In manufacturing, resource optimization and successfully meeting production schedules go hand in hand. However, even your best-laid plans hit snafus here and there. Making adjustments can feel like playing chess on a moving board with changing pieces. That’s where detailed scheduling comes into the picture.

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Table of Contents

• What Is Detailed Scheduling?
• Features
• Benefits
• Limitations
• Detailed Scheduling Software

What Is Detailed Scheduling?

Detailed scheduling is a process that helps optimize resource allocation, meet production schedules and adjust for exceptions. It allows users to create and manage schedules and production plans to minimize delays, eliminate bottlenecks and predict contingencies.

There are limited hours in a day and limited resource capacity for manufacturing operations. Managing schedules, new orders and exceptions is like juggling on a unicycle. Detailed scheduling keeps you from dropping the ball with what-if scenarios, parallel planning and real-time insights.

Key Features

An initial peek into detailed scheduling can look like a fairytale solution to resource allocation. But, like a swimming duck, there’s plenty of action going on under the surface. Here’s how it works:

Production Program and Planning Directions

Timelines are crucial to meeting deadlines. Set your desired end date to create schedules based on production line and resource availability. View all steps from order creation to resource maintenance, ensuring timelines are clean and there’s no overlap with other orders.

Resource Management

Your employees can’t be in two places at once. Define working hours and resource capacity so you can schedule activities accordingly. Assign orders to production lines based on the availability of resources and create plans for workstations related to the order.

Plan Adjustment

Just like Thanos, unexpected hiccups in plans are inevitable. React to changes in resource availability and order timelines by moving work orders to different lines and alerting operators to updated plans.

Scenario Capability Analysis

Take the guesswork out of “what if” situations with scenario capability analysis. View planning scenarios and data to make informed decisions on capacity expansions or outsourcing.

Time Relationships

Specify the minimal intervals needed to maintain between activities to establish proper time relationships. Determine whether activities can or can’t be scheduled based on these intervals.

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Primary Benefits

Change is hard. Making changes to your manufacturing processes is even harder still. However, the perks of detailed scheduling may tip the scales in its favor.

Saved Time

Scheduling is time-consuming business, even with the most experienced schedulers on board. A centralized source of information makes it easier for planners to view resource availability and reduce lead times. Cut down scheduling time with planning scenarios and semi-automated workstation assignment.

Greater Adaptability

Manufacturers sure can relate to Murphy’s Law. Being able to pivot due to labor shortages, unexpected machine downtime and a lack of inventory is critical. What-if scenarios and real-time information from the shop floor allow planners to react quickly to changes.

On-time Delivery

Making and sticking to a schedule is easier said than done. Constraint-driven scheduling helps optimize factory operations and simplifies sticking to due dates. Priority orders added at the last minute can also be adjusted for using alternative work operations and planning scenarios.

Minimized Bottlenecks

Optimizing labor, maximizing equipment utilization and identifying shortages helps manage bottlenecks. View only designated resources when scheduling to avoid overextending. Identify spare capacities and redistribute resources accordingly.

Limitations

Basketball shoes won’t make life easier for a football player or a sprinter. Although detailed scheduling can be a useful tool for many manufacturers, it can throw a wrench in operations for others. Here are some limitations to keep in mind:

Complexity: Detailed scheduling requires in-depth knowledge of product numbers, part numbers and other specific details to be effective. Smaller manufacturers may find it challenging to spare time and labor to compile this information.

Cost: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Implementing a new process leads to additional expenses, a pause in production and additional employee training.

Skewed Schedules: Getting detailed scheduling right takes an incredible amount of time. Problems arise when unaccounted-for exceptions pop up that throw schedules off whack and sometimes require entirely new schedules.

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Key Requirements

Manually implementing detailed scheduling into your operations isn’t for the faint-hearted. Although there isn’t stand-alone software per se, you can find a module as a part of ERP and MES systems.

Here are some features to look out for when considering solutions:

Production Plans: Assign orders to production lines based on availability. Automate plans for workstations related to the order.

Automated Planning: Use the artificial planner to choose from automatic and semi-automatic planning scenarios to populate schedules.

Parallel Planning: Drag and drop work orders to different lines to accommodate changes in the production schedule. Notify operators immediately at their digital workstation.

Real-time Insights: View shop floor data, incoming work orders and documentation on one dashboard.

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Conclusion

Adding new processes to manufacturing operations is no one’s idea of a good time. Detailed scheduling, although complex and slightly confusing, can save time, improve delivery and reduce bottlenecks in the long run.

Understanding your company’s needs will help you cut through the static as you search for the right solution. Try our free requirements template to finetune what will work best for you.

How can detailed scheduling add to your operations? Let us know in the comment section below.