Order Scheduling

Online Schedule/Reschedule

Scheduling of orders is performed online at one of two points:  during the initial generation of the labor requirements as part of the manufacturing order maintenance conversation; or after subsequent maintenance of the manufacturing order or labor requirements in one of the two maintenance conversations.

Batch Reschedule

The user may also request a batch process.  Based on the user request, this process either reschedules all manufacturing orders with labor requirement records or, on a net change basis, reschedules only those orders that have had scrap reported against them, or that pass through workcenters that have undergone maintenance that affects the scheduling logic.

Scheduling Direction

Orders may be either forward or backward scheduled.

·     Forward scheduling means that the start date and time for the first operation are set, and the subsequent operation dates and times are calculated from that point into the future.

·     Backward scheduling means that the due date and time of the last operation are set, and the dates and times of the preceding operations are calculated from that point into the past.

When the Requirements Planning module adds planned orders, it uses backward scheduling.  The lead time defined on the Part Master Record is used to schedule backwards, from the due date of a planned order to its required start date.

When a planned order is firmed or opened (or a new open or firm order is added) in the manufacturing order maintenance conversation, the user may specify whether it is to be backward or forward scheduled.  This may be done even if labor requirement records are not generated at that time.

Determining Direction

The user defines the direction of scheduling for an individual order by assignment of order start and due dates.

·     If the order start date has been entered and the order due date is blank, the order is regarded as forward scheduled.

·     If the order due date has been entered, the order is viewed as backward scheduled regardless of whether or not an order start date has been entered.

·     The direction of scheduling may be changed for a specific manufacturing order by reassigning order dates in the manufacturing order maintenance conversation.

·     Whenever a date is blanked out during manufacturing order maintenance, the operations for the order are rescheduled.  The first or last operation date (as appropriate) is used as a default for the blanked date.

At the time of posting labor requirements, the start date of the first operation and the due date of the last operation are compared to the order start and due dates respectively.  If the dates are not equal, a command key is provided in the labor requirements maintenance conversation that will automatically revise the order dates.