Production/procurement manager opens the master "Inventory Planning" Excel workbook (21 tabs). Cross-references Sage 300 / Auto Simply MOs, forecasts, BOM component needs, and current inventory to determine what each line should run.
Planner manually sequences jobs across Louisville, AutoPinch 2, AutoPinch 3, AutoBox 1, AutoBox 2, and Tables lines. Factors in changeover times (5/15/20 min for minor/medium/major), lamination lead times, and customer priority. Adjusts for rush orders by inserting rows and recalculating downstream.
Planner prints individual sheets for each production line from the first 6 tabs. Physically walks them out to each line and to the warehouse staging area. If a change happens mid-day, the process repeats entirely.
Warehouse team gets the Product Staging tab printout listing which raw materials to stage for each line. Cross-references manufacturing orders from Auto Simply for component quantities. Manually checks off staged items - no digital confirmation.
Three supervisors rotate through 5-6 production areas. They record on paper: production counts per block (4 blocks/shift), changeover types (Mnr/Med/Mjr), assigned and unassigned downtime, staff count, and notes per block. One tablet shared between them.
After floor walk, supervisors return to desk and type paper notes into "Production_Report.xlsm" - 8 tabs covering Days/Afternoons for each line. Data includes production vs. target %, scrap counts, downtime minutes, and block-by-block notes.
VBA macro in Production_Report_022522.xlsm cleans the daily sheet and appends data to the Summary tab. Supervisor then manually emails the report out. Summary captures: Area, Shift, Date, Total Prod, Operator, %, Changeovers, Staff, Downtime, Notes, Line Speed, and Filters Per Person.
"pp production.xlsx" stores the running history - daily production/target/% for each line and shift. Data goes back to May 2018. Used for monthly averages, graphing, and trend analysis. Louisville's highest output: 18,720 filters (Jun 5, 2025). Current month average: 18,075 at 114% of target.
Scheduled sync pulls open manufacturing orders, BOM data, inventory levels, and forecasts directly from Duststop's SQL database. No manual data entry - the system starts each day with current figures.
Web admin portal lets the planner build schedules visually. System suggests optimal sequencing based on changeover minimization, BOM availability, and customer priority. Planner drags to adjust - changes propagate instantly to all views.
Each production line (LV, AP2, AP3, AB1, AB2, Tables) has a wall-mounted tablet showing only their schedule. Updates appear instantly when planner makes changes. No printing, no walking, no stale information.
Warehouse sees a dynamic checklist of materials needed per line, auto-calculated from the schedule and BOM. They check off items as staged - visible to planner and supervisors. BOM component needs (media, frames, inserts, cartons, glue) calculated automatically.
Supervisors tap directly into the tablet at each line. Pre-populated fields for line, block, and expected targets. Tap to select changeover type, enter production count, select downtime reasons from dropdowns. Voice-to-text for notes - just talk and it transcribes.
System automatically calculates: % of target per block and total, filters per person, scrap rate, explained vs. unexplained downtime. Compares against line speed targets (LV: 40 fpm, AP2: 20 fpm, AP3: 22 fpm, AB: 16 fpm) in real-time.
End-of-shift reports auto-generate and distribute. Supervisor taps "Complete Shift" and the system compiles, formats, and sends. Alerts flag underperformance (below target %), excessive unexplained downtime, or recurring equipment issues.
Real-time dashboard replaces pp_production.xlsx entirely. Monthly averages, trend lines, highest output records, and line comparisons - all live. Historical data from 2018 forward imported and continuously updated. Accessible from any device.