Scheduling consistently first presents itself as an uncomplicated requirement from production staff. Most in-house developed systems stem from humble beginnings such as a simple list management process or a couple of spreadsheets. Then the tweaking starts and before long becomes a task in itself with no electronic ties to the rest of the enterprise. One of the challenges Streamline Solutions has faced is providing tools which manage these extraordinarily vast number of combinations of resources, priorities and permutations in a production schedule, in a method that is not overbearing to the user, and remains tightly woven with the rest of the businesses systems. Three products are presently available from Streamline Solutions.

Job Tracking & Critical Dates

The first product is a robust job tracking system that captures data directly from order entry and passes it into a job schedule database with estimated hours and default routings. Customer service or production staff place critical dates against these scheduled processes. From there, shop floor or time sheet transactions automatically update their status. Loading reports show accumulated times in each cost center and department, due date reports analyze the current status of a job, and task reports help communicate the overall balance of production in terms of on time performance and where the job lies in terms of the planned schedule. Scheduling of Labor, Materials, and Outside services are all handled by this tracking system.

Capacity & Load Management The second product originated as a stand-alone capacity based loading tool, that takes total hours against a process and uses rule tables to spread the load across multiple machines or days. In built routing maps allow for lag time or parallel processing between processes. The tool is based upon the theory of capacity building within equipment centers until it overflows. The graphical interface presents the user with a very clear sight of the current bottlenecks or hollows. Tools are then used to help the user balance these loads. This product has the ability to book repetitive work well into the future to allow for advance resource planning or leveling. Ongoing development of this stand alone tool will see integration with the other modules.

Finite Capacity Scheduling  The third product offered is a finite capacity scheduler. The traditional scheduling board utilized by most printing companies was the basis for this module. Data from order entry is automatically loaded into the scheduler and the job drops into an electronic in-basket for the scheduling department to process. Upon selection of the job the system will automatically search for available capacity based on a forward or backward schedule. Parallel processing of each component in the job can take place, with all components synchronizing for bindery & finishing. The user is presented with a split screen display that mimics a job routing in the top portion and a traditional scheduling.