Overall shop conditions can be monitored in the opening tab within the Work Center Schedule screen. The following setting and metrics can be compared across work centers:
Buffer Days
The Buffer Days is a manual setting that represents what you consider to be the work center’s typical queue days.
Queue Days
The Queue Days is the job hours backlog for job sequences in the work center queue, expressed in shop days. The queue consists of job sequences with a status of Started or Ready. Estimated remaining setup and labor hours are translated into shop days using this formula:
Setup & Labor Queue Hours / Total Hours/Day = Queue Days
The queue is expressed in shop days so that you can compare queues across different work centers. This enables you to identify bottlenecks that adversely affect shop throughput.
Comparing Queue Days among your work centers enables you to identify temporary bottlenecks in the shop where a work center’s actual Queue Days significantly exceed its typical Buffer Days. This can help you decide where best to deploy available workers on any given day.
Load Days
The Load Days is the work center’s total job hours backlog, expressed in shop days. It includes all job sequences for New and Released status jobs. Estimated setup and labor hours are translated into shop days using this formula:
Setup & Labor Hours / Total Hours/Day = Load Days
The load is expressed in shop days so that you can compare loads across different work centers. This enables you to determine which areas of the shop are most potentially affected by current job volume.
The grand total at the bottom of the Load Days column is the total load on the shop as a whole. As you assess this metric over time, you will gain a feel for the shop’s optimal load capacity. When you sense that the shop is getting overloaded, it may be your signal to take remedial action such as working overtime or hiring additional workers.
