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.
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
The pandemic economy is shrinking software budgets. You can build your business grade distributed system based on Excel with ZERO coding and ZERO software budget. Learn how our Fast Excel Development Template 4.0 make it possible.
An update to Excel 365 in January 2020 means INDEX might work more slowly. Here is how to fix it so it works faster than ever.
Build your own Excel Planning Tool. Find out how we built a Material Planning Tool in ten minutes!
Learn how to create your own Excel planning and scheduling tools for a manufacturing business. Some people want a spreadsheet tool so that it will solve their planning problems at the push of a button.
Others want to take it apart. Figure out how it works. Adapt it and build their own. If you’re like them, then this webinar is for you.
How Excel-based modules can combine for a flexible planning system.
We are launching webinars to help you with planning and scheduling in Excel.
Here is how you can watch us build, set up and use these free downloadable tools.
Pre-register for our first webinar coming up soon!
Our new Capacity Planning Tool gets you halfway to production scheduling.
This article will help you understand how it calculates dates and working days in the calendar. It will go a long way towards that scheduling goal.
We have a new capacity planning tool for you.
Download it for free to get better visibility on production load and capacity.
Setting service levels usually starts with inventory.
Here’s a way to improve supply for important customers, that doesn’t involve inventory sizing.
And it doesn’t involve production either…
How does your Excel planning measure up?
Are you getting the best results or are you suffering from Excel hell?
Here is a simple measurement and a download tool that can give you an instant rating on your planning tools built with spreadsheets.
This is a core method to apply the Fast Excel Development Method in building a planning and scheduling system in Excel.
Convert forecasts, explode demand and generate work orders — this method is something that every planner should know.
We build planning and scheduling systems in Excel.
Some systems like this material planning example have more than one user, in different locations.
Here is a way to share Excel data across multiple users by using a simple cloud service.
The biggest headache in material planning is long lead-time materials.
Here is a simple tool that gives visibility between a buyer and a factory separated by a lot of water.
Also see an easy trick to connect multiple Excel users on different continents with free data integration over the cloud.
Job shop production is a challenge for scheduling.
Three ideas to job shop scheduling and other customized products when you have no standard process data.
I would like to introduce the most useful function that Excel has to offer.
This is the most widely used Excel function in the Fast Excel Method. When building planning systems, I find myself typing this in formulas more than any other function.
The function can transform Excel spreadsheets into a fully-blown business software platform. We use it to retrieve data, perform calculations and present them in a report.
