GANTTPLAN combines automated planning with shop floor expertise

New shift management brings workforce deployment and shift capacity directly into production planning

• Operational requirements and shop floor expertise can be incorporated directly into production planning.
• Production managers can assign qualified employees and personnel pools to specific workstations and shifts.
• Additional shifts and unplanned personnel absences can be reflected immediately in available planning capacity.
• GANTTPLAN automatically optimizes workforce allocation within the operational constraints defined by manufacturing.

Dresden, September 7, 2026 – What may appear optimal in production planning is not always the best solution in day-to-day manufacturing operations. Unexpected staff absences, established teams, or the practical experience of supervisors and shift managers cannot always be reflected in the underlying planning data. With the new Shift Management functionality in DUALIS’ Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) system GANTTPLAN, such operational requirements can now be incorporated directly into production planning. GANTTPLAN takes these constraints into account during optimization, bringing automated planning and manufacturing reality closer together.

An employee may be qualified to work at several workstations, but in a particular shift management may prefer to assign them to only one specific machine. Reasons can include shorter walking distances, proven workflows, or the employee’s extensive experience at that workstation. While such knowledge is often well understood by those responsible for daily production operations, it is typically not available within the APS system itself.

The new Shift Management functionality allows this information to be integrated directly into the planning process. Manufacturing teams define the operational framework, while GANTTPLAN continues to optimize production automatically within those constraints.

“The new Shift Management functionality originated from a specific customer requirement. Initially, the goal was to adjust shift models more flexibly based on workload and actual order volume. From there, we developed a broader solution that also enables production specialists to incorporate their operational knowledge directly into planning,” explains Dr. Kirsten Hoffmann, Product Manager at DUALIS.

Flexible management of workforce allocation, additional shifts, and absences

The Shift Management interface provides a time-based overview of workstations and the personnel qualified to operate them. For individual shifts, planners can define which employees or personnel pools may be assigned to specific workstations. If, for example, a multi-skilled employee should intentionally not be scheduled on a certain machine during a particular shift, this assignment option can be excluded. GANTTPLAN takes this restriction into account and continues optimizing workforce deployment within the remaining possibilities. Separate views can also be created for different production areas, such as assembly or machining, showing only the relevant workstations.

Additional capacity can likewise be integrated into planning at short notice. For instance, if a standard early shift runs from Monday to Friday, a Saturday shift can be activated whenever workload increases. Instead of manually adjusting numerous employee calendars, the additional capacity becomes immediately available for production planning.

The system also enables rapid responses to unplanned personnel absences. If an employee reports sick, some time may pass before this information is transferred from HR or time-tracking systems into the planning environment. With Shift Management, planners can immediately deactivate the employee’s availability. GANTTPLAN then continues planning based on the actual workforce capacity available.

Bringing production planning and manufacturing reality closer together

Shift Management extends automated production planning with an additional layer of operational control. Short-term decisions made on the shop floor no longer need to be permanently embedded in master data or shift models in order to be considered during optimization.

For DUALIS, the new functionality also represents another step toward tighter integration between production planning and operational workforce management. While GANTTPLAN continues to optimize plans automatically, it now additionally incorporates the requirements that apply to a specific day or shift.

“Supervisors and shift managers need to be able to influence planning whenever they have information that goes beyond what is stored in the master data. With Shift Management, we are bringing this valuable shop floor knowledge more directly into the planning process,” concludes Dr. Kirsten Hoffmann.