SH-E  Finite Scheduling

Purpose of Program

Finite scheduling is generally used when accurate and realistic due dates are needed and where products are complex and order volume is such that it overwhelms the ability to schedule manually or semi-manually.  Work order Finish Dates are calculated each time the program runs and vary according to work order priority, work center capacity, and other work orders contending for that limited (finite) capacity.

The finite scheduling program first prioritizes all your work orders based on the number of days from today to the due date divided by remaining production time.  It then takes each work order in succession and schedules each of its routing sequences in the next available time slot in each of its work centers.  The work order finish date will equal the finish date of the last routing sequence.

When scheduling is completed, you can print the finite schedule report or list it to the screen.  The report can be sorted by work order number or due date.  The report lists the work order number, item number, order quantity, critical ratio, due date, scheduled start date, scheduled finish date, remaining run days, number of days until due date, number of days late, and number of days contention.

For complete details, see How Finite Scheduling Works.

General Program Operation

First, enter the date through which labor and production have been entered.  The program will schedule all remaining production beginning the day following the day entered.  Next indicate whether to generate a new schedule or simply reprint the existing schedule and whether to sort the report by Due Date or Work Order number.  The program will then present a list of all work orders in order of Critical Ratio which determines the priority in which they will be scheduled. Due Dates can be edited to change the priority ranking.  An earlier Due Date will result in a higher priority.  Click Re Process to recalculate the critical ratios and see the list based on updated priorities.  When the priority list looks good, click Go.  The program will then begin processing.  When finished, the standard List, Printer, Disk prompt will be presented for running the report.