Click here for free sample Gantt chart software for manufacturing.
Gantt chart definition
The Gantt chart is the standard format for displaying a schedule graphically. It consists of a horizontal bar chart with time as the horizontal axis and either resources, operations, or orders as the vertical axis. Individual operations are displayed as horizontal bars in the chart, indicating the time at which the operation begins and ends. Many variations on the Gantt chart exist to display additional kinds of information.
Gantt charts can be drawn physically on paper, but nowadays are usually implemented through computer software.
Gantt chart example
The image above is a screenshot of a Gantt chart from the production scheduling software Asprova. Specifically, this is an example of a resource Gantt chart, since the vertical axis represents the various resources (machines, work centers, etc.) that can perform operations in the factory.
A number of important elements of the Gantt chart are visible in this image:
Resources are displayed on the left side of the Gantt chart as colored bars along marked with their resource codes (NC11, NC12, etc.).
- Time line
At the top of the Gantt chart, you can see the continuous time line, with the days and days of the week marked for clarity.
- Work calendar
The gray shaded areas in the Gantt chart represent the time periods in which each resource is available to do work. Unavailable time (e.g., vacations, lunch breaks, maintenance breaks, etc.) are shown with a plain white background. For the "InspectionCenter1" resource, the height of the gray areas represents the number or quantity of resources that are available during that time period.
The colored bars in the body of the Gantt chart represent the individual operations that have been scheduled. From the position of the operation on the Gantt chart, you can see which resources the operation has been assigned to, when the operation is scheduled to start and end, as well as the operation's setup time and whether the operation will be suspended over any unavailable time periods. The text on the colored bars conveys various additional information, such as the operation code, the item being produced, and the quantity being produced.
- Manufacturing orders
In this example, operations belonging to the same manufacturing order are displayed in the same color. For example, the 6 operations displayed in yellow correspond to the various processes in order "04". When the mouse cursor is placed over one of these operations, lines appear showing the precedence constraints between the operations in the manufacturing order.
Features of modern software Gantt charts
- Dragging and dropping operations
- Changing the work calendar from popup menus
- Resizing rows and columns with the mouse
- Zooming in and out
- Jumping to other displays and master tables
- Customizing the text displayed
- Customizing color-coding schemes
- Customizing the display order of resources
- Filtering the resources that are displayed
- Displaying late operations in a special way
- Displaying broken constraints in a special way
- Displaying setup time
- Displaying lines representing time constraints between operations
Free sample Gantt chart software
Register as a member to download a free brochure and trial version of the Asprova production scheduling software.
The trial version supports all scheduling and display features - including a fully interactive Gantt chart like the one described above. You can experiment with the included sample data or enter your own data with a maximum of 250 operations.
Click here to become a member.
It takes only a minute and is free of charge.