Lean and Technology: Working Hand in Hand to Enable and Energize Your Global Supply Chain

13. Short-Term Scheduling

As discussed in Chapter, 12, “Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES),” if a business is capable of using Lean tools such as JIT, visual workplace, and quick changeover on the shop floor, especially with the aid of an MES, it can take full advantage of these improvements by using sophisticated planning technology. While one could argue that short-term scheduling involves planning, it is also directly tied to day-to-day manufacturing and hence its inclusion in Part IV, “Make,” of this book.

Scheduling deals with the timing of operations, and the main objective is to allocate and prioritize demand (generated by either forecasts or customer orders) to available facilities in the most effective and efficient manner. The methods ...