Production Scheduler "Freely" Releases New Feature "Planning Gantt Chart" on March 25th; Optimizes Process Management by Utilizing Short-Term "Board" and Mid-Term "Gantt"

Nihon Computer Development Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Representative Director: Keiji Eguchi) will release the new feature "Planning Gantt Chart" for the cloud-based production scheduler "Freely" on Wednesday, March 25, 2026.

With the implementation of this feature, it will be possible to selectively use the existing "Planning Board" function, suitable for daily task management, and the "Planning Gantt Chart," suitable for mid- to long-term process management, according to their purpose, dramatically improving the flexibility of site management.

■ New Features and Enhancements

1. Realizing Hybrid Management of "Short-Term Schedule" and "Mid-Term Schedule"

It is possible to use two types of boards according to the customer's operational style.

• [Existing] Planning Board (for Short-Term Schedule):
  A traditional board for assigning task cards by day. Suitable for detailed daily task assignments and responding to sudden task changes.

• [New Feature] Planning Gantt Chart (for Mid-Term Schedule):
  A board that allows visual management of long-term tasks spanning multiple days and the relationships (order) between processes. It is suitable for an overall perspective spanning weeks to months and for simulating delivery dates.

By using these two types of boards, multilayered operations such as "site leaders manage details on the board" and "managers manage overall progress on the Gantt chart" become possible.

2. Seamless Bidirectional Integration with Core Systems

In addition to being easy to migrate from Excel or whiteboards, data integration with existing core systems (such as production management systems and sales management systems) is also possible.

• Import:
  Import core system "order data" or "manufacturing instruction data" into Freely to immediately deploy it as planning data.

• Export:
  Feedback work results (start, completion, man-hours, etc.) registered on Freely to the core system.  

This eliminates the effort of double entry and simultaneously achieves improved accuracy in budget/actual management and increased efficiency in back-office operations.

3. Speed Up Planning and Adjustments with Intuitive Operations

Dates and personnel can be changed via drag-and-drop on the Gantt chart. We pursued a UI (User Interface) that can be intuitively handled even by site staff unfamiliar with system operations.

■ About "Freely"

"Freely" is a production scheduler born from the site-first philosophy of "easier to use, easier to start, easier to understand." The pursuit of an interface that lowers the barrier to entry and can be intuitively operated by anyone stems from the desire to value the voices of each individual working on site. We have directly reflected improvement requests from numerous users and have continuously updated its functions. Moving forward, "Freely" will continue to enhance the daily lives of those on site...