Allows each of your manufacturing operations to be scheduled in detail, typically a few days ahead, or a week ahead. This covers the trimming and scheduling of all workcentres, from paper machines through finishing and conversion equipment. The Planner uses a number of steps / tools to optimise the throughput of your operation. Group Orders Allows the Planner to group suitable orders together for manufacturing. Orders are selected by the use of filters and grouped together using pre- defined rules. The grouping rules can be configured by the Planner and could include such attributes as: Grade, Type, GSM, Caliper, Centre, etc. The Planner can iterate any number of times prior to passing the grouped orders to the next stage of the scheduling process. Workcentre Scheduling Deckled production runs are placed on the unplanned section of each work centre’s run order, ready to be included in a finite schedule. The planner moves specific production runs from unplanned to planned using ‘drag & drop’. At this point ascman calculates start / stop times for each production run based on their specific positions in the schedule. Downtime events can also be inserted. Deckling / Trimming As standard, the system provides a semi-automatic deckling facility, allowing the planner to build deckle patterns from the grouped orders. These patterns are validated against demand, including the relevant trade tolerances. At this stage additional stock rolls can be added for improved deckle efficiency. We can also provide interfaces to specialist proprietary trimming algorithms. Grouped orders can be passed into the trimming program / solution for the planner to manipulate & iterate. The resultant patterns will be passed back automatically to ascman. Where production runs are straightforward and the deckle pattern is well known, ascman’s semi-automatic deckling is straightforward and effective. Where there is a mix / complexity of requirements, a proprietary trimming algorithm’s optimisation calculations might be better.