eschbach debuts Shiftconnector Activity Scheduler

The Activity Scheduler addresses one of the most persistent challenges in pharma plants: connecting long-range planning from systems such as SAP or OMP with the detailed, hour-by-hour scheduling required on the shop floor. As production complexity increases, manual planning approaches are becoming a growing bottleneck for efficiency, collaboration, and real-time visibility of batch execution. Many teams still rely on Excel files to coordinate staging, CIP/SIP steps, changeovers, and other activities that support batch execution.

"With the Activity Scheduler, we are giving production teams a clear and practical way to coordinate the most important hours of their day," said Andreas Eschbach, founder and CEO of eschbach. "Enterprise systems handle long-term planning well, but it's the daily, shift-level decisions that determine whether a plant stays on schedule. This feature brings structure and transparency to a space that has relied on manual tools for far too long."

The new tool enables planners to build and adjust schedules through a drag-and-drop interface, with dependent tasks automatically rescheduled when delays occur. As schedules evolve, enhanced transparency keeps teams aligned and allows them to respond to deviations in real time, significantly reducing the manual status updates via email, phone, or meetings that often slow decision making.

The software also detects equipment conflicts, supports reassignment to alternate equipment, and provides operators with a clear, task focused view of their shift. Through integration with MES and OT systems, actual start and end times are captured automatically, ensuring accurate execution data without additional manual effort.

The Activity Scheduler includes an administrative area for managing templates and approvals. Templates can contain SOP links, durations, labour times, FTE requirements, triggers, dependencies, and lag times, ensuring consistent planning and controlled deployment across the plant. Managers can also use built-in reporting tools to track delays, cycle times, and performance trends, giving teams deeper insight into delay drivers, lifecycle patterns, and opportunities for continuous improvement based on real execution data.

The Activity Scheduler is available to Shiftconnector cloud customers beginning this month.

www.eschbach.com