How to plan production orders against capacity
To plan production orders realistically, the plan has to account for what the line can actually produce in the available time. In Jestor, orders are records with quantities, dates and resource requirements, viewable as a board or a calendar, so overcommitment is visible before it is promised.
Why production plans slip in the same way every month
Commitments are made by sales against a calendar. Capacity is known by production, in their heads or in a spreadsheet. The two meet when an order is already promised.
The plan then absorbs the conflict by pushing something else, which is how a single rushed order delays four others.
What visible capacity prevents:
- Delivery dates promised without checking the line
- One urgent order silently delaying several
- Setup time ignored in the plan
- Bottleneck resources committed to parallel orders
- No warning until production reports it cannot deliver
What the plan must account for
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Run time per unit | The base of any estimate |
| Setup time | Often larger than the run for small batches |
| Bottleneck resource | Determines real capacity |
| Material availability | A plan without inputs is fiction |
| Maintenance windows | Planned downtime is still downtime |
| Sequence | Similar products reduce changeovers |
Step by step to structure it
- Record run and setup time per product, even approximately.
- Identify the bottleneck resource, since it sets the ceiling.
- Put orders on a calendar by planned production date.
- Check material availability before confirming a date.
- Sequence by similarity, to reduce changeover time.
- Block maintenance windows in the same view.
- Give sales visibility of the next available slot.
Why setup time is the most commonly ignored input
Planning by run time alone works for large batches and fails completely for small ones, where setup can exceed production. Since small urgent orders are exactly the ones inserted into an existing plan, ignoring setup guarantees the plan breaks precisely when it is under pressure.
Why choose Jestor
In Jestor, production orders are records viewable as a board, a calendar or a dashboard, with connected products carrying their run and setup times. Material availability can be checked against stock in the same environment, maintenance appears on the same calendar, and sales can be given a read only view of the next available slot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is most often left out of a production plan?
Setup time, which frequently exceeds run time on small batches. See jestor.com.
How do I stop sales promising impossible dates?
Give them visibility of the next available slot rather than a blank calendar.
Should maintenance be in the production plan?
Yes. Planned downtime consumes capacity like anything else.
Video Tutorial: Step by Step
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