS

ŽĎAS, a.s. is involved in the manufacture of rolling mill equipment, shaping machinery and instruments, hydraulic elements, reconstruction and modernisation of machinery and supplies of ingots, castings and freely forged pieces. The most important customers of ŽĎAS include VOLKSWAGEN, VOEST ALPINE, Škoda Auto, Třínecke železárny, HAYES LEMMERZ AUTOKOLA and many other domestic and foreign clients. The company’s mission is to manufacture and supply products and semi-finished products of a high utility value, in the required quality and to provide the corresponding services and to adhere to the corresponding safety and environmental regulations.

About LOGIS

LOGIS is a supplier of expertise services and information technologies. The deliveries are executed in the form of projects aiming at improvement of management effectiveness and development of business success at the customers’ businesses. Within the framework of their solutions, LOGIS applies advanced managing and planning methods and procedures, including high-performance information technologies in the field of Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS).