Blog
Insights on production scheduling, lean manufacturing, and manufacturing software from 35+ years of industry experience.
Rough-Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP): A Quick Guide for Manufacturers
Learn what rough-cut capacity planning is, how it validates your master production schedule, and when to use RCCP versus detailed capacity requirements planning in manufacturing.
Seasonal Capacity Planning: How Manufacturers Handle Demand Fluctuations
Learn proven strategies for seasonal capacity planning in manufacturing, including demand smoothing, flexible workforce models, inventory buffering, and scheduling techniques for peak periods.
Theory of Constraints (TOC) in Production Scheduling: A Practical Guide
Apply the Theory of Constraints to manufacturing scheduling. Learn the 5 Focusing Steps, Drum-Buffer-Rope, and how TOC-based scheduling maximizes throughput at your bottleneck resource.
What Is Finite Capacity Planning? A Manufacturer's Complete Guide
Learn what finite capacity planning is, how it works in manufacturing, and why scheduling against real resource limits eliminates overloads, cuts lead times, and improves on-time delivery.
Cash Conversion Cycle for Manufacturers: How Scheduling Affects Working Capital
The Cash Conversion Cycle measures how fast operations convert materials to cash. Learn how production scheduling directly compresses CCC and frees working capital.
Sequence-Dependent Setup Times: The Scheduling Problem That Costs You Capacity
When changeover time depends on what ran before, standard scheduling fails. Learn how setup matrices, sequence optimization, and APS software recover 10-25% of hidden capacity in paint lines, food, and coating operations.
Scheduling Shared Equipment Across Multiple Product Lines: Allocation Strategies
One bottleneck CNC serving aerospace and commercial lines—how do you schedule it fairly? Learn capacity allocation strategies for shared equipment across product lines.
Subcontracting in Your Production Schedule: When and How to Outsource Operations
Learn how subcontracting changes your production schedule — modeling OP lead times, outside processing routing steps, vendor capacity constraints, and single-source subcontractor risk.
Integrating Supplier Performance Into Your Production Schedule: On-Time, Quality, and Lead Time Metrics
Learn how to use supplier scorecards — OTD, quality PPM, lead time accuracy — as direct inputs to your production schedule and reduce supply chain disruptions.
Throughput Accounting: The TOC Financial Framework That Replaces Cost Accounting
Throughput Accounting from the Theory of Constraints replaces overhead allocation with T, I, and OE — decision rules that help manufacturers schedule and prioritize for profit.
Dual-Sourcing Strategy: How to Schedule Across Two Suppliers With Different Lead Times and Costs
Learn how to implement a dual-sourcing strategy in manufacturing — allocating orders between primary and secondary suppliers with different lead times, costs, and quality levels.
What Is FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)? Manufacturing Guide
FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) is a systematic risk method that scores failure modes by severity, occurrence, and detection to prioritize corrective actions.