You may ask yourself, how does a manufacturing facility implement an interactive Production Scheduling System? This depends on the specific need. Smaller facilities would do well to start with such a “manual” software-based production scheduling system. As with most Production Scheduling Systems, jobs are laid out as tags on a virtual “planning board”. Workcenters are listed down the left side of this planning board, and a timeline is laid out across the top. The tags for the individual jobs then list the job number, quantities, the customer, individual or master part numbers … just about anything needed for the individual using the planning board.

Behind the scenes of a production scheduling system is where a lot of other work can take place. Processes can be scheduled as part of a larger work order, personnel can be scheduled individually, holidays, lunch periods and shift changes can be accounted for, preventative maintenance can be scheduled, etc. Other calculations can also take place within the Production Scheduling System, such as the longer times necessary to bend or roll a thicker piece of steel, ensuring jobs don’t overlap where they shouldn’t.

With an interactive manual Production Scheduling System, tags on the planning board can be dragged-and-dropped from one workcenter to another. When the tag lands on another workcenter, particularly if it lands between jobs already scheduled, the system can calculate the runtime needed for that job, and then recalculate the start times for both workcenters. Dropping a tag on a given workcenter can even be prevented if the job can’t run there.

Using a whiteboard or spreadsheet to implement a manual Production Scheduling System may be the only solution for a facility for a while. But even this may be all a given facility needs.