What Is Independent Parallel Processing?

Independent parallel processing runs one operation on two or more machines at the same time, with the work split across them and each machine checking its own capacity, so the job finishes faster. Unlike a synchronized head where machines mirror one schedule, independent parallel machines each carry a real share of the load and each are genuinely capacity-checked. The result is throughput: an operation that would take sixteen hours on one machine finishes in eight on two.

EDGEBIC by User Solutions schedules these machines through a simultaneous-slot search so they all start together. This article defines the term and its trade-off. The full validation chain and worked cases are in how EDGEBIC handles parallel work centers.

How It Works

You mark a routing step as independent parallel and list the secondary machines as alternatives. Each secondary machine is set to be capacity-checked, which is what makes it independent rather than a mirror. When the engine schedules that step, it looks for a simultaneous slot: a date, shift, and start time where every machine in the group has open capacity at the same moment.

Once it finds that window, the operation's hours are split across the machines and each machine's capacity pool is consumed normally. The machines run at the same time on their own share of the work, and the job completes when they finish. Because the load is divided, the wall-clock time drops in proportion to the number of machines.

The catch is the all-or-nothing rule. Every machine in the group must be free at the same moment or none of them start. If one machine is down for maintenance, the engine does not let the others run alone. It searches forward for the next window where all machines are available, then starts the group there. That guarantees the operation is truly parallel, at the cost of waiting for a common opening.

A Concrete Example

Picture an assembly step that needs sixteen hours of work, with two identical assembly lines available. Run it on one line and it takes two full shifts. Mark it independent parallel across both lines and the engine finds a Monday day shift where both are free. It splits the work: eight hours on Assembly-1, eight hours on Assembly-2, both running Monday 08:00 to 16:00. The job finishes Monday at 16:00, eight hours of wall-clock time instead of sixteen. Throughput doubled by dividing the work.

Now suppose one line is down Monday and Tuesday for maintenance. The all-or-nothing rule kicks in. The engine will not start the free line alone. It searches ahead, finds Wednesday when both lines are open, and starts them together then. The job is delayed two days rather than run at half strength, because a parallel operation that runs on one machine is not a parallel operation at all.

When It Helps and When It Does Not

Independent parallel pays off when an operation can genuinely be divided and you have machines free at the same time. Splitting sixteen hours across two lines to finish in eight is a real gain. Adding a third and fourth machine shortens the wall-clock further, as long as they can all be free together.

The all-or-nothing rule is the ceiling on that gain. Machines that rarely share a free window will spend more time waiting for a common opening than they save by running in parallel, so a large parallel group across busy machines can finish later than a single dedicated machine. Two conditions decide whether it helps: the machines need overlapping calendars so a common shift exists, and they need genuine open capacity at the same time. Where those hold, parallel throughput is a strong lever. Where machines are chronically busy on their own work, forcing them into a parallel group just makes the job wait. Match the model to the reality of your capacity, not to the machine count on paper.

How EDGEBIC Uses It

Independent parallel appears wherever a routing step lists capacity-checked secondary machines. The engine runs the simultaneous-slot search, reports whether every gate passed, and splits the allocation across the machines when a common window is found. On the Gantt, you see the same job block on several machines over the same time span, each consuming its own capacity.

Because each machine's capacity is genuinely tracked, the plan stays honest: you cannot overbook a parallel machine, and the reporting shows real utilization on each. When you reschedule, the group re-solves against current capacity and completed work is never moved.

Independent parallel is one of two parallel models. The manufacturing glossary covers the related terms. When machines must instead run in exact lockstep as one physical operation, read what is dependent parallel processing, and for the complete engine behavior see the parallel work centers guide.