Greycon Suite 7.6 Introduces Semi-Frozen Horizon for Block Scheduling, Intelligent Block Search in Trim Optimisation

LONDON, Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Greycon, a world leader in supply chain optimisation for the paper, printing, film and nonwovens industries, today announced the release of Greycon Suite version 7.6.  The new release includes expanded capabilities for opt-Studio, enhancing both its scheduling and trim capabilities. X-Trim has improved processing speed and includes new analytics.

The scheduling capabilities of opt-Studio have grown to the point where they fully overlap with Greycon's S-Plan software, which is being retired. All S-Plan customers are being offered a free upgrade to opt-Studio.

"While we are sad to retire S-Plan after 15 years of sterling service, we are very proud of our new 64-bit architecture, built with Microsoft .NET. We have invested more than 7,000 hours of development in 7.6 and trust that our loyal customers will benefit accordingly. Our commitment to the continuous improvement process is a source of competitive advantage for our customers," said Constantine Goulimis, CEO of Greycon. "We have already had successful go-lives at Toray Plastics America and Ibema, a Brazilian paper mill that uses a Microsoft ERP, with several more in the pipeline."

Opt-Studio version 7.6 includes a new block scheduling feature, the concept of a semi-frozen horizon. In it, the sequence of schedule blocks and runs is determined by the user, but the software's optimiser determines the run duration and the assignment of replenishment orders.

New trimming capabilities in opt-Studio include an intelligent global optimisation that searches across multiple runs, effectively automating the process of trying to locate orders to improve efficiency.

A new module for available-to-promise and capable-to-promise (ATP/CTP) allows third-party sales order entry systems to determine accurate delivery dates for incoming sales enquiries. This runs as an operating system service with a target response time of less than 2 seconds, handles finished and semi-finished stock, as well as routes starting with primary production, and any combination of the above.

Opt-Studio also includes fully customisable entity editors.

X-Trim 7.6 removes previous limits on the number of CPU cores that are employed. X-Trim also includes a new analytics module; this also runs on mobile platforms. The metals module, released as a service release to 7.5, is now live at 11 Usiminas plants in Brazil.

About Greycon

Greycon Ltd. (www.greycon.com) is a global company with offices in the China, Greece, UK, Uruguay and the USA.  Greycon customers, concentrated in the paper, printing, film and nonwovens industries, span the globe with more than 400 plants using its products and services.  Established for over 25 years, Greycon is dedicated to developing and implementing optimisation-based solutions for production planning and scheduling in manufacturing industry, and is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and an SAP Software Partner.