Production planning

The Production Planner turns an approved customer request into a work order with a product, quantity, resource and planned start and end. This is the point where a customer date becomes a shop-floor plan. Keep the linked order visible so a changed request can be traced to the work it affects.

Printer availability belongs to the resource record. A resource can be Available, Maintenance or Unavailable, and carries its daily capacity in minutes. Use that information with the planned work window when deciding where the job belongs. The release workflow checks availability and schedule information before releasing a Draft work order.

• Demand link. Every work order names its customer order and product. A link to the particular order line gives a more precise handoff when the customer has requested several printed parts. Confirm the planned quantity against that demand.
• Resource commitment. Assign the printer resource and record the planned start and end. Keep resource availability current when a machine goes into maintenance. Compare queued builds and estimated hours before promising the same printer to another job.
• Release request. Tick the release request when the Draft is ready. The workflow validates the linked order, quantity, resource availability and schedule, then releases eligible work or returns a rejection reason. The request stays ticked as evidence that release was requested.

Agree who updates printer availability and how the planner learns about maintenance before releasing work. Record realistic daily capacity in minutes, using the same operating assumptions across printers. Decide how the team compares estimated build hours with the planned window, including time reserved for cooling and operator attendance.

Rehearse rejection handling before the first busy shift. The planner should read the reason, correct the relevant record and use the agreed release request path again. A repeated request must not create another release effect. Separate the human decision to accept a customer order from this validation step so the team knows which question each action answers.

The planner assigns a run of 24 clips to Printer A for Tuesday morning. Before requesting release, the operator reports that Printer A is under maintenance. The resource record is updated, and the release attempt returns a reason rather than giving the operator released work on that machine.

The planner checks Printer B, revises the assignment and dates, and requests release again. After the valid job becomes Released, replay the request and confirm the work remains a single released job. Then open the customer order and verify that the clips still point to the correct demand. This rehearsal tests both a useful rejection and the recovery the team will use under pressure.

• Production schedule — Released, active and review-stage jobs with their assigned resource and planned start and end.
• Work order release inbox — Draft work orders with the quantity, resource and release request ready to check.
• Work order board — Released work grouped by its current production state.

Use order approval and production release, followed by printing, finishing and review.