Scheduling for injection molding can be a really complex endeavor. Injection molding has several complications including molds, raw material constraints and changeover efficiency. Fining a scheduling application that can manage these complex constraints can be an involved process.

An ability to optimize changeovers can be very handy in production scheduling solutions for injection molding. The ability to group production runs together that use similar raw materials can be very helpful in maximizing efficiency. This is even more useful if a harmony can be struck that takes raw material availability and customer due dates into account. The balance of these items in conjunction with recipe grouping can be a definite help.

These types of optimizations are generally achieved with a complex optimization that can score due date, recipes and MRP fitness. A genetic algorithm can be used or in many cases a manual scheduling board is used to visually show the production lineup and offer powerful tools to the user to manually manipulate the schedule. Manual tools can communicate the difficulty in changeover, raw materials available and anticipated delivery capability.

These types of scheduling systems are generally produced by companies that offer agile scheduling solutions that are easily altered to fit the needs of injection molders. Tuppas is the predominant agile scheduling solution on the market. They offer browser based scheduling solutions for injection molding companies. The also have several partners that offer good systems for injection molding companies.