Flow Scheduling > Overview of Flow Scheduling > Flow Linearity
  
Flow Linearity
Linearity is the relationship between scheduled production rates and actual production. Linearity is calculated by comparing the daily scheduled production with daily completed production. The aggregation of all days in a selected period is then used to determine linearity.
It is important to enter production receipts on a daily basis so that the application of receipts to the scheduled orders is correct.
Example: Production is scheduled in 5-day periods. The planned production rate is 20 units per day, and the actual production for the five days is as follows: 19, 20, 23, 21, and 19. Although the planned and actual production for the period result in a total of 100 units, this is not a good indication of the daily deviations that occurred.

Planned versus Actual Production
 
Production
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Totals
Scheduled
20
20
20
20
20
100
Actual
19
20
23
21
17
100
Deviation
1
0
3
1
3
8
The formula for a linearity index is:
Linearity Index% = (1 - (Sum of absolute deviations / Total rate)) * 100
In the above example, the linearity index is:
(1 - (8 / 100)) * 100 = 92.0%
A linearity index is intended to provide an indication of the success of actual production rates to the planned rates. A consistent level of daily production tends to promote consistent product quality and eliminates the costs associated with unplanned overtime.
After you have entered flow schedules and record completions by receiving completed orders, you can generate linearity summaries to judge the efficiency of your production lines.
See Flow Schedule Reports.