Date Handling

MES maintains several pairs of start and end dates for each production order and production run. Each date pair serves a specific purpose throughout the production lifecycle.

Actual Dates

Actual Dates represent the recorded start and end dates of a production order and production run.

Note: 
  • The actual start date of a production order is the earliest actual start date of all production runs that have started, regardless of completion status.
  • The actual end date of a production order is the latest actual end date of all production runs that have been completed.

Production Dates

Production Dates represent the calculated start and end dates for which production is considered to have occurred.

These dates account for activities such as:

  • Changeover, when the production line is being set up for a run.
  • Tear down, when the production line is being cleaned or reset before the run is completed.
Note: If changeover or tear down activities are not tracked, the production dates match the actual dates.

Estimated Dates

Estimated Dates are generated by the scheduling engine. See Scheduling Engine.

Based on the scheduled production runs for each order, the engine determines when the production runs are expected to start and end.

Note: 
  • The estimated start date of a production order is the earliest estimated start of all scheduled production runs, including production runs that are in-progress.
  • The estimated end date of a production order is the latest estimated end of all scheduled production runs, including production runs that are in-progress.

Planned Dates

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems often define planned start and end dates for production orders before the orders are imported or specified into the application. These dates represent target or desired production timelines.

Because estimated dates are updated based on the real-time information, planned dates must be stored separately, to ensure planned dates remain unchanged during execution.

Planned Dates are useful for:

  • Reviewing the original plan
  • Manually scheduling production orders
  • Analyzing schedule adherence after production has been completed

Deadline Dates

Deadlines Dates can be downloaded from an ERP or entered manually in the application.

Deadlines Dates are used to:

  • Identify and report production orders or runs that are required to complete before a specific date.
  • Alerts users for potential schedule overruns.
  • Highlights orders or production runs that are expected to finish later than the target date and time.
  • Support the rescheduling of orders based on established deadline dates.