Queue & scheduling
What is job routing?
Job routing is the automatic assignment of a queued 3D print job to a specific printer, based on which machines can run the job and which are free, rather than on a human deciding in advance.
Also known as: print job assignment, automatic job assignment, job dispatch
What routing decides
Routing evaluates each waiting job against the current state of the fleet:
- Capability: build volume, nozzle, and process constraints the job requires.
- Material: the filament or resin loaded, or available to be loaded.
- Availability: whether the machine is printing, idle, or held for maintenance.
- Balance: spreading work rather than concentrating it on the newest or nearest machine.
Why late binding beats early binding
Assigning a job to a printer at submission time locks in a decision made with stale information. By the time the job reaches the front of the queue, the chosen printer may be mid-job, offline, or loaded with the wrong material, and the job waits behind a constraint that no longer needs to exist.
Binding the job to a printer at dispatch time, when the machine is actually free, is what keeps utilization high on a mixed fleet.