Estimating production capacity using the Factory Loading report

The factory loading report (Production > Reports > Factory Loading) gives you a projection of production workload in the upcoming days, weeks, and months, broken down into processes. The report uses the Ready By Date (RBD) of each job, which is set when the job is imported into the Production Schedule, along with the number of days before the RBD that each process should be completed by (configured at Production > Settings > Main Process), to show which jobs should be at each stage in any given timeframe. An estimation of the number of labour hours required on each process is also provided, which is calculated based on the rules set up in the Estimated Labour Time editor (Production > Lookup Editor > Estimated Labour Time).

The estimated labour hours required on each process can now be compared with the available labour hours on each process using the new capacity planning feature. This is accessed by opening the breakdown for any process, and switching to the Resource tab. This will show the estimated labour capacity for that process, based on the number of users assigned to that process on the skill matrix page (Production > Lookup Editor > Skill Matrix). 8 hours per day will be assumed for each worker by default, but this can be customised by setting shift patterns and breaks on the Normal Working Hours page (Production > Lookup Editor > Working Hours). Any absences that the user has booked will show on this page, and will factor into the calculation of total available hours.