Special Services

JobTime Systems provides a number of services related to scheduling, both pre-sale and post sale.  The following topics are examples of our most beneficial services.

These advanced scheduling related special services are defined as follows:

Company Audit of Scheduling Requirements & Calibrating Potential Benefits

If you are just starting to think about better shop scheduling in your company, and you need a basic orientation to the market place, then this service package is ideal for your needs.  We visit your site, walk your shop floor, and begin to analyze your flow and needs.  Over nearly 25 years, we have accumulated literally hundreds of man-years of expertise, focused specifically on the topic of shop scheduling issues and conditions.  We point out benefits tied to improved scheduling from our vast array of experience, as we recognize these opportunities in your own company.  This is a true consulting service and not a sales pitch.  Our final report gives you a solid list of suggestions and guidelines of features that you need, and the reasons why.  This information is relevant regardless of which scheduling product on the market you ultimately adopt. Our recommendation might even be that you need to first take certain steps to create and improve data systems, or more fully implement your current ERP or Kanban system, before attempting to add finite scheduling.  Many companies are not ready for advanced scheduling, until they first get their data cleaned, accurate and consistent.  Our Scheduling Audit makes spot checks, and will give you an accurate prediction of what to expect and plan for in terms of realistic implementation effort required by your own shop staff, regardless of which system you buy.  You will receive valuable information that will educate you as to how automated finite-based scheduling add benefits you likely have not yet anticipated.  Advanced Scheduling benefits typically  go significantly above and beyond other manufacturing improvement projects, such as Lean and Six-Sigma, which do add substantial benefits in their own right.   A proposed schedule-model, recognizing constraints, setup matches, alternate routes, cell-design are all suggested as scheduling features which might be needed at your company.  This Audit information can then be used throughout your subsequent process of selecting, evaluating and screening alternative scheduling solutions on the market.  This service is a general education,  and it will be beneficial regardless of whichever scheduling product you later decide to acquire. 

 

JobTrack  (optional data capture add-in to JobTime5) 

Shop floor control and execution management.   Schedules are displayed at shop-floor computer terminals to assure execution consistent with the schedule.   Transactions reflect current operation status, which automatically post against the JobTime "to-go" schedule.  This optional add-in is typically customized to user needs.  This service uses a basic platform we have developed, which can greatly help you keep your operation status up to date, at a reasonable expense.  It is based on a network of PC computers, which can optionally be equipped with wedge bar code readers to streamline the entry work-order numbers or part-numbers.  

 

JobPlan (optional customized Master Scheduler with Forecasting for Make-to-Stock)

This is an add-in to JobTIme to give you Master scheduling and material planning, if you do not already have it. It is not intended to compete or replace any existing capable MRP/ERP system.  JobPlan include a dynamic statistical exponential smoothing forecasting feature that optimizes best fit parameters by part or part family, provided you have a past demand history.  JobPlan supports manual forecasts and overrides, and it    performs classic Master Scheduling, recognizing BOM structures up to 5 levels deep.  Orders exported to JobTime. JobPlan is typically customized to your needs.

JobLink-Excel (automatic import of data from JobTime's Excel Import WorkBook)

You might prefer to start using JobTime5, by entering and maintaining all data manually. This technique requires the minimum initial investment, and it gives you time to learn all the features in the Level of JobTime5 you have purchased.  Typically, manual input creates duplicate data entry of work-order data into two different systems.  To reduce the headaches of duplicate data entry, the JobLink-Excel utility program lets you export data from your host system into Excel sheets, use cut and paste to move selected work order data into our JobTime-Excel Import Workbook, and then use the JobLink-Excel import utility program, which moves this data into our JobTime5 SQL database automatically.  You are responsible for the accuracy and consistency of data that you import.   This technique lets you import selected data, and reduces nearly all duplicate data entry.  We suggest you continue to maintain static data manually, such as calendars, work centers, and resources.   Our services in JobLink-Excel, involve training you how to use the program, how to cut and paste manually from your host systems, and to suggest how you might be able to automate productive and standardized data moves into the JobTime Excel Import Workbook using Excel Macros and/or VBA. 

 

JobLink-SQL (seamless SQL interface to your host ERP) 

JobLink-SQL helps you to import your ERP's open shop orders dynamically into JobTime.  JobLink-SQL is a companion database, which includes tables where you can deposit data that you transfer from your host MRP/ERP, Shop Floor System or Order Entry System.  Your data can be transferred freely into the import tables of the JobLink-SQL custom import database.   The JobLink-SQL method of importing data is more robust and stable than the Excel environment of our JobLink-Excel import, and due to its higher quality, it accordingly requires a larger budget to design, implement and maintain.  For more information, click here for JobLink-SQL Details.

Post Implementation Audit to Evaluate Schedule Conformance

 As you implement your schedule, one of the biggest issues will be in-house resistance to change.  Normally, historical incentive and reward systems work to reinforce local "silo-optimization" at the expense of the total company.  This audit service helps you find those work centers, for better or worse, are not conforming to the suggested schedule.  Sometimes, the resisting departments have reasons that are quite valid. For example, resistance is often tied to unrecognized operations constraints in the schedule model.  It can also be based on inaccurate schedule input data such as wildly inaccurate setup times or production rates. Another issue in schedule conformance, is that some people think they can now rely blindly on an automated system, and simply abandon their critical thinking faculties.  JobTime adamantly encourages management to never stop thinking about ways to improve scheduling, with simple manual changes or by JobTime5 modeling and data improvements, as appropriate.  Ultimately, advanced scheduling actually improves shop-morale significantly, as rank and file operators start to recognize that they are being given a full and realistic 8-hour list of tasks to finish within and 8-hour shift. They see detailed to-do list schedules which make sense, because they recognize realistic shop constraints, realistic setup and run times, and are sequenced in the best way to support maximize on-time delivery, as requested and desired by your customers.

Post Implementation Benefits Analysis, Measurement and Projection

After your initial implementation of JobTime is complete, you will want to gauge the immediate new benefits enjoyed by your scheduling team. But benefits also derive to plant management, due to greatly improved visibility of the shop's available capacity.  The benefit is to show  bottlenecks, and peak overtime or outsourcing required to bring jobs in on-time.   One key factor is to 'right-size' order quantities, which improve flow and velocity and on-time delivery performance to clients, making you a Just-In-Time conforming vendors. JobTime's ability to implement and compare alternative scheduling "What If" scenarios, independent of your habits in your host ERP system, is an enormous management benefit.   When machine downtime is chronic, it typically shows that you are not following regular preventive maintenance jobs as recommended by your machine vendors.  Including maintenance into the schedule, to reserve time and to be certain it gets down, will increase your shop 'up-time', and plant output.  Middle management gains a huge benefit due to more precise snapshots of shop workload over time, and machine capacity utilization over time.  Customer Service benefits significantly by using the JobQuote feature, which tests a proposed customer delivery date, against all the capacity promises you have already made to all other clients.  This guides the shop to negotiate realistic due-dates, or to 'right-size' lot quantities, to assure greater all-around customer satisfication with smaller deliveries more frequently, properly managed by a single scheduling system.   But measures and indicators of other schedule benefits include greater operator efficiency, and smooth staging of materials per operation, better synchronized to anticipated operation start-times.   Other productivity gains due to scheduling-based benefits may include setup-changeover efficiency, reduced downtime due to better scheduled machine maintenance, improved allocation of labor away from non-bottlenecks to bottleneck work centers, and many other factors. This follow-on auditing service, performed by our expert implementation staff, will be invaluable in helping you to put an comprehensive dollars and cents valuation on the total benefits you have gained, and will also later gain, from your investment in your JobTime Advanced Scheduling system.  The productivity gains and other benefits will help your management understand and justify the Advanced Scheduling system to company owners and stockholders.  We often see that our clients need improvements in data accuracy, setup reductions, and labor cross training.  This JobTime audit  will help you show the dollar paybacks to be achieved by carrying forward a plan of progressive improvements, which can be realistically projected, for example, over a horizon of the next three years.  

 

 Web Site Enhancement: Customer Job-Status and Order Entry Portal (Empowering Your Supply Chain)

You might prefer to start using JobTime5, by entering and maintaining all data manually. This technique requires the minimum initial investment, and it gives you time to learn all the features in the Level of JobTime5 you have purchased. 

 

CRM Enhancement: Facilitate Schedule Status Communication between Shop, Management, Clients & Vendors

JobTime's scheduling database can extend your scheduling visibility with your CRM participants.  This can include specialized report access, also organizes all email communications and file transfers which reflect the heart of your business. This includes specifications, plans, delivery dates and quotes to clients, as well as communications of specifications, clients, delivery dates and quotes to your vendors.  

 

Please call to discuss any questions about our Advanced Scheduling Special Services, at 877-570-7900.

We advise all clients to verify the feasibility of their application, using both small and full scale data sets, prior to purchase, especially when using advanced modeling features.   JobTime provides on-line demonstrations, mini-studies and training classes to allow you to verify our software before you purchase the license. 

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