CAP2M-SCHED

"Consolidation, industrial Alignment and Performance verification for Movement to Market of a SCheduling solution featuring Heuristics-enhancED simulation & optimisation."

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The CAP2M-SCHED proposal is a direct consequence of the RTD achievements of its pre-cursor project, CAP-SCHED (Research for SMEs, No.222487), in which groundbreaking, industry-guided RTD has been carried out to develop an intelligent scheduling (short-term planning) solution. Improved schedule optimisation has significant economic impacts for companies who must regularly & rapidly solve process scheduling problems. Although software packages are available on the market to assist with scheduling, their usefulness is limited, because they depend on the human operator to simulate scheduling scenarios ‘by trial & error’ so as to find an adequate solution. The innovative approach of CAP-SCHED allows the process (human) operator to interactively set various parameter values based on his/her intimate knowledge of the process, and to be assisted at the same time by automated, algorithmic constraint-solving capabilities which use domain-specific knowledge (heuristics) to optimise the remaining parameters within given operating constraints. A major objective of the project is thus to promote confidence that the CAP-SCHED solution can be perceived by prospective commercial partners & industrial customers to confer highest added-value and return on procurement investment. CAP2M-SCHED therefore aims to allow the partners to move with confidence towards market readiness and subsequent commercial exploitation of the CAP-SCHED results, via actions to : * test & consolidate prototype CAP-SCHED process scheduling solutions; * verify the performance of prototypes on a number of typical industrial exemplar processes; * evaluate & fine-tune the capabilities of CAP-SCHED to cope with diverse process conditions encountered in practice; * refine market analysis, business modelling & associated marketing strategy. The work of CAP2M-SCHED therefore reflects the ambition & commitment of core SME partners to ensure that results can be moved to a position of market-readiness.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An advanced software solution promises to revolutionise process scheduling in industry, leading to reduced costs and higher profit margins.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Process scheduling is a pivotal component for the efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in many industries. By overcoming process scheduling issues, improved schedule optimisation can bring financial rewards to companies and spell the difference between success and failure. The EU-funded project http://www.cap2Msched.eu (CAP2M-SCHED) worked on improving process scheduling for SMEs.

Building on previous efforts and an earlier EU-funded initiative in this direction, the project sought to overcome the limitations of current scheduling software. Generally, the latter relies on a human operator to simulate scheduling scenarios and identify a suitable solution. CAP2M-SCHED promoted the solution of the predecessor CAP-SCHED project that enabled operators to set parameters based on their insight regarding the process, but also using novel software based on heuristics.

Project members built confidence regarding the solution and verified its performance in typical industrial processes. They assessed and refined the capabilities of the CAP-SCHED software solution to tackle different real-life conditions. Efforts to promote the scheduling solution included improved market analysis, business modelling and associated marketing strategy to help businesses improve efficiency gains.

The solution is meant to bring quicker development and distribution of schedules, enhancing effectiveness through higher throughput, reduced operating costs and lower inventories. This is particularly important in industry supply chains where the path from the raw material to the finished product is highly process-dependent. Benefits of implementing the solution include higher profit from improved transformation of raw source material, enhanced volume throughput per unit time and reduced costs through better use of resources in transforming products.

From refining crude oil to producing pharmaceuticals, the developed software tool is set to revolutionise continuous or semi-continuous industrial processes, bringing a host of benefits to consumers, SMEs in industry and the economy. Detailed project dissemination and exploitation strategies will no doubt contribute significantly to achieving this aim.