I'm currently evaluating a food manufacturing company and have realized, through observing the owners operate day-to-day, that the current process for managing workflow could and should be improved upon. The method for entering a sales order, translating this demand into a production schedule, which is then used to manage plant personnel, inventory, purchasing, etc. involves manual entry, basic spreadsheets, pen and paper, and essentially the owners decades-worth of experience.

I'm curious if anyone has implemented solutions specific to this problem and may have suggestions on how to improve the process. I'm fairly competent in excel and in using Solver and feel that this is beyond it's capabilities. An algorithmic production scheduling system that updates in real time would free up a lot of time and optimize across several departments. I've looked into solutions offered by AnyLogic and Shopify and wasn't convinced the problem would be solved using these.

Open to any and all suggestions - thanks in advance.