Free Daily Shop Schedule Excel Template
Hour-by-hour job assignment per work center for the next 24 hours. The dispatch list the shop floor actually reads at the start of every shift.
What you get
Working daily schedule with hourly granularity per work center. Real-time updates as jobs complete or shift. The dispatch list the floor actually uses.
Free 30-day trial · No credit card required · Used by manufacturers since 1991
Why manufacturers still use Excel for this
A daily shop schedule is different from a weekly plan in granularity, not concept. The weekly plan says "Job 1234 runs at Mill 2 on Tuesday." The daily schedule says "Job 1234 starts at Mill 2 at 8:30 AM Tuesday, runs 4.5 hours, then Job 1235 takes over at 1:30 PM." That precision is what the shop floor needs to execute.
Most shops produce a daily dispatch list — paper, Excel, or whiteboard. The format matters less than the discipline of producing it every morning before first shift. Operators starting the day with a clear list of what to run next have 20–30% fewer "what do I do" interruptions to supervisors.
This template gives you that dispatch list in a printable format, with hourly time slots, job numbers, item numbers, quantities, and setup time noted. As jobs complete or shift, the template updates and reprints. Past the point where this manual update becomes a chore, finite-capacity scheduling software (RMDB) handles the same flow automatically.
What's inside the template
Hourly schedule grid
Per work center, time slots in 30-minute increments from shift start to shift end. Each slot shows the active job.
Job detail per slot
Job number, item, customer, quantity, estimated hours, setup time. Enough info for operators to execute without questions.
Material readiness flag
Per job, confirmation that material is staged at the work center. Red flag = material not ready, job at risk.
Dispatch list printable
One-page-per-work-center printable format. Goes to the shop floor at the start of each shift.
Real-time progress update
As jobs complete, the template updates remaining schedule. Late-running jobs cascade downstream automatically.
Shift handoff report
End-of-shift summary: planned vs completed, late jobs, issues encountered. Hands off to the next shift cleanly.
How to use this template
A practical walkthrough — five steps from blank spreadsheet to a working schedule.
- 1
Build at end-of-shift, not start-of-shift
Build tomorrow's schedule before the team leaves today. Operators arriving to a complete dispatch list start working immediately. Operators waiting for a schedule lose 30 minutes per day.
- 2
Sequence by setup
Within each work center, group jobs requiring similar setup. Sequencing well frees 5–10% of daily capacity through setup avoidance.
- 3
Block time for known disruptions
PM, breaks, training, shift change overhead — block these in the schedule. Pretending they do not exist makes the schedule fail by 10 AM.
- 4
Update at shift change
The schedule that started the day is rarely the schedule that ended it. Update at the shift handover so the next shift starts with current reality.
When you outgrow this template
Excel is the right answer for early-stage scheduling — until it isn't. Here are the warning signs that you need a real production scheduling tool.
If three or more of these apply, you have outgrown Excel scheduling. The good news: you do not have to leave Excel behind. Resource Manager for Excel (RMX) is a real finite-capacity scheduling engine that runs as an Excel add-in — so your team keeps the interface they know while gaining the scheduling power of a dedicated APS tool.
Learn about RMXFrequently asked questions
How granular should the schedule be?+
30-minute slots is right for most shops. 15-minute is too granular (people cannot dispatch that precisely; the false precision wastes time). Hourly is too coarse for short-cycle work. 30 minutes balances precision against maintenance overhead.
How do I handle jobs that take longer than expected?+
The schedule cascades downstream — late completion of Job A pushes Job B's start. The template reflects that automatically. The supervisor decides: catch up with overtime, push customer dates, or move work to an alternate work center.
Who maintains the daily schedule?+
A dedicated dispatcher or planning person in larger shops; the production supervisor in smaller shops. Operators do not maintain the schedule — they execute against it. Mixing roles confuses ownership.
What if the customer changes priority mid-day?+
Three options: (1) swap the new priority into the current slot and push the bumped job, (2) accept the new priority but schedule it later in the day, (3) push back to the customer with a revised commitment. The template makes the tradeoff visible (what gets pushed if we do this) so the decision is informed.
Get the free template — plus the tool that grew up around it
The template is the starting point. Resource Manager for Excel (RMX) is what manufacturers move to when their Excel scheduler starts breaking. 35+ years in production, free 30-day trial.