SchedulePro Examples

The bioprocessing example illustrates the use of SchedulePro for production planning and scheduling of a facility that manufactures high-value proteins. It analyzes five cases of increasing complexity. Case A focuses on scheduling of a single-product facility represented with a simplified recipe. The impact of equipment pools on throughput increase is illustrated. The concept of flexible shifts is explained for scheduling production when the downstream section operates two 8-hour shifts per day. Case B focuses on scheduling of a multi-product facility where production is campaigned. Ways to account for facility cleaning and changeover activities between campaigns are explained. Case C adds buffer preparation and holding activities to the recipes. Inventory-based scheduling is utilized for buffers whose batch amount satisfies the demand of multiple production batches. The floor space requirement is estimated for the case where buffers are stored in mobile units. Case D focuses on tracking of material resources and the sizing of cascaded RO water and WFI supply systems. The impact of weekly WFI loop sanitization is analyzed. Case E demonstrates the use of conditionally-scheduled operations for equipment clean-hold specification.

This example is recommended to users of SchedulePro in the biopharma industries and to engineering consultants that offer services to the biotech companies.

Three videos are available for this example on the videos page of our website.
Click here to watch Part 1. Click here to watch Part 2. Click here to watch Part 3.

The fill-finish process is the last step in the manufacturing of many pharmaceutical products. For a typical biologic product, the fill-finish process involves thawing of the frozen product protein solution, preparation of the fill buffer, sterile filtration of the solution and filling the solution into vials or syringes. For sensitive product molecules, the vials are often lyophilized (freeze dried) in order to increase shelf-life. Small molecule APIs that can withstand high temperatures are often terminally sterilized in autoclaves.

This example analyzes a fill-finish facility with five scenarios of increasing complexity. Case A focuses on the scheduling of a single-product facility that manufacturers 5 mL vials that require lyophilization. The impact of equipment pools and scheduling modes is explained. In Case B, a second product that requires autoclaving instead of lyophilization is introduced to the facility. The role of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) for representing multiple products that utilize the same recipe is explained. Case C focuses on the role of the SQL Server and WebViewer for tracking and visualizing the evolving schedule on a day-to-day basis. Case D explains how to manage facilities that do not operate 24/7. The user is exposed to the concepts of facility outages and the role of flexible shift times for generating good solutions under such conditions. Case E explains how to manage a facility with two production lines and how to size utility systems.

This example is recommended to users of SchedulePro that deal with production planning and scheduling of aseptic fill-finish facilities and to engineering consultants that are involved in the design, debottlenecking and capacity analysis of such facilities.

This examples focuses on planning and scheduling of a facility that manufactures pharmaceutical tablets and capsules. It analyzes five cases. In Case A, individual recipes are initially utilized for each tablet and capsule. Then, the concept of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) is introduced for simplifying the scheduling of multiple products that are manufactured in a similar way. Case A also explains how to account for facility downtimes, labor constraints, and how to track the demand for Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) that are used to store materials undergoing processing. Case B focuses on scheduling of a facility with multiple production lines. Case C explains how to account for product sequence-dependent cleaning and changeover delays using the concept of Changeover Matrices. Case D accounts for the packaging of tablets and capsules into blisters and bottles. The concept of two-level SKUs is introduced for representing final products that utilize the same intermediates. In addition, the role of the SKU Order Templates and the Project Planning Wizard for facilitating the planning and scheduling of a group of final products is illustrated. Case E focuses on long term planning and capacity analysis using simple recipes.

This example is recommended to users of SchedulePro that deal with production planning and scheduling of solid-dosage manufacturing facilities and to engineering consultants that are involved in the design, debottlenecking and capacity analysis of such facilities.
A video is available for this example on the videos page of our website.
Click here to watch it.

This example describes how SchedulePro can be used to generate 6-month plans and short-term schedules for the production of a small-molecule Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) which is generated through a multi-step chemical synthesis. Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) are used to represent the multi-step synthesis. Storage units are used to track and visualize the inventory of intermediates. The pros and cons of just-in-time manufacturing are evaluated. The availability of multiple production suites on plant throughput is analyzed. The role of the SKU Order Templates and the Project Planning Wizard for facilitating the planning and scheduling of multi-step synthesis is illustrated.

This example is recommended to users of SchedulePro who are responsible for planning and scheduling of fine chemical and small molecule API manufacturing facilities. It is also of value to engineering consultants that are involved in the design, debottlenecking and capacity analysis of such facilities.

This example illustrates the use of simplified recipes for long term planning and capacity analysis. It focuses on the planning of R&D and manufacturing activities of a small biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO).

A typical client project carried out by the CMO of this example includes small- and large-scale process development (PD) batches to satisfy technology transfer and process optimization requirements. These batches are carried out in a non-GMP environment. The PD runs are followed by one or multiple engineering (ENG) runs in a GMP environment. If the engineering runs meet specifications, the main manufacturing batches are initiated in the GMP environment. The duration of a typical client project is several months. This example also explains how to manage project prioritization and account for the impact of delays.

This example is intended for individuals involved in management and planning of R&D and manufacturing activities in the biotech, pharmaceutical and related industries.

This example focuses on planning and scheduling of a facility that manufactures a variety of yogurt products. It includes five cases. Case A represents the base case where each product is described by its own recipe. Case B illustrates the use of  Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) for representing multiple products that share the same recipe. Case C shows how to use Bills of Materials (BOMs) to define which raw materials and intermediates are required to produce a given product SKU. The BOMs are then linked to recipe streams to account for consumption of the materials. This case also describes how to specify variable operation durations based on SKU types such as product type, product size, etc. Case D describes the storage and use of intermediate SKUs. This is beneficial in cases where a certain intermediate is used in the production of multiple final products. Case E covers scheduling based on SKU Order Templates and the Project Planning Wizard. This provides a semi-automated way to determine which intermediate and final product campaigns should be scheduled (and when) based upon the final product SKUs that must be prepared in order to fulfill an order.

This example is recommended to users of SchedulePro who are responsible for planning and scheduling of food and consumer product manufacturing facilities. It is also of value to engineering consultants who are involved in projects dealing with design, debottlenecking and capacity analysis of such facilities. SchedulePro includes a related example that focuses on a facility that manufactures various types of juice products.

Three videos are available for this example on the videos page of our website.
Click here to watch Part 1.  Click here to watch Part 2.
Click here to watch Part 3. 

This example focuses on planning and scheduling of a facility that manufactures specialty chemicals (polymer resins). It includes five cases. Case A analyzes the scheduling of a single product facility and explains the role of the ASAP and Automatic scheduling modes of SchedulePro. Case B focuses on scheduling of a multi-product facility and explains how to account for product sequence-dependent cleaning of equipment using the concept of Changeover Matrices. Case C explains how to account for equipment connectivity constraints using the concept of facility Suites. Finally, Case D explains how to account for preventative maintenance, track the execution of a schedule, and resolve conflicts on an on-going basis within SchedulePro (without utilizing the SQL Server and the WebViewer).

This example is recommended to users of SchedulePro that deal with production planning and scheduling of specialty chemical manufacturing facilities and to engineering consultants who are involved in the design, debottlenecking and capacity analysis of such facilities.

Two videos are available for this example on the videos page of our website.
Click here to watch Part 1.  Click here to watch Part 2.

The examples in the Misc. directory are intended to illustrate specific SchedulePro features, rather than full-scale industrial cases. All these examples assume some familiarity with SchedulePro basics. The examples include:

Conditional Operations – How to make operations dependent on frequency or on equipment status.

Connectivity – How to utilize suite and connectivity constraints to represent connections between equipment units.

File Upload – How to upload resources and recipes from text files that can be created in Excel or exported in Excel format from another application such as an ERP system.

Staff Skills – How to use the staff-by-skills feature.

Transfer Panels – How to use the Transfer Panel resource.

Variability – How to perform stochastic simulation and Monte Carlo-type modeling with SchedulePro. A video is available for this example on the videos page of our website. Click here to watch it.