Production reporting systems are a good key to helping companies operate more smoothly. They are important in relieving costs, assisting with less waste and allowing for a greater amount of materials passing through the system (throughput). An assortment of applications can be encompassed within a system. They can range from efficiency reporting, job tracking, job costing, raw materials tracking, defect tracking, statistical quality control, downtime reporting, scrap reporting and more.

When purchasing a scheduling system it is important to look for a system that will change with the needs of your company. Also keep in mind there are multiple applications that can be chosen from. One of the more expert systems is Advanced Planning or APS. These production scheduling systems are equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to help optimize any manufacturing schedule. These systems can optimize schedules from changeover to labor load leveling. They also include the capabilities to schedule for overtime reduction, delivery deadlines, inventory management and more.

Material Requirements Planning or MRP is an example of another reporting system. Generally this software will link together raw materials inventory, purchasing modules, the production schedule and sales forecast. Then it will predict the raw materials requirements. Some companies choose to integrate these systems with purchasing to automatically generate purchase orders.

A fairly new reporting application is closed loop production software. With this system the software will find the best runs of a product/work center combination. Once the best runs have been found the software will retrieve the settings that made these runs possible. This application is a ground-breaking tool for process and manufacturing engineers to establish best practices. No matter which system a company may choose, remember the key point is to utilize the capabilities of obtaining the information needed to optimize production and quality in a timely manor.