Ever increasing numbers of manufacturers seeing APS benefits

Preactor International, the specialist planning and scheduling software company, has reported a record start to 2006. This builds upon the already record level numbers of APS systems sold in 2005 and demonstrates a continuing recognition by manufacturers that APS is an enabling technology and one which delivers measurable results, fast.

Mike Novels, Chairman and Managing Director, commented on the remarkable progress his company is making: "Our early year figures are up 87% on 2005 levels, and we've seen in excess of 28 new accounts added to the Preactor user base. This is more than some of our competitors achieve in a year and in some instances, more than several years."

The continued growth in APS uptake spreads across the manufacturing spectrum and is not limited to a certain size of company. Novels again: "It is a myth that APS is only for larger manufacturers. While it is true some of the largest manufacturers in the world use Preactor, and do so globally, we are still seeing strong sales in the SME sector and delight in seeing the very impressive, real world benefits that some of our smaller users achieve."

Novels believes this sends a clear message into the ongoing Lean versus APS debate. "The argument between APS and Lean adherents has become too polarised, which is causing unnecessary confusion to many manufacturers genuinely looking to improve their manufacturing efficiency. We have a growing number of customers that daily demonstrate the reality that Lean thinking and APS often work best when complemented by the other. We've always seen APS as an enabling technology because of the its relationship with ERP, and the majority of our customers daily demonstrate that with better production visibility, they can achieve better on-time delivery performance through greater flexibility to create and analyse 'what if' scenarios."