Advanced planning and scheduling software, sized for a small plant
APS is the category of software that schedules production against real capacity instead of fixed lead times. It has a reputation for being powerful, expensive and slow to implement. ProductionPlanning.ai keeps the part that matters, the finite capacity engine, and drops the months of tuning.
What APS advanced planning and scheduling means
An APS system builds the schedule operation by operation. Each operation needs a work center, each work center has a limited number of hours in each shift, and the system places work only where it fits. The output is a sequence for every machine and a realistic finish date for every order.
- Finite capacity per work center and shift
- Operations placed in routing order, each after the one before it finishes
- Setup time counted when the product family changes
- A sequencing rule deciding which job goes first when several compete
- Late orders and overloaded work centers visible before they happen
Finite capacity scheduling, step by step
Imagine one mill with two shifts, 16 hours a day. Monday already holds 14 hours of work. A new order needs 5 hours on that mill. An infinite capacity plan puts it on Monday anyway and shows 19 hours. A finite scheduler puts 2 hours in Monday's last window and 3 on Tuesday morning, and moves every later operation of that order by a day. That single difference is why a finite schedule predicts late orders and a lead time plan does not.
- The machine never gets more hours than its shifts hold
- Every downstream operation moves with the one before it
- The order's projected finish date is a result, not a guess
A finite scheduler without the APS implementation
ProductionPlanning.ai uses forward finite capacity scheduling from today, with your shift calendars, setup times and earliest due date sequencing on every plan.
- A choice of sequencing rules: earliest due date, shortest operation first, customer priority (Plant plan and above)
- Changeovers by product family, with grouping of similar jobs on the Plant plan
- Alternative work centers per operation
- Plan versions compared side by side before publishing (Plant plan and above)
- Reschedule after a breakdown in one click
- Shop floor queues and actual times feeding back into the routings (Plant plan and above)
Our guide to job sequencing rules explains how the rule changes the result, and machine scheduling software shows the queue on each machine.
APS and MRP, side by side
MRP answers what to buy and when. APS answers when each job runs and whether the order will ship on time. Most plants need both answers. ProductionPlanning.ai gives the scheduling answer and, on the Plant plan and above, checks material shortages against it, next to the MRP software or ERP you already use.
Run finite production scheduling on a real week
The demo on the home page is the same engine. Switch off a machine and see the schedule move.
Your data stays yours. Export or delete it any time. No card to try the demo.