Seasonal harvests impose a significant constraint on manufacturing, especially with short shelf life ingredients, because a full year's supply for an entire product family may need to be produced in a few short weeks during the harvest season. To effectively determine the proper mix and quantities of products to be produced, a long-term demand forecast is required. To effectively use existing manufacturing capacity, a constraint-based production planning and scheduling method is necessary to predict and minimize the impacts of equipment and material constraints and changeovers.

This paper describes the characteristics of these planning and scheduling problems, and summarizes the requirements for a successful supply chain planning solution to address them. Download now to learn more!