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Insights on production scheduling, lean manufacturing, and manufacturing software from 35+ years of industry experience.
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What Is Pieces Per Hour in Work Center Capacity? EDGEBIC Definition
Pieces per hour is a station's rated output speed, and the effective rate is what a plan should be built on. See how EDGEBIC schedules stations that think in units, not hours, and where the rate actually lives.
What Is Sales and Operations Planning? EDGEBIC Definition
Sales and operations planning is the cross-functional process that reconciles the demand plan with the supply plan. See where EDGEBIC's master production schedule fits into the supply side of it.
What the Optimizer Does Not Change
The optimizer's only lever is the order jobs are taken. Routings, quantities, capacity, calendars, due dates, and recorded work are all off limits by design.
When an Operation Must Fit Inside One Shift
Most operations spill across shifts until their hours are placed. Some cannot. How the cross-shift and partial-shift rules work, what they cost, and when to turn them off.
When the Kiosk Cannot Compute Pieces in EDGEBIC
A routing with no cycle time gives the kiosk no rate, so piece fields stay at zero instead of guessing. See why that is the right behavior and how to fix the root cause.
When the Optimizer Says Your Plan Is Already the Best
A no-improvement result is a positive finding, not a failure. Here is what the verdict means, what the nearest challenger line tells you, and what to do next.
Who Can Run and Accept Optimizer Changes
Viewing, running, accepting, and configuring the optimizer are four separate permissions. Here is how to split them across planners, supervisors, and administrators.
Why a Completed Step Frees Its Operator in EDGEBIC
On a reschedule, unstarted work still consumes operator hours but finished work does not. See why that rule keeps your labor capacity from silently shrinking over time.
Why a Parallel Step's Actuals Follow the Primary in EDGEBIC
A parallel work center shares one routing step with a primary. See why EDGEBIC mirrors actuals one way only, scaled by the factor, and where to log the correction.
Why an Optimized Plan Can Look Worse on One Measure
A proposal that improves your goal can show a worse number on a lower ranked measure. Here is why that is honest, expected, and easy to judge.
Why the Optimizer Never Applies Changes Automatically
Deferred apply is a design decision, not a missing feature. Here is why a proposal waits for a planner, and what automatic application would cost you on the floor.
Working the Optimizer Into Your Scheduling Routine
When to run the optimizer, which goal fits which day of the week, and how to fit a thirty second review into a shift without disrupting the floor.