“Factory scheduling should be signed off by all parties at the beginning of a production cycle”

The factory schedule is the most detailed level of the plan, and requires input from each department so that we can’t get whacked from left field because of an unknown. So, who and what is needed for this schedule. The planner is the person who compiles the schedule for discussion. When the planner starts with the draft schedule, standard times are used for each step in the process, these are reviewed by the responsible departments and confirmed or modified on the final schedule before sign off by all the parties.

Production scheduling happens in 3 cycles and 3 levels. The first cycle is monthly cycle where the schedule is fixed in weekly buckets for each of the production weeks, the second is the weekly schedule that confirms the next week’s detailed schedule by process by shift and the third is a daily review of the last 24-hour cycle for internal team communication on progress against plan and also to ensure that any problems can be reported to the business if necessary. The 3 levels are manufacturing. Laboratory and packing, We need to remember that all cycles and levels are interdependent, so accurate and timing of feedback is critical. Also remember that this Cycle is phased in terms of the sales cycle so that we have the correct stock to sell at the correct times.One of the most overlooked yet critical areas for scheduling is the QC laboratory. Getting the analysis workload through this area is no different from getting product through the factory. The work centre with the lowest capacity will always determine the throughput of the factory, and any attempts to force anything through will create congestion and highlight the bottleneck.

If you are experiencing problems in your supply chain and would like to chat further, contact Dave at SA Coaching  You can also follow Dave on LinkedIn