C. E. Schneckenflügel

C. E. Schneckenflügel, Germany's leading screw blade manufacturer, faced mounting pressure as customer demand for precision screw flights grew faster than their manual planning processes could handle. In make-to-order industrial machinery manufacturing, delivery speed is a direct competitive differentiator — customers choosing between suppliers often decide on lead time alone. Their existing production scheduling relied on manual methods that lacked visibility across the shop floor, making it impossible to reliably commit to delivery dates or respond dynamically to shifting order priorities. Without an electronic production control system, planning bottlenecks were consuming hours of management time daily and constraining the company's capacity to grow.

To address this, C. E. Schneckenflügel partnered with A+B Solutions, a certified Siemens solution partner, to implement Opcenter Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) — part of Siemens' Xcelerator portfolio. Opcenter APS provided detailed, constraint-based production scheduling with a graphical interface that gave planners a clear visual overview of shop floor operations. Critically, A+B Solutions integrated Opcenter APS directly with the company's existing ERP system, infra:NET, leveraging an integration the partner had already proven with another manufacturer. This pre-validated ERP connector reduced implementation risk and accelerated deployment. The system enabled production processes to be scheduled well in advance, replacing ad hoc manual planning with structured, forward-looking scheduling that aligned capacity with incoming orders.

The operational impact was immediate and significant. Daily planning time dropped by two hours, freeing management to focus on higher-value decisions rather than scheduling logistics. Delivery times to customers were cut by 50%, a reduction substantial enough to shift competitive positioning in the market. The downstream commercial effect was striking:

• 100% increase in sales — attributed directly to faster, more reliable delivery commitments
• 50% reduction in delivery time — achieved through advanced constraint-based scheduling
• 2 hours saved daily in production planning effort

Managing Director Rolf Eiting described the moment he saw Opcenter APS as being "immediately electrified," citing the graphical user interface as a key factor in team adoption.

• Delivery time is a primary sales lever for make-to-order industrial manufacturers — halving lead times can double revenue without adding production capacity.
• ERP integration is critical: selecting a solution partner with a proven connector for your existing system reduces deployment risk significantly.
• Graphical scheduling interfaces drive adoption — planners are more likely to engage with tools they can visually interpret and trust.
• SMEs should treat APS implementation as part of a broader digitalization roadmap, not a standalone IT project.
• Quantify planning time lost to manual scheduling before starting — it often reveals a larger operational cost than expected.