Why FactorySync

Manufacturing managers face a common challenge: visibility. Without real-time scheduling tools, production falls into chaos. Spreadsheets become outdated, deadlines slip, bottlenecks go unnoticed, and teams spend hours on manual status updates instead of solving actual problems.

The Problem with Traditional Scheduling

• Spreadsheet chaos: Excel files become out-of-sync. No single source of truth. Changes made in the shop floor don't reflect in planning.
• Missed deadlines: Without visibility into operation sequences and dependencies, you can't see which operations are at risk.
• Hidden bottlenecks: You don't know which work centers are overloaded until orders slip. Capacity goes invisible.
• Manual updates: Status changes require manual entry or spreadsheet updates. Slow, error-prone, hours of labor lost.
• Reactive management: Problems surface only after they've already impacted production. You're always putting out fires.
• No employee visibility: Team members don't know what to work on next. Planning is disconnected from the shop floor.

How FactorySync Solves This

FactorySync lives inside NetSuite and connects directly to your manufacturing data. Every view updates in real-time, and your entire team has instant visibility.

Key Differentiators

• Built inside NetSuite: No separate system to learn. FactorySync integrates seamlessly with your existing NetSuite data.
• Visual and drag-and-drop: Reschedule operations by dragging a bar on a timeline. Update status from a card. No forms required.
• Multi-view scheduling: View the same data by work order, by work center, by employee, or by calendar. Choose the view that matches how you think.
• Dependency awareness: See which operations depend on each other. Understand sequence and impact.
• Live alerts: Proactive notifications surface problems the moment they occur. Material shortages, blocked operations, overdue work.
• Batch actions: Release multiple work orders or mark multiple items as built in one click. Save hours per week.

The FactorySync Difference

Kanban Board

FactorySync's Kanban Board gives you a drag-and-drop view of your production work. See operations and work orders organized by status in real-time, with quick actions to move work forward.

Operations by Status View

The Operations Board organizes individual operations into three columns: Not Started, In Progress, and Completed. Each card shows the item, work order number, work center assignment, quantity built, and due date. Drag cards between columns to update status instantly.

Color-coded due date indicators warn you which operations are due soon or already late. The badge count at the top of each column shows how many items are in that status. Filter by work center, location, or date range to focus on what matters.

Work Orders by Status View

Switch to the Work Orders Board to see entire orders as a single unit across four columns: Planned, Released, Partially Built, and Built. This view is perfect for seeing the big picture and understanding which orders are ready to close.

DELAYED badges automatically flag work orders that are past their due date, so you know which ones need immediate attention. Each card shows the work order number, item, quantity, and key dates. Drag to release or change status. Click Mark Built directly from the card.

Key Capabilities

When to Use the Kanban Board

• Quick status updates: You need to move an operation from In Progress to Completed. Drag it.
• Release planning: You have a batch of operations ready to release. Use Release Multiple to push them all at once.
• Identify bottlenecks: If In Progress has 40 cards but Completed has 5, something is stuck.
• Spot overdue work: DELAYED badges make late orders impossible to miss.
• Mobile-friendly scheduling: Kanban is faster than opening detail panels. Perfect for quick updates from the shop floor.

Calendar View

See your entire month of production at a glance. FactorySync's Calendar View displays work orders as color-coded bars spanning the days they're scheduled to run. Multi-day operations automatically span across the calendar, and you can click any day to drill into the details.

Monthly Production Calendar

Each work order appears as a bar on the calendar grid. Operations that span multiple days show as continuous bars. Color-coded bars help you visually distinguish different work orders and see overlaps.

Navigate between months using arrow buttons or jump directly to Today. The calendar automatically updates as work orders are rescheduled. You can drag work order bars to new days to reschedule, or double-click to edit dates directly.

Day Detail Modal

Click any day on the calendar to pop open a detail modal showing all work orders scheduled for that day. The modal displays work order numbers, items, quantities built, status, and key dates. Mark Built buttons sit right on the modal for instant updates.

Key Capabilities

When to Use Calendar View

• High-level planning: You want to see the next 30 days of production in one view.
• Finding available dates: You need to schedule a new order and want to see when you have open capacity.
• Communicating with leadership: Show executives what production looks like week-by-week.
• Spotting clusters: See if you have too much scheduled on one day or gaps on another.
• Rescheduling work: Drag bars to new dates when something needs to move.

Gantt Charts

FactorySync gives you three different Gantt timeline views to schedule production from any angle: by work order, by work center, or by employee. Each view shows operations as bars on a timeline with drag-to-reschedule capability and real-time status updates.

Work Order Gantt

The Work Order Gantt displays all operations for a specific work order on a timeline. Each operation appears as a colored bar in sequence, showing the operation number, duration, and dependencies. You can see the full manufacturing sequence at a glance.

Drag operation bars left or right to reschedule. Resize bars to change duration. Click Release or Mark Built buttons directly on the timeline. Right-click for additional options. The detail panel on the right shows work order information and lets you update dates or quantities.

Work Center Gantt

View all work scheduled across a specific work center on a timeline. Operations appear as colored bars showing which work order they belong to. Below the bars, utilization indicators show capacity status: green bars show healthy usage under 80%, yellow shows 80-100% utilization, and red bars indicate overallocation above 100%.

Use this view to identify work center bottlenecks. If a work center shows red (overallocated), you know you need to reschedule or add resources. The hours ratio at the bottom (e.g., 63.67 / 48 hrs) shows actual scheduled hours versus available hours.

Resource (Employee) Gantt

See every team member's workload on a timeline. Resources are organized by group (e.g., Assembly Team) with individual capacity shown as a percentage. A team member assigned 213% of available hours is heavily overloaded (shown in red). 106% is slightly overloaded (yellow). 0% means idle capacity (gray).

Operation bars show which work order each person is assigned to. Click a bar to jump to that work order's detail. Use this view to balance workload: if one person is at 213% and another at 0%, you know you need to rebalance assignments.

Enhanced Views: Due Date Risk & Dependencies

Toggle Due Date Risk on any Gantt view to highlight operations at risk of missing their work order due date. Red warning indicators show which operations need priority attention to stay on schedule.

Toggle Dependencies to draw arrow connections between operations that depend on each other. See exactly what downstream operations are affected when one operation slips. Combined with Due Date Risk, you get a complete picture of schedule health.

Key Capabilities

When to Use Gantt Charts

• Detailed scheduling: You need to plan operation-level sequences and resolve conflicts.
• Identifying bottlenecks: Work Center Gantt shows you which centers are overloaded instantly.
• Balancing workload: Resource Gantt reveals which team members are overloaded and which have capacity.
• Understanding impact: Dependencies view shows what breaks if an operation slips.
• Meeting deadlines: Due Date Risk flags which operations need attention to stay on schedule.
• Rescheduling work: Drag bars to new dates, resize to adjust duration — faster than opening dialogs.

Capacity Planning

Make informed scheduling decisions with FactorySync's Capacity Planning dashboard. See real-time KPI metrics and per-work-center utilization at a glance, identify bottlenecks instantly, and find hidden capacity to schedule more work without delays.

KPI Dashboard

The Capacity Planning page opens with a summary dashboard showing key metrics:

• Total Available Hours: Sum of all scheduled hours across all work centers for the selected date range.
• Total Scheduled Hours: Sum of all work hours assigned to operations in the date range.
• Overall Utilization %: Scheduled hours divided by available hours, shown as a percentage.
• Bottleneck Resource: The work center with the highest utilization, flagged with its name and percentage (e.g., "SAF Assembly 133%").
• Idle Capacity: Total unused hours available that could be scheduled.

Work Center Utilization Chart

Below the KPIs, horizontal bars show utilization for each work center. Color-coded bars indicate health:

• Green: Healthy utilization (under 80%). This work center has room for more work.
• Yellow: Moderate utilization (80-100%). Near capacity but not overallocated.
• Red: Over capacity (above 100%). This work center is a bottleneck and needs attention.

Each bar shows the hours ratio (e.g., 63.67 / 48 hrs) and operation count. Click "View All Operations" to drill into the detail of what's scheduled on that work center. Use the date range filter to adjust your view, then click Refresh Data to pull the latest information.

Using Capacity Planning to Make Decisions

• Identify bottlenecks: Red bars and the Bottleneck Resource KPI show you where to focus. If SAF Assembly is at 133%, you can't add more work there without delaying something.
• Find capacity: Green bars indicate work centers with available capacity. Schedule new orders there to avoid bottlenecks.
• Plan preventively: If a work center is trending toward yellow or red, see that before orders start slipping.
• Balance resources: If one work center is idle and another is overloaded, that's a signal to rebalance workload or staffing.
• Add resources strategically: Instead of hiring across the board, hire for the specific work center that's the bottleneck.
• Set realistic delivery dates: When a customer asks for a delivery date, check the Capacity Planning view first. You'll know what you can actually commit to.

Key Capabilities

When to Use Capacity Planning

• Before scheduling new work: Check capacity to see if you can commit to a delivery date.
• Finding bottlenecks: Red bars show you exactly which work centers are overloaded.
• Rebalancing load: See where capacity exists and where it doesn't.
• Resource planning: Data-driven decisions about where to hire or add equipment.
• Meeting SLAs: Understand your facility's true capacity before you commit to a customer deadline.
• Trend analysis: Check back regularly to see if utilization is improving or getting worse.

Live Alerts & Notifications

FactorySync automatically monitors your production and surfaces problems before they become stoppages. A persistent alert badge in the top-right corner shows alert counts across three critical categories. Click to drill into each category and see exactly what needs attention.

Alert Categories

FactorySync tracks three types of alerts in real-time:

1. Material Shortage Alerts

What it detects: Operations that need materials but don't have enough uncommitted inventory to complete them.

Why it matters: Without this alert, you might release an operation only to discover later that the material didn't arrive or isn't in stock. You'll cause a bottleneck in your shop floor.

Click "Material Shortage Alerts" in the panel to open a detail modal. You'll see a table showing:

• Work Order number
• Item name
• Current status
• Warehouse location
• Quantity needed vs Quantity uncommitted
• Due date and days until due

Use this data to contact your purchasing team: "We have a shortage on item XYZ in Building A, needed by Feb 28. We're short 25 units." No surprises, no delays.

2. Blocked by Previous Operation

What it detects: Operations that can't start because they're waiting for a predecessor operation to complete.

Why it matters: If Operation B waits for Operation A and Operation A is running late, you need to know that Operation B is blocked. Without this visibility, you might think an operation is ready to go when it's actually waiting.

Click "Blocked by Previous Operation" to see which operations can't start and what's holding them up. The detail shows:

• Work Order and item
• Blocked operation number and work center
• Status of the blocking operation
• Scheduled start date for the blocked operation
• Estimated delay days if the predecessor is late

Use this to plan around delays: if Operation A is running 3 days late, you know Operation B is going to slide 3 days too. Plan your team's work accordingly.

3. Overdue Operations

What it detects: Operations that passed their scheduled end date and are still in progress or not started.

Why it matters: Overdue work is a sign something went wrong. Either you're behind schedule, you underestimated the work, or something blocked progress. You need to know immediately.

Click "Overdue Operations" to see what's late. The detail shows:

• Work Order number and customer item
• Operation number and assigned work center
• Current status (Not Started, In Progress, etc.)
• Original scheduled start and end dates
• Days overdue

For each overdue operation, decide: Is the deadline still possible? Do you need to adjust the schedule? Do you need to add resources or run overtime? The detail gives you the data to make that call.

Key Capabilities

When to Check Live Alerts

• Start of shift: Check what's short, what's blocked, and what's overdue.
• Before releasing work: Make sure you have materials before pushing an operation to the floor.
• When something gets blocked: Immediately see what's holding up an operation.
• Escalation meetings: Show management exactly which items are short and which operations are late.
• Purchasing coordination: "We have 28 material shortages. Here's the list." Share the modal data directly.

Due Date Risk Analysis

FactorySync's Due Date Risk toggle highlights operations that are at risk of missing their work order due date based on current schedule. Red warning indicators show you which operations need priority attention to stay on track.

How It Works

Enable the Due Date Risk toggle on any Gantt view. Operations that have less buffer time than their estimated duration appear with red warning indicators. This means that if the operation runs long or anything slips, the work order will miss its customer delivery date.

What the Risk Indicator Means

• Red indicator: This operation has less slack time than it needs. If it runs long or anything delays it, the work order will miss its due date.
• No indicator: This operation has enough buffer. Even if it takes longer than planned, you can still hit the customer date.

Using Due Date Risk to Prioritize

• Focus on red operations: They're the ones that can cause a missed deadline. Assign your best people. Run overtime if needed. Monitor closely.
• Move red operations ahead: If an operation is at risk, see if you can pull resources from green operations to complete it faster.
• Identify cascading risks: If Operation A (red) is a predecessor to Operation B, and Operation B is also red, a slip in A will definitely break the entire work order.
• Reschedule proactively: If too many red operations are clustered on the same work center, reschedule some to earlier or later to spread the load.
• Set escalation rules: If more than 30% of work orders have at-risk operations, that's a signal to management that you need to add resources or extend some delivery dates.

Combining Risk with Dependencies

Enable both Due Date Risk and Dependencies toggles together to see the full picture. You'll see which operations are at risk AND which other operations depend on them. A red operation that blocks two downstream operations is a crisis waiting to happen. That's your #1 priority.

When to Use Due Date Risk

• Production planning meetings: Show the team which operations need focus to stay on schedule.
• Customer conversations: If a work order has too many red operations, you might need to negotiate a later delivery date before it's too late.
• Resource allocation: Assign your best people to red operations to maximize the chance of meeting deadlines.
• Trend analysis: Track over time whether you have more or fewer at-risk operations. That's a leading indicator of scheduling health.
• Proactive rescheduling: Before something slips, proactively move work to balance risk across your schedule.

Dependency Tracking

FactorySync's Dependency toggle draws visual arrows between operations that depend on each other. See the manufacturing sequence, understand cascade impacts, and know exactly what other operations are affected when something slips.

How Dependency Tracking Works

Enable the Dependencies toggle on any Gantt view. Arrow lines connect operations in sequence, showing which operation must complete before the next one can start. The arrows flow left-to-right on the timeline, making the manufacturing sequence visual and easy to understand.

Reading the Dependency Graph

• Arrow points from A to B: Operation A must complete before Operation B can start.
• Broken arrows or gaps: There's slack time between operations. Operation B has time to wait for A to finish.
• Arrows with no gap: Back-to-back operations. There's no buffer. If A delays, B is immediately affected.
• Multiple arrows pointing to one operation: That operation waits for multiple predecessors. All must complete before it can start.

Using Dependencies to Manage Risk

• Identify critical path: The longest sequence of dependent operations is your critical path. If any operation on the critical path slips, the entire work order slips.
• Spot bottlenecks: If many operations feed into one operation, that's a bottleneck. It blocks everything downstream.
• Understand cascade impact: When an operation is running late, follow the arrows to see exactly which other operations it's going to delay.
• Prioritize based on downstream impact: An operation with 10 downstream dependent operations is more important than one with none.
• Reschedule intelligently: If an operation is at risk, look at what depends on it. If nothing does, you can afford to slip it. If it has 5 dependents, you can't.

Combining Dependencies with Due Date Risk

Enable both toggles together to see which operations are at risk AND what they depend on. A red (at-risk) operation that has 3 green (not-at-risk) operations depending on it is a critical priority. If it slips, it will break those downstream operations and potentially miss the customer date.

When to Use Dependency Tracking

• Resolving scheduling conflicts: Understand why Operation B can't move—it's waiting for Operation A to finish.
• Impact analysis: "If we delay this operation 2 days, what else breaks?" Follow the arrows to find out.
• Resource allocation: Operations on the critical path need your best people and tightest monitoring.
• Proactive rescheduling: See a bottleneck operation coming? Shift work to earlier to build buffer before it.
• Customer communication: "This work order has 25 dependent operation sequences. We can't cut corners on the first ones."

Conflict Detection

FactorySync automatically detects scheduling conflicts and alerts you to problems before they cause production stoppages. Overlapping operations on the same work center, capacity overallocation, and resource conflicts are flagged instantly with clear resolution suggestions.

Types of Conflicts Detected

Overlapping Operations

Two operations are scheduled on the same work center at the same time. Physically impossible—one must move. FactorySync flags this immediately with a conflict badge showing the count of overlapping operations.

Capacity Overallocation

A work center is assigned more work than it has available hours. For example, 60 hours of work scheduled but only 48 hours available that week. FactorySync shows this as a red utilization bar on the Capacity Planning dashboard and in the Work Center Gantt view.

Resource Conflicts

An employee is assigned to multiple operations at the same time, or is assigned to work beyond their available hours. The Resource Gantt shows individual capacity percentages (e.g., 213% means severely overloaded).

How Conflict Detection Helps

• Prevents impossible schedules: You can't assign an operation to a work center if it's already 100% booked. FactorySync stops you.
• Shows resolution paths: Conflict badges not only flag the problem but suggest which operations to move or which work centers have capacity.
• Reduces rework: Instead of discovering conflicts when work reaches the floor, you catch them in planning.
• Balances workload: Automatically identifies overloaded resources and suggests rebalancing.

Resolving Conflicts

• Overlapping operations: Drag one operation to a different time or different work center.
• Overallocated work center: Reschedule some operations to other work centers or later dates.
• Overloaded resource: Assign operations to team members with available capacity.
• No capacity available: You need to extend the delivery date, add resources, or run overtime.

When Conflicts Appear

• When you manually reschedule an operation via drag-and-drop
• When you release a work order with dependent operations
• When you assign an operation to a work center or employee
• When new work is added to your schedule

All conflict detection is real-time. As you reschedule, conflicts appear and disappear immediately so you know your schedule is valid.

Work Order Management

FactorySync gives you complete visibility and control over work orders throughout their lifecycle. Track status from Planned through Released, Partially Built, and Built. Access all operation sequences, update statuses, and manage work without leaving your dashboard.

Work Order Lifecycle

• Planned: Work order is created but not yet released to the shop floor. You can reschedule, change quantities, or update due dates without impacting active operations.
• Released: Work order has been released to the floor. Operations are assigned to work centers and resources. This is where the schedule becomes real.
• Partially Built: Some operations are complete, but the full work order isn't finished. You're tracking progress.
• Built: All operations are complete. Ready for shipment or next step in the process.

Accessing Work Order Details

Click any work order in the Kanban Board, Calendar, or Gantt views to open its detail panel. You'll see:

• Work order number and item
• Quantity ordered and quantity built
• Due date and current status
• Full sequence of operations with status, work center, and completion info
• Quick action buttons: Release, Mark Built, Edit

Updating Work Order Status

Change status from any view without opening additional dialogs:

• Kanban: Drag the card to a different column to change status
• Calendar: Click "Mark Built" directly from the day detail modal
• Gantt: Click the "Mark Built" button inline with the operation bar
• Detail Panel: Use the status dropdown to change manually

Filtering Work Orders

Focus on what matters with filters:

• By Status (Planned, Released, Partially Built, Built)
• By Work Center (Assembly, Packaging, etc.)
• By Project or Assembly Item
• By Location
• By Date Range (Active From, Completed On)

Key Capabilities

Batch Actions

Save hours per week with FactorySync's batch action features. Release multiple work orders at once. Mark multiple items as built in a single click. No more repetitive dialog opening—just select, confirm, and go.

Release Multiple Work Orders

Use the Release Multiple feature to push several work orders to the floor at once. Click the Release Multiple button (available on the Kanban Work Orders view), then select which work orders you want to release.

A detail modal opens showing:

• Work order number
• Assembly item
• Quantity ordered
• Scheduled start date
• Checkbox to include/exclude from the release

Review the list, check/uncheck any you want to exclude, then click "Release All Selected." All operations in those work orders move to Released status instantly. Your shop floor knows what to work on next without delay.

Mark Built Multiple

When multiple operations complete, use Mark Built Multiple to update status in batch. Available on the Kanban Operations view, click the button, select the operations that are complete, and confirm. All update instantly.

This is perfect for:

• End-of-shift updates: Mark all completed operations at once instead of one-by-one.
• Batch processing: If 5 items went through the same work center operation, mark them all together.
• Staging area clearout: All finished goods in the staging area marked as built simultaneously.

Select All / Individual Selection

Click "Select All" to quickly check all items in a view, then uncheck any you want to exclude. Or manually select individual items. Both workflows are fast.

Benefits of Batch Actions

• Time savings: Release 20 work orders in 20 seconds instead of 10 minutes of dialog clicking.
• Consistency: All items in a batch release get the same start date and conditions. No mistakes from manual data entry.
• Reduced errors: One confirmation dialog instead of 20 reduces the chance of updating the wrong item.
• Shop floor efficiency: Release work faster. Your team spends less time idle waiting for the next batch.
• End-of-day closure: Mark your day's completed work as built in one operation instead of updating item by item.

When to Use Batch Actions

• Monday morning: Release the week's priority work orders all at once.
• End of shift: Mark all completed operations as built simultaneously.
• Batch processing: Multiple items through the same operation—update together.
• Customer rush: Customer wants 5 orders expedited. Release them all immediately.
• Rework completion: A batch of rework items just finished. Mark them all as built together.

Resource Planning

See every team member's workload on a timeline. FactorySync's Resource Planning view shows individual capacity percentages, identifies overloaded and underutilized staff, and helps you balance work across your team to maximize efficiency.

Resource (Employee) Gantt View

The Resource Gantt displays all employees organized by group (e.g., Assembly Team, Packaging Team). Each employee appears as a row with a horizontal timeline showing which operations they're assigned to.

Understanding Capacity Percentages

Each resource shows a capacity percentage next to their name:

• 0-80%: Green. This person has available capacity. They can take more work.
• 80-100%: Yellow. This person is near their capacity limit. Adding much more will cause overallocation.
• 100%+: Red or pink. This person is overloaded. They have more work assigned than hours available. For example, 213% means they're assigned 2.13x their available hours—a crisis.

The percentage is calculated by dividing total scheduled hours by available hours for the selected date range. If a person normally works 40 hours per week and is assigned 85 hours of work, that's 212.5% capacity.

Color-Coded Operation Bars

Operation bars on each resource's timeline show which work orders they're assigned to. Colors help you visually distinguish different work orders. Click a bar to drill into that operation's detail or jump to the work order.

Identifying and Fixing Imbalance

• Person at 213% (overloaded): Reassign some of their operations to someone at 30% (underutilized). Drag operations between resources to rebalance.
• Skill matching: You can't move Assembly operations to someone in Packaging. But you can identify team members in the same group with available capacity.
• Overtime visibility: If your best people are constantly at 150%+, that's unsustainable. Either hire more staff or change how you schedule.
• Cross-training opportunities: If one group is overloaded and another is idle, you've found a training opportunity.

Resource Group View

Toggle to view resources by group (Assembly Team, Packaging Team, etc.) to see team-level utilization. This helps you understand if entire groups are overloaded or if it's just specific individuals.

Key Capabilities

When to Use Resource Planning

• Weekly planning: See who's booked solid and who has capacity for new work.
• Rebalancing workload: One person is overloaded, another is idle. Move work between them.
• Hiring decisions: Data shows Assembly Team is consistently 150%+ while Packaging is 40%. Hire for Assembly.
• Overtime planning: See who will need overtime this week and plan for labor cost.
• Cross-training: If one team has spare capacity, they're candidates for cross-training to cover bottleneck teams.
• Staffing projections: Track whether adding 2 people would solve your overallocation problem.

Product Roadmap

FactorySync is continuously evolving. Here's what's coming next — designed to make your production scheduling smarter, faster, and more automated.

Q2 2026: Intelligent Recommendations Engine

This is our most ambitious release yet. FactorySync will move from a visual scheduling tool to an intelligent scheduling assistant that actively recommends actions to optimize your production floor.

Q3 2026: Advanced Analytics & Reporting

Q4 2026: Mobile & Multi-Site

Release Timeline

Quarter	Theme	Key Features	Status
Q1 2026	Foundation	Kanban, Calendar, Gantt, Capacity Planning, Live Alerts, Batch Actions, Resource Planning	SHIPPED
Q2 2026	Intelligent Recommendations	Smart rescheduling, bottleneck advisor, load balancing, predictive delay warnings	IN PROGRESS
Q3 2026	Analytics & Reporting	OEE dashboard, historical analysis, automated reports, what-if scenarios	PLANNED
Q4 2026	Mobile & Multi-Site	Mobile views, multi-facility, shift scheduling, maintenance integration	PLANNED

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

What is FactorySync?

FactorySync is a manufacturing scheduling tool built inside NetSuite. It gives production managers real-time visibility into work orders, operations, resources, and capacity. Instead of managing production with spreadsheets, you get visual drag-and-drop scheduling, real-time alerts, and intelligent insights about bottlenecks and resource utilization.

How do I access FactorySync?

FactorySync lives inside NetSuite. If it's installed in your account, you'll see a FactorySync link in your navigation menu. Click it to access the dashboard. No separate login required—you use your NetSuite credentials.

Do I need special permissions to use FactorySync?

Your NetSuite administrator can control who has access to FactorySync and what actions each user can perform. Contact your admin if you don't have access but think you should.

Using the Kanban Board

How do I move an operation between status columns?

Click and drag the operation card to a different column (Not Started → In Progress, or In Progress → Completed). Release the mouse to confirm. The status updates instantly in NetSuite.

What's the difference between Operations and Work Orders views?

Operations: Show individual manufacturing steps in three columns (Not Started, In Progress, Completed). Perfect for tracking work at the step level.

Work Orders: Show entire orders in four columns (Planned, Released, Partially Built, Built). Perfect for understanding which orders are complete.

How do I filter the Kanban board?

Use the filter controls at the top: filter by status, work center, assembly item, location, or date range. Click "Apply Filters" to update the view.

Using Calendar View

How do I reschedule a work order on the calendar?

Click and drag the work order bar to a new date. You can drag it left (earlier) or right (later). Release to confirm. The schedule updates instantly.

How do I see detail for a specific day?

Click any date on the calendar. A detail modal opens showing all work orders and operations scheduled for that day. Click "Mark Built" directly from the modal to update status.

Can I switch between month, week, and day views?

Yes. Use the toggle buttons at the top right of the calendar to switch timescales. Month view is great for planning. Day view is great for detail.

Using Gantt Charts

What's the difference between the three Gantt views?

Work Order Gantt: Shows all operations for one work order in sequence on a timeline.

Work Center Gantt: Shows all work scheduled on a specific work center, with capacity utilization indicators.

Resource Gantt: Shows all work assigned to each team member with individual capacity percentages.

How do I reschedule an operation on the Gantt?

Click and drag the operation bar left (earlier) or right (later). You can also resize the bar to change its duration. Release to confirm.

What do the colors mean on the capacity utilization bars?

Green: Healthy utilization (under 80%). The work center has available capacity.

Yellow: Moderate utilization (80-100%). Near capacity but not overallocated.

Red: Over capacity (above 100%). This work center is a bottleneck.

How do I turn on Due Date Risk and Dependencies?

Look for toggle switches in the top toolbar when you're in a Gantt view. Toggle "Due Date Risk" and "Dependencies" on. Red indicators and arrow lines will appear on the timeline.

Using Capacity Planning

What does the Bottleneck Resource KPI tell me?

It shows which work center has the highest utilization. If it says "SAF Assembly 133%", that work center is assigned 133% of available capacity—severely overloaded. It's your #1 scheduling constraint.

How do I see what operations are on a specific work center?

Click "View All Operations" under the work center's utilization bar. A detail modal opens showing every operation scheduled on that work center with dates, quantities, and status.

What should I do if a work center is red (over capacity)?

You have several options: (1) Reschedule some operations to a later date or different work center. (2) Add staff or equipment to the bottleneck center. (3) Increase the delivery dates you quote to customers. The goal is to get utilization below 100% so you have schedule stability.

Using Live Alerts

Where do I find the alert badge?

Look in the top-right corner of the screen. You'll see an alert icon with a number badge showing how many alerts you have. Click it to open the alert panel.

What does "Blocked by Previous Operation" mean?

An operation can't start because it's waiting for a predecessor operation to complete. If Operation A is the predecessor and it's running late, Operation B will be delayed too.

How do I resolve a material shortage alert?

Click "Material Shortage Alerts" in the alert panel to see the detail. Contact your purchasing team with the item name, location, and quantity short. They can expedite the purchase or find inventory elsewhere.

Advanced Topics

How do I balance workload between team members?

Use the Resource Gantt view. Identify people at high capacity (red, >100%) and people at low capacity (green, <80%). Drag operations from overloaded people to underutilized people to rebalance.

What's the best way to use multiple views?

Calendar: For high-level monthly planning and spotting capacity gaps.

Kanban: For quick status updates and batch actions.

Work Order Gantt: For detailed operation-level scheduling of a specific work order.

Work Center Gantt: For identifying bottlenecks and balancing load across centers.

Resource Gantt: For balancing workload across team members.

Can I export data from FactorySync?

FactorySync data lives in NetSuite. You can export from NetSuite directly, or take screenshots of FactorySync views. For reports, work with your NetSuite administrator.