Production control
Run the floor in real time, not in hindsight.
Production control turns the shop floor into live signal - work orders, routings, operations, and labor tracked as they happen, with embedded Trunnion AI agents watching throughput, bottlenecks, and yield so supervisors act on the constraint instead of discovering it at end of shift.
The challenge
- !Work order status lives on paper travelers and whiteboards, so the floor's true state is hours stale
- !Bottlenecks and starved machines are only obvious after the shift, when the schedule is already blown
- !Labor and machine time are back-flushed from memory, so cost and capacity numbers can't be trusted
- !Scrap and rework are recorded too late and too coarsely to drive yield improvement
- !Production, scheduling, quality, and inventory each hold a different version of where the job actually is
What it does
- ✓Live work order execution from release to close, with operation-level start, pause, and complete signals straight from the floor
- ✓Routings and BOMs drive each job through its operations, work centers, tooling, and setup-versus-run standards
- ✓Real-time WIP, throughput, and OEE - availability, performance, and quality - by work center, line, and shift
- ✓Trunnion AI bottleneck and constraint detection surfaces the slowest station and the jobs starving behind it before the shift ends
- ✓Labor and machine time capture by operation feeds true job cost, earned hours, and capacity without back-flush guesswork
- ✓Scrap, rework, and first-pass-yield recorded at the operation, with reason codes that flow to quality and finance
- ✓Digital shop traveler and operator work instructions replace paper, with the current revision enforced at the station
- ✓Electronic batch and device-history records for regulated runs, captured as the job is built
Inside the module
Every capability, included.
The intelligence
Agents that watch the floor with you.
Production control is wired to Trunnion AI, the embedded engine that runs across Cortrova in three tiers of agents. On the floor, they read the same live signal your supervisors do - and act on it sooner.
Bottleneck Sentinel
Continuously ranks work centers by load against capacity, names the current constraint, and shows the jobs queued behind it before the constraint shows up in the numbers.
Yield Watch
Correlates scrap and rework reason codes by part, operation, and machine, flagging a drifting process while there is still material left to save.
Throughput Forecast
Projects shift and day output from real-time pace, so a job that will miss its due date is surfaced at hour two, not at handover.
From release to close
One job, one source of truth.
A work order moves through its routing operation by operation. Every start, pause, complete, scrap, and rework is captured at the station and shared instantly with scheduling, inventory, quality, and finance - so there is never a second version of where the job is.
Paperless travelers
The current routing, revision, and work instructions are enforced at the station, eliminating the wrong-rev build and the lost paper traveler.
Honest labor and machine time
Time is captured per operation as work happens, feeding earned hours, true job cost, and real capacity instead of end-of-shift estimates.
Built-in genealogy
Lot and serial consumption is recorded as the unit is built, so full as-built genealogy and traceability exist the moment the job closes.
Connected across the platform
One source of truth.
Scheduling
Live operation status feeds the finite schedule, so when a station falls behind the plan re-sequences against real capacity instead of an assumed one.
Inventory
BOM consumption and back-flush relieve raw and WIP stock as operations complete, keeping on-hand and availability honest to the minute.
Quality / QMS
Operation-level inspections, scrap, and rework feed defect events and first-pass yield, tying every nonconformance back to the job and station that produced it.
Standards & compliance
Built in, not bolted on.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
How does Production control track work orders on the floor?
Each work order is driven by its routing and BOM through a sequence of operations and work centers. Operators start, pause, and complete operations directly at the station from a digital traveler, capturing labor and machine time, scrap, and rework as they go. The result is live WIP and operation status shared across the platform, rather than a paper traveler reconciled hours later.
What does Cortrova measure for OEE and throughput?
Production control computes OEE from its three components - availability, performance, and quality - by work center, line, and shift, alongside throughput, cycle time, and downtime by reason code. Because the data comes from live operation signals and not back-flushed estimates, the numbers reflect what the floor is actually doing right now.
How do the AI agents help with bottlenecks?
Trunnion AI agents continuously compare load against capacity at every work center, name the current constraint, and show the jobs starving behind it. Paired with a throughput forecast off real-time pace, a supervisor sees a job heading for a late finish at hour two of the shift - early enough to add a setup, move labor, or re-sequence - instead of finding out at handover.
Does Production control support regulated and traceable builds?
Yes. Lot and serial genealogy is captured as the unit is built, and electronic batch and device-history records are produced as the job runs, supporting FDA 21 CFR Part 11, AS9100, and IATF 16949 traceability requirements. Operator instructions and routings are revision-controlled at the station so only the current approved process can be executed.
How does Production connect to scheduling and inventory?
Production control shares one data model with the rest of Cortrova. Operation status feeds the finite schedule so the plan re-sequences against real capacity, while BOM consumption and back-flush relieve raw and WIP inventory as operations complete. Scrap, rework, and yield flow to quality and finance, so a single job event updates the whole platform at once.
Get started
See Production on your shop floor.
We'll tailor a demo to your operation and constraints.