The objective of this paper is to present a quantified analysis of the actual work activities of four schedulers within Swedish woodworking companies. Data collection was mainly based on observations of work activities. The findings show that about two thirds of the schedulers’ activities belong to what is generally considered to be the scheduling task. The remaining activities are dependent on the schedulers’ individual attributes as well as the context in which they work. Interruptions and disturbances are an important part of the schedulers’ work content, and may cause high workload and stress. A final conclusion is that the scheduling task can be regarded as a service task in an industrial context.