The short answer: schedule in hours, not jobs. Work out the real available hours for each bay, crew or machine, load each job's hours against them in order of due date, and check that the material will arrive before the work is planned. A whiteboard can do this for a small shop; software earns its keep when you have several bays, many jobs moving at once, or people who need the schedule away from the board.
Start with capacity in hours
A schedule is only as good as its capacity numbers. For each bay, crew or machine, work out the hours actually available each week: the people on that crew, times their productive hours (after leave, meetings and maintenance), not their paid hours. Then load jobs against that, using the hours from the quote or, better, the job's estimated hours by operation.
Schedule by operation, not just by job
A job doesn't use one resource. It goes through cutting, fit-up, welding, painting and dispatch, often in different places. Scheduling each operation lets you see where the real bottleneck is. In many shops it's welding or painting, not cutting.
Check the material before you commit the date
The most common reason a planned job doesn't start is that the steel isn't there. Link each job's start to its purchase orders and expected delivery dates, and flag any job scheduled before its material is due.
Warn early when jobs will be late
Compare each job's planned finish with its due date and flag the gap as soon as it appears, not on the day it's due. Early warnings give you options: overtime, moving work between bays, outsourcing an operation, or talking to the customer while there's still time.
Whiteboard vs software
| Whiteboard | Scheduling software | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Cheap | A monthly subscription |
| Visibility | Only for people standing in front of it | Anyone, on any screen, including the floor on a phone or kiosk |
| Capacity | In the scheduler's head | Calculated from real available hours |
| Material | Checked separately, if at all | Linked to purchase orders and deliveries |
| Late jobs | Noticed when they're late | Flagged when the plan stops meeting the due date |
| History | Rubbed out | Kept, so you can see what actually happened |
Signs it's time to move off the board
- only one person really understands the schedule;
- people walk to the office to ask what's next;
- jobs regularly start without their material;
- you find out a job is late when the customer rings;
- you run more than one bay or shift.
How we help
The Factory Hub scheduler loads jobs onto bays, crews or machines using real available hours, warns when jobs will miss their due date or start before their material arrives, and suggests fixes for clashes. The floor sees what's next on a phone or kiosk, and won quotes arrive on the schedule with their hours already attached.
Common questions
How do you schedule a fabrication shop?
Work out the real available hours for each bay, crew or machine, load each job's hours by operation against them in due-date order, and check material will arrive before the work is planned.
What is the most common scheduling problem in fab shops?
Jobs scheduled before their material arrives. Link job start dates to purchase orders and expected deliveries.
When should a fab shop move from a whiteboard to scheduling software?
When only one person understands the board, people keep asking what's next, jobs start without material, late jobs are found too late, or you run more than one bay or shift.