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  #1  
Old 03-12-2014, 01:01 PM
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First post/question: Inexpensive, simple scheduling software (or method)?

I have been looking for something like this forum for some time; glad to find you and be here.

I looked for a FAQ section or a Search function and didn't ... see anything, so apologies, 'cause I'm sure this has been answered many times before.

I have what I believe is a super simple scheduling issue. I am in charge of a job shop; we get orders of unpredictable size, unpredictable labor/materials content, with unpredictable lead times.

Materials planning is not an issue.
After doing this for many years, I have some very good labor content numbers; 99% of the orders I get can be described with a part number that tells me the BOM and the labor content. So I know how many labor hours I need to complete the job.

Where I have trouble is if I promise due dates for a number of jobs, and then Sales throws in some rush orders, it can get very difficult to figure out how much the other jobs (which will have been partly completed) need to be pushed back.

Between the dedication of my staff and the talent of my Production Supervisors, we rarely run into trouble, but it really bothers me that we too often realize late on Thursday afternoon that we need to come in early for overtime Friday, and will have to work on Saturday.

In this computerized age, the minute I get a new order, I should know whether we can meet schedule without overtime.

We don't have an MRP. I keep track of the production jobs with an entirely manual Excel spreadsheet that I made.
It would be great if the scheduling software could work from the Excel data which has already been entered.

I don't have equipment bottlenecks, no process wait times (to speak of), no materials issues. The only thing I have to keep track of is how many labor hours I have available, and keeping track of how each job absorbs those labor hours, and how many are left over for other jobs. If I'm short on people or an order gets rescheduled, I need to be able to see how that affects the completion date of the other orders.
Most orders require from 6 to maybe 100 labor hours. I have 11 staff. Typically I will have 75 - 150 active line items at any given moment. Lead times range from same-day (unusual) to two weeks; almost everything is 2-3 days.
Everything (that I'm concerned with) is built-to-order. We do keep stock, but there are so many variations that after 12 years, I still see half a dozen brand new part numbers every week.

Hopefully that's illustrates the requirements?

Cost is going to be an issue with my boss.
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  #2  
Old 03-20-2014, 04:32 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 84
Upon completely reading your requirement, I would recommend you to give a try to Replicon, the cloud based solution easy to manage and tackle. The hassle free experienced tool is all meant for the betterment of the scheduling, allocating and managing.
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  #3  
Old 03-20-2014, 11:06 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2014
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Replicon

Thanks.

I checked on it and am very frustrated by the website. It won't tell me anything -no screenshots, no videos; nothing except very vague "solves all your problems" hype unless I give them my contact information.

I already get enough spam.

I can't even tell what it is they're selling, certainly can't tell if it's anything close to what I need; but from what little is there, it seems like way more than what I am looking for.

But thank you for the suggestion.
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