NaviCon Processing

Complexity and interrelation of processes are the specifics of a continuous (process) production. This adds specific requirements to automation systems. NaviCon Group Company has developed the Microsoft Dynamics AX based NaviCon Processing solution with regard to these peculiarities. This solution can be applied at any production enterprises that need to automate their continuous production, e.g. the companies from chemical, petrochemical industries, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, food industry; production of non-metallic packages, paper goods and at many other fields. This solution provides wide possibilities for the management of production processes, material and item flows, work centers, quality control, etc. NaviCon Processing has been successfully applied at “United Confectionaries”, “RosEuroPlast”, “KOF Palitra” and other companies.

Data storage of BOMs and process routes. NaviCon Processing solution provides a single register for produced items, semi-finished products, stuff and materials. One and the same product can have an unlimited number of properties (configurations) that may influence the product components (intermediate products, stuff and raw materials) and the process of its production. It is possible to store a set of pictures, shop floor documentation, certificates, quality passport and other data for each ready or half-finished product.

The system registers technological operations necessary to produce finished and semi-finished products that can be united into routes. These routes are linked in their turn to finished and half-finished products. The routes define the sequence of processing operations, work centers and standard times necessary to perform these operations, as well as the costs of these standard times or quantities. When a production order is created in the system, it is possible to setup and to use the unlimited number of route versions. The route version can be valid within a certain period or for a certain number of products.

Planning. NaviCon Processing solution allows creating the sales plan, the purchase plan, and the production plan.

The sales plan can be generated based on expert estimations or processing of historical data. If expert estimations are applied, the plan for a product group can be detailed up to separate items or certain time periods.

The stuff and materials purchase plan can be created either based on the long-term sales plan (as a rule for stuff and materials with long-term delivery cycle) or based on the necessary inventory quantity. The planned purchases contain quantities, dates for purchase order creation and for expected delivery to the warehouse.

As a rule the production plan is generated either based on current customer orders or on preliminary inquiries. It is possible to plan production with regard to the sales plan. The system not only plans the consumption of stuff and materials, but also reserves the necessary production and labor resources. This results in the generation of planned production orders and the reservation of required capacities. If the production capacities are not enough to produce the required number of products, the system will suggest changes of the order completion dates.

Inventory management. NaviCon Processing helps to account every tangible asset in different measure units in purchases, at the warehouse, in production or in customer shipments. The solution ensures operational tracking of inventory remains and expected deliveries of stuff, materials, semi-finished and ready products in various analytical dimensions. The analysis of inventory remains provides quantity data for the items in technological ageing and expiration dates of corresponding materials.

The system reflects any internal movements of products and materials that happen within the factory. Registration of an internal transfer is supported by creation of all the necessary documents that confirm the fact of a product transfer from one materially responsible person to another. If material products are packed to a pallet the system ensures the movements of only whole pallets and according to the transfer orders.

NaviCon Processing solution can be integrated with Automatic Process Control Systems installed at the technological equipment to provide the control over stuff and material remains in tanks.

Production management. The enterprises use NaviCon Processing to automate their management of a complex production process that consists of an unlimited number of process stages. The system registers each process stage as a separate production order. Each production order refers to the previous process stage. The data about the performed production processes are stored in the batch number of the ready products as a sequence of production order numbers. Thus, it is possible to quickly retrieve the production data for any item directly from “On-Hand” request. The items produced based on customer orders are automatically reserved to the corresponding sales order.

The write-off of stuff, materials and auxiliaries costs from the production order can be done either based on predefined norms or on actual basis in case it is possible to measure the consumption of these recourses during the production process. The system registers not only the production of finished items, but also the production of various wastes. A certain part of these wastes can be used in the next production order (recyclable wastes). In case the recyclable wastes are utilized in production, the system recalculates the standard consumption of stuff and materials.

While registering the production time the system can automatically control all technological operations in a production order. If one of operations is missing the system displays an error message. The system tracks even such operations as technological ageing and packaging process.

Quality Control. NaviCon Processing solution allows creating a series of test for each production order. The set of tested characteristics can be setup individually for each ready or semi-product. Based on the test results the system creates the quality passport that is included into the set of follow-up documents to be printed when the products are shipped to the customer. In case of a return order from the customer it is possible to link this return order to a certain shipment, and to find the corresponding quality passports and BOMs.

Equipment and special auxiliaries’ management. NaviCon Processing provides the repair and maintenance schedule both for separate benches, aggregates and production lines and for the whole group of equipment. The system also registers all idle times and breakages of the equipment. These data are accounted for during the generation of a production plan. The system allows accounting of auxiliaries and registers the write-down of auxiliaries to the unit cost of the finished items. The solution ensures estimation of auxiliaries depreciation level at any time both in absolute and in cost terms.

Control and economic analysis. After all basic formulas and planned production routes have been registered in the system NaviCon Processing solution provides the possibilities to calculate planned unit costs of finished items with regard to direct and indirect cost standards. Upon completion of a production order the system calculates the unit cost taking into account the direct costs and indirect cost standards. The actual amount of indirect costs is defined at the end of the period; and the system will perform the cost adjustment procedure for all the products produced in this period by allocating the costs proportionally.

It is possible to define the WIP value for each production order and to book it in the General Ledger. The solution allows a plan\actual analysis of quantitative and summary indicators, including working time indicators per each production order.