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Production planning and scheduling is an integral part of any project plan and it is used to connect the tasks that need to be accomplished with the resources that will accomplish them. It consists of a list of deliverables with intended start and finish dates. Deliverables are the lowest level elements in a schedule, which are not further subdivided. Additionally, production scheduling software provides project teams with a map for project execution and offers a baseline for tracking progress and managing changes. It can be used as a checklist to make sure that all necessary tasks are performed at the right time. If a task is on the production scheduler, the team is committed to doing it. In other words, the production planning gives the means by which the project manager brings the team and the project under control. The visual representation of manufacturing software is a timeline chart. It is created such that it shows the tasks of the projects, the duration and the sequencing of them, and the major milestones of the project. Before initiating production planning and scheduling the manager will have clearly known the work breakdown structure (WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a list of resources with availability for each resource. Once these data are established the manufacturing scheduling software will automatically do much of the tedious work of calculating the schedule. When choosing manufacturing scheduling software you want to ensure that it can perform several important tasks that include the following: Establish dependencies: The first task that should feature in any good manufacturing scheduling software is to be able to establish the order in which tasks are going to be performed. The WBS structure will be used as input. A dependency will be created between two tasks if one depends on the other. There are four types of dependencies: Finish to Start, Finish to Finish, Start to Start and Start to Finish. Assign resources to tasks: The next important task you need to find in production planning software is the ability to identify the resources required to perform the work. A resource is any person, item, tool, or service that is needed by the project. Based on its availability the schedule might get adjusted in time. Create the schedule: Once the dependencies are established and the resources are assigned the project manager must be able to enter the work effort or the duration for each task. With this information in place a production scheduling software should be able to automatically arrange the tasks and calculate a final date for the project. A production schedule is used to manage resources and the work required to complete the project and presents the distribution of work in time.
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production schedule, production planning, Manufacturing Software, Production scheduling,
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