Manufacturing optimization

Better production plans. More from your capacity

4colors builds stronger production schedules for your machines, materials and people. Plans hold together across the plant, with less wasted capacity.

Good schedules in seconds, where widely used open-source scheduling software needs minutes or runs out of time.

Explore Optimizer for SchedulingDiscuss a manufacturing challenge

A busy machine doesn't always mean an efficient factory

A machine runs at full capacity. Yet work piles up downstream, a rush order slips and the packing line waits for the wrong components. Improving utilization at one workstation can make the overall operation worse.

Production planning requires a broader view. Orders, materials, people, equipment and deadlines are connected. The value comes from optimizing those decisions together, against the objectives that actually matter.

Six orders through cutting, assembly and packing, each with a due time.Ticks: when each order is due. Red: the order ships late.

Orders late5

Last order ships after19 h

Illustrative example, not customer data.

What really determines production throughput

  • Production scheduling and sequencing

    Choose which jobs run on which machines and in what order. Account for changeovers, processing times, eligibility, shifts and delivery deadlines. The goal is a workable schedule that performs well, not just a visually full calendar.

  • Capacity and bottleneck management

    Test what happens when a critical machine loses availability or demand shifts to a different product family. Compare alternatives before committing to overtime, additional shifts or new equipment.

  • Production and logistics planning

    A low-cost production sequence can create expensive inventory or transport requirements. Connecting factory and delivery decisions can reveal better solutions across the supply chain.

Software for manufacturing teams

From the solver engine to ready-made planning apps, pick the level that suits your team.

  • 4colors Optimizer

    The solver engine behind every 4colors product. A portfolio of search methods for hard planning decisions in routing, loading, scheduling and allocation, from Python or the API.

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  • Optimizer for Scheduling

    Advanced scheduling algorithms for the software you build to manage jobs, machines, people and resources. Due dates, setups and shared resources sit in one model.

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  • Planning Applications

    Takt, Roster and Stride bring optimization to production, shift and project planning. When a rush order lands or someone calls in sick, each re-plans within your rules.

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  • Custom Optimization

    Original models and algorithms built around your own resources, rules and objectives. We work with your team from the first prototype to a planner that runs in your systems.

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Relevant work

See the Airbus x BMW competition summary

  • | Winner

    Airbus x BMW Quantum Computing Challenge

    Our Quantum-Powered Logistics approach optimized interconnected production and transportation decisions.

  • Best known

    RG300 project scheduling benchmark

    4colors Optimizer established best-known schedules on 113 of 480 projects in a public project-scheduling benchmark.

    Read the RG300 story

Explore scheduling and sequencing

Factory decisions beneath the schedule

Explore more use cases

What would a better production plan change?

Discuss your manufacturing challengeExplore Custom Optimization