Blog
Insights on production scheduling, lean manufacturing, and manufacturing software from 35+ years of industry experience.
Everything we have published.
Why an Offline Dash Protects You in a Customer Conversation
The most expensive number on any dashboard is a projection that somebody quoted as a fact, or a blank that somebody read as a zero. Labeling provenance on every tile prevents both.
Why Job Hours and Work Center Hours Do Not Add Up
On a routing with synchronized parallel machines, the per-station hours legitimately exceed the job total. Neither figure is wrong, and quoting the wrong one is how a price goes bad.
Why Two Utilization Numbers Disagree, and Which One to Trust
A fast utilization figure and a calendar-true one will differ on the same station in the same window. Buying a machine on the wrong one is the expensive version of that difference.
How a Dispatch List Replaces the Loudest Voice
When sequence is decided by whoever shouts, the plant pays in setups and late jobs. See how a due-date-driven dispatch list changes that, with the arithmetic.
How a Routing Snapshot Settles What You Actually Built
When a customer disputes how a part was made, the routing snapshot answers it. See how a frozen routing copy per job turns a claim into a records lookup.
How a Shared Plan Shortens the Daily Production Meeting
The daily production meeting runs long because it is really a data reconciliation session. See how one shared plan cuts it to ten minutes, with the arithmetic.
How a Shutdown Week Stops Breaking Your Promise Dates
Every shop promises into its own shutdown at least once. See how a plant holiday calendar removes those days from capacity before a quote goes out.
How Capacity Evidence Answers a New Machine Request
The we-need-another-machine argument is usually settled by conviction. See how utilization bands and a modeled reschedule settle it with numbers instead.
How Customer Service Answers Where Is My Order
The status call costs more than it looks: two interruptions and a callback. See how order progress reporting answers it in 30 seconds, with the arithmetic.
How Downtime Reason Codes Build the Maintenance Case
Maintenance spend usually follows whoever complains loudest. See how reason-coded downtime turns lost hours into a ranked case, with arithmetic and limits.
How Real Capacity Data Lets You Turn Down the Wrong Order
Saying yes to every order is how a good backlog goes late. See how quote simulation shows what an order costs the jobs you already have, before you accept it.
How Routing Cleanup Buys Back Hours You Already Paid For
Most shops carry recoverable hours inside their own routings. See how a ranked suggestions report finds them, what each rule means, and what it will not do.