Company

The Monge Group is Italy’s leading producer and manufacturer in the pet food sector, specializing in food for dogs and cats. The headquarters in Monasterolo di Savigliano, in the province of Cuneo, covers 55,000 square meters, including production and logistics areas, and houses all departments: production, quality control, research & development, logistics, marketing, and management. The company employs a team of 300 staff and 120 sales representatives, consistently achieving year-on-year improvements in performance.

Need

The wide product range offered (both under the company brand and private labels) and the dynamic nature of the market led Monge to choose a flexible, easily configurable, and user-friendly planning tool. This tool needed to effectively respond to market demand fluctuations and quickly generate a feasible production schedule.

When implementing the new finite capacity scheduling software, it was crucial to consider production constraints and find the right balance between sequence optimization and maintaining high customer service levels.

Solution

The first step of the project involved the implementation of the MRP module, which calculates the planned proposals based on market demand and planning policies (e.g., safety stock, coverage days) defined for each item. Starting with the results of the MRP algorithm, finite capacity scheduling is carried out with the following features:

• Sequence optimization, considering relevant attributes (e.g., packaging, semi-finished goods) to minimize set-up times.
• “What-if” analysis, adjusting levers to find the best trade-off between sequence optimization and meeting delivery deadlines.
• Efficient use of production capacity by using alternative machines.
• Integration with factory systems for fast updates to the production schedule on the lines.

Results

• Increased service level (+20%).
• Reduced response time to customers.
• Improved production planning process.

The speed of MRP generation and the ability to evaluate different scenarios—by adjusting article-specific planning policies—were some of the key features that helped us improve our production and packaging scheduling. With Compass, we saw a 20% increase in production, thanks to careful study of planning policies and diligent management of scenarios, considering the company’s daily order portfolio.

Ing. Umberto Dal Maso, I.T. Manager (Monge & C. S.p.A.)