PlanetTogether’s Optimizer tool gives the planner lots of options for deciding what factors are most important when creating a schedule. For example, a planner might decide that meeting Job need dates is the first factor to consider. Then perhaps he wants to favor Jobs marked “Hot” and then create a schedule that minimizes the setup hours incurred by changeovers and cleanouts. His Optimize rule might look something like this:

This looks pretty good. But in order for the Optimizer to do the best job it can, it’s important that the data it crunches is accurate. The planner and consultant should work closely to ensure that need dates are correct and that the setup tables are complete. Also, there should be a good priority system in place. If a too-large percentage of jobs are getting marked “Hot,” then the rules specified above won’t be as useful. The same logic can be carried over to any of the other Optimize options, such as “Highest Revenue” or “Group by Customer.” The Optimizer is a very powerful tool, but in order to get the most out of it, the data that your Rule looks to should be as comprehensive and accurate as possible.