Production planning & optimization

Production planning determines how products can be manufactured efficiently using the necessary processes, floor space, equipment, employees, and material flows. The process ranges from analyzing existing workflows through process and space planning to the detailed design of manufacturing and assembly areas. Leadec integrates production, assembly, and logistics planning; plant simulation; resource planning; and the specification of production equipment. The goal is to achieve robust production planning with high productivity, process reliability, and flexibility.

Factory planning consulting provides a structured basis for decision-making in greenfield and brownfield projects. The process begins with an assessment of requirements, volumes, processes, floor space, and interfaces. This is followed by the development of concept variants, layouts, material flow and resource planning, as well as an evaluation of capital and operating costs. Leadec can guide the factory planning process from concept through implementation and also provide support with supplier management, procurement assistance, commissioning, and start-up. This helps prevent planning errors and costly adjustments down the line.

Digital production planning makes future processes visible and verifiable even before they are implemented in reality. With digital or virtual factory planning, production areas, material flows, and equipment can be modeled in 3D, and different scenarios can be simulated as a digital twin. This allows for the early identification of bottlenecks, inefficient routes, capacity shortages, or problematic interfaces. Leadec uses plant simulation and 3D modeling, among other things, for virtual performance evaluations of manufacturing, assembly, and logistics processes, as well as for sound resource and capacity planning.

A block layout—or rough layout—first maps out the major functional areas of a factory, such as manufacturing, assembly, logistics, warehousing, and supply. It serves to organize space requirements, relationships, and primary material flows. In detailed layout planning, specific equipment, workstations, routes, buffers, and supply points are then mapped out. Leadec develops both conceptual layouts and detailed production layouts and integrates layout planning with process, logistics, resource, and simulation data to transform a spatial concept into a feasible factory design.

When planning a production line, one should not only position machines but also consider cycle times, capacities, material supply, ergonomics, and contingency reserves as a whole. For production optimization, existing or planned processes are analyzed, and non-value-added steps are identified. To achieve this, Leadec combines, among other things, cycle time optimization, MTM analyses, resource and capacity planning, and simulations. This allows for the optimization of production planning to begin even before implementation and to be further refined later using real operational data.

Strategic production planning focuses on long-term decisions such as capacity, plant structure, technologies, floor space, and future product lines. Production planning and control in the operational sense focuses more on specific orders, sequences, resources, and deadlines. Both levels should be coordinated: A strategically well-designed factory facilitates day-to-day control. Leadec focuses on the planning and optimization of production systems and, through process, equipment, logistics, and simulation concepts, creates the structural foundation for stable operations.

A production optimization consulting service examines products and processes to identify where time, space, materials, or capacity are unnecessarily tied up and which optimization measures make economic sense. Leadec, for example, uses Lean, CIP, and MTM methods and combines them with cycle time, resource, and capacity utilization analyses. If necessary, real-world processes are also modeled in simulation environments. A production optimization consulting firm should not only propose individual measures but also jointly assess their impact on logistics, personnel, equipment, quality, and operating costs.

Production planning and logistics are directly interlinked: A high-performance production line is of little use if materials are delivered too late, in the wrong order, in inappropriate quantities, or over unnecessarily long distances. That is why production planning should incorporate material flows, warehousing and picking concepts, transport routes, and staging areas at an early stage. Leadec integrates production and assembly planning with logistics planning and plant simulation. This allows routes, capacity utilization, and material staging to be mapped out as early as the conceptual phase, optimized thereafter, and thus helps prevent future conflicts between logistics and manufacturing.

In a greenfield project, production can be planned largely without having to account for existing structural constraints, whereas brownfield projects must take into account existing buildings, facilities, utilities, ongoing processes, and, where applicable, products. In both cases, quantities, variants, cycle times, floor space, material flow, supply, and scalability are key planning factors. Leadec supports both types of projects, from process and space planning through line and plant planning to simulation and startup support. In brownfield projects in particular, a realistic assessment of the existing situation is crucial for managing renovations, downtime, and the restart process.

Production planning in the automotive industry often must manage high production volumes, numerous variants, and tightly synchronized material flows. Just-in-Time and Just-in-Sequence requirements further increase the need for coordination between production, logistics, and the supply chain. Leadec draws on its experience in high-volume production and collaboratively plans manufacturing and assembly processes, material flows, cycle times, resources, and equipment. Simulations help to evaluate variants, buffers, and capacity utilization in advance and develop robust processes for subsequent series production.