Visual schedule management system for a manufacturing facility

A method of scheduling jobs and managing work loads on multiple work centers in a manufacturing facility through a visual user interface to a general purpose computer having a database, wherein each work center is represented in the database by a maximum work load capacity data item equal to a maximum amount of time the work center operates during a unit of time, and each operation in a sequence of operations required to perform a job is represented in the database by a start date data item, an end date data item, a work center data item, and a work load data item equal to an amount of time required to perform the operation at a work center, the method comprising the steps of:

• creating a shop overview, wherein the work centers in the facility and a work load utilization percentage for each work center arc represented graphically on a monitor;
• determining a start date, an end date, and a work center for each operation in a sequence, wherein the start date data item, the end date data item and the work center data item are equated to the start date, the end date and the work center respectively for each operation to represent the schedule of the operation in the database;
• graphically displaying the work load utilization percentage for each work center represented on the shop overview on the monitor, wherein the work load utilization percentage is calculated over a refresh time period;
• graphically displaying a production control board on the monitor in response to the pointing device selecting the graphical representation of a work center on the shop overview, wherein the schedule of each operation on the selected work center is represented by a token located at a first position on a time grid portion of the production control board;
• and
• determining a new start date and a new end date for an operation based on the pointing device moving the token representing the operation to a second position on the time grid to change the schedule of the operation.

A system for scheduling job operations and managing work loads on multiple work centers in a manufacturing facility through a visual user interface, comprising:

• programmed means for creating a shop overview to graphically represent the work centers in the facility and a work load utilization percentage on each work center;
• a display coupled to the programmed means for displaying the shop overview;
• a pointing device coupled to the programmed means for selecting a work center graphically represented on the shop overview on the display;
• the programmed means for further creating a production control board to graphically represent a schedule for each job operation scheduled for work at the selected work center on the display;
• the pointing device for further moving a token shown on the production control board to a new position on the display;
• and
• the programmed means for further changing the schedule of the job operation represented by the token based on the new position of the token on the display.