Production Planning with Subcontract Capacity

Subcontracted cutting and sewing are planned like your own lines; delivery dates use subcontract capacity

If part of your cutting or sewing is done by subcontractors, a plan that only sees your own lines is incomplete. In argemas the subcontract workshop's capacity and efficiency are entered into the system or calculated from the data argemas MES collects; the subcontractor appears in the advanced planning module as a resource like your own lines. Ready orders are assigned to the lines or subcontractors you choose, constraints are set, and delivery dates are calculated with subcontract capacity taken into account.

How subcontract capacity enters the plan

Daily or weekly cutting and sewing capacity and efficiency are defined for each subcontract workshop. If the workshop uses argemas MES, those values are calculated automatically from actual production; if not, they are entered manually. The advanced planning and scheduling module plans orders across your own lines and subcontract capacity together: which order's operation is done where and on which date, with parallel and sequential resources and due dates as constraints.

Workshop and subcontract capacity are planned together; realistic delivery dates are calculated.
Ready orders are assigned to the chosen lines or subcontractors.
Capacity and efficiency: automatic from MES data, or manual entry.
Constraints (due date, parallel/sequential machines, material) are respected in planning.

Dispatch, workshop operations and return receipt

Once the plan assigns work to a subcontractor, the process is tracked in a closed loop by the argemas MES subcontract module: fabric, accessories and semi-finished goods sent out are dispatched by lot on RFID- or barcode-tagged shipment lines; operations performed at the workshop are recorded manually or from a connected system; on return, the quantity and quality of the goods are approved in the system. If the quantities sent, processed and returned do not reconcile, waste and shortages show up immediately.

Subcontract cost and performance scorecard

Subcontract labour enters the pre-cost from the bill of materials at the collection stage; when production is complete, the post-cost is calculated automatically from actual subcontract data. Each workshop gets a performance scorecard based on on-time delivery, quality and quantity reconciliation, and the load given to each workshop in the next planning period rests on that scorecard.

The data the plan rests on

From historical data argemas knows each operator's efficiency on each operation and calculates every line's capacity from those parameters. Once subcontract capacity enters the same planning table, 300 orders can be distributed across 40 lines and the subcontract workshops for the highest output, and the plan is updated together with actual production.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about subcontract capacity, planning and subcontract tracking.

Yes. The subcontract workshop's capacity and efficiency are entered into the system or calculated from data argemas MES collects, so the subcontractor appears in the planning module as a resource like your own lines. You can assign ready orders to the lines or subcontractors you choose and set constraints to calculate delivery dates. Fabric and semi-finished goods sent out are dispatched by lot, and the quantity and quality of returning goods are approved in the system.

If the subcontract workshop uses argemas MES, capacity and efficiency are calculated automatically from actual production. If not, daily or weekly cutting and sewing capacity is defined manually per workshop. Either way the planning module sees the subcontractor in the same capacity table as your own lines.

Yes. The advanced planning module calculates realistic delivery dates by taking workshop and subcontract capacity into account together. Due dates, parallel and sequential resources and material availability are defined as constraints; if a subcontractor runs late the affected orders become visible, and the plan is updated together with actual production.

The argemas MES subcontract module dispatches fabric, accessories and semi-finished goods by lot on RFID- or barcode-tagged shipment lines, records the operations performed at the workshop and approves quantity and quality on return. If the quantities sent, processed and returned do not reconcile, waste and shortages show immediately, and each workshop gets a delivery, quality and quantity scorecard.