How to Set the Planning Start Date in EDGEBIC

To set the planning start date for a job in EDGEBIC, set the Start Time field in the order dialog, or double-click the Start Date cell on the Drive Schedule grid and pick a date: either sets the earliest the job may begin, which the engine treats as a floor. No operation is placed before that date in EDGEBIC by User Solutions, and because it is a planner-entered input, the edit changes nothing until you run the scheduler for that job.

This post covers the one task. For the run that puts the new start date on the Gantt, read how to run the scheduler in EDGEBIC. For the scenario equivalent, such as simulating a job that starts once raw material arrives, see how to start a scenario on a specific date. The full task library is at the EDGEBIC how-to hub.

Before You Start

• The job exists on the Drive Schedule grid.
• You know why you are setting a start date: material availability, a customer window, or a resource that frees up on a certain day.
• You understand that setting the date does not re-plan; you run the scheduler afterward.

The Steps

1. Open the Schedule area and select the Drive Schedule tab.
2. Choose a method:
   • In the order dialog, open the job (Add or Edit) and set the Start Time field to the earliest acceptable date and time.
   • On the grid, double-click the Start Date cell, pick the new date in the prompt, and confirm.
3. Save the order (the dialog path) or confirm the prompt (the grid path).
4. Tick the affected job and run the scheduler so the new start date takes effect.

Both methods set the same thing: the job's earliest-start floor. The engine will not place any operation before it.

What Changes When You Save

The planning start date is the earliest a job may begin, which is a different thing from the due date (the latest it should finish). Setting the start does not change the promise. On a forward job it moves where the work begins; on a job that routes through a bottleneck work center it also serves as the target start the constraint step is anchored to.

How to Check It Worked

After the run, read the job's operations on the Gantt or the grid. The first operation should start on or after the date you set, never before. If it still starts earlier, confirm you actually ran the scheduler after the edit; setting the date alone does not re-plan. If the job schedules exactly on your date and no earlier, the floor is working.

Common Mistakes

Editing the date and not re-running. The plan does not react to a master-data edit by itself. Run the scheduler for the job or the new start date never appears.

Expecting Clear Schedule to reset the start date. It does not. The start date is a planner input, kept on purpose so a re-plan begins from the same floor. Clear the Start Time field yourself if you want the job to start as early as possible again.

Confusing the start date with the due date. The start date is the earliest begin; the due date is the latest finish. Setting one does not set or change the other.

Setting a start date on a backward job and expecting it to override the due date. A backward job works back from the due date. The start date acts as a floor, not the anchor; the direction still governs the placement.

What to Do Next

The planning start date is one of a job's core inputs, alongside quantity, priority, and due date. To plan a single job in isolation once its inputs are set, how to schedule a single job in EDGEBIC walks through the isolated run. For how the start date and due date interact under each direction, EDGEBIC backward scheduling explained is the overview, and the EDGEBIC product page shows the scheduler these inputs feed.