Executive Insights #4: What’s in a Name? Why We Chose “nPower”
When we named our company and product “nPower,” we wanted to reflect the immense complexity of production scheduling, especially for additive manufacturing. Scheduling for reductive manufacturing is already a challenging task, but scheduling for additive manufacturing takes it to another level—rocket science level.
To illustrate, let’s consider the math behind scheduling. Even a basic scheduling scenario can be represented by the formula:
(Number of work orders per day) raised to the power of (average number of operations per work order).
This formula captures the exponential complexity of production scheduling.
For example, scheduling 50 work orders per day with an average of four operations per work order equates to 6.25 million daily scheduling possibilities for these operations. Now, imagine doubling the work orders to 100—suddenly, you’re facing 100 million scheduling combinations. Trying to handle this level of complexity using Excel? It’s a recipe for errors, inefficiencies, and costly mistakes.
In the real world of additive manufacturing, this already intricate process becomes even more challenging. Production teams must also consider factors like:
- Customer-specific qualifications: Is the 3D printer approved for use by a specific customer?
- Material availability: Does the selected 3D printer have enough material to complete the job?
- Build plate optimization: How many unique parts will fit on a single build plate?
And it doesn’t stop there. Scheduling isn’t static; it’s dynamic. Priorities shift, resources fluctuate, and unexpected changes happen. Advanced production scheduling software like nPower Scheduler™ constantly evaluates all scheduling parameters to determine the optimal production plan. When priorities change—as they often do—our software can adjust the entire shop floor schedule in minutes, ensuring your operations stay on track.
Relying on Excel to manage the complexity of dynamic scheduling inevitably leads to errors, higher costs, and late shipments. Based on conversations with additive manufacturers, the consensus is clear: Excel-based scheduling fails once a manufacturer operates four or more 3D printers. If your shop has reached this threshold or you’re planning to scale beyond it, it’s time to consider advanced production scheduling software like nPower Scheduler.
David Bennett, nPower’s Chief Product Officer, will be publishing a companion note this week to dive deeper into the complexities of production scheduling. Stay tuned!
Kevin O’Keefe
CEO, nPower Technologies
