Appraisal of new technological solutions applied to scheduling systems for SMEs

Scheduling systems employed within a manufacturing environment are often undertaken using primitive manual and computer based approaches. However, this form of approach fails to reflect the complete, and highly complex, set of interactions present within such systems. It is therefore often the case that optimal levels of performance within scheduling systems cannot be obtained and that significant quantities of further data/understanding are required for optimal levels of performance to be achieved. Specific clarification and definition of parameters within scheduling systems are a pre-requisite if understanding of the system boundary conditions and input/output relationships are to be obtained. These problems become particularly acute when considering the case of small or medium sized enterprises (SME), and are frequently related to limitations in the provision of client customer data resources, combining salient factors of both an internal an external nature.