Features

• Receives job routing and required time information into the staged job area of production scheduling when the job is booked, if an estimate for the job exists.

• Allows each plant in a multi-plant operation to maintain its own schedule and to view other plants' schedules, security permitting.

• Allows scheduling of projects (user defines project types - job, blocked press time, maintenance, etc.) from due date backward and start date forward. The Production Scheduling System allows forward and backward scheduling from a specific department, such as a firm date for an on-site customer press check.

• In-process projects can be re-extracted from the Job Estimating System when jobs are re-estimated.

• Allows drag-and-drop movement of jobs within an entire department.

• Provides a graphical view of available hours versus scheduled hours with user controlled granularity and drill-down capabilities to see details on the projects involved.

• Allows schedulers to sort jobs to be scheduled based on ten user-definable parameters, such as inks, paper width or weight, due date, or other factors to enable them to prioritize jobs to be run on a press or bindery thereby minimizing make-ready time.

• Provides user-defined table of critical date activities being tracked. Provides alert notification via any MAPPI compatible e-mail prior to critical dates. Provides for acknowledgement of these alert messages.

• Enables users to remove from the schedule any in-process project and reschedule it from the point of work remaining.

• Provides user-definable project types (jobs, blocked press time, maintenance, etc.) and presentation characteristics. Displays cost center and department descriptions throughout the application.

• Provides user-definable table of valid critical date activities to be tracked.

• Provides graphical views at the plant, department, master cost center (such as identical presses or other equipment) and a graphical view of the schedule through the plant for a particular project.

• Facilitates moving projects between plants with control over cost center equivalencies.

• Enables automatic processing of regular (for stock) and outside purchase orders (for specific jobs) plus job allocations for this incoming material.

Primac® 's Production Scheduling System completes the closed-loop production information system necessary to manage graphic arts production in today's world of "just-in-time" deliveries, volatile schedules, and tight job turnaround. The Production Scheduling System is integrated with Primac® 's powerful Job Costing System, Job Estimating System, Shop Floor Data Collection System, Inventory and Purchasing. It also feeds data to Primac® 's Executive Analyst System and to Primac® Explorer, both of which have real-time Schedule inquiry functions.

The Production Scheduling System uses the latest technology. An Windows® LAN server serves as the focal point for all networked, Pentium PC's doing production scheduling work. This Windows® server is networked with the main Primac® server. Production Scheduling System is a Windows®-based system, utilizing SQL Server to store data in the Windows® server, and employs ODBC to extract and feed necessary data to and from the main Primac® server.