Tutorials

Fast Excel Development Template Tutorials

The Fast Excel Development Template is a free download.  We use it to build all our planning and scheduling systems. 

The Template is not a planning template, but a development platform.  It is meant to automate the data processing tasks that are required to build operations planning and scheduling systems.

Using the Fast Excel Development Template you can:

• Apply formulas to all rows in a dynamic table
• Automate the creation of Dynamic Named Ranges
• Pull in data from outside sources and integrate on the fly
• Stack (Append), Explode, Join and Pivot Tables
• Many other powerful utilities for building systems in Excel

Click here to download the development template and view the free Template Tutorials.

Production Scheduling Tutorial

The tutorial is aimed at spreadsheet literate people who are involved in planning and scheduling production activities. The techniques and formulas set out in this tutorial are being used by manufacturing companies daily; this is a practical, not an academic, exercise.

The tutorial sets out a series of templates in such a way that the logic may be followed by the average, spreadsheet literate, person. The templates may also be copied and used to create a live scheduling system. Although the formulas in the templates are applied to only a few records, you simply copy them down to apply them to up to many thousands of rows of data.

THERE ARE NO MACRO’S, AND NOTHING IS HIDDEN

The tutorial takes a step-by-step approach, starting with simple scheduling concepts and techniques, and building slowly to more complex solutions. You will learn how to:

1. Understand the essential difference between capacity planning and finite scheduling
2. Set up and re-sequence a simple finite schedule
3. Display a schedule as a Gantt chart
4. Calculate job stop times through a calendar
5. Schedule jobs through multiple machines or work centers
6. Schedule repetitive production through multiple machines or work centers
7. Calculate set-up or change-over times that are dependant on the sequence of jobs
8. Evaluate the effect of transfer batch size on lead time
9. Set up a pull schedule for just-in-time environments
10. Apply a “3 pass” algorithm to optimize due date performance with just-in-time
11. Do critical path analysis within a project environment
12. Build an integrated master production schedule (MPS) and finite schedule for a make-to-stock environment
13. React to non-linear sales forecasts

The tutorial is continually being enhanced – so there is more to come, including:

• 3 pass algorithm for a make-to-stock schedule, to suggest the timing of inventory builds to cope with seasonal demand
• Material requirements planning with dynamic allocation of materials to jobs

Download	Size	Type	Info
Scheduling_Excel.zip	181kb	.zip file	Download the free tutorial in a .zip format.
Scheduling_Excel.xls	505kb	Excel.xls	Download the raw Excel file here.
Scheduling_Lotus.zip	181kb	.zip file	Download the free tutorial in a .zip format.
Scheduling_Lotus.wk4	710kb	lotus.wk4	Download the raw Lotus file.
Scheduling_Quattro.zip	133kb	Quattro.zip	Download the free tutorial in a .zip format.
Scheduling_Quattro.wb3	831kb	Quattro.wb3	Download the raw Quattro (.wb3) file.

The tutorial sets out a series of templates in such a way that the logic may be followed by the average, spreadsheet literate, person. The templates may also be copied and used to create a live scheduling system. Although the formulas in the templates are applied to only a few records, you simply copy them down to apply them to up to many thousands of rows of data.

If you have a scheduling problem, which is not addressed by the tutorial, don’t hesitate to e-mail us, as we may already have a template that does the job.