The Priority Plan procedure can be opened with different work centers in separate windows at the same time.What Does This Procedure Do?
When you register a manufacturing order for a part, all its incorporated operations are automatically entered in a priority plan for the work centers that they belong to, and are sorted according to the planned start date.
In this procedure you can, from the heading row at the top of the window, load and display a priority plan in a table. You can prioritize the operations according to other criteria apart from the start date, using the information that is available. The procedure can then be used in different ways to guide the operators and their work to make sure that the priority plan is followed.
The Priority Plan procedure can be opened with different work centers in separate windows at the same time.
Why Do You Need Priority Planning?
When you register a manufacturing order, a main plan is created based on the finish dates that were entered for the respective orders. The times of the incorporated operations are planned in the work centers by using "back planning" (back in time). The loading of the work centers increases, and eventually so-called "bottlenecks" will occur. These "bottlenecks" have to run at maximum capacity in order to keep up. This means that the manufacturing pace or speed will be limited by these work centers.
Especially, a functionally-oriented production requires a tool or procedure to make sure that the capacity in the bottlenecks is used in the right way. That is, to make sure that the manufacturing orders will be prioritized in the best possible way. The Priority Planning procedure is one of those tools.
However, the Priority Planning procedure is very useful to distribute work to operators in general as well (not just for bottlenecks). This is usually done verbally or by way of using a job card system.
The following tabs are available at the bottom of the window:
Adjusting the Layout
All the columns included in the priority plan can be moved and adjusted width-wise, and you can then save that layout by right-clicking. The same applies to the horizontal tiling of the window between the priority plan and the remaining information. Each layout or setting is saved per user. This allows all users who run the Priority Planning procedure to create a layout that is convenient for his or her particular work flow.
The same applies to the priority planning procedure that exists in the Recording Terminal, except that it saves the layout per employee (not user).
Window Functions
Read more about the Window functions under Window Functions in the MONITOR Basics.