Money is tight right now, we all know that. So why am I wasting your time telling you to spend money? The answer is obvious; you need to spend money to make money. Although we would all like for it to rain down or to grow on trees that just wont happen. Now back to reality. You work for a manufacture correct? Currently you are in charge of the production scheduling and the system you have in place is just not cutting it any more. I can only imagine what this system consists of – post its, maybe an excel spread sheet or two with all kinds of white out and hand written gibberish scribbled on the paper. Very nice. So you’re looking for a software system which will help organize your machines, employees and most importantly, help you reduce the amount of time that is spent rearranging those schedules so you can go back to performing more significant tasks. Thankfully there is a light at the end of the deep dark tunnel.

With production scheduling software, rearranging your entire schedule when a high priority task comes in is no longer an issue. Scheduling software can come in many different formations and often purchasers do not know which the best one to purchase is. There are three general types 1. Canned or out-of-the-box 2. custom 3. tailored.

Canned systems are designed for the industry and not for the individual client. While their systems may be cost and time friendly they are not designed to meet the needs of your organization. Custom systems are made from scratch and allow companies to have them designed to their own specifications. While this is a great thought they are generally more expensive and take a significant amount of time build and it is difficult to complete upgrades. Tailored systems are probably the best of the three that you could choose. Tailored systems are designed specifically for the user from a framework that was already set in place which means they do not take a long time to implement. Additionally, there is a significant reduction in cost and the system can be changed and upgraded effortlessly.

I think you know which type of software gains my approval now what will the system do for your and your organization? Organizing your workloads, machinery, workers, materials, tools and employees is the first step. How does an increase in production efficiency sound? By helping your organization run like products together you will notice a reduction in changes and clean out times. Inventory will have a reduction because less inventory will be required to fill any time sensitive orders when capacity can be predicted accurately. Of course there will be a reduction in the amount of time that will be required on the part of the scheduler. All great benefits any company could use.

For more information on the benefits companies can gain from scheduling software take a look at this blog which is an awesome resource for information pertaining to production scheduling.

Cambridge Manufacturing Journals


Manufacturing.gov