Implementation plan

1. List one month of jobs by press

Shows how many large-press hours small molds take.

Action	From the ERP job log, list last month's jobs by press. For each job on a large press, find the smallest press its mold ran in over the past year. Mark the job if that press is two or more sizes smaller. Add up the marked hours, and note whether a smaller press was idle at the time.
Owner	Production scheduler
Purchases	None
Decision	Do the marked jobs come to about 25 hours or more in the month?
Fallback	If few jobs are marked, there is little to fix, so stop here.

Each mold's ERP record names the smallest press it has run in.

Action	Add one field to each mold's record in the ERP: its smallest press. Fill it from the job log: the smallest press the mold ran in over the past year. Give a new mold its smallest press once its first run is approved.
Owner	Production scheduler
Purchases	None: about 23 hours of the scheduler's time, about $930
Decision	Does every mold in regular use have its smallest press on its record?
Fallback	If the ERP cannot take a new field, keep the list on paper at the scheduling desk.

A job goes to its smallest press, and up one size only when that press is booked.

Action	Book each job on its mold's smallest press first. If that press is booked, take the next size up, not whichever large press is idle. Once a week, check the large presses' jobs for small molds, and move those a smaller press can take. Each month, add up the hours small molds ran in large presses.
Owner	Production scheduler
Purchases	None: about 1.5 hours per week of the scheduler's time
Decision	Do small molds take fewer large-press hours than in the month first listed?
Fallback	If small molds still land in large presses, each such booking needs a written reason.

Illustrative sample. The plant, the walk and the footage are synthetic. Figures from our analysis are estimates made with AI, not guarantees.