A computerized system is provided for scheduling a plurality of work
orders in a manufacturing process. Each work order to be scheduled
specifies a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of
resources and materials. Data including resource availability information
for each resource used in the manufacturing process, material
availability information for each material used in the manufacturing
process, and work order information is received and stored in a computer.
The work order information includes a release date for the work order, a
want date for the work order, operations information, and material
requirements information. The operations information includes the
identity and sequence of operations to be performed for the work order,
the identity of the resources needed to perform each operation, a minimum
resource capacity needed to perform each operation, and the time needed
to perform the operation. The materials information includes the identity
of the materials needed to perform each operation and the quantity of
each material needed for the operation. Resource capacity and a start
date/time and a finish date/time are assigned to each operation based
upon the resource availability information, the material availability
information, and the work order information. The assigned
resource-capacity, the assigned start date/time, and the assigned finish
date/time for each operation are displayed on a computer screen in a
graphical format.