The Schedule Module develops a production plan for processing work orders through a manufacturing facility. The key features are as follows:

A Trial schedule permits you to run the scheduler and fine tune it whenever needed.

The starting date and the time of day can be set for the scheduler which allows it to be run as many times as necessary during the course of a day.

The scheduler can be run for up to 366 days in the future.

Unreleased work orders can be optionally included to test for estimated completion dates.

When the Trial schedule is acceptable, it can be instantly implemented for production use.

Implemented schedules can automatically update the work orders with their new estimated completion dates.

Jobs that are in process are scheduled from their last completed operation and take into consideration the number of pieces reported completed on each step.

Each work order can be set to

The single constraint scheduler uses work centers to define factory capacity.

Dates the factory is closed and work centers that are unavailable are automatically taken into consideration each time the schedule is run.

A technique called finite loading is used to schedule. Finite loading means putting no more work into a work center than the work center can be expected to handle.

Work centers can be optionally marked as infinite capacity. This means that the choice can be made to selectively treat work centers as if they had no capacity limits. This permits

The scheduler can be run at either one hour or one minute resolution. This means that when an operation step is scheduled to end, the next step

Both forward and backward scheduling is supported.

Forward scheduling involves a technique whereby the schedule proceeds from a known start date for a work order and sequentially processes the operations from first to last. Dates generated this way are generally the earliest start dates for operations.

Backward scheduling will give the required start date to meet the required due date.

On each work order you can choose whether it is to be scheduled using forward or backward techniques.

When a work order is marked for backward scheduling, the Start/Restart date is ignored and the Needed By date becomes the date from which the schedule is calculated.

Work orders can be assigned different levels of scheduling priorities.

Work orders that have been scheduled and implemented can have their planned schedules locked to prevent other orders from affecting them.

Work orders can be made inactive and taken out of the schedule temporarily.

WorkShop uses the a start/restart date, in the work order header, to set the date from which the scheduler is allowed to start scheduling the work order. This accomplishes two purposes:

The scheduler traps problems and provides a detailed warnings and errors report.

Each topic allows you to drill down to detailed information on the loads in your shop, the schedule of individual jobs, the number and status of customer orders, and the quantity and projected completion dates of finished goods being manufactured.

All of this information is tied to 3D charts that are dynamically updated to graphically display the information you are viewing.

Click on the bars on the chart to pop up a window with further details.

Examine either the Trial or Implemented schedule starting with any date you set.

The Order report shows how each work order is scheduled through the shop on a step-by-step basis.

A Work Center report shows the daily list of jobs for each work center and orders them in the priority in which they are to be done.