Core Concepts

Core concepts of the Planned Activities module — production orders, maintenance windows, and changeovers that give operators context for what's happening on the line.

Why Planned Activities Matter

Operators need to know what's supposed to happen on their line — not just react to what does happen. A production order tells you what you're making, how much, and when. A planned maintenance window tells you when the line will be down. A changeover tells you when the product switches and what preparation is needed.

Without this context, operators work in the dark. Checklists don't know which product is running (so they can't load product-specific checks). Downtime events can't be compared against the plan. Meeting dashboards show what happened but not whether it was on schedule.

The Planned Activities module provides this context. It's the production schedule layer of the platform — connecting what's planned to what's being executed, measured, and reviewed.

What This Module Does

Planned Activities represent scheduled work on a production line. Each activity has a type, a line assignment, timing, and — for production orders — product and quantity targets. Activities are visible to operators in the context of their line, giving them a forward view of what's coming.

The module currently supports three activity types, with the scope expanding as the platform evolves.

Activity Types

Production

Production orders are the core activity type. They represent a planned production run on a specific line — with the product (SKU), target quantity, and planned start/stop times defined. Production orders provide the context for downstream modules: checklists can be linked to the active production order, and downtime events can be measured against the planned production window.

Maintenance

Planned maintenance activities represent scheduled maintenance windows on a production line. They signal that the line will be unavailable for production during the planned period. This helps operators and planners distinguish planned downtime from unplanned stops in downtime reporting.

Changeovers

Changeover activities represent the transition between production runs — cleaning, setup adjustments, material changes. Logging changeovers as planned activities separates them from unplanned stops and makes changeover duration trackable over time. This data supports SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die) and changeover reduction initiatives.

Standard Fields

Common to all activity types

• Activity type — Production, Maintenance, or Changeover

• Production line — The line (cell) where the activity is scheduled. Required for all activities.

• Code — Unique identification code for the activity (can be synchronized from ERP systems)

• Planned start — When the activity is scheduled to begin

• Planned stop — When the activity is scheduled to end

Additional for production orders

• SKU — The Stock Keeping Unit to be produced. Selection from configured product master data.

• Target Quantity — The planned output quantity for the production run

How Planned Activities Connect to Other Modules

Planned Activities provide scheduling context that other modules consume:

• Checklists & Planned Work — Checklists can be linked to production orders, ensuring that product-specific quality checks run when the right product is on the line. Changeover activities can trigger changeover checklist procedures.

• Downtimes — Planned maintenance and changeover activities help distinguish planned from unplanned downtime in OEE calculations. The planned schedule provides the baseline against which actual production time is measured.

• Meetings & Actions — Production order status and schedule adherence can feed into KPI dashboards embedded in performance meetings. Actions created from production issues carry the production order context.

Prerequisites

Before creating planned activities, ensure the following are configured:

• Production lines — At least one production line (cell) via Settings › Organization › Equipment

• SKUs — Product master data for production orders (if using the SKU field)

Note: The Planned Activities module is actively evolving. Production orders are the most mature activity type. Maintenance and changeover activities are being extended with deeper integration into the Downtimes and Checklists modules. Check release notes for the latest capabilities.