September 29, 2025 • 16 mins
Inaccurate routing times can quietly erode profits, delay schedules, and drain resources. In this episode, we break down how to move from guesswork to precision with the PEAR loop—Plan, Execute, Analyze, Adjust, Repeat. Learn how tools like Routing Analysis in Business Central capture real-time shop floor data, pinpoint bottlenecks, and update routings instantly for consistent, predictable, and profitable production.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(05:20):
Welcome to Inside Insight, your quick hit of
(01:02:20):
tips, tools and trends for manufacturing, distribution
(01:52:12):
and dynamics. 365 Business Central, brought
(02:34:57):
to you by Insight Works. Imagine this, it's
Ryan (03:31:57):
Monday morning, right?
Emma (03:53:20):
Yeah.
Ryan (04:06:40):
And your production schedule looks absolutely
(04:43:47):
perfect. I mean perfect on paper. Every minute
(05:33:16):
accounted for, every resource allocated. You're
(06:10:24):
feeling pretty good about it.
Emma (06:42:40):
Yeah.
Ryan (06:48:40):
The ideal start, but then maybe noon rolls
(07:46:26):
around and that two hour welding step, it's
(08:44:13):
already creeping into hour three.
Emma (09:23:00):
Oh, yeah, I know that feeling.
Ryan (09:49:40):
And suddenly your assembly team, you know,
(10:28:56):
further down the line, they're just standing
(11:08:13):
around idle, costing money, costing you money
(11:47:29):
by the minute.
Emma (12:04:20):
Yeah.
Ryan (12:23:00):
And meanwhile, quietly, almost invisibly, these
(13:05:46):
costing variances are just accumulating, eating
(13:48:32):
away at your margins. Does that sound familiar
(14:45:34):
at all?
Emma (14:59:50):
Sounds all too familiar for many manufacturers,
(15:39:30):
unfortunately.
Ryan (15:46:30):
Yeah. And this isn't just like a minor scheduling
(16:46:30):
hiccup, is it? This is the really real, often
(17:46:30):
painful and incredibly frustrating experience
(18:19:50):
of bad estimates and inaccurate routing times
(19:06:30):
just cascading through your whole operation.
Emma (19:50:30):
Exactly. These inaccuracies, they don't just
(20:32:00):
cause one problem. They sort of multiply the
(21:27:22):
headaches across everything. You know, from
(22:08:53):
costing, scheduling and ultimately your ability
(22:50:24):
to actually meet delivery promises.
Ryan (23:26:20):
Yeah, it's like a fundamental breakdown of
(24:00:10):
predictability.
Emma (24:05:00):
It really is.
Ryan (24:33:00):
So our mission for this deep dive, what we
(25:23:39):
want to get into, is understanding how to move
(26:14:18):
from that painful cycle of just guessing to
(26:59:19):
actually knowing in your production process.
(27:33:05):
And this isn't just tweaking a number. Right.
(28:18:06):
It's more fundamental.
Emma (28:35:00):
It's about rethinking how the operation learns
(29:33:51):
and adapts, really. Moving from reactive firefighting
(30:32:42):
to something more proactive.
Ryan (31:10:40):
Proactive precision. I like that. So we're
(31:40:55):
going to try and uncover the blueprint for
(32:15:29):
this. And the cornerstone of it all seems to
(32:54:23):
be something called a routing.
Emma (33:25:20):
Indeed.
Ryan (33:34:00):
Yeah.
Emma (33:40:40):
Yeah. In manufacturing, especially if you're
(34:17:26):
using systems like, say, Business Central,
(34:54:13):
a routing is essentially, think of it like
(35:43:16):
the DNA of your product, your manufacturing
(36:26:10):
recipe. Basically, it's a detailed step by
(37:09:05):
step list of every single operation needed.
Ryan (37:53:20):
So like setup time, set up time.
Emma (38:24:40):
The actual runtime for each unit, even the
(39:01:12):
move time between work centers, and, you know,
(39:37:44):
any waiting periods involved.
Ryan (39:56:00):
Right.
Emma (40:09:00):
And the critical insight here is its foundational
(40:55:42):
role. Routings directly dictate your scheduling.
(41:30:45):
They calculate your labor and machine costs,
(42:11:37):
and they're absolutely essential for, well,
(42:46:39):
effective capacity planning. If you want to
(43:27:32):
know how it gets made, how much it costs and
(44:25:56):
how long it should take, you look at the routing.
Ryan (45:24:20):
Okay, so if these routings are the absolute
(46:10:48):
backbone, the DNA like you Said, how deeply
(46:57:17):
does an inaccuracy there. How does that ripple
(47:43:46):
through the whole operation? Can you paint
(48:24:26):
a picture of those effects?
Emma (48:53:30):
Oh, it's a profound ripple effect. It really
(49:42:00):
is. What's often overlooked is how just one
(50:30:31):
seemingly small inaccuracy at that routing
(51:06:54):
level, it can just metastasize, you know, create
(51:55:25):
chaos across the whole thing. Accurate routings
(52:37:51):
are paramount because, well, they directly
(53:14:14):
determine the start and finish dates for production
(54:02:45):
orders. They calculate your labor and machine
(54:45:12):
costs with precision. Hopefully. And they genuinely
(55:27:39):
empower planners to balance workloads across
(56:04:02):
all resources.
Ryan (56:16:10):
The loaders, the machine.
Emma (56:38:30):
Exactly. Your skilled welders, your automated
(57:13:54):
lines, everything. But when those initial numbers
(57:55:13):
are off, you immediately start seeing those
(58:36:32):
pain points. You'll get late orders because
(59:17:51):
your estimated times were, well, too optimistic.
Ryan (59:59:10):
Right. Underestimated.
Emma (60:17:10):
You'll see inflated costs because your actual
(60:58:54):
labor and machine hours blow past what you
(61:46:36):
planned for eating into your margins. And crucially,
(62:34:19):
you end up with inefficient resource use. Imagine
(63:22:01):
a key part for a big customer order just sitting
(64:21:39):
idle, waiting, waiting in a queue for hours,
(65:09:21):
maybe days, because the step before it consistently
(65:57:04):
takes 30% longer than the routing says. That's
(66:44:46):
a direct hit.
Ryan (67:02:40):
Reputation, bottom line.
Emma (67:22:40):
Reputation, bottom line, team morale, all of
(67:53:55):
it. You're either overalllocating or under
(68:20:42):
allocating people and machines. It leads right
(68:51:57):
back to those idle teams and missed deadlines
(69:27:40):
you mentioned at the start.
Ryan (69:59:20):
So we're stuck in this cycle of guessing where
(70:47:08):
the plan just drifts away from reality. But,
(71:29:38):
okay, what if there was a way to sort of lift
(72:28:05):
the veil, to peer into the shop floor and see
(73:21:12):
the truth, not just the plan on paper. What's
(74:09:01):
the key to unlocking that visibility, bridging
(74:46:12):
that gap.
Emma (74:59:30):
Right. And that's where we pivot, you know,
(75:45:14):
from just identifying the problem to actually
(76:25:15):
enacting a solution. It begs the question,
(77:05:16):
how do you stop making these critical decisions
(77:51:00):
on stale estimates?
Ryan (78:08:10):
Yeah.
Emma (78:17:30):
And instead start planning with live action,
(78:57:40):
accurate data. This is where a dedicated analysis
(79:43:35):
tool comes in. Something like the Routing Analysis
(80:29:30):
app, which integrates nicely with systems like
(81:09:41):
Business Central.
Ryan (81:23:50):
Okay.
Emma (81:34:30):
Its core purpose is exactly that. Bridge the
(82:23:43):
gap between planned and actual performance.
(83:00:39):
It does this by pulling runtime data directly
(83:49:53):
from completed production orders.
Ryan (84:15:50):
So real data.
Emma (84:33:10):
Real data. And then it does a few key things.
(85:26:58):
It meticulously compares actual times versus
(85:59:15):
expected times for each step, gives you that
(86:42:18):
side by side view.
Ryan (87:05:10):
Reality versus the blueprint.
Emma (87:34:30):
Exactly. Highlights those persistent bottlenecks,
(88:11:14):
the steps that consistently slow things down.
(89:02:40):
And importantly, it measures variability with
(89:46:46):
a standard deviation score.
Ryan (90:16:10):
Standard deviation. Yeah, yeah. What does that
(90:45:12):
tell you?
Emma (90:53:30):
It gives you immediate insight into whether
(91:27:41):
your results are predictable and consistent,
(91:56:59):
or if they're, like you said, all over the
(92:40:56):
map. Perhaps its most powerful feature though,
(93:15:07):
is the ability to update those routings right
(93:54:11):
there on the spot. No waiting for the next
(94:38:08):
big review, no manual number crunching. You
(95:12:19):
see the insight, you act on it.
Ryan (95:46:30):
That sounds incredibly powerful. Not just seeing
(96:20:48):
the problem, but actually having the immediate
(96:55:06):
power to fix it. But this isn't just about
(97:39:13):
the tool itself, is it? It sounds like it's
(98:23:19):
part of a bigger process.
Emma (98:54:30):
Absolutely.
Ryan (99:05:50):
Like a continuous thing. What are the practical 161 99:50:22,000 --> 100:34:54,000 Ryan
Welcome to Inside Insight, your quick hit of
(01:02:20):
tips, tools and trends for manufacturing, distribution
(01:52:12):
and dynamics. 365 Business Central, brought
(02:34:57):
to you by Insight Works. Imagine this, it's
Ryan (03:31:57):
Monday morning, right?
Emma (03:53:20):
Yeah.
Ryan (04:06:40):
And your production schedule looks absolutely
(04:43:47):
perfect. I mean perfect on paper. Every minute
(05:33:16):
accounted for, every resource allocated. You're
(06:10:24):
feeling pretty good about it.
Emma (06:42:40):
Yeah.
Ryan (06:48:40):
The ideal start, but then maybe noon rolls
(07:46:26):
around and that two hour welding step, it's
(08:44:13):
already creeping into hour three.
Emma (09:23:00):
Oh, yeah, I know that feeling.
Ryan (09:49:40):
And suddenly your assembly team, you know,
(10:28:56):
further down the line, they're just standing
(11:08:13):
around idle, costing money, costing you money
(11:47:29):
by the minute.
Emma (12:04:20):
Yeah.
Ryan (12:23:00):
And meanwhile, quietly, almost invisibly, these
(13:05:46):
costing variances are just accumulating, eating
(13:48:32):
away at your margins. Does that sound familiar
(14:45:34):
at all?
Emma (14:59:50):
Sounds all too familiar for many manufacturers,
(15:39:30):
unfortunately.
Ryan (15:46:30):
Yeah. And this isn't just like a minor scheduling
(16:46:30):
hiccup, is it? This is the really real, often
(17:46:30):
painful and incredibly frustrating experience
(18:19:50):
of bad estimates and inaccurate routing times
(19:06:30):
just cascading through your whole operation.
Emma (19:50:30):
Exactly. These inaccuracies, they don't just
(20:32:00):
cause one problem. They sort of multiply the
(21:27:22):
headaches across everything. You know, from
(22:08:53):
costing, scheduling and ultimately your ability
(22:50:24):
to actually meet delivery promises.
Ryan (23:26:20):
Yeah, it's like a fundamental breakdown of
(24:00:10):
predictability.
Emma (24:05:00):
It really is.
Ryan (24:33:00):
So our mission for this deep dive, what we
(25:23:39):
want to get into, is understanding how to move
(26:14:18):
from that painful cycle of just guessing to
(26:59:19):
actually knowing in your production process.
(27:33:05):
And this isn't just tweaking a number. Right.
(28:18:06):
It's more fundamental.
Emma (28:35:00):
It's about rethinking how the operation learns
(29:33:51):
and adapts, really. Moving from reactive firefighting
(30:32:42):
to something more proactive.
Ryan (31:10:40):
Proactive precision. I like that. So we're
(31:40:55):
going to try and uncover the blueprint for
(32:15:29):
this. And the cornerstone of it all seems to
(32:54:23):
be something called a routing.
Emma (33:25:20):
Indeed.
Ryan (33:34:00):
Yeah.
Emma (33:40:40):
Yeah. In manufacturing, especially if you're
(34:17:26):
using systems like, say, Business Central,
(34:54:13):
a routing is essentially, think of it like
(35:43:16):
the DNA of your product, your manufacturing
(36:26:10):
recipe. Basically, it's a detailed step by
(37:09:05):
step list of every single operation needed.
Ryan (37:53:20):
So like setup time, set up time.
Emma (38:24:40):
The actual runtime for each unit, even the
(39:01:12):
move time between work centers, and, you know,
(39:37:44):
any waiting periods involved.
Ryan (39:56:00):
Right.
Emma (40:09:00):
And the critical insight here is its foundational
(40:55:42):
role. Routings directly dictate your scheduling.
(41:30:45):
They calculate your labor and machine costs,
(42:11:37):
and they're absolutely essential for, well,
(42:46:39):
effective capacity planning. If you want to
(43:27:32):
know how it gets made, how much it costs and
(44:25:56):
how long it should take, you look at the routing.
Ryan (45:24:20):
Okay, so if these routings are the absolute
(46:10:48):
backbone, the DNA like you Said, how deeply
(46:57:17):
does an inaccuracy there. How does that ripple
(47:43:46):
through the whole operation? Can you paint
(48:24:26):
a picture of those effects?
Emma (48:53:30):
Oh, it's a profound ripple effect. It really
(49:42:00):
is. What's often overlooked is how just one
(50:30:31):
seemingly small inaccuracy at that routing
(51:06:54):
level, it can just metastasize, you know, create
(51:55:25):
chaos across the whole thing. Accurate routings
(52:37:51):
are paramount because, well, they directly
(53:14:14):
determine the start and finish dates for production
(54:02:45):
orders. They calculate your labor and machine
(54:45:12):
costs with precision. Hopefully. And they genuinely
(55:27:39):
empower planners to balance workloads across
(56:04:02):
all resources.
Ryan (56:16:10):
The loaders, the machine.
Emma (56:38:30):
Exactly. Your skilled welders, your automated
(57:13:54):
lines, everything. But when those initial numbers
(57:55:13):
are off, you immediately start seeing those
(58:36:32):
pain points. You'll get late orders because
(59:17:51):
your estimated times were, well, too optimistic.
Ryan (59:59:10):
Right. Underestimated.
Emma (60:17:10):
You'll see inflated costs because your actual
(60:58:54):
labor and machine hours blow past what you
(61:46:36):
planned for eating into your margins. And crucially,
(62:34:19):
you end up with inefficient resource use. Imagine
(63:22:01):
a key part for a big customer order just sitting
(64:21:39):
idle, waiting, waiting in a queue for hours,
(65:09:21):
maybe days, because the step before it consistently
(65:57:04):
takes 30% longer than the routing says. That's
(66:44:46):
a direct hit.
Ryan (67:02:40):
Reputation, bottom line.
Emma (67:22:40):
Reputation, bottom line, team morale, all of
(67:53:55):
it. You're either overalllocating or under
(68:20:42):
allocating people and machines. It leads right
(68:51:57):
back to those idle teams and missed deadlines
(69:27:40):
you mentioned at the start.
Ryan (69:59:20):
So we're stuck in this cycle of guessing where
(70:47:08):
the plan just drifts away from reality. But,
(71:29:38):
okay, what if there was a way to sort of lift
(72:28:05):
the veil, to peer into the shop floor and see
(73:21:12):
the truth, not just the plan on paper. What's
(74:09:01):
the key to unlocking that visibility, bridging
(74:46:12):
that gap.
Emma (74:59:30):
Right. And that's where we pivot, you know,
(75:45:14):
from just identifying the problem to actually
(76:25:15):
enacting a solution. It begs the question,
(77:05:16):
how do you stop making these critical decisions
(77:51:00):
on stale estimates?
Ryan (78:08:10):
Yeah.
Emma (78:17:30):
And instead start planning with live action,
(78:57:40):
accurate data. This is where a dedicated analysis
(79:43:35):
tool comes in. Something like the Routing Analysis
(80:29:30):
app, which integrates nicely with systems like
(81:09:41):
Business Central.
Ryan (81:23:50):
Okay.
Emma (81:34:30):
Its core purpose is exactly that. Bridge the
(82:23:43):
gap between planned and actual performance.
(83:00:39):
It does this by pulling runtime data directly
(83:49:53):
from completed production orders.
Ryan (84:15:50):
So real data.
Emma (84:33:10):
Real data. And then it does a few key things.
(85:26:58):
It meticulously compares actual times versus
(85:59:15):
expected times for each step, gives you that
(86:42:18):
side by side view.
Ryan (87:05:10):
Reality versus the blueprint.
Emma (87:34:30):
Exactly. Highlights those persistent bottlenecks,
(88:11:14):
the steps that consistently slow things down.
(89:02:40):
And importantly, it measures variability with
(89:46:46):
a standard deviation score.
Ryan (90:16:10):
Standard deviation. Yeah, yeah. What does that
(90:45:12):
tell you?
Emma (90:53:30):
It gives you immediate insight into whether
(91:27:41):
your results are predictable and consistent,
(91:56:59):
or if they're, like you said, all over the
(92:40:56):
map. Perhaps its most powerful feature though,
(93:15:07):
is the ability to update those routings right
(93:54:11):
there on the spot. No waiting for the next
(94:38:08):
big review, no manual number crunching. You
(95:12:19):
see the insight, you act on it.
Ryan (95:46:30):
That sounds incredibly powerful. Not just seeing
(96:20:48):
the problem, but actually having the immediate
(96:55:06):
power to fix it. But this isn't just about
(97:39:13):
the tool itself, is it? It sounds like it's
(98:23:19):
part of a bigger process.
Emma (98:54:30):
Absolutely.
Ryan (99:05:50):
Like a continuous thing. What are the practical 161 99:50:22,000 --> 100:34:54,000 Ryan
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