Manufacturing Scheduling Software
Manufacturing Scheduling software helps manufacturers to determine production schedules based on availability of raw materials and supplies, tooling and production equipment, and personnel. Manufacturing Scheduling software also accounts for customer schedules and demands, change orders, regulatory constraints, and other factors. The most rudimentary form of Manufacturing Scheduling software provides spreadsheets into which information is manually entered. As Manufacturing Scheduling software has evolved over time, numerous functional capabilities have been added, and previously manual procedures have been replaced with computer-generated inputs and outputs.
The most up-to-date and powerful form of Manufacturing Scheduling software is Advanced Scheduling software. This version of Manufacturing Scheduling software accurately models the manufacturing environment within the digital environment, creating a digital twin of the facilities, equipment, personnel and supply chain needed to complete production orders. Advanced Scheduling software accounts for the availability of resources and specific manufacturing constraints to support better scheduling decisions. Using algorithms and intelligent, built-in rules, Manufacturing Scheduling performed via Advanced Scheduling software schedules orders and production priorities efficiently. This more automated form of Manufacturing Scheduling software still allows planners to manually interact with the schedule, so that new information or the planner’s experience can be accounted for with changes in the schedule.
Manufacturing Scheduling Functions
Manufacturing Scheduling software with Advanced Scheduling capabilities enables manufacturers to oversee all aspects of production scheduling through its functional features:
Advanced constraint modeling—Models advanced inter-operation constraints and advanced resource constraints, such as rules about concurrent usage.
Advanced material handling—Implements custom rules about how materials are consumed to ensure that sub-assemblies and raw materials are consumed according to business rules.
Advanced schedule optimization—Accepts definitions of additional schedule optimization rules to deal with problems such as minimizing changeover times, preferred sequencing and campaigning.
Assembly process visualization—Provides a graphical view of the assembly process from raw materials through to finished goods and sales orders.
Development environment—Enables database schema and constraint model alteration as required, including adding tables and fields.
Interactive schedule viewing—Enables viewer-level permissions, which allow interaction with the schedule without the ability to save changes.
Order-based multi-constraint scheduling—Creates order-based schedules and applies a ranking or weighting for the purpose of prioritizing orders.
Benefits of Manufacturing Scheduling
Manufacturing Scheduling software with Advanced Scheduling capabilities synchronizes manufacturing processes and provides greater visibility. As a result, manufacturers are able to increase utilization and on-time delivery while reducing inventory levels and waste.
Additional benefits:
- Full visibility and control
- Increased utilization and leaner operations
- Faster response to change
- Better customer service
- Higher margins
