How the cascade pulls dates along

The cascade is the core of Gantway: when one work step shifts, Gantway recalculates the dates of all dependent steps — including free gaps in the resources and taking into account what other orders already occupy there.

Three conditions for the cascade to take effect

1. There is at least one dependency. Without a chain, every task is scheduled individually — nothing "knows" that it should move up. That is the most common answer to "Why aren't my follow-up dates shifting?": set dependencies.
2. Planning is forward (from the start date). With backward planning from the end date, Gantway schedules each task individually.
3. The task is not a fixed point. Three kinds of task are never moved by the cascade: pinned ones (deliberately locked in the order Gantt — sidebar Orders → open the order → tab "Tasks" → button "Open Gantt view"), running ones and finished ones. What has started or been completed is not re-dated retroactively.

You have the final word

For date changes on the order and for changes to the date, duration or buffer on a work step, Gantway asks "Recalculate dates?" beforehand and says exactly what would happen: "Your change shifts {n} dependent position(s) … Already running or completed positions remain unchanged." With "Apply dates" the shift runs; with "Don't move" everything stays put.

Buffer between the steps

After each predecessor, the cascade adds its "buffer minutes" to the following date — the slack for drying, retooling, transport. The "Buffer" field sits on the expanded work step in the order's "Tasks" tab; if it is empty, the order's default value applies.