Be mindful of the effect on the shop when scheduling forward versus scheduling backwards. Scheduling forward will fill up your resources regardless of need. Scheduling backwards will define the resource load necessary to meet the schedule - allowing you to retain open capacity to adjust jobs, add more work, shift manpower around, etc.
I would say that you can group equipment by type, which would allow you to narrow down what machines parts run on. If ops don’t specify equipment, it’s kind of challenging for a scheduler to load up your shop.