Finite Capacity Scheduling

Advanced Planning and Scheduling

Finite Capacity Scheduling (FCS) accurately models your factory capacity, including calendars, work centers, labor, tooling, floor space and any other resource which significantly constrains your production. Precision FCS will most frequently define secondary resource constraints like labor and tools. Many shops also need the means to express labor skill cross-qualifications, and tool size in order to accurately describe their shop's 'true capacity'. Upon digging into most shops' operations, there are likely to be a number of resources or material shortages which impact accurate scheduling in your shop. FCS also defines setup matching to increase efficiency, obsolescence constraints, seized tools across a series of tasks, batch processes and several other common production scheduling concerns.

Accurate FCS can print out schedules that are ready to follow because they are feasible. The term "feasible" means that FCS schedules can be followed easily because the schedules do recognize realistic constraints which exist in your shop.

Therefore, the goals of Finite Capacity scheduling are to:

	model production capacity accurately;
	create schedules consistent with your shop's true capacity;
	increase schedule visibility across sales, engineering, purchasing, production, shipping and customer service.
	increase plant throughput by least 5-10% with the same labor giving profit gains of 8-12% for the company;
	reduce schedule conflicts, overtime, outsourcing, emergency freight, and crisis expediting; and to
	increase competitiveness by improving your on-time performance.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) extends FCS by recognizing material constraints. APS recognizes your on-hand inventory materials, open purchase orders, and planned allocations of material to work orders or shop production lots, whose schedule releases are constrained until required materials are available.

With Advanced Planning and Scheduling, gone are the days of scheduling headaches due to insufficient materials to support scheduled production. APS helps you reduce inventory even MORE than your best JiT and Lean Initiatives. First you optimize your production plans with powerful scheduling methods. Next, you see true day-by-day schedules when material is really required. This information helps you synchronize your purchasing plans to fit your production schedule like a tight skin glove, while still honoring all safety stock requirements.

Our latest product, JobTime^®5, continues to push the state of the art. Its main advantages include:

	Native support for SQL Server 2005/2000 Compatibility
	Fully normalized SQL relational database
	Fast scheduling at 1000 operations per second (on a 2Ghz CPU).
	Supports Lean Manufacturing Value Streams, recognizing variable demand and shared resources.
	Supports Multi-Cell and Multi-Plant manufacturing environments.
	Exact setup matching option based on part, part-family, color or other user-defined traits per operation.
	Matrix Setup Matching option using a From-To Matrix, with custom configuration of unique client requirements.
	Advanced Sequence Matching, with multiple trait families, and prioritization within each family.
	Advanced Schedule Board, showing both work station task time blocks and the matching resource assignments (operators/tools).
	Multiple Feature/Price Levels to best serve small to mid-size manufacturing companies.
	Fully integrated Job Quote module, for Capable to Promise instant visibility of achievable due-dates quoted to customers.
	Streamlined Import Technology using Microsoft's SQL Server technology of SSIS / DTS technology.
	28 Standard Reports which include the following:
	Recommended Overtime, What-If Comparisons, Un-used Capacity, Alternate Schedule Scoring
	Trend of Estimated Job Finish Dates over Time to Gauge Schedule Conformance

JobTime's Production Scheduling can fully support the Lean Manufacturing Philosophy by recognizing both the stable and variable demands in parallel Value Streams. JobTime can also recognizes ties between dedicated production cells. JobTime provides the detailed scheduling needed by Lean Manufacturing to recognize variable demand value-streams.

JobTime also delivers the innovative concept of Dynamic TOC (dynamic theory of constraints) scheduling. This technique allows the system to recognize the TOC constraint most seriously impinging on each work order. Across all work orders, variations in shifting bottlenecks are automatically and consistently detected. Releases of orders are optimized accordingly, to be synchronized to the work center which is the bottleneck for that given work order. Dynamic TOC embraces the concept, that especially in job-shops, bottleneck constraints are dynamic, changing, and affect different populations of work orders in different ways. This capability also embraces the Lean concept of having a shop with multiple value streams. JobTime can tie production releases so that they synchronize perfectly to the most critical bottleneck per work order.

JobTime can support Just-in-Time rate-based scheduling, and 'order-less' batch-scheduling for repetitive make-to-stock companies. JobTime is a strong mixed-mode scheduling system, used extensively in job-shops, engineer-to-order and assemble to order shops, and can also be applied in repetitive make-to-stock shops which are also partially 'make-to-order'.

In early Advanced Planning and Scheduling software products, the focus was oriented to classic ERP / Make-To-Stock environments. JobTime extends Just-in-Time principles to other manufacturing styles including Make-to-Order, Engineer-to-Order, and Job Shop manufacturing.

JobTime also finds a welcome home in non-manufacturing applications such as scientific testing equipment, complex training protocols which demand specialized resources including trainers, classrooms, equipment. This impacts public-sector scheduling applications in transportation and medical facilities.

For Finite Capacity Scheduling, typical resource capacity limits include the following:

	Working calendars express working days of the week, shift lengths, and the starting time of each shift. Holidays and other non-working days are also expressed in each calendar.
	Work Centers defined as groups of like work-stations. Work Centers include machines, equipment and work stations, but can also be used to model generic labor pools.
	Secondary Resource constraints apply to labor, equipment, floor space, consumables. Labor can also be designated by shift, also by qualified skills for a given resource group. This concept is extended to tool 'qualifications' to recognize subsets of tools of varying size, capabilities or power. JobTime also lets you define resource constraints on floor space, power consumption and consumable materials.

JobTime helps schedulers build an accurate model of your capacity demands and the resource limits in your shop. By "accurate" we mean shop conditions which include, but are not necessarily limited to the following examples:

	Alternate routings: only specific subsets of your work stations, tools or operators are qualified to perform certain operations.
	Operations have both a fixed setup/teardown time as well as a quantity based time per-unit for processing time.
	The operation permits an operation-specific quantity, tied to the operation's unit-of-measure, where this is not the final end-item unit of measure.
	Multiple resource constraints demanded by the same operation such as labor, tools, floor space, water, power, lubricants, raw materials, etc.
	Easy modeling of overlapping tasks to maximize 'Just-in-Time', Parallel, From-Start, and activity branches inside each work order.
	Assembly links between work orders to correctly model assembly manufacturing
	Recognition of a variable crew size per operation.
	Recognition that a single operator can simultaneously be tending N number of machines.
	Labor skill rankings in multiple skill categories, assignment of labor to tasks by skill ranking
	Schedule Board which shows both machines and assigned labor and tooling resources per task
	Explicitly splitting operations across multiple work stations of the work center to saturate available capacity.
	Breaking operations down to model the unique handling of individual pieces in a lot.
	Sequence jobs to group exact setup matches to reduce setup changeovers for optimal efficiency
	Model Setup-matching in Level 3 based on Exact Setup Matches for greater efficiencies.
	Model Setup-matching in Level 4 using a From-To Matrix to reflect all possible change-over combinations, also imbedding custom logic to enforce side-constraints such as trait grouping, horizon matching limit and over-rides.
	Earliest time-of-day to allow an operation to start, which can vary by part & routing (reflects constraints such as product, chemistry, heat, humidity, light, or by specific shifts within the day)
	Latest time-of-day to allow an operation to start, which can vary by part & routing (reflects process cut-off time, or time within shift preferences, to vary by part, and still be within the work-center shift calendar)
	Resource seized and held across a series of operations, such as a special vice, cart, tool or even the same manager or operator set.
	Preventing obsolescence between work centers, by guaranteeing downstream capacity before starting an upstream task.

JobTime Systems, Inc. (JSI), announced the world's first simulation-based Finite Capacity Scheduling system in August, 1984. It was also the first PC-packaged scheduling system. Since that time, JSI has continuously specialized in scheduling software to improve manufacturing on-time performance, and supports all current popular philosophies of scheduling.

JobTime has been applied successfully in discrete, repetitive, process, engineer to order and assemble to order manufacturing.

JobTime gives you the modeling power you need for Advanced Planning and Scheduling without forcing you to learn computer programming. We can deliver basic introductory education needed by the typical shop scheduler, with only 2 days of basic training. We show how to to accurately model shop constraints for make to stock, make to order, assemble to order, engineer to order, and process manufacturing. Additional support is suggested to help you import existing data from your host ERP/MRP system. Our standard import logic simplifies validation and data checks needed to assure consistency between data imported from your host ERP system and the data standards in JobTime5.

JobTime also supports longer range Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) . APS supports the supply chain, because it can see customer forecasts and vendor deliveries. JobTime's APS features synchronize both material and capacity constraints over a long-term planning horizon. You can input forecast demand and/or planned orders from either ERP or a customized version of our JobPlan module to generate future work loads of 12 to 18 months into the future.

All JobTime scheduling products recognize Windows local regional date and currency symbols. JobTime guarantees precise detailed scheduling on each operation step of every work order, calculated to the second, displayed to the minute, while recognizing multiple resource constraints, and sequencing that optimizes setup-changeovers in bottleneck work centers.

JobTime's Advanced Planning and Scheduling can recognize your host system BOM make-item assembly constraints, ERP material supply pegging allocations, all with supporting activity drill-down, accurately planned to the minute.

Your application's speed may vary with the complexity of modeling, and the total number of constraints required to fully process each operation step in a routing.

If your ERP/HOST data source also uses Microsoft SQL Server, or any other SQL-based relational database, you can expect your full cycle of data download and re-schedule to be measured in just seconds not minutes. JobTime's speed gives you a critical scheduling advantage because it enables you to execute multiple what-if schedules. You will never need to guess again, whether you will meet a customer's requested due-date when you make your delivery promises to clients.

JobTime lets you rapidly model detailed scheduling problems, without the need for complex computer programming. All JobTime modeling is based on standard data entry screens to select and enable features. Your users and IT department will not have to use programming languages like Visual Basic, C#, Java or C++ in order to accurately model your production operations. And expert consulting and training support is always available to assist if you need it. JobTime5 gives user-friendly tools to display reports and query your data. All of these features are included in your Microsoft SQL Server-based JobTime5 Advanced Scheduling Solution. Please see our features page in order to compare the four increasing Levels of the JobTime5 product line.

JSI also offers a full range of services including:

	analysis,
	modeling,
	training,
	integration,
	customization,
	data cleanup,
	implementation support,
	conformance to schedule and
	measurement of benefits.

Our primary focus is Finite Capacity Short Interval Scheduling combined with Advanced Demand and Capacity Planning. JobTime also supports Lean Manufacturing concepts, Just-in-Time and Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling capabilities.

For Features, please see products. For Pricing, please call us or request information.

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JobTime Systems, Inc. can be reached at the following locations:


Toll Free Technical Inquiry:: (877) 570-7900
Telephone:: (650) 570-7900
FAX:: (650) 570-7902
Postal address:: P. O. Box 6100, San Mateo, CA 94403