What Is Schedule Adherence?
Schedule Adherence measures how well actual production matches the planned schedule. It answers: did we produce what we said we would, when we said we would?
The Formula
Schedule Adherence = (Jobs Completed On Schedule ÷ Total Scheduled Jobs) × 100%Data Requirements
| Source | Required | What You Need |
|---|---|---|
| ERP | Yes | Production schedule (planned jobs, quantities, due dates) |
| MES | Yes | Actual job completion times, quantities, status |
Schedule Adherence is a Phase 3 metric — it requires ERP and MES integration.
Why It Matters
- Planning effectiveness — reveals how well schedules reflect reality
- Customer service — can you meet commitments reliably?
- Disruption visibility — identifies what causes schedule misses (breakdowns, material shortages, staffing)
- Resource optimisation — better scheduling leads to better asset and labour utilisation
Best Practices
- Track reasons for schedule misses to drive improvements
- Use actual capability data (OEE, Uptime) to build more realistic schedules
- Measure at both product and facility level
- Adjust schedules based on demonstrated capability, not theoretical capacity
Related Metrics
- On-Time Delivery — schedule adherence drives delivery performance
- Order Fulfilment Rate — the customer-facing outcome
- Capacity Utilisation — scheduling directly affects utilisation
- Backlog — growing backlog may signal schedule adherence problems