Critical Manufacturing Partners with INESC Porto to Deploy a New Advanced Planning and Scheduling Solution to High-Tech Manufacturing

Maia, Portugal, September 27, 2012 --(PR.com)-- INESC Porto and Critical Manufacturing signed a joint development agreement to cooperate in the creation of an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solution, seamlessly integrated into cmNavigo Productivity Suite.

Critical Manufacturing’s cmNavigo Productivity Suite is a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) developed from the ground up on proven Microsoft technologies which provide extensive usability benefits and lower total cost of ownership. The system is completely scalable making it ideal from small R&D environments to large scale high volume production facilities. A full range of manufacturing capabilities facilitate increased control, visibility and productivity for manufacturers seeking higher profitability and a competitive edge.

INESC Porto’s Manufacturing Systems Engineering Unit (UESP) has been developing and deploying over the last years an innovative and highly efficient scheduling engine, which among other characteristics provides fast first solutions, timely efficient resolution of complex optimization problems, multi-criteria optimization and quantitative evaluation of the solutions provided.

“The planning and scheduling of production orders is widely recognized as a critical production activity, whose results allow manufacturing companies to excel their operational performance,” says José Manuel Mendonça, INESC Porto President. “However, the value delivered by an APS solution rises to unprecedented levels with the increase of real-time availability and reliability of input data. We’re confident that a full integration of our scheduling engine with a state-of-the-art MES like cmNavigo will create a unique advantage to high-tech manufacturers,” he adds.

“This cooperation will provide a quantum leap efficiency improvement to our customers,” states Augusto Vilarinho, Critical Manufacturing’s Business Development Manager. “We’ll deliver a highly effective Planning and Scheduling solution, with no need for expensive integration efforts, long deployment cycles, duplication of master data or high maintenance costs” he adds.