So What Is Finite Capacity Scheduling Exactly?
In a relatively short period of time, the combination of the acceptance of the Windows operating system, cheap and powerful PCs, and highly visual and rapid software development tools such as C++ and Visual Basic have made technology once reserved for the Fortune 1000 now accessible to all manufacturing tiers. This phenomenon was first felt on the factory floor, driving the cost down on SCADA systems. The next systems impacted were the MRPII and ERP systems. As these information management systems matured, the middle layers of the factory had to be addressed to achieve complete integration of the enterprise information network. We now see in the post-Y2K world that the sophisticated modeling and analysis functions are being offered at commodity prices, with no sacrifice in their sophistication or usability. One area of tremendous breakthrough is finite capacity scheduling (FCS).
So What is FCS Exactly?
Finite capacity scheduling emerged as a response to the limitations of infinite capacity scheduling that is common to all MRPII systems. The basic problem in MRPII is that the production plans lack realism since they are produced under the assumption that all resources have an infinite capacity to perform work. As any production manager knows, the real world does not work this way, and many of the problems of resource underutilization, excessive inventories and work-in-progress, and job lateness relate back to the inaccuracy of the production plan.
About the Authors
Gregory Quinn is vice president of the Quinn & Associates, an industrial consulting firm located in State College PA. He has over 22 years experience in manufacturing and systems design, ranging from commercial electronics to global data processing systems. He is a member of IIE, APICS, and ISA. He is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, with a BS in mathematics, and a dual MS in industrial engineering and operations research.
Mike Novels is Chairman and Managing Director of Preactor International, based in the UK, providing software, support, training and consultancy in scheduling applications throughout the world in a wide range of industrial and commercial sectors. His career started as a metallurgist in the aerospace industry having obtained an Honours degree at Bath University. He joined Hawker Siddeley to create a group of experts (The CIMulation Centre) to advise the 120 companies in the Hawker Siddeley Group on automation and IT systems. In 1992 the company was purchased by a management team and is now Preactor International Ltd. Preactor solutions are used by more than 800 companies worldwide.