6+ Manufacturing Gantt Chart Templates

What Is a Manufacturing Gantt Chart?

A manufacturing Gantt chart is a diagram that illustrates the relationship between a production process and a production schedule. This is common among businesses that deal with the manufacture of new products such as automotive industries, clothing stores, and many more.

How to Design a Manufacturing Gantt Chart

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, 11.4% of the US economy is contributed by manufacturing industries. Stand out from the competition by ensuring clients you can get things done according to schedule, which you can do by using a Gantt chart. Below is a list of guidelines to help you make one for your business.

1. Determine How Much Time You Have

Gantt charts are all about managing tasks and getting them done within the allotted time. With that said, how can you set schedules if you don’t even know how much time you’re given? Before you get into the tasks and the chart itself, check how much time is available.

2. Identify the Different Manufacturing Processes

After determining the availability of time, start identifying the stages in the manufacturing process. Write these down in a list for future references. In most cases, this will involve production planning, resource management, implementation, and maintenance.

3. Assign Specific Schedules for Each Process

As mentioned earlier, Gantt charts involve scheduling tasks or processes. After preparing the list of processes, you can start allocating your available time among them. Make sure heavier tasks get more time than lighter ones, and more important tasks get done first before others.

4. Start Creating Your Gantt Chart

Whatever tool you’re comfortable with, use it to design your Gantt chart. While most prefer to use Microsoft Excel to make their Gantt charts, you can use other software applications as well. Use whichever works for you, what matters is that the chart ends up catchy and informative.

5. Add Minor Tweaks and Enhancements to the Layout

And finally, add colors to your Gantt chart, especially on the progress bars. This will make each progress bar distinguishable from the others. If you must, feel free to tweak the layout by adding a background image or color gradient. Doing this will make your Gantt chart look attention-grabbing.