Most plants have a schedule in their business system. Most supervisors also have a whiteboard, a spreadsheet or a list in their pocket — and that is what the floor actually runs. Here is why, and what to do about it.
Why the floor stops trusting it
- It assumes every step matters equally. The system loads every work centre to its standard hours. On the floor, one step decides the pace and the rest wait on it.
- Its lead times are averages. Standard queue times rarely match reality, so dates drift the moment something goes wrong.
- The routings are out of date. When the floor’s real path differs from the routing, the schedule is wrong from the first operation.
- It releases too much, too early. Work released because material arrived — not because the bottleneck is ready — clogs the floor and hides the orders that matter.
The symptom: expediting becomes the real schedule
When the official plan can’t be trusted, the loudest customer, the hottest order or the supervisor’s judgement decides what runs. That works until it doesn’t — and it makes the plant impossible to improve, because nobody can see which order is truly at risk.
What a schedule the floor will follow looks like
- One step scheduled in detail — the bottleneck — and everything else follows it.
- Release tied to the bottleneck’s pace, and only when an order’s kit is complete.
- One list, most urgent first, coloured by how much protective time each order has used.
- A short daily meeting where the reds get an owner and a date.
At one plant, the first job was simply fixing the routings so they matched what the floor actually did — quoting, planning and quality documents were rebuilt around how work really moves. Only then did a new schedule and new information systems have something reliable to stand on.
Do you have to replace your business system?
No. Your business system keeps orders, routings and materials. The bottleneck schedule reads its exports and decides what to release and what needs help today. The two work together.
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