Blog
Insights on production scheduling, lean manufacturing, and manufacturing software from 35+ years of industry experience.
Everything we have published.
Long-Lead Assemblies: Scheduling Around the Casting That Takes 12 Weeks
Long lead assembly scheduling for heavy equipment: pull the build to finish just in time, reserve the delivery tail, and time the work around a casting that arrives weeks out.
Heavy Equipment: Scheduling One Job Across Two Plants
Heavy equipment multi plant scheduling done right: model the days a weldment spends in transit between facilities so downstream steps start when the parts actually arrive.
High-Mix Low-Volume: Scheduling Hundreds of Small Jobs
High mix low volume scheduling that holds together: pool flexible machines, price sequence-dependent setups, and load hundreds of small jobs against one finite plan.
Job Shop Mixed-Priority Scheduling: Rush, Standard, and Stock in One Plan
Job shop mixed-priority scheduling sequences rush, standard, and stock orders by priority then due date, and can search job orderings for a provably better plan.
Li-Ion Battery: Scheduling Coating and Other Continuous Lines
Li-ion battery continuous process scheduling: mark coating and drying lines as continuous, use a start-to-start lag so downstream overlaps, and compress electrode makespan.
Li-Ion Battery: Planning Around Yield and Scrap Honestly
Li-ion battery yield scrap planning: how a planner sizes a job so good cell output meets demand, and where the yield field belongs in replenishment rather than the scheduler.
Machine Shop Multi-Shift Scheduling: One Job Across Day and Night
Machine shop multi-shift scheduling lets a single job span day and night shifts and multiple machines, so a 28-hour part finishes in a day, not a guess.
Make-to-Order Shops: Scheduling Backward From the Due Date
Make to order backward scheduling: pull each job to finish just in time, cut work in process, and get told before you promise when a due date simply will not fit.
Medical Device Scheduling: Planning on Operator Hours, Not Just Head Count
Medical device operator hours scheduling tracks a per-person hours ledger, so a plan books only the certified-operator time you have and slides work when it runs out.
Metal Fabrication Quoting: Promise Dates From a Real Capacity Simulation
Metal fabrication quoting software simulates the job against live shop capacity, so a fab shop quotes lead time and cost from a real schedule, not a gut feel.
Packaging Lines: Scheduling Machines That Must Run in Lockstep
Packaging multi-machine line scheduling runs filler, capper, and labeler in synchronized lockstep, or splits a job across duplicate lines to finish in half the time.
Plastics Scheduling: Modeling Mold Cavities and Pieces-Based Capacity
Plastics cavity capacity scheduling models a multi-cavity mold as machine instances and schedules by pieces per hour, so the plan matches real molding throughput.