Tool Room Queue: Set a Promised Ready Time for Each Request
Plan a tool-room request queue using preparation load, production need times and explicit priority changes. Includes a three-request scheduling example.
Plan a tool-room request from the time production needs a complete, checked kit. Separate requests that are ready to prepare from those missing inputs, load the available preparation time and confirm a promised ready time. Record which jobs move when an urgent request changes the sequence.
The planner releases tomorrow's machine sequence while the tool room works through today's requests. A cutter needs preparation, a holder is incomplete and the next gauge is still in use. The machine calendar alone cannot tell the supervisor when the next kit will be ready.
Make a request ready for preparation
The tool-room lead manages this queue with the production planner. Start when several jobs compete for preparation work, or when a request repeatedly arrives too late for its machine slot. Each request needs a job and operation, current tool list, drawing or setup reference, quantity, downstream need time and the preparation work required.
Check that the required items and approved instructions are available. Put incomplete requests in a visible blocked lane with an owner and a next review time. Counting them as ready workload conceals the difference between missing information and insufficient preparation capacity.
| Record | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Request and operation | Identify the downstream job that consumes the kit |
| Ready-to-work time | Start queue timing only after required inputs exist |
| Work estimate and resource | Include preparation and required checking; identify qualified capacity |
| Production need time | The agreed handoff time before setup can start |
| Promised ready time | Tool-room commitment based on the current sequence |
| Exception and owner | Missing item, changed priority or estimate requiring review |
| Actual handoff | Complete kit accepted by the receiving role, with timestamp |
Load the time before promising the kit
Illustrative scenario: one qualified preparation resource is available from 09:00 to 11:00 with no other commitments. Three ready requests require 35, 50 and 25 minutes, including their checks. Their need times are 09:45, 10:45 and 11:00.
| Request | Work | Planned interval | Need time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 35 minutes | 09:00–09:35 | 09:45 | 10 minutes |
| B | 50 minutes | 09:35–10:25 | 10:45 | 20 minutes |
| C | 25 minutes | 10:25–10:50 | 11:00 | 10 minutes |
The load is 110 minutes against 120 available minutes. That leaves ten minutes unallocated; it does not prove the estimates are certain. If a 20-minute urgent request enters first, the original requests finish at 09:55, 10:45 and 11:10. A and C now miss their need times by ten minutes. The planner must acknowledge those consequences before accepting the revised sequence.
Use separate resource lanes where preparation requires different people or equipment. Do not treat two workers as interchangeable capacity when only one is qualified for a particular task. Include known breaks, existing work and required checks when calculating available time.
Keep sequence changes explicit
The Lean Enterprise Institute's FIFO guidance explains preserving sequence and limiting work between processes. A tool room can use a visible ready queue while retaining an authorised exception process for different production needs. FIFO is a useful starting rule; it does not resolve every due-date conflict.
When a job is cancelled, remove its future load through a recorded cancellation and review any preparation already completed. When a repair expands unexpectedly, revise the estimate and flag affected promises. Keep a physical item's reservation and custody record linked to the request; a completed preparation task does not mean the item is free for simultaneous use.
Check the queue at handoff
Accept the workflow when every released request has a complete input set, one promised time and a named receiving job. For a pilot week, compare actual accepted handoff with that promise and record the cause of each miss. Track blocked-input time separately from time spent waiting for preparation. Avoid claiming the entire interval as recoverable machine time.
Our Optiwise no-code modules link request records and preparation evidence. Machine calendars and process-level production entries provide the downstream planning context. Configure the queue's stages and commitments around the tool-room work you actually perform.
Tool-room planning questions
Should an urgent request always go first?
Only after the authorised planner reviews the affected commitments. Record the displaced work, revised times and people who must acknowledge the change.
When is a request complete?
When the specified kit and required checks are complete and the receiving role accepts the handoff. A verbal “ready” without a complete kit should remain an exception.
Bring three competing tool-room requests to a workflow demo and map their ready times with us.
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