How to Simulate a Schedule Without Committing It in EDGEBIC

To simulate a schedule without committing it in EDGEBIC, run a what-if scenario simulation, which uses the same finite-capacity engine as a live run but writes nothing to the production schedule. EDGEBIC by User Solutions also lets the optimizer propose a full plan that changes nothing until you press Accept. Both paths let you read real dates, hours, and cost while the live plan stands untouched.

This is the no-commit procedure. For the concept, read EDGEBIC what-if scenarios explained and EDGEBIC quote simulation explained. It is one of the task guides in the EDGEBIC how-to hub.

Before You Start

Path One: Run a What-If Scenario

This is the general no-commit simulation. It runs the real engine and discards the result.

1. On the Quote tab, select the quote you want to explore.
2. Click Scenarios to open the What-If Scenario Analysis view.
3. Click Create New Scenario and name it for the lever you are testing, for example a later start or a second shift on the constraint.
4. On the Scenario Parameters tab, set the production settings you want to try, such as Custom Start Date, Weekend Production, or a Work Center Capacity Override at 150 percent for an overtime equivalent.
5. Click Run Simulation.
6. Read the Simulation Results group: Estimated Start Date, Estimated End Date, Lead Time, Total Hours, and Estimated Cost.

Adjust and re-run as often as you like. Each run overwrites that scenario's stored results, and nothing touches the shop plan.

Path Two: Let the Optimizer Propose

When you want to test an alternative for jobs already on the floor, use the optimizer's propose-first workflow. It computes alternative schedules and changes nothing until you press Accept, so you can review the proposed dates and the KPI deltas and then discard them if you do not like the result. The scheduling run itself has no preview step, which is precisely why the optimizer exists for this.

What Changes When You Simulate

Applying a scenario copies its results onto the quote. It does not change the product's routing or any work center. If the customer accepts an outside-vendor scenario, make the real routing change in the BOR editor before converting, so the real schedule matches what you sold.

How to Check It Worked

1. After Run Simulation, confirm the Simulation Results group is populated. If it reads that you must run the simulation first, click Run Simulation again.
2. Confirm the live plan is untouched: open Job View and verify no dates changed on any real job.
3. On the Comparison Analysis tab, tick the simulated scenarios to compare Lead Time, Cost, and Utilization side by side. A scenario that wins by running a machine at 100 percent for weeks is a plan with no recovery room; the Utilization tab exists for exactly this check.

A Worked Simulation

A customer calls back on a quote for 200 units. The base simulation says the work finishes on August 14, but the customer needs delivery by August 8. Rather than edit the live plan or guess, you test two levers as scenarios.

Create a scenario named for the constraint, say a second shift on the busiest mill, and add a work center capacity override at 150 percent, which stands in for an evening shift or overtime. Run Simulation and read the result: an August 5 end and a slightly higher cost that reflects the overtime assumption. That meets the date with three days of margin.

Create a second scenario named for a weekend push and tick Weekend Production instead. Run Simulation: an August 8 end, a little cheaper, but with zero slack.

Open the Comparison Analysis tab, tick both scenarios plus the baseline, and read the Lead Time and Cost bars side by side. The second-shift scenario costs a bit more but lands real safety margin, so you select it, click Apply to Quote, and the quote now carries the August 5 date and the new cost. Nothing on the production schedule moved during any of it. Only when the customer accepts do you arrange the real second shift so the plan can reproduce the promise.

Common Mistakes and Gotchas

• Treating a scenario as a commitment. Applying a scenario updates the quote's numbers only. Before you convert, make the real change (shift, override, or routing) so the production run can actually reproduce the promise.
• Expecting a scenario to reserve capacity. It does not. No capacity is held, because there is no capable-to-promise hold. Two scenarios can both claim the same slot because neither is real.
• Forgetting scenarios run forward. For a finish-by promise, compare the scenario's estimated end date to the customer date by hand.
• Changing three things in one scenario. Isolate one lever per scenario or you will not know which change bought the improvement. That is classic what-if discipline.

To build and compare alternatives, see how to build and compare scenarios and how to simulate a delivery date for a quote. To preview a live run's scope without a simulation, see how to see which jobs a run will touch before you commit.

Bring a quote and we will run its what-if scenarios against your data in one session. Contact US to book it, or read the EDGEBIC product overview first.