Blog
Insights on production scheduling, lean manufacturing, and manufacturing software from 35+ years of industry experience.
How the platform actually works: scheduling, optimization, the shop floor and ERP data.
What Is Schedule Performance Index (SPI)? EDGEBIC Definition
Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is earned value divided by planned value. See the formula, a worked job example, and how EDGEBIC computes and sorts it.
What Is the One Per Day Rule in Scheduling?
The one per day rule limits each machine instance to a single job per day. Learn why furnaces and paint booths need it and how it changes capacity math.
What Is the Schedule-At-Utilization Setting?
Schedule-at-utilization caps how much of a work center's capacity one order may consume. Definition, worked example at 80%, and how EDGEBIC applies it per order.
What Is Throughput in Manufacturing? EDGEBIC Definition
Throughput is the rate a plant converts materials into finished goods. See the TOC definition, a worked example, and how EDGEBIC shows it on the Exec dashboard.
What Is Transit Time in Production Scheduling?
Transit time is the whole-day delay for parts traveling between operations, such as an outside vendor. Learn calendar-day versus working-day counting.
What the Never-Worse Guarantee Means for Planners
Why running the EDGEBIC optimizer is risk-free: the clamp that compares every candidate plan against your baseline and returns the baseline unless the candidate is strictly better.
When to Use a Machine Pool vs an Alternate Work Center
Machine pool vs alternate work center: when a reusable work center group beats a per-step alternate list, how each picks a machine, and worked numbers.
Why a Scheduler Searches Forward in Time for Capacity
Why finite capacity scheduling walks the calendar day by day instead of assuming a machine is free: how EDGEBIC finds the next real slot and what a forward search guarantees.
Why Schedule Stability Can Beat Schedule Optimality
Why schedule stability can beat schedule optimality: how nervousness erodes floor trust, when to freeze the near term, and how to weigh stability against gains.
A Blank Cell in My Import Wiped a Value: Why, and How to Prevent It
Blank cells are supposed to be preserved on update, so a wiped value usually means the row was a create, not an update, or the entity does not reconcile that way.
A Material Step Is Holding Up My Job: Where the Delay Really Comes From
A material step is instant by design, so a job that seems stuck on one is usually a mislabeled work-center step, a downstream dependency, or transit time. How to trace it.
A Reschedule Created a Duplicate Schedule Row
Two schedule rows for the same job step usually mean a split-op pair the merge missed, and a clean re-run collapses them. How to tell a real duplicate from a parallel sibling.