Tutorial

The tutorial is aimed at spreadsheet literate people who are involved in planning and scheduling production activities. The techniques and formulas set out in this tutorial are being used by manufacturing companies daily; this is a practical, not an academic, exercise.

 

 

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Scheduling_Excel.zip 181kb .zip file Download the free tutorial in a .zip format.
Scheduling_Excel.xls 505kb Excel.xls Download the raw Excel file here.
Scheduling_Lotus.zip 181kb .zip file Download the free tutorial in a .zip format.
Scheduling_Lotus.wk4 710kb lotus.wk4 Download the raw Lotus file.
Scheduling_Quattro.zip 133kb Quattro.zip Download the free tutorial in a .zip format.
Scheduling_Quattro.wb3 831kb Quattro.wb3 Download the raw Quattro (.wb3) file.

The tutorial sets out a series of templates in such a way that the logic may be followed by the average, spreadsheet literate, person. The templates may also be copied and used to create a live scheduling system. Although the formulas in the templates are applied to only a few records, you simply copy them down to apply them to up to many thousands of rows of data.

THERE ARE NO MACRO’S, AND NOTHING IS HIDDEN

The tutorial takes a step-by-step approach, starting with simple scheduling concepts and techniques, and building slowly to more complex solutions. You will learn how to:

  1. Understand the essential difference between capacity planning and finite scheduling
  2. Set up and re-sequence a simple finite schedule
  3. Display a schedule as a Gantt chart
  4. Calculate job stop times through a calendar
  5. Schedule jobs through multiple machines or work centers
  6. Schedule repetitive production through multiple machines or work centers
  7. Calculate set-up or change-over times that are dependant on the sequence of jobs
  8. Evaluate the effect of transfer batch size on lead time
  9. Set up a pull schedule for just-in-time environments
  10. Apply a “3 pass” algorithm to optimize due date performance with just-in-time
  11. Do critical path analysis within a project environment
  12. Build an integrated master production schedule (MPS) and finite schedule for a make-to-stock environment
  13. React to non-linear sales forecasts

The tutorial is continually being enhanced – so there is more to come, including:

  • 3 pass algorithm for a make-to-stock schedule, to suggest the timing of inventory builds to cope with seasonal demand
  • Material requirements planning with dynamic allocation of materials to jobs

If you have a scheduling problem, which is not addressed by the tutorial, don’t hesitate to e-mail us, as we may already have a template that does the job.

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