Ideal real-time machine planning and resource scheduling
Visual Planning® supports companies with centralised machine planning and detailed scheduling of machines, plant, tools, fixtures and other equipment. Available capacity, machine utilisation and production orders are presented transparently, enabling downtime, bottlenecks and last-minute changes to be identified quickly and incorporated directly into the planning process.
How you can optimise your project workflows
Machine planning is a key task in many production and manufacturing facilities. Machines, equipment, workstations and resources must be scheduled in line with orders, deadlines and available capacity .
What is crucial here is not only the theoretical capacity, but the machine capacity actually available at any given time. Maintenance, faults, set-up times and existing bookings must be taken into account during planning.
Visual Planning® displays machines, orders, resources and schedules on a central digital planning board. This enables planning managers to identify free time slots, existing bookings and potential bottlenecks more quickly.
Last-minute changes such as machine breakdowns, rush orders or changed priorities can be taken into account directly in the planning. Depending on the configuration, orders can be moved using drag-and-drop or assigned to other machines.
Machine allocation with orders and resources
When assigning a job, various machine characteristics can be taken into account. These include, for example, machine type, possible product types, production speed, available tools or other technical requirements.
Depending on the configuration, plausibility checks and planning rules can indicate whether a machine is suitable for a particular job or whether there are time overlaps.
Machines, orders, staff, tools, fixtures and other equipment can be linked together. This allows the necessary resources to be viewed alongside the respective production order.
Capacity peaks and available time slots are displayed in configurable views. The decision on outsourcing, rescheduling or using alternative machines remains with the relevant planning managers.
Provide a clear overview of machine utilisation and capacity
The utilisation of machines and machine groups can be calculated and displayed graphically based on the stored orders, times and capacities.
Custom-defined thresholds and colour-coded indicators can signal underutilisation, high utilisation or potential overload. The values used depend on the requirements of the respective company.
Flexible time periods
Capacity utilisation can, for example, be viewed on a daily, shift, weekly or monthly basis.
Individual machines
Bookings and available capacity can be displayed for individual machines or production lines.
Machine groups
Several similar machines can be grouped together and analysed collectively.
Production areas
Departments, production lines and other organisational units can be compared.
Direct consequences
When a job is moved, utilisation displays and capacity values are updated immediately.
Customised presentation
Colours, thresholds, views and key figures are configured in accordance with the respective planning scenario .
Our guide shows the specific requirements that mechanical engineering companies should look for in a suitable planning solution, Decision-making guide for resource planning in mechanical engineering .
Which resources can be taken into account in machine planning?
The resources and information displayed depend on the business processes and the specific configuration of Visual Planning®.
- Machinery and plant
- Machine groups and production lines
- Workstations and machining centres
- Production and manufacturing orders
- Tools and equipment
- NC programmes and technical documentation
- Staff and Qualifications
- Set-up and processing times
- Maintenance and scheduled downtime
- Malfunctions and machine breakdowns
- Priorities and delivery dates
- Capacities and utilisation rates
Combining machine planning and shop floor management
In shop floor management, machines, production orders, staff, equipment and real-time feedback must be coordinated with one another. A digital planning board provides a shared visual basis for this.
Visual Planning® can display machine utilisation, order status, malfunctions, maintenance and other operational information in configurable views.
This provides authorised users with a central overview of planned and ongoing processes. Changes can be incorporated into the planning in a traceable manner.
Key figures and analyses can be generated depending on the available data and the defined requirements. The software thus provides a basis for planning and decision-making, but does not replace the technical assessment carried out by those responsible for production and machinery.
Further information can be found at Shop floor management .
Frequently asked questions about digital machine planning
What is meant by digital machine planning?
Digital machine planning refers to the centralised planning and coordination of machines, plant, production orders, resources, capacities and deadlines using software.
What tasks does machine planning involve?
These include, amongst other things, machine allocation, capacity planning, scheduling, maintenance coordination, resource planning and the allocation of production orders.
Why is digital machine planning important?
It provides transparency regarding machine utilisation, available capacity and planned orders. Changes and potential bottlenecks thus become apparent more quickly.
How does digital machine planning work?
Production orders are allocated to machines, plant or workstations on a digital planning board. Authorised users can edit allocations centrally and, in the event of changes, reschedule them.
What are the benefits of digital machine planning?
It improves the overview of orders, deadlines, machine bookings and capacities. Last-minute changes can be accommodated centrally.
Why is Excel often not sufficient for complex machine planning?
With numerous machines, orders and last-minute changes, discrepancies in the tables can quickly arise. Overlaps, capacities and dependencies must be checked manually.
What are the disadvantages of machine planning using Excel?
Changes often have to be updated across several files . This can lead to version conflicts, data transfer errors and incomplete planning information.
How can machines be utilised efficiently?
Jobs can be allocated to machines according to available capacity, suitability and existing machine utilisation. Capacity utilisation views support operational planning.
How can capacity bottlenecks be identified at an early stage?
Capacity and utilisation views compare existing bookings with available time slots. This makes potential bottlenecks visible right from the planning stage.
Does digital machine planning prevent downtime?
Planned maintenance, known downtime and machine availability can be factored into the planning . However, this does not completely prevent unforeseeable technical failures.
How does machine planning support production planning?
Machine allocations, production orders, deadlines and capacities are displayed together. This provides production planning with a transparent basis for scheduling.
How do you plan multiple machines simultaneously?
Multiple machines, systems, machine groups or production lines can be planned in parallel in shared or separate views.
How does digital machine planning help with last-minute changes?
Rush orders, priority changes, rescheduled deadlines or machine breakdowns can be entered centrally and taken into account when re-planning.
How does machine planning improve resource utilisation?
Machines, staff, tools and other equipment can be displayed alongside their availability details. This provides planners with a better basis for resource allocation.
How does machine planning support maintenance processes?
Maintenance tasks can be entered into the schedule as appointments or unavailability periods, or imported via an interface from another system.
Can tools and fixtures be included in the planning?
Tools, jigs, NC programmes and other equipment can, depending on the configuration, be linked to production orders as additional resources.
Can digital machine planning be used on mobile devices?
Depending on the licence, configuration and system environment, information disclosed via VPPortal in the browser or via VPGo be made available on suitable mobile devices.
What are the benefits of hosted machine planning?
A hosted solution provides Visual Planning® in a centrally managed system environment. Access, data backup, responsibilities and possible interfaces depend on the chosen hosting model.
Which businesses is digital machine planning suitable for?
It is suitable for manufacturing businesses, mechanical engineering firms, industrial companies, workshops and other organisations with multiple machines, production lines or concurrent production orders.
How does digital machine planning improve transparency?
Machines, orders, capacities and deadlines are displayed in a centralised planning system. Authorised users therefore work on the basis of a shared planning status.
How does digital machine planning reduce planning errors?
Centralised data management, traceable changes, planning rules and transparent machine overviews can help to reduce double bookings, data transfer errors and communication problems.
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