This is an information site to help you build planning and scheduling systems with spreadsheets. Here you will find tutorials, templates and downloads that can be used to create advanced planning and scheduling system using Microsoft Excel.
Supply Chain Planning and Production Scheduling with Spreadsheets Read More »
“Enterprise Resource Planning”. The word “planning” is right there in the name. Yet walk into any manufacturing, distribution, or retail operation, and you’ll find planners doing their actual planning somewhere else — usually in spreadsheets. This goes back to the origins of both business computing and our understanding of how to think about the future.
ERP is Backwards – Why Enterprise Resource Planning Can’t Plan Read More »
Introduction When we make a plan in supply chain, we like single numbers. After all, a plan needs to be executed. When placing a purchase order, we need an exact quantity to order. Production needs to know exactly how many parts to produce. We cannot use ranges or probabilities in execution. So it is understandable
How to Model Demand Uncertainty in Excel without Complicated Maths Read More »
This article explains how to build a simple manufacturing budget using the Fast Excel Development Template. We’ll calculate material, machine, and manpower cost requirements for several demand scenarios and compare available work center hours with the workload. On top of that, I’ll share a few new features recently added to the FEDT, along with the companion tool described in the article.
Demand scenarios: automate your manufacturing budget with zero coding Read More »
We have talked about extending Excel with Python. there are a number of reasons you might want to extend Excel with Python. Most of these have to do with getting functions and capability that you just can’t access within a spreadsheet environment. Examples we have given before include simulation, optimization and forecasting. For 25 years
Running Python with Excel… or In Excel Read More »
You can build a robust simulation tool by the Fast Excel Development Template with zero coding; in this article I explain how and share an example of inventory coverage simulation.
Simulation with the Fast Excel Development Template Read More »
We have been talking recently about extending Excel with Python. Here is a webinar recording that covers that discussion with a live demonstration and some examples. I made the point that if you are comfortable with Excel and are getting some good results in planning there, you should only go to Python for the right
Concepts and Design for Inventory Simulation in Excel and Python Read More »
In our recent webinar (replay here) , we explored how Python can extend Excel’s capabilities for production planning and scheduling. For those who rely on Excel as their primary business tool, Python gives you new possibilities without abandoning the familiar spreadsheet environment. This post summarizes the key takeaways from the webinar on leveraging Python within
Extending Excel for Planning with Python Read More »
Do a check up to your planning system: learn how to do it by the Fast Excel Development Template and Power Query.
We have a new version of the Fast Excel Development Template. These are improvements arising from our team using this template to build dozens of planning tools and systems. It has been 15 months since the last update and we have a lot of things to share. Much of this work has been done with
Fast Excel Development Template v4.4 Read More »
The finite scheduling calculates the exact begin and end of each job considering routing and quantity for the workload and work center availability by a calendar for the capacity.
In the standard Fast Excel Development Methodology this requires smart and complicated formulas to deal with dates and time, and this is needed even in the simplest push only scheduling form. Of course you can copy and adapt the formulas from other examples and let the Fast Excel Development Template do the automation and the VBA coding for you.
This article is about making finite capacity scheduling simpler by an algorithm based on cumulation and sorting, and by some Power Query use. And as always there is a companion tool that implements the logic of the article in a fully automated tool.
Here is a new version of the Fast Excel Development Template. Here we describe the new features that come with Fast Excel Development Template Version 4.3.
We also talk about Excel systems for operational and supply chain planning and how to do it right.
Learn how to build A Demand Driven Modular Distribution Planning system with zero coding by the Fast Excel Development Template.
“If this is a template, why are most of the sheets blank?”
“What is a modular system? How will this help my planning?”
We will answer these questions, and more.
NEW RELEASE – Fast Excel Development Template v4.2.0 – Now Supporting Modular Systems Read More »
Our latest version of the Fast Excel Development Template fully supports modular systems. We have written here and there about modular systems. But, up until now, we have yet to provide in-depth content on how modules work and why you would use them instead of a single workbook. This article will be the first in
Dynamic Adaptive Scheduling is a way to quickly switch between Make-to-Stock and Make-to-Order on the fly.
Learn how production scheduling in Excel can respond to changing demand conditions without the need to redesign the stock positioning. And how to get a copy of the scheduling tool- free!
How to build a complete material and capacity planning tool, with finite production scheduling and purchased materials constraints by Excel and the Fast Excel Development Template.
The demand history can’t tell us everything about the future, but it can tell us some things. This article and video outlines exactly what and shows an example of automated forecasting in an Excel tool.
Demand Forecasting – History as a Guide to the Future? Read More »
Here is a story about an attempt to size inventory buffers, by measuring demand variability. It is based on a true story and there are lessons learned from real experience.
I’ll tell you the story in both words and data. I have compiled a dataset and will share it here.
In this article we explain how to use Excel and the Fast Development Method to build an advanced and fully automated Inventory Analysis Tool with zero VBA coding
