Method and Apparatus for Scheduling Work Orders in a Manufacturing Process

A method for scheduling a plurality of work orders for manufacturing products in a manufacturing process, each work order including operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, the method comprising:

• obtaining resource availability information and material availability information for the manufacturing process;
• obtaining work order information comprising date information for the work order;
• scheduling operations information to be performed for the work order, wherein the operations information comprises the identity of the resources at which each operation is to be performed, wherein the resources comprise a main resource and two auxiliary resources;
• and
• providing an assigned resource capacity and the scheduling for each operation.

A system for scheduling a plurality of work orders for manufacturing products in a manufacturing process, each work order comprising a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, the system comprising:

• means for obtaining resource availability information and material availability information for the manufacturing process;
• means for obtaining work order information comprising date information for the work order;
• means for scheduling operations to be performed for the work order;
• and
• means for providing an assigned resource capacity and the scheduling for each operation.

A system for scheduling a plurality of work orders for manufacturing products in a manufacturing process, each work order comprising a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, the system comprising:

• a resource and material availability module configured to obtain resource availability information and material availability information for the manufacturing process;
• a work order information module configured to obtain work order information comprising date information for the work order;
• a scheduler configured to schedule operations to be performed for the work order;
• and
• an interface configured to provide an assigned resource capacity and the scheduling for each operation.