Is your organization trying to find something new with production scheduling?  In the declining economy many manufactures are starting to use production scheduling software to save them money and time.  These systems help manufactures run more productively and efficiently.  I came across a few articles a little while ago that were about production and constraint based scheduling.  Take a look at www.production-scheduling-systems.com to find some really good articles.  Take a look at this page which will take you to a directory for production scheduling.  It also includes links to articles and vendors who specialize in this type of software.

Many manufactures are still using excel spreadsheets and other manual forms to schedule their manufacturing process.  Some companies simply are not switching to production software because they are not familiar with the systems and what they can do for them. 

In general production scheduling software is designed to help reduce and minimize the amount of time lost due to inefficiencies during production.  In addition many have the capability of generating realistic and executable production schedules.  Costs and time are minimized by assigning production to specific machines and facilities. 

Schedules can be designed for employees by directing them to best execute production activities.  These activities include production that is assigned to specific machines, the amount of labor used and any additional resources.  Additionally, this software gives companies the capability to conduct predictive "what if?" analysis to view what could happen to the system if certain changes were made to the overall schedule.