Kiwiplan Corrugator Scheduling Systems Update

Kiwiplan’s innovative approach and focus on its customers’ needs have lead to a continued broad acceptance around the world. Kiwiplan’s Intelligent Software Solutions are used in 545 box plants across 32 countries in more than 18 languages.

The success of customers using Kiwiplan systems is due in part by the move from a Push philosophy (which focuses solely on trim and web width and often creates excess WIP and the converting of wrong jobs) to a Pull philosophy. Plants installing Kiwiplan and adopting this intelligent scheduling methodology are able to remove out-of-stock downtimes on the factory floor, ensure on-time delivery, eliminate overtime, reduce their operating expenses, and increase throughput.

More than 350+ plants today are scheduling the corrugator based on plant requirements and the converting schedule with Kiwiplan PCS. Installed in 40+ manufacturing plants, Kiwiplan’s Continuous Automatic Scheduling Environment (CASE) enables plants to schedule the corrugator continuously and automatically, with minimal human intervention.

Recent Kiwiplan innovations include an increase in the number of board types that can be scheduled on the corrugator “simultaneously” to 32. This enhancement provides greater opportunity to produce schedules with fewer roll changes at the wet end. In addition, sites using the newly released Kiwiplan Starch Dosing Link are saving an estimated $1,000 a week in additive consumption and have reduced potential quality concerns.

The Quality Management System (QMS) was further enhanced to collect quality test results at the corrugator. Progressive alerting now provides automated alerts and email functionality to notify quality managers and production staff of problems or circumstances that need immediate attention, thus enabling management to respond proactively.

Kiwiplan customers are making significant breakthroughs in bottom line results with Kiwiplan Roll Stock Analysis (RSA). Through the findings of RSAs, plants can identify the roll stock required and schedule the predicted order mix to optimize corrugator scheduling results.

The Supply Chain Simulator (SCS) is now installed in 50+ plants, saving each facility $100K per year (on average) in trim, upgrades and improved roll stock ordering. Of these sites 25% are saving in excess of $200K per year. With new enhancements SCS now delivers improved forecast accuracy, reporting and analysis of converting results and stock outage conditions