Advanced Planning : The APS contribution

As mentioned in the article Push flows: MRP and DRP [AG 5 110] At the end of the 1990s, MRP systems evolved towards the Supply Chain Management. Equipped with optimization algorithms, they simulate the entire logistics system, checking the availability of products and the production and distribution capacities required to meet different levels of demand.

These tools are commonly referred to as Advanced Planning Systems (APS) by the companies that sell them. "The APS are software packages that optimize planning and synchronize supply chain flows while simultaneously taking into account a large number of constraints (resources, capacities, lead times, costs, profits, etc.).

Today, these tools seem capable of synchronizing all material and capacity resources to achieve "optimal" planning, and thus provide an answer to the synchronization weaknesses of traditional MRP II systems. [AG 5 115] .

Readers are referred to the article Flux poussés: MRP and DRP [AG 5 110] for a complete overview of MRP II systems, and the article La planification industrielle et ses limites (in French only) to understand their limitations. [AG 5 115] .

APS is often presented as an innovative planning concept. However, organizations have been using advanced planning techniques for many years.

The emergence of client-server communication architectures, the development of relational databases and the...