When picking an ERP and MES solution for your packaging manufacturing operations, obviously there are costs to implementing any solution – but there are also costs to inaction. If you are a packaging manufacturer, you should be actively evaluating Kiwiplan for its manifold modules and positive impacts on your operations.
The Labor Shortage Crisis
As companies strive to drive profits, workers are always trying to do more with less. However, in the manufacturing world, sometimes less is not an option. In fact:
- One study projects a shortage of 2.1 million skilled manufacturing workers by 2030.
- Another study revealed that about 20.6% of manufacturing plants cited insufficient labor or labor skills as a key constraint.
- A new report estimates that manufacturers will need 3.8 million new workers by 2033, with 1.9 million of those positions potentially going unfilled if current labor gaps remain unsolved.
Errors: We’re Human After All
Let’s face it, people make mistakes. And of course, a shortage of employees only opens the door to increased human error. Here are just a few stats:
- It’s estimated that 80% of manufacturing defects are due to human error.
- These defects make up 5%-30% of the total manufacturing expenses.
- 23% of unplanned downtime in the manufacturing sector is caused by human error.
Machine Downtime
And speaking of downtime, that single issue plagues all manufacturers and can cost them millions of dollars each year.
- The average manufacturing plant loses 5%–20% of its annual productivity to unplanned downtime.
- And the average business loses $260K per hour of downtime, or $2M per year.
These are all valid reasons why a packaging manufacturer might need to upgrade their ERP & MES solutions, and are also causes for implementing automation within their operations. Failing to act on these issues across your organization can lead to loss of investment, time-to-market, and ability to pivot. But luckily, Kiwiplan has a module for that.
Automatic 24/7 scheduling drives labor and machine efficiency
Kiwiplan is the only solution that offers automatic, 24/7 scheduling to drive labor and machine efficiency. Whether you are a box plant, sheet plant, sheet feeder, or a display manufacturer, our integrated modules minimize manual entry by automatically updating corrugator and truck schedules based on product changes or delays. Plus, plans are automatically updated every 15 minutes for jobs due in the next 90 days, continuously producing the most cost-effective schedules.
Kiwiplan can help drive overall operationally efficiency with:
- Enterprise-wide visibility by helping organizations manage multiple plants in a single system.
- Actionable data to provide valuable insights and robust reporting capabilities to drive improvements and product quality.
- Enhanced tracking for increased throughput and reduced waste to minimize loading errors and increase billing accuracy.
Key Kiwiplan Modules: Packaging Automation Made Easy
Production Control System (PCS) VUE with Machine Data Collection
The PCS scheduler runs every 15 minutes and evaluates current backlog up to 90 days in the future. This one-of-a-kind solution considers everything from shift and machine availability, constraints, capabilities, and setup optimization requirements to due date, tooling status, outsourcing requirements, and travel time to determine the most cost-effective schedules.
Combined with our Machine Data Collection solution, the most accurate data collection tool on the market, you can drive operation efficiency with real-time data, including setup start and completion times, job finish time, setup waste, quantity produced, downtime details, and more.
Enterprise Sales Processing (ESP)
Improve customer experiences and maximize multi-plant visibility and operational efficiency with our fully integrated ERP solution: Enterprise Sales Processing. Easily centralize and standardize everything from estimating, pricing, and order entry to inventory management, product design, and tracking product revision.
Materials Management System (MMS)
Fully integrated with all Kiwiplan applications, MMS allows you to digitally manage sheets from purchasing through allocation. Streamline the ordering, receiving, managing, and reconciliation of sheet-stock inventory.
Unit Load Tracking (ULT)
Manage and track WIP and FGS inventory while minimizing loading errors and increasing billing accuracy. This module helps improve shipping processes, reduces lost inventory, and eliminates manual data entry by automatically tracking the creation, movement, storage, loading, and shipping of WIP and FGS using bar-coded load tags, vehicle-mounted units, and radio frequency scanning technology.
Purchasing Inventory Control (PIC)
Our unique inventory system, PIC, displays real-time data for any material in the manufacturing process, increasing visibility and streamlining processes across your organization. With this module, you can:
- Digitally manage inventory from purchase through allocation.
- Manage inventory across multiple plants and locations.
- Maintain accurate inventory with stock take and inventory adjustment features.
- Improve accuracy with 3-way reconciliation for sheet purchases.
Corrugator Scheduling (CSC)
Maximize corrugator efficiency and productivity while reducing costs, downtime, and waste with CSC. Kiwiplan’s CSC module analyzes thousands of scheduling options in minutes and schedules hundreds of orders on up to 16 board grades simultaneously. CSC also allows you to focus on the specific needs of your plant, such as minimizing trim, maximizing web width, or reducing costs.
Roll Stock System (RSS)
Extend your Kiwiplan functionality with RSS. Fully integrated with other Kiwiplan modules, this solution provides roll specific inventory details in real time to further optimize managing purchase orders, manage and tracking deliveries, track roll movement and location, and record usage and waste.
Kiwiplan: Get One Packaging Solution to Automate It All
Kiwiplan’s all-in-one packaging ERP solution enables your organization to tackle the most pressing issues in the packaging industry today and tomorrow. Maintain your operational advantages and improve organizational efficiencies by taking human error, labor shortages, and machine downtime out of the equation. And for everything else there’s Advantive’s world-class services and support.
Want to learn more about how Kiwiplan can help your organization? Check out this case study below: