Create a production plan

Path: Production > Sequencing > Plans Create a production plan to calculate the sequence of many operations and review the result before changing shop floor work. The plan starts from the factory’s state at that moment: available stock, machines, routing restrictions, and delivery dates. To directly adjust just a few orders or operations, see Sequence manually. The plan lets you test calendar changes without affecting actual work. You can ask Bold to calculate a sequence considering restrictions such as employee or raw material availability. Changes do not reach operator screens until you review the result and apply the plan.

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Steps to follow

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1. Create a plan

Plan name: the system proposes the current date. Change it to a name that identifies the scenario’s objective in history. Restrict by raw material availability: determines whether available stock limits planning.

• If enabled: Bold checks stock and expected arrival dates. If a component is missing, it does not schedule the operation until the material is available.
• If disabled: the system does not limit the plan for stock shortages. This lets you analyze manufacturing capacity without supply restrictions.

Consider employees as a limiting factor: includes employee availability in planning.

• If enabled: the algorithm accounts for employee availability. If you have five available saws but only two operators on that shift, it schedules at most two cutting operations at once.
• If disabled: the system plans according to machine or workstation availability and assumes sufficient people will operate them.

When creating the plan: choose what Bold does after preparing the scenario from the current manufacturing state.

• Create only: saves the scenario. You can then open it and click Solve to calculate a proposal.
• Create and solve: starts calculation when the scenario is created.
• Create, solve and apply: starts calculation and automatically applies the proposal if it finds a solution.

If you choose an option that solves the plan, select Solving mode. Basic (fast) finds a feasible sequence using a heuristic. Advanced (optimized) refines the sequence through mathematical optimization and may take several minutes. The form initially selects Basic.

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2. Analyze the plan

• Execution dates: shows the first operation’s start date and the last operation’s end date.
• Average delay per order: indicates orders’ average delay relative to their planned dates. A high value, such as 50d 2h, indicates the scenario does not meet those deadlines.
• Workload volume: indicates how many Orders, Operations, and Resources the calculation includes.

The Diagram tab translates orders into a visual occupancy calendar:

• Vertical axis (resources): lists factory machines, work centers, and lines (for example, Assembly bench, Paint booth, or Belt sander).
• Horizontal axis (time): divides days into hours and work shifts.
• Colored blocks: represent operations scheduled on each resource.
• Legend panel (right): lets you color by manufacturing order, operation, restriction violation, expected delay, product, item, or process. If you select manufacturing order, the system assigns a color to each order so you can visually follow its route through the factory.

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3. Manage the scenario

• Clear: removes the current proposal from the chart to start organizing manually from scratch.
• Update: rereads warehouse and workshop state to incorporate the latest data into the scenario.
• Solve: runs the calculation again to reorganize the work queue. Choose Basic for a feasible sequence quickly or Advanced to optimize it. The dialog initially selects Basic. In advanced mode, the objective gives more weight to order delay than work in progress (WIP) and also considers the plan’s total duration.

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4. Review the Gantt chart

Check dates, resource occupancy, delays, and restriction violations before applying the plan.

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5. Adjust manually

• Drag and drop blocks: if an operation must be delayed, brought forward, or run on another compatible machine, move its block in the Gantt chart.
• Dynamic cascading changes: Bold maintains manufacturing restrictions when you move a task. If you delay an initial task, such as Tabletop cutting, the system moves dependent later tasks, such as Sanding and Assembly. Review the result before applying the plan.

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6. Save or apply the plan

Save: stores changes in this scenario so you can close the screen and continue adjusting later, without changing workshop work. Apply: sends the calendar to the shop floor. Work mode queues update with the new sequence.