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Job calendar/workflow/schedules

8/12/20

As the job sizes and quantities get larger for our small shop, Im having trouble keeping it all straight. We have never kept a calendar because its been manageable till now. Ive tried Mac Calendar and Google calendar but both are tedious or lacking. The biggest seeming short coming of these 2 calendars is updating the entire schedule for the next months if one thing gets delayed? I have a mac and want to stay with that. I bought a PC and cabinetpro software a couple years ago... too difficult to use in my opinion. I have a 4x8 magnetic white board in the office showing in what stage the jobs are in with colored magnets in their appropriate box (site measure ready/being drawn/samples being made/shop drawing approvals/being fabricated/Invoice for, etc etc) I'm a business man. Never intended that. 26 years in and still learning. Please enlighten me business savvy brothers. Thank you

8/13/20 #2: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

Steve

I use Trello to track jobs. Its not really a calendar but more like your magnets in which you can drag from stage to stage, attach notes/files. It helps that you can add other concerned parties to the board and they can see where everything is at. I use it for all sorts of lists. Its also nice to be able to access it from any device.
Its also free.

8/13/20 #3: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

Prasad Velaga

Website: http://optisol.biz

A major delay in an operation can cause a ripple effect in production, particularly when resources are very limited. Sometimes, the effect can be quickly mitigated by giving overtime to resources promptly. If this is not possible, then we need to promptly reschedule the entire workload without resource overloading. Moving magnetic pieces on a whiteboard often for this purpose can be laborious and time consuming. This practice does not support quick what-if analysis and proactive capacity planning.

Powerful, cost-effective job shop scheduling software like Schedlyzer Lite (a desktop application) can be freely evaluated for weeks to see how they can adequately meet the requirement.

Job Shop Production Scheduling

8/14/20 #4: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

Chris Madore

Website: http://www.tractivity.com

As you grow, your manual systems become more difficult and expensive (because you are spending too much time messy with them). You may want to explore automating your production management. Think "integration" and "elimination of double-entry". Check out the software solutions that are available for this industry, Tractivity is one option and there are others listed on woodweb.
This may be your opportunity to rethink your entire process and simplify. You may be surprised how much time and money you would save.
Additionally, if you are using Cabinet Vision or Microvellum along with QuickBooks - you could tie everything together. Then you can focus on what you love the most!

http://tractivity.com/

8/14/20 #5: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

Jonathan Mahnken

Website: http://www.mahnkencabinets.com

Im a very small operation and would be interested to see an example of your white board system. I need to implement something like it.

8/16/20 #7: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

cabinetmaker

We have about 15 guys and 20k sq feet.

We use google calendar right now, while slowly migrating to Workplan which is imbedded into CabinetVision

We shelved Shoptech E2 last year as the online version was combersome to us.

I stated earlier we are using google calendar. I�m demanding the entire staff to make notes and changes to the dates as info changes the scope of size/shape/date or jobsites are shut down to Covid.

By using it at least we have something we can work off of that�s common and it�s free.

As the owner, I open my calendar before I make promises and then I add it to the calendar

Use what you�ve got, but discipline yourself to stick to it

8/23/20 #8: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

Cadfly

So many 'programs' out there to choose from and most are for larger companies that can dedicate time and resources to the set up and maintenance of the software. As the GM of a mid-sized company in Texas, I have looked into most of them and found all to have restrictions that create more work than solving problems of time and resources. We all live and die by our deadlines so I went back to using an Excel spreadsheet that is programmed to auto update fields, a time saver for me, and give me a excellent visual that I keep on a large screen tv in our Engineering department for all to see. My system is both online and desktop compatible so I have live data with me always.
I have worked with Smartsheets for a bit but have found it cumbersome for what I want and have used an old, old version of Microsoft Project, which I liked very much but was sadly outdated
Moving forward I have order a new version of Project as it offers built in tools for resource management and is incredibly fluid, as well as links to all my other Office tools.
I have used the Google products in the past and they are not bad at all if you buy into the 'Google Solutions'. I do not trust Google so I stick with the Microsoft family of products, (not that I trust them that much more..).
No simple solution and you will probably find that you are the only one that finds all this important to the growth of your company at this point, so use something that works for you.

8/25/20 #10: Job calendar/workflow/schedules ...

tomasidesigns@gmail.com

Ill check out trello. My sign-maker neighbors have it. They say, its fine but as soon as one person forgets to input, domino effect. I guess that's the same as anything though.
Thanks everyone. Jonathan, my current setup is a 4x8 magnetic whiteboard with a grid drawn in with a sharpie.
job name is on left and at top is
(left to right)
1. to be bid
2. bid out
3. ready to measure/send start invoice
4. make shop drawings
5. waiting for shop drawing approvals
6. approved shops/fabricate (invoice change orders)
7. ready for finish/send progress invoice
8. schedule delivery/send final invoice

each square has magnet to represent which stage its in along with option for notes to be pinned on paper with the magnet or write directly on the white board.

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