Scheduling time-sensitive operations in a high-mix low-volume job shop

Scheduling jobs in a high-mix low-volume manufacturing environment is a complex and demanding task. Fortunately, just plan it with its' automatic finite scheduling capabilities provides invaluable assistance in this regard and allows you to adapt to your individual scheduling requirements in a unique way. In this blog post, I want to show you, how to schedule operations that you want to be started and finished within one shift. We call them time-sensitive operations and the reason behind this requirement is that the operation should not be interrupted during processing.

Incorporate time restrictions into automatic scheduling

In manufacturing, there are sometimes processes that should not be interrupted when an operation is started. Think of painting, vapor deposition, electroplating, and similar procedures. Do you know that just plan it allows you to seamlessly incorporate these time-sensitive operations into your production schedule? By simply

creating an infinite “Prep” resource with a very limited time window at the beginning of your daily shifts,
adding a "Prep" task to your routing that is allocated to the “Prep” resource,
connecting the actual time-sensitive operation to the prep task via task connection functionality to ensure that the scheduled start date is always at the beginning of the next shift.

With this automatic finite scheduling approach, you can easily manage these time-sensitive operations. Don't worry if it sounds a bit complex at first– my colleague Dave will demonstrate it in a video, where he'll also provide a concise overview of how just plan it works.

About just plan it - simplified automatic finite scheduling for HMLV manufacturers

just plan it is a production scheduling software & best practices approach to help high-mix low-volume make-to-order manufacturers gain transparency and control over their shop operations. The software plus its methodology is used by thousands of people around the globe. They consistently achieve improved on-time deliveries, shorter lead times, and better utilization of their resources.

As just plan it is not just software, but a lot of processes and best practices, we recommend that you start with an 30mins exploratory meeting. If we agree that there is a fit between your requirements and our approach, we'll build a prototype for you to demo the software.

Hence, it all starts with a 30mins meeting. Book your first step to scheduling success now.