MCM MODULE – MACHINE CAPACITY MANAGEMENT

The Machine Capacity Management (MCM) module is part of the  Datatex NOW ERP software for textile and apparel industry.

It provides advanced tools for capacity planning, workload balancing, and bottleneck analysis, helping companies align customer commitments with real, available production resources.

By offering full visibility across plants, departments, and work centers, MCM supports both strategic planning decisions and detailed operational control in complex textile manufacturing environments.

What is Machine Capacity Management (MCM)?

Machine Capacity Management (MCM) is a planning and analysis module that enables textile and apparel manufacturers to evaluate, balance, and optimize production capacity across machines, work centers, and plants.

It allows planners to organize production orders based on real-time constraints, ensuring feasible schedules and reliable delivery commitments.

Why is capacity planning so critical in textile manufacturing?

Textile and apparel production involves multiple processes, machines, and constraints operating in parallel. Product mix, volumes, and priorities often change rapidly, while customers still expect reliable delivery dates.

Without accurate capacity planning, manufacturers risk machine overloads, missed deadlines, or underutilized resources. MCM helps planners proactively manage these challenges by analyzing real-time capacity and identifying issues before they affect production.

How does MCM help identify and resolve production bottlenecks?

MCM provides a graphical, visual planning environment that makes bottlenecks immediately visible at machine and work-center level. It supports both finite and infinite capacity planning, allowing planners to:

• Identify overloads and constraints

• Simulate alternative planning scenarios

• Prioritize orders based on business rules

• Adjust workloads across machines, plants, or departments

This enables fast decision-making and effective bottleneck resolution without disrupting ongoing operations.

How does MCM support Available-to-Promise (ATP)?

By analyzing machine capacity, material availability, work-in-progress, and additional resources, MCM enables accurate Available-to-Promise calculations.

Planners can assess whether customer orders can be accepted based on real production capacity rather than assumptions, improving delivery reliability and customer confidence.

Key Features of MCM Module

The MCM module includes a comprehensive set of tools for capacity planning and analysis:

• Graphical capacity planning using interactive Gantt charts

• Finite and infinite capacity planning for different scheduling strategies

• Real-time capacity calculation based on NOW ERP data

• Detailed resource allocation, including machines, materials, tools, and human resources

• Customizable planning rules for priorities, dates, plants, and work centers

• Multi-plant planning with optimal plant selection

• Manual or automatic planning based on predefined algorithms

• Scenario simulation to compare alternative scheduling options