Imagine a set of islands with mountainous terrains. There are cliffs and crevasses, rivers and ravines all over these islands. Your goal is to find the highest point on these islands. Using an app on your cell phone, you enter … Continued
Most of us use spreadsheets for all sorts of things. The spreadsheet and the word processor are the work horses of most computer tasks in the home or the workplace. It is not surprising that when faced with a scheduling … Continued
We’re planning a big promotion for our new product. What if sales go through the roof? What if next June there are lots of weddings on top of the Acme Sales meeting that’s already booked? After the merger, what if … Continued
As a kid, I watched my Dad pack the trunk of the car for a vacation. His golf shoes were not a priority item–at least from the perspective of the rest of the family. However, they were the only item … Continued
If you looked up “scheduling” in my thesaurus, you might find an interesting list of alternate terms: Resource Allocation Resource Management Capacity Planning Order Management Promise Date Determination Operations Management Materials Resource Planning …and many, many more. Call it what … Continued
What’s your objective when building a schedule? Do you want to get as much done with the fewest resources? Do you want to distribute the work load as evenly as possible? Do you want to minimize cost? Do you want … Continued
Many activities in factories, event centers, hotels, construction projects and other industries require some kind of set-up—or “predecessor”–before the activity can occur. But not all predecessors are the same. Most predecessors need to finish any time before the actual activity … Continued
A generic scheduling format is the way to go. Here’s why: A domain scheduler is designed and implemented for a particular application area. Here are a few examples : Service schedulers have trucks, technicians, test equipment, and “calls.” Medical schedulers … Continued
If you are a schedule builder or you maintain a schedule as revisions become necessary, you can do this exercise. Try to keep track of the types of decisions you are making; my hunch is that you’ll probably come up … Continued
The community of scheduling practitioners has spoken. And the message is loud and clear. Some activities that need to be worked into a schedule take longer than one work shift–hey might even take longer than a week! Thus, any scheduling … Continued