In modern production and manufacturing, precise planning is the key to success. One challenge that many companies face is the need to manage growing customer demands, complex supply chains, rising material costs, and limited resources. Inadequate planning can lead to delays, quality issues, and financial losses. Project management software like PLANTA helps manufacturing companies to optimize their production processes, allocate resources efficiently, and identify bottlenecks at an early stage. This allows companies – regardless of their size – to maximize production performance, reduce costs, and increase their competitiveness.
Why Choose PLANTA for Your Production and Manufacturing Team?
Medium-sized manufacturing companies face the challenge of continuously improving their production processes, reducing costs, and avoiding downtime. Transparent processes for planning production orders, machine capacities, and resources are often lacking.
With PLANTA, your production and manufacturing team benefits from:
Improved Resource Utilization: Optimally plan the availability of machines and personnel.
Real-Time Transparency: Track the progress of all projects using dashboards.
Agile Adaptation: Respond flexibly to market and customer demands.
Central Project Overview: Clear visualization of all production projects and maintenance plans.
Use Case: Implementation of a Predictive Maintenance System for Production Machines
Project Goal & Vision
A medium-sized machinery manufacturer aims to optimize its production processes to reduce production time by 20%.
Main Objectives:
Implementation of a new planning system for improved control of the manufacturing process
Reduction of downtime through more precise capacity planning
Decrease in material waste through better inventory management
Improved on-time delivery through optimized production processes.
Project Workflow
1. Initiation Phase (2-3 Months)
- Identification of current bottlenecks in production
- Assessment of required capacities and machine availability
- Definition of milestones for optimization
| Duration | Milestone |
| 4 weeks | Completion of production data collection from ERP system |
| 6 weeks | Drawing up machine and resource planning |
| 10 weeks | Completion of new manufacturing process definition |
PLANTA Features:
Capacity and Resource Planning: Overview of staff and machine availability
Production Calendar: Coordination of production orders with available resources
2. Implementation Phase (4–6 Months)
- Introduction of the new production control system
- Optimization of material flow and inventory management
- Manual recording of machine runtimes and downtimes for production monitoring
| Dauer | Meilenstein |
| 8 weeks | Completion of system integration |
| 10 weeks | Conduction of employee training |
| 16 weeks | Execution of first optimized production cycles |
PLANTA Features:
Dashboards: Live monitoring of production processes (based on ERP data)
Automated Reports: Reports with manual inputs from production
3. Completion Phase (1–2 Months)
- Analysis of achieved savings and improvements
- Optimization of manufacturing processes based on initial results
| Duration | Milestone |
| 4 weeks | Analysis of efficiency improvements |
| 8 weeks | Optimization of production processes completed |
PLANTA Features:
Success Evaluation via Dashboards: Comparison of planned vs. achieved goals
Knowledge Management & Documentation: Storing insights for future improvements
Conclusion
For medium-sized manufacturing companies, the implementation of a new production process presents a complex challenge. Without structured planning, problems such as machine downtimes, inefficient resource utilization, and production delays can quickly occur. Especially in SMEs, where personnel and financial resources are often limited, precise control of workflows is essential.
Why Choose PLANTA for Your Production and Manufacturing Team?
Large manufacturing companies often operate multiple plants with identical machines across different locations. When a technical issue arises in one factory, it frequently occurs in others shortly thereafter. A lack of transparency and poor knowledge sharing between sites often leads to delayed problem identification and untimely maintenance planning.
With PLANTA, your production and manufacturing team benefits from:
Global Maintenance Planning: A unified planning system for all locations.
Strategic Production Planning: Optimal use of sites and resources.
Risk Management & Early Warning Systems: Proactive problem solving.
Multi-Site-Management: Central coordination of all production facilities.
Case Study: Reducing Machine Downtime Through Connected Maintenance Planning
Project Goal & Vision
n automotive supplier with 15 international production sites processes plastic components for vehicle cabins. In recent months, several plants experienced unexpected downtimes of injection molding machines due to premature wear of hydraulic seals.
The goal is to detect failure patterns early on and synchronize maintenance processes across locations.
Main Objectives:
Avoid machine downtime and production losses
Reduce maintenance costs by 20%
Manage maintenance schedules proactively and with precision
Project Workflow
1. Problem Analysis & Maintenance Strategy Standardization (3 Months)
- Collection of downtime and cost data caused by unplanned failures
- Identification of recurring failure sources in injection molding machines
- Definition of sensor data and performance parameters for failure detection
| Duration | Milestone |
| 4 weeks | Completion of the data analysis of the past 12 months |
| 6 weeks | Identification of the main cause: wear of hydraulic seals |
| 12 weeks | Definition of maintenance intervals based on machine data |
PLANTA Features:
Global Resource & Maintenance Planning: Comparison of maintenance cycles across all plants
Data-Driven Decision Making: Linking machine data with maintenance schedules
2. Implementation Phase (6 Months)
- Equip injection molding machines with IoT sensors to monitor temperature, pressure, and vibrations
- Develop an early warning system to detect anomalies and automatically schedule maintenance
| Duration | Milestone |
| 6 weeks | Installation of IoT sensors at 10 pilot sites |
| 12 weeks | Completion of the first real-time data analysis |
| 18 weeks | Integration with PLANTA and ERP system for automatic maintenance orders |
PLANTA Features:
Resource & Capacity Planning: Global capacity control for maintenance teams
ERP Integration: Automatic reordering of spare parts
3. Evaluation & Optimization Phase (6 Months)
- Compare maintenance costs and machine availability before and after system implementation
- Optimize maintenance cycles based on actual wear data
- Roll out the predictive maintenance approach to additional production equipment
| Duration | Milestone |
| 3 months | 50% reduction in unplanned downtime at pilot sites |
| 6 months | 20% reduction in maintenance costs at test sites |
| 12 months | Scaling to all 15 sites worldwide |
PLANTA Features:
Dashboards: Performance analysis
Knowledge Management & Documentation: Cross-site documentation of experience for future improvements
Conclusion
Through connected maintenance planning, the automotive supplier was able to significantly reduce downtime costs, optimize maintenance processes, and increase machine availability. PLANTA supports the company in synchronizing maintenance activities across all locations and intelligently managing maintenance tasks.
