5 Components of Production Scheduling in Manufacturing (2024)

Production scheduling has become a must for manufacturing operations that are looking to take their production facility to the next level. Production scheduling refers to the allocation of resources, operations, and processes required to create goods and services.

Businesses can adjust their production scheduling based on the availability of resources and client orders. The goal of a production schedule is to adequately balance customer needs with the resources that are available whilst operating in a cost-effective manner. If the production schedule you create is not accurate and feasible given your available resources, you will have problems getting items produced and delivered to your customers on time.

5 Components of Production Scheduling

The five components of production scheduling include the following:

1. Planning

The planning component of production scheduling is by far the most important. This component pertains to deciding what will be done in the future. Without a plan, production scheduling can not even begin or take place. Preparing a plan through charts, production budgets, or various others visual representations can provide a sound basis for steps down the road pertaining to production. There are two types of planning that can be used: static planning and dynamic planning. Static planning assumes that all steps will be completed on time with no changes, while dynamic planning assumes that some process steps will change.

2. Routing

Production routing is the process that is used to determine the route or path that a product must follow. This route entails the path from raw materials until it is transformed into a finished product. The main objective of this component is to locate and perform the most economical and enhanced sequence of operations in the production process.

3. Scheduling

Scheduling coincides with the time and date that the operation must be completed. Scheduling is an essential and crucial portion of production scheduling and lays the foundation and groundwork for all of the steps within the production process. There are three types of scheduling that an operations utilize, such as master scheduling, manufacturing or operation scheduling, and retail operation scheduling. Overall, scheduling is key for a manufacturing operation to proceed.

4. Dispatching

Dispatching relates to the process of assigning the order of job from the preconceived production plan. Dispatching is concerned with giving a practical shape to an overall production plan. This will also include issuing any orders and instructions and other important information pertaining to production.

5. Execution

The last component of production scheduling is the proper execution of the created schedule. Staff members must work together to ensure that items are produced in the right order and delivered on time. A proper schedule execution would be one that has the fewest amount of bottlenecks or late orders.

An Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) utilizes the five components of production scheduling to help your manufacturing facility plan, route, schedule, dispatch, and execute your production schedule. These systems can provide thorough insight within your manufacturing operation.

Before, it took hours to schedule [our production] manually because scheduling was based on reports. Now, it only takes seconds.

LES HOWELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF IT, ILLES SEASONINGS & FLAVORS

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Softwares have become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations as customer demand for increased product assortment, fast delivery, and downward cost pressures become prevalent. These systems help planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans. APS Systems can be quickly integrated with an ERP/MRP software to fill the gaps where these systems lack planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.

With APS you can:

• Create optimized schedules that balance production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize throughput on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to resource capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

The implementation of an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency by taking advantage of the operational data you already possess in your ERP system. APS is a step in the right direction of efficiency and lean manufacturing production enhancement. Try out a free trial or demo!

Topics: production scheduling