Preactor Networking & Sharing Schedule Information

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Networking and Sharing Schedule Information

Preactor production scheduling packages have a software based licensing system that controls the number of licenses of each Preactor product you can run at the same time. This enables you to build a multi-seat (user) Preactor system. Unlike ERP/MRP where you buy multiple seats that all have the same level of functionality, with a product like Preactor it is unusual for a client to buy more than one Master Scheduling System (MSS) i.e. Preactor 200 FCS, 300 FCS, 400 APS, or 500 APS. The reason for this is that it makes little sense to have two or more planners trying to schedule your process at the same time if they are dealing with the same set of resources. Typically a multi-seat Preactor system is likely to consist of one MSS and a number of Preactor Viewers, which allow other members of your staff, such as shop-floor, sales, production management etc, to have visibility of your schedule. Preactor 200 FCS and higer specification products have the capability to automatically communicate, pass messages and data between one or more Master Scheduling Systems, Preactor Viewers, ERP and other applications using Preactor's proprietary PCO, Preactor Communication Object. This allows you to disseminate the production schedule around your plant and receive real-time updates from your shop-floor. The licensing system and PCO will work over all major PC networks including Novell and Windows NT.

Preactor Viewer
The Preactor Viewer is a low cost module which can be used to display your production schedule to interested members of your staff, and to collect updates where necessary. The Preactor Viewer can be used for:- Viewing data in Gantt chart format e.g. order tracking/progress review Viewing textual reports Viewing work-to lists at shop floor level Entering new data e.g. updates from the shop floor on completions
	An Order Trace Gantt Chart showing production schedule information compared to current actual status for each order.

Data Sharing using Preactor Viewers When used in data sharing mode the Preactor Viewers require a LAN/WAN connection to your master scheduling system. All Preactor Viewers will have visibility of the last schedule released by your planner and will provide the following facilities: Receive schedules released by your planner Send schedule updates to the MSS (received in batch mode)

Using Preactor Viewers with Barcoding Preactor supports the use of barcode True Type fonts to create bar-codes on your shop floor documentation. You can also use barcode scanners to enter updates directly into your Preactor Viewers. Examples of typical barcode scanner interfaces written in Visual Basic are available. Using Preactor with other SFDC/SCADA Systems If you already have a Shop-Floor Data Collection system (SFDC) or use a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for your process control then you may want to link these to your Preactor's event driven messaging system.


Preactor is a registered trademark of Preactor International.