Abstract: The present invention optimizes shop floor operations by generating production schedules that respect the complex manufacturing rules of specified production operations. The invention utilizes attribute-sensitive changeover models that consider both the duration and cost of each changeover. Since the invention considers more than just the item, changeover models can be based at the item level and the item attribute level. The invention includes realistic models that simulate operations for a variety of process and discrete manufacturing work centers and departments. These models support reusable and auxiliary resources, resource groups, user-defined units of measure, detailed bills of material (BOMs), production rate models, and production method models. The sequencing invention can be integrated with other planning optimization systems, including planning and scheduling engines, to provide further shop floor optimization to productively drive the sequencing of a complex business.

Abstract: A method for solving finite capacity problems such as how to satisfy a customer's request for a manufactured product, by describing the environment in which the problem exists in the form of a demand (e.g., customer order), including the available resources for satisfying the demand, defining the demand, selecting a plan for achieving the various objectives of the demand in an optimal order, and evaluating whether the plan will work. Also disclosed is a computer program product implementing the invention, and a system for coordinating multiple sources of input into a system implementing the disclosed invention.

Abstract: A method for solving finite capacity problems such as how to satisfy a customer's request for a manufactured product, by describing the environment in which the problem exists in the form of a demand (e.g., customer order), including the available resources for satisfying the demand, defining the demand, selecting a plan for achieving the various objectives of the demand in an optimal order, and evaluating whether the plan will work. Also disclosed is a computer program product implementing the invention, and a system for coordinating multiple sources of input into a system implementing the disclosed invention.