Planning Intermediate

Capacity Planner — visualising future load

Use the Capacity Planner to schedule works orders across CNC2 and Mil 1 using finite-capacity forward scheduling — drag bars to re-plan, view the Gantt by Work Centre or Work Order, and monitor utilisation.

1 min read Production Planner Updated August 2026

Section 01

What is the Capacity Planner?

1 minute

The Capacity Planner uses finite-capacity forward scheduling — it reads every open works order, looks at the route steps assigned to each Work Centre (CNC2 and Mil 1), and places operations into the earliest available time slot without exceeding the Work Centre's daily capacity. Work that cannot fit before its due date is pushed out and flagged late.

  • Currently showing 2 Work Centres (CNC2 · Mil 1) with 4 scheduled operations
  • All 4 works orders are flagged late — their due dates (2–4 Jul 2026) are before the earliest available slots (9–12 Jul 2026)
  • Click ↻ Run Schedule to re-run the scheduler after any changes — new works orders or changed routes are picked up automatically
  • Three views: By Work Centre (grouped by machine/bench), By Work Order (grouped by WO), and List (flat sortable table)
  • The Work-Centre Capacity panel at the bottom shows booked vs available hours in a mini bar chart for each Work Centre
Capacity Planner vs Capacity page

The Capacity page is for analysis — it shows you utilisation numbers and lets you drill into weeks. The Capacity Planner is where you take action — drag bars to reschedule, run the scheduler to pick up new work, and see the Gantt view of exactly how operations are sequenced across your Work Centres.

Section 02

Stat cards

1 minute

Eight headline numbers summarise the current schedule state across all Work Centres.

Late WOs

4

of 4 WOs

On-Time

0%

Avg Util

0%

next 8 wks

Overload Wks

0

Scheduled Ops

4

Unscheduled

0

At Risk

0

Makespan

12 Jul

last finish

Stat Value What it means
Late WOs4 of 4 WOsWorks orders with at least one operation that cannot finish before the due date. All 4 current WOs (WO-2026-0005, 0006, 0007, 0009) are late because their due dates (2–4 Jul 2026) are earlier than the earliest available slot (9 Jul 2026).
On-Time0%Percentage of works orders that will complete on or before their due date. Currently 0% — all 4 WOs are late.
Avg Util0%Average utilisation across all Work Centres over the next 8 weeks. 0% because operations span only 9–12 Jul — almost no booked hours relative to 328h total available.
Overload Wks0Weeks where any Work Centre is booked beyond its daily capacity. Zero — the scheduler never double-books.
Scheduled Ops4Total number of operations (route steps) placed in the schedule. 4 operations across Mil 1, all for product 040424.
Unscheduled0Operations that could not be placed in the schedule at all. Zero — all 4 operations have been placed, even though they are late.
At Risk0Operations scheduled close to capacity with a high chance of becoming late if anything slips. None at risk currently.
Makespan12 JulThe date of the last scheduled finish across all operations. All work has been placed by 12 Jul 2026 — WO-2026-0006 finishes on 12 Jul.

Section 03

Search and filters

1 minute

The filter bar lets you narrow the Gantt to specific operations, Work Centres, or date ranges. The summary bar shows a live count of what the current filter returns.

Search
Work Centre
All work centres
Status
All statuses
From
dd / mm / yyyy
To
dd / mm / yyyy
Late Only
2 work centres·4 scheduled ops·4 late
By Work Centre
By Work Order
List
Filter What it does
SearchFree-text search across WO reference, product code (e.g. 040424) and operation name. Results update instantly as you type.
Work CentreFilter to a single Work Centre — e.g. show only Mil 1 or only CNC2. Default: All work centres.
StatusFilter by operation status: Not started, In progress, Completed, Late, At risk. Default: All statuses.
From / ToRestrict the Gantt calendar to a specific date window. Leave blank to see all scheduled operations.
Show lateWhen ticked, shows only operations that are flagged late — useful for focusing on the 4 late WOs (WO-2026-0005, 0006, 0007, 0009) without the noise of on-time operations.

Section 04

By Work Centre view

2 minutes

The By Work Centre view groups operations by machine or bench. Each Work Centre has a header row (green banner showing its name and capacity) followed by individual operation rows. This is the best view for checking how loaded a specific machine is on a given day.

Not started
At risk
In progress
Completed
Late
Today
WO / Work Centre / Ops Product Start Days H
Mil 1
Mil 104042409-07-202620.36
Mil 104042409-07-202600.36
Mil 104042409-07-202600.36
Mil 104042410-07-202620.36
Jul 2026
8
9
10
11
12
13
Mil 1 — cap 8h/day
WO-2026-0005 · CNC ⚠ late
WO-2026-000…
WO-2026-000…
WO-2026-0005 · CNC ⚠ late
Drag or resize a bar to re-plan an operation — saves automatically. Click a bar to inspect its work order.
Element What it shows
Green header bar (Mil 1 — cap 8h/day)The Work Centre lane header. Shows the Work Centre name and its daily capacity. Clicking collapses the lane. Currently only Mil 1 has operations — CNC2 has 0 booked hours.
WO / Work Centre / Ops columnThe frozen left panel showing which Work Centre each row belongs to — all rows show Mil 1 in this schedule. The WO reference appears in the bar.
Product columnThe product being manufactured — all 4 operations are for product 040424.
Start columnThe scheduled start date — 09-07-2026 for 3 operations, 10-07-2026 for the 4th (WO-2026-0006).
Days columnDuration in working days — 2 days for WO-0005 and WO-0006, 0 days for WO-0007 and WO-0009 (sub-day operations).
H (Hours) columnHours consumed at this Work Centre — 0.36h per operation on Mil 1.
Navy bar with ⚠ late chipAn operation scheduled past its due date. WO-2026-0005 (due 2 Jul 2026) is scheduled for 9–11 Jul 2026 — 7 days late.

Section 05

By Work Order view

2 minutes

The By Work Order view groups all operations by works order. Each WO has a header row (green banner with the WO reference and description) followed by its individual operation rows — one per route step. Use this view to see how a specific order's operations are distributed across Work Centres and time.

WO / Work Centre / Ops Product Start Days H
WO-2026-000509-07-20262
Mil 104042409-07-202620.36
WO-2026-000709-07-20260
Mil 104042409-07-202600.36
WO-2026-000909-07-20260
Mil 104042409-07-202600.36
WO-2026-000610-07-20262
Mil 104042410-07-202620.36
Jul 2026
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
WO-2026-0005 — works order for delivery order
WO-2026-0005 · CNC ⚠ late
WO-2026-0007…
WO-2026-000…
WO-2026-0009…
WO-2026-000…
WO-2026-0006 — order test 100
WO-2026-0006 · CNC ⚠ late
Drag or resize a bar to re-plan an operation — saves automatically. Click a bar to inspect its work order.
WO Description Due Scheduled Days
WO-2026-0005works order for delivery order2 Jul 20269 Jul → 11 Jul2
WO-2026-0006order test 1003 Jul 202610 Jul → 12 Jul2
WO-2026-0007Order test 1003 Jul 20269 Jul → 9 Jul0
WO-2026-0009Work order assigned to user4 Jul 20269 Jul → 9 Jul0

Section 06

List view

1 minute

The List view hides the Gantt chart and shows a flat, sortable table of all scheduled works orders. It is the most data-dense view — use it to review all WOs at a glance without the visual calendar overhead.

Work Orders 4
WO Ref Product Qty Due Status Scheduled Progress Open

WO-2026-0005 late

works order for delivery order

0404242 Jul 2026not_started9 Jul → 11 Jul
0%

WO-2026-0006 late

order test 100

0404243 Jul 2026not_started10 Jul → 12 Jul
0%

WO-2026-0007 late

Order test 100

0404243 Jul 2026not_started9 Jul → 9 Jul
0%

WO-2026-0009 late

Work order assigned to user

0404244 Jul 2026not_started9 Jul → 9 Jul
0%
Column What it shows
WO RefThe works order reference — e.g. WO-2026-0005. A red late chip appears when the scheduled finish is after the due date. The sub-line shows the WO description.
ProductThe product being produced — all 4 WOs are for product 040424.
QtyQuantity to produce. Shown as — when not set on the works order.
DueThe customer-facing due date — shown in red when late. WO-2026-0005 is due 2 Jul 2026, WO-0006 3 Jul, WO-0007 3 Jul, WO-0009 4 Jul.
StatusCurrent works order status — all four show not_started. Other values: in_progress, completed.
ScheduledThe date range the scheduler has placed this WO in — e.g. 9 Jul → 11 Jul for WO-0005, 10 Jul → 12 Jul for WO-0006.
ProgressCompletion percentage — a thin bar and percentage. All four are at 0% (not started).
Open ↗Opens the full Works Order detail page for that WO, where you can see route steps, materials, and production notes.

Section 07

Work-Centre Capacity charts

1 minute

At the bottom of every view, the Work-Centre Capacity panel shows a side-by-side mini bar chart for each Work Centre — booked vs available hours per week. It is always visible and updates immediately when you drag a bar or run the scheduler.

Work-Centre Capacity

Booked vs available · 2026-08-03 → 2026-09-28

Booked
Available
Over capacity

CNC2

8h/day capacity

0%
3 Aug
10 Aug
17 Aug
24 Aug
31 Aug
7 Sept
14 Sept
21 Sept
28 Sept

Mil 1

8h/day capacity

0%
3 Aug
10 Aug
17 Aug
24 Aug
31 Aug
7 Sept
14 Sept
21 Sept
28 Sept
Element What it shows
Date rangeBooked vs available · 2026-08-03 → 2026-09-28 — the same 8-week window used in the Capacity page filters.
CNC2 — 8h/day capacityCNC2 mini chart. Currently Booked 0h / Available 328h / 0% utilisation — no operations are currently assigned to CNC2 in the schedule.
Mil 1 — 8h/day capacityMil 1 mini chart. Also Booked 0h / Available 328h / 0% — the 4 operations on Mil 1 fall in early Jul 2026, outside the Aug–Sept display window shown here.
Short last bar (28 Sept)Same partial week as the Capacity page — 1 day × 8h = 8h available rather than 40h.

Section 08

Re-planning operations

1 minute

The Capacity Planner is interactive — you can manually adjust the schedule by dragging bars on the Gantt:

  • Drag a bar left or right to move the operation to a different day or week. The system checks capacity and prevents double-booking automatically
  • Resize a bar (drag the right edge) to change the operation duration — useful if actual machine speed differs from the BOM estimate
  • Click a bar to open the Works Order inspector — see the route step detail, materials, and any notes
  • All drag-and-drop changes save automatically — no separate save button
  • Click ↻ Run Schedule to discard manual adjustments and let the system re-sequence everything automatically from scratch
Run Schedule overwrites manual adjustments

Clicking ↻ Run Schedule re-runs the finite-capacity algorithm from scratch. Any bars you have manually dragged will be overwritten by the new auto-schedule. Only click Run Schedule if you want a full automatic re-sequence — for example after converting new MRP recommendations into works orders.

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