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Insights on production scheduling, lean manufacturing, and manufacturing software from 35+ years of industry experience.
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Featured Guides
A Stock Build and a Customer Order Share One Machine: The First Run
A first schedule run walkthrough in EDGEBIC: two jobs collide on one laser, a holiday costs a day, and the furnace turns out to own three weeks of the calendar.
An OEE Week on One Machine: 40 Hours In, 65.5% Out
A worked OEE calculation example: one CNC machine, 40 available hours, one lost day, and how availability, performance, and quality multiply out to 65.5%.
Earned Value Mid-Job: Ahead of Schedule and Over Budget at Once
A worked earned value example on a five-step job: BAC 50 hours, AC 55, SPI 1.09 and CPI 0.91, and what to do when the two indices point opposite ways.
A Day in the Life of a Planner: Morning Review to End-of-Day Commit
A planner daily routine walkthrough in EDGEBIC: the 20 minute morning review, the midday interruptions, the afternoon capacity check, and the end-of-day commit that the shop runs on.
A New Planner's First Week: From First Sign-In to a Schedule the Shop Trusts
A new planner onboarding walkthrough in EDGEBIC: five days from first sign-in to a committed schedule, with what to read, what to run, and what to leave alone.
A Quarter-End Push: Clearing 22 Late Jobs in Three Weeks
A quarter-end backlog push walkthrough in EDGEBIC: triage the late jobs report, resequence by priority, buy targeted capacity, and run the optimizer for the last mile.
Adding a Second Operator to Break a Labor Constraint, Start to Finish
A labor constraint walkthrough in EDGEBIC: diagnose why weld jobs slide while machines sit free, certify a second operator, then watch the constraint move.
Closing Out a Finished Job: From the Last Punch to the Variance Review
A job closeout walkthrough in EDGEBIC: verify every step, stamp the actual end, mark the job complete, then read hour variance and CPI before the next quote.
An Operator Calls In Sick: Covering a Certified Job the Same Morning
A sick operator walkthrough in EDGEBIC: record the absence, reschedule, see which steps re-staff and which slide, and audit the pins that cost a due date.
The Utilization Report Says CRITICAL: Finding and Fixing the Overload
An overloaded work center walkthrough in EDGEBIC: read a CRITICAL rating, drill into the backlog, find the real cause, and fix it with the cheapest lever that works.
A Customer Asks to Pull In a Delivery: Answering It in 20 Minutes
A customer pull-in request walkthrough in EDGEBIC: change the due date, re-plan, read Days Late, and work three honest levers until the earlier date holds or you say no.
Onboarding a New Product: From Blank Routing to First Scheduled Job
A new product onboarding walkthrough in EDGEBIC: create the product, build a six step routing with real hours, add the material, and schedule the first order end to end.