Mouse-over buttons above for more information.

CMS Workcenters & Routes

The Workcenters and Routes module provides the information required for the real-time management of product/process structures and for accurate workcenter capacity and cost planning records. It allows you to react to both anticipated and unanticipated events and schedule changes.

Workcenter Features

CMS uses the workcenter concept to plan and schedule the production of manufactured products. The production process for each part is usually a sequence of operations performed by resources (men or machines). Each step requires time, and that time is multiplied by quantity. The minimum time required to produce a batch of parts is the sum of the step times the number of parts required to build that quantity of the product.

As product is produced, the resources in each step are consumed and the amount of resources available for additional activity are reduced. One of those resources is workcenter capacity.

The Workcenter and Route module allows you to create new workcenters, assign capacity to workcenters and to reset workcenter capacity. This module also allows you to display the jobs planned for a workcenter and the items being produced to analyze the current loading for a single workcenter for a user-defined period of time and to display the production planned for the entire plant. You may analyze plant loading for a range of workcenters and for a range of days.

A primary strength of the workcenter functions within CMS is your ability to identify unique and independent calendars for each workcenter. Further, you may choose to schedule one group of workcenters on a finite basis (constraining demands if capacity is not available) and another group based upon infinite capacity or allowing overloading of capacity (e.g., for labor intensive operations).

Concurrent Workcenters

Often, a particular skill is required by personnel operating certain equipment. CMS allows the identification of concurrent relationships between man and machine in production routings and will notify the user if capacity of either is insufficient.

Preventive Maintenance Scheduling

Another benefit provided by CMS finite capacity planning is preventive maintenance scheduling. The schedule can be loaded annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or whenever required. CMS will block out the capacity required for this scheduled machine downtime and will provide visibility if planned preventive maintenance is constraining critical customer orders.

Route Features

The CMS Workcenter and Route module uses route structures to describe the sequence of movement through workcenters and the time required in each workcenter to perform the operations to produce products. Multiple versions of routes can be established for historical tracking as well as for planned future changes (incorporating the addition of a new packaging line, for example). Multiple operations can take place in a single workcenter, and operations can loop back into prior workcenters. Outside processing operations can be imbedded within the production routing with required lead-time accounted for.

Up to 999 alternate workcenter operations can be identified per step to assist in alleviating workcenter constraints. Up to four concurrent workcenters can be identified for scheduling multiple lines or man/machine requirements. User-defined standards for operations codes and descriptions can be established, plus for each operation 30,000 characters of procedural text can be stored and printed on your process sheets or shop packet travelers.

Major Displays

• Monthly and daily utilization
• Daily schedule
• Graphic plant loading
• Route master
• Alternate workcenters
• Concurrent relationships

Major Reports

• Hours available and used
• Activities currently scheduled
• Jobs and demands now scheduled
• Production presently scheduled
• Route master list

Return to CMS Main Page