Case Study: FMC Technologies achieves 15% manufacturing and 11% warehouse capacity gains and $800K savings with AIMMS

Increasing Warehouse and Manufacturing Capacity at FMC Technologies

FMC Technologies, a global leader in subsea systems with about 19,700 employees and 30 production facilities in 16 countries, faced looming capacity constraints: a Brazilian manufacturing line was forecast to lack capacity in three years and its largest warehouse was already at 80% utilization. Rather than buy new machinery or extra warehouse space, the company chose to explore reducing manufacturing cycle time and improving utilization of its existing warehouse.

The regional team built AIMMS-based optimization tools—a bin-usage analyzer (integrated with SAP) to reallocate parts and an approach to balance work centers in a pilot work cell. Results included an 11% increase in warehouse capacity, a 15% increase in manufacturing capacity for the pilot, roughly $800K in savings, avoidance of new capital purchases, and a monthly allocation process with plans to scale the solution globally.

FMC Technologies

Ricardo Fernandes

Planning Specialist