Exact Globe+

Getting started with Exact Visual scheduler

Introduction

In order to be able to make a product, both materials and people and machines are required. The production can only be started when the required materials, machinery, and people are available. All this should be taken into account when scheduling production orders. If it appears that a production order cannot be produced at the planned moment it should be rescheduled.

With Exact Visual scheduler, you can monitor the capacity and utilization, and easily move production orders and individual operations. Exact Visual scheduler supports the production planner. It can be started via the menu path Manufacturing ➔ Planning ➔ Visual scheduler. After selecting the desired criteria in the selection screen, Exact Visual scheduler is started.

This menu path is introduced in product update 404 and is only available when SE4010 - E-Special Order is in your license, and you have indicated in the Manufacturing settings that you use operations. For more information, see Manufacturing settings.

Note: Using Visual scheduler requires a competent set up of your bills and operations. First, try this out in a test administration or ask your consultant for help.

Explanation

To work with Exact Visual scheduler, some settings need to be defined. This document describes the relevant settings and provides information about the scheduling process.

Required master data and settings

Settings

Exact Visual scheduler is only available when working with operations. In the Manufacturing settings, select the Operations check box. Operations can be viewed at as a recipe for a meal. They indicate what should be done, by who, and at what time. With precise operations, you can be sure that your employees are prepared for their task in the production process, that the right materials are present, and that the end products are good quality products. With operations, you can define the whole production process in detail. You can also specify dependencies between the operations. For example, should each individual operation be followed by a subsequent operation, or can there be a series of operations running in a parallel manner? This allows you to increase productivity, improve quality, reduce costs, and optimize employee scheduling.

Shifts
When the above criteria are met, you will have a menu path to create shifts. The shifts are required for determining the capacity available on each work center. The shifts that you have created should be linked to your operations. For more information, see Creating and editing shifts.
Operations
The next step is to create the operations. Operations are the manufacturing steps needed to produce the final product. For example, to make a wooden table, a wooden plate is cut to size, the legs are attached under the table top, the wood is sanded, and then painted. The operations you can define in this example are: cutting, assembling, sanding, and painting. With Exact Visual scheduler, an additional tab "Capacity / Planning" becomes available in the operations maintenance. This tab allows you to link shifts and child operations. You can also limit the number of employees or machines that can simultaneously work at the work center. For more information, see Creating and editing operations.

Visual scheduler settings

In Exact Visual scheduler, a number of settings are available:

Preferences
You can edit your Exact Visual scheduler preferences via Production ➔ Planning ➔ Visual scheduler ➔ Settings ➔ Preferences to define your preferences. For example, the coloring when a work center's load reaches a certain percentage of the capacity, and the text labels that you want to see on the bar indicators. For more information, see Defining Exact Visual scheduler preferences.
Operation order
Another setting to be defined is the operation order. This specifies what operations you want to display and change the order in which they are shown. These settings are remembered per user. To edit the operation order, go to your Exact Visual scheduler via Manufacturing ➔ Planning ➔ Visual scheduler ➔ Settings ➔ Operation order. For more information, see Defining order of operations and operations to be displayed.
Operation capacity
From the 'Edit' menu you can select 'Operation capacity'. This enables you to edit the capacity for a work center. This feature provides the planner the ability to increase or decrease the capacity of an operation for a certain period of time. The planner can add or delete days or edit start time, end time and break times. For more information, see Overriding capacity of operations.

How Visual scheduler works

Exact Visual scheduler is fully controlled by operations. The right way to work with Exact Visual scheduler is as follows:

Defining capacity

You start by defining the capacity of your operations (work centers). The capacity consists of people or machines. The capacity in Exact Visual scheduler is linked to the operations by shifts. You can also indicate whether there is a finite or infinite capacity.

Creating production order entries

Before you can schedule production orders, the production order entries must first be created. The creation of a production order entry is done in the same way as a license without Exact Visual scheduler. The difference is that the Production resources column is present in the production order. In this column, the number of people that can work simultaneously on an operation is displayed. By default, '1' is displayed this column. This applies to:

Creating production orders via Manufacturing ➔ Entries ➔ Production orders.
Copying of production orders through the Copy button at Manufacturing ➔ Entries ➔ Production orders.
Exchanging of production orders via XML.
Generating a production order from a purchase order.

The value in this field can be adjusted using Exact Visual scheduler.

Scheduling production orders

After you have created the production order entries, they have to be scheduled. Production orders can be automatically scheduled by Exact Visual scheduler. This takes into account the finite / infinite capacity. You can schedule multiple production orders in a single move, or you can schedule production orders individually.

Multiple production orders

To schedule multiple production orders, go to Manufacturing ➔ Planning ➔ Visual scheduler. Click Unscheduled at the toolbar to open up the Global scheduling screen. From this screen, you can select multiple production orders.

With the criteria, you can define whether you only want to see new or active production orders or production orders with the specific start date. After defining the criteria, click Refresh to display the production orders that meet these criteria. Note that if there are sub production orders, only the main production order will be displayed. When scheduling, the sub orders are scheduled with the main production order.

You can select production orders you want to schedule by selecting the check box(es) under the Selected column. Alternatively, you can rearrange the order sequence by using the buttons at the bottom of the screen. By clicking the Schedule button, the selected production orders are scheduled.

You can follow the status of the scheduling on the screen. Once this is completed, you can close the Global scheduling screen. You can then view your scheduled production orders in the overview.

Individual production orders

You can also schedule an individual production order. To schedule an individual production order, go to Manufacturing ➔ Planning ➔ Visual scheduler. Click Prod. zoom in at the toolbar. From this screen, you can select a single production order by selecting the production order number in the field Production order field. Click the Tab key and the details of the production order will be displayed. You can also click the Search button to open the search screen, where you can search for a production order. When you schedule the production order, the sub production orders are automatically scheduled as well.

The scheduled production order are displayed under the Gantt tab. you can move the scheduled production order by clicking the Move button or by dragging it. To cancel the scheduling process, click the Clear button. Click Save to save the scheduled production order.

Click Shop overview at the toolbar to display the overview, where you can view the scheduled production order.

Planning Rules to remember

Exact Visual Scheduler will not tell you in what order you should process your production orders. There are too many variables to take into account. This is a task of the planner on the shop floor.
When the production planner indicates in Exact Visual Scheduler where a production order must be scheduled, Exact Visual Scheduler will not shift or change this schedule.
Availability of work centers is the basis of scheduling. If you have not linked shifts and variables defined, the work center will have no available capacity.
Global scheduling will not overload a work center with finite capacity.
Production orders are backwards scheduled by reducing the promised date with the delivery time.
Production orders without open operations are forward scheduled.
When released operations are moved, the dates can change. The start date of the production order will always remain the same.
In Global scheduling, the production orders are scheduled in the order that they appear. This sequence can be adjusted before clicking the 'Schedule' button.
When the production planner moves a production order Exact Visual Scheduler will never change this order's dates. Unless the production planner wants to.
When the start time of an operation is adjusted due to material availability, the operation can be postponed, but it will never start earlier.

Insight in the load of the shop floor

Exact Visual scheduler provides the production planner with visual insight in the shop floor. Different colors indicate the load and icons are displayed when exceptions occur. The production planner can take immediate action by moving operations or by editing capacity.

Shop overview

Different views are available for the schedule. The Shop overview view shows the overall schedule. With the + and - icons on the right bottom of the screen, you can specify how many work centers you want to display. With the magnifying glass icon on bottom left of the screen, you can select a different timeframe. When you move the mouse over the bar indicators, you will see more information in the tooltip, like load and capacity. Use the right mouse button to zoom in to the production order or operation.

Operation zoom in

In addition to the Shop overview, you can also view the schedule in Operation zoom in view. To do so, click Op. zoom in at the toolbar. Again, the + and - icons on the right bottom of this screen allow you to define how many work centers you want to display. With the magnifying glass icon bottom left of the screen you can set the timeframe. Depending on what timeframe you select, the background color of the cells are displayed based on the colors you have defined in the Preferences.

Prod. zoom in

Another way to view the schedule is via the production order zoom in view. To do so, click Prod. zoom in at the toolbar. In this screen, you can click the Gantt tab to view the schedule of the production order.

Moving production orders

In addition to viewing the planned production orders, you can also adjust the schedule. There are different ways to do so. You can click the Move button or simply drag and drop an operation. In both situations, the Move step screen is displayed for you to define some variables. When moving operations, the dates are immediately updated in Exact Globe Next. For more information, see Moving scheduled production orders.

Lock / Approve

An operation that is locked cannot be rescheduled in the Global scheduling screen. An operation is locked when:

The operation was moved.
The operation was approved in the fixed area.

The lock can be undone by right clicking on the scheduled area, and then clicking Clear manual locks or via Actions ➔ Clear manual locks. This is available only when you are in the Operation zoom in view. For more information, see Clearing manual locks on production operations.

A production order can be approved. You can approve an operation by right clicking it, and then clicking Approve. An operation that is approved cannot be rescheduled in the Global scheduling screen.

What-if mode

If you want simulate a production schedule, you can use the What-if mode. In the Operation zoom in view, select the check box at the bottom of the screen. When this option is checked, the production order dates are not updated real time when moving a production order. When deactivating the What-if mode you are asked to save changes. Click Yes to update all the production order dates. Alternatively, you can click Actions at the toolbar, and then click Save.

Production order process flow

The rest of the production order processes are the same as without Visual scheduler: Printing, issuing, receiving and hour realization.

When a production order is in the Completed status, it will not be displayed in the schedule.