Ever heard of scheduling “nervousness”? It’s a thing.
If you haven’t read the article I sent last week, here’s the essence:
- Most “AI scheduling” sits on the same requirements-planning logic from the 1980s.
- That logic creates oscillations in high-mix job shops.
- Adding AI on top just accelerates the oscillations.
Those oscillations and constant replanning have been around so long they were given a name back in the 80s in the ERP/MRP literature: **“nervousness.”**¹
What is Scheduling “Nervousness”?
Academic and practitioner sources describe it as the instability of ERP schedules, where small changes in demand or data cause the entire plan to ripple and regenerate—often multiple times a day. This created the familiar “replan–reschedule–firefight” loop.²
But that was the 80s … surely things have changed?
Scheduling software, even the “modern” ones, have not changed — it’s the same planning logic. For example, newer SaaS platforms like Fulcrum or ProShop still rely on dispatch logic underneath the surface.
And job shops have more than the typical number of changes to deal with. I’m preaching to the choir, I know.
That’s why it’s not just legacy ERP systems that are infamous for these nervous oscillations. It’s current systems too.
Constant rescheduling and firefighting live on today.
The impact is so severe that many shops abandon scheduling modules entirely, falling back on Excel or even whiteboards.³
One user summed it up bluntly: ERP scheduling modules often go unused, with most shops relying on Excel instead.⁴
If scheduling software worked … I would not have developed Velocity Scheduling System. It would not have been needed.
VSS alumni already know the alternative. When you protect flow first—control release, full-kit jobs, finish before starting—you break the vicious cycles.
That’s why the article matters: it shows how the industry is dressing up old mistakes with new labels.
👉 Read the full article here: AI Job Shop Scheduling
— Dr. Lisa
¹ ResearchGate: “Nervousness in material requirements planning systems.” Link
² Academic definition: “Instability of ERP schedules where small changes ripple through the plan.” (ibid.)
³ Paraphrased from Practical Machinist forum (MRP Production Planning Software Costs thread): users reported that most ERP users in the job shop world avoid those modules and run their own Excel applications for scheduling. Link
⁴ Paraphrased from Practical Machinist forum (Job Scheduling Software thread): users noted that most job shop users ignore the scheduling modules and run their own Excel applications. Link
