And right now, there is a free piece of software waiting to give you that certainty.
It’s 9:00 AM on a Monday. Your printer is wheezing out a 14-page spreadsheet. Three people are shouting questions about rush orders. Machine #4 just broke down, and someone accidentally double-booked the assembly line.
Use it for exactly one week. Input your current open orders. Drag the tasks onto the timeline. Watch how the software automatically prevents you from putting two jobs on the same machine at the same time.
– Or just search "Open Source Manufacturing Scheduling" and take your first step toward sanity. Have you tried using free software to fix a messy production floor? Tell me your war stories in the comments below.
Let’s paint a picture.