Belma Accessories Systems Sp. z o.o. (BAS)

Belma Accessories Systems

Belma Accessories Systems Sp. z o.o. (BAS) is a leading contract manufacturer in Central Europe, specializing in custom-built products integrated with electrical and telecommunications components. BAS has established itself as a preferred collaborator for customers across Western Europe, focusing on B2B partnerships and known for their stringent cooperation standards. The company excels in producing technically advanced metal structures that meet the exacting quality requirements of their customers. BAS’s products find application in an array of industries including renewable energy, industrial automation, electronics, medicine, and the food sector. The company offers tailored projects based on customer stipulations, as well as comprehensive engineering assistance for refining existing metal structures or introducing modifications for enhanced production cost-effectiveness.

Initial Situation and Challenges

BAS confronted a critical challenge: a rapidly evolving product range that rendered its reliance on Excel inadequate. The company’s initial offerings, once comprised of straightforward enclosures featuring only two sheet metal components, had matured into intricate wiring cabinets with five-level detailed BOMs and hundreds of procurement items. The remarkable expansion of BAS necessitated a paradigm shift in their production planning and scheduling approach. Arkadiusz Goździk, the chief specialist for production scheduling at BAS, explained that with each year new projects brought thousands of operations that exceeded the capabilities of conventional ERP scheduling and Excel spreadsheets. He noted that existing tools were ill-equipped to manage the growing complexity, and change was needed.

Deciding for Asprova APS

After testing different scheduling systems, BAS decided for ASPROVA APS. One key factor in this choice was the high degree of autonomy Asprova provided. According to Goździk, the company was seeking a solution that would empower them to carry out modifications on their own. This running production simulations and adjusting parameters. In addition to precise scheduling, the company wanted simulations that could answer questions like, “What would be the outcome if we operated during weekends?” or “How would a month of machinery downtime impact our operations?” They also aimed to explore scenarios where material deliveries were delayed. Asprova proved scheduling production based on Just-In-Time principles, in line with BASs goals. Asprova stood out significantly in terms of versatility and simplicity in creating diverse simulations, setting it apart from other systems.

BAS Embraces Asprova APS

Now, BAS schedulers autonomously adjust scheduling parameters, a task supported by Asprova’s expression language. The flexibility of these expressions helps schedulers seamlessly transition to navigating Asprova after being familiar with using functions in Excel, although manually and with a limited scope. The tools and expressions Asprova provides, empowers them to efficiently configure reports and essential indicators in alignment with their business targets.

For optimal material utilization, BAS prefers to use a single metal sheet for multiple production orders. When these orders are staggered across distinct timelines, the components are concurrently punched out from a single sheet. Asprova considers production interdependencies, such as determining the optimal laser for use or strategizing the assembly of hefty components, while considering the availability of required manpower.

The company’s perspective on the production process has been transformed. Previously, if an ‘assembly’ operation spanning three days was involved, the scheduler would initiate all components on the first day—body, walls, doors—due to the single start date available in their ERP. With Asprova, these operations can now be sequenced instead of being concurrently scheduled. Consequently, the body is brought down first on the initial day of assembly, followed by the walls on the second day, and concluding with the door on the third day, as it’s installed at the end. This shift enables BAS to embrace ‘just-in-time’ practices while simultaneously streamlining the company’s operations.

BAS’s Gained Benefits

The integration of Asprova APS at BAS has yielded many benefits, including:

• Drastically Reduced Scheduling Time: The time taken for scheduling has been significantly slashed from several days to a mere 40 minutes.
• Enhanced Process Synchronization: Operations are now better aligned and synchronized within the production process, improving efficiency.
• Accurate Resource Insights: The system provides precise and detailed information on resource loads and bottlenecks, optimizing resource allocation.
• Streamlined Order Prioritization: The process of prioritizing orders has been simplified, leading to a more seamless workflow.
• 30% Decrease in Production Lead Time: One of the primary accomplishments of Asprova APS is a remarkable 30% reduction in production lead time at BAS due to the intricate detailing of production stages. 

The adaptability of Asprova APS to the organization’s requirements has led to the establishment of a mechanism termed “rigid orders” at BAS. This approach ensures perpetual production capacity and resource allocation for designated products, significantly enhancing the safety and effectiveness of order prioritization.

BAS has seen an added benefit from the Asprova implementation: the system’s metamorphosis into a “policeman” within the company. Straightforward analysis capabilities quickly identify any discrepancies or human errors in company data. This has prompted a reorganization of the organization’s daily operations, including fixed times for order confirmations, system updates, and exporting new production schedules.

In contrast, prior to the integration of Asprova APS, the company’s production schedules remained static. Any changes resulting from machine maintenance or procurement delays were not integrated into the ERP. This often necessitated a manual re-scheduling process that could extend for several days. Now, re-scheduling over 100,000 operations—encompassing production and dependent tasks like material supplies and customer order deadlines—takes less than an hour, even with parallel simulations in consideration.