Capacity Planning Software

the part-book is A capacity planning software solution for automotive suppliers

The Part-Book Capacity Planning software was designed and built for Automotive Suppliers.  The Part-Book helps Automotive Suppliers see beyond the short-term capacity forecast provided by EDI and their ERP/MRP system, in a small fraction of the time it traditionally takes with the spreadsheet method.

As a Program, Part and Project Management system the Part-Book captures the program to part relationship, including part take rates, quantity per vehicle and volume.  In fact, the Part-Book is the system of record for all part related information, including the BOM or Bill-of-Materials.  The Part-Book uses the above information to generate a fully automated capacity forecast, including the ability to model multiple options and scenarios and then compare them side by side to better understand where opportunities and concerns may exist.

Today many automotive suppliers depend on spreadsheets for their long-term capacity planning; however, there are lots of problems with spreadsheets.  For starters, many studies have found that between 80-90% of spreadsheets have errors, even after careful review.  Furthermore, if you’ve ever tried to fully understand the logic, formulas and values on a complex spreadsheet that was created by someone else then you know how difficult that can be.  Using the spreadsheet method also requires consistent communication to keep things up-to-date; and the number one problem at most companies is communication.  If you’re not convinced that spreadsheets don’t work, you can read a story from CIO about 8 of the worst spreadsheet blunders here. 

Accurate Capacity Planning is a critical element to automotive supplier success.  Too much open capacity creates a financial burden on the company.  Not having enough capacity can results in unplanned outsourcing and logistics costs that erode profit.  Capacity Planning is an element of the business that nobody wants to get wrong, because their can be severe financial consequences and it’s something that usually can’t be remedied quickly.

One of the reasons that Capacity Planning is especially difficult for Automotive Suppliers is because they have customers who consistently over-estimate vehicle volumes by around 15 – 20%.  As an Automotive Supplier your contractually obligated to be able to produce the customer volumes; and balancing that with good machine, capital and floor space utilization is impossible without proper planning.  As an Automotive Supplier, if you want to optimize capacity and profit, you need to have the right tools, insight and mindset.

One of the unique things about using the Part-Book for Capacity Planning is that it distinguishes the difference between quoted, planned and actual parts volumes and data.  Having the ability to see machine capacity based on quoted, planned and actual volumes and run rates, makes it easy to keep the customer misinformation and internal capacity planning story separate, enabling better decisions.

If your company subscribes to IHS, the Part-Book not only makes it possible; it makes it easy to utilize your IHS Vehicle Volume forecast in your capacity planning reports.          

In addition, with the gold version of the Part-Book software application you get Part-Book Insights™, where we’ve leveraged Microsoft Power BI (Business Intelligence).  With Part-book Insights you’ll get beautiful dashboards that provide clear visibility of  machine capacity, including the ability to layer in unsecured new business.  The Part-Book helps get the commercial team strategically aligned to pursue the new business opportunities that increase sales, asset utilization and profit with minimal investment.