Master production schedule, explained with a worked example
The master production schedule (MPS) is the plan of what the plant will finish, product by product, week by week. It sits between the sales forecast and the detailed machine schedule, and it is the number sales should promise from.
What an MPS master production schedule is
An MPS states how many of each finished product the plant will complete in each period, usually weeks, over the next two to three months. It is built from firm orders and forecasts, netted against stock, and checked against capacity.
- Demand: firm customer orders plus the forecast for the rest of the period
- Projected stock at the end of each week
- Planned production quantities that keep stock above a safety level
- Available to promise: how much of the plan is not yet sold
Master production schedule example, one product over four weeks
One product, 60 units in stock at the start, a safety stock of 20, and a production batch of 100.
| Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forecast | 40 | 40 | 50 | 50 |
| Firm orders | 45 | 30 | 20 | 10 |
| Demand used | 45 | 40 | 50 | 50 |
| MPS production | 100 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Projected stock | 115 | 75 | 25 | 75 |
How the numbers work, week by week:
- Week 1: 60 in stock, demand 45 (the larger of forecast and firm orders), stock would drop to 15, below safety, so a batch of 100 is planned. 60 plus 100 minus 45 leaves 115.
- Week 2: demand 40, stock 75, no batch needed.
- Week 3: demand 50, stock 25, still above the safety level of 20.
- Week 4: demand 50 would leave minus 25, so a batch of 100 is planned. 25 plus 100 minus 50 leaves 75.
Available to promise in week 1 is 60 in stock plus the batch of 100, minus the 95 units of firm orders due in weeks 1 to 3, before the next batch arrives in week 4. That leaves 65 units sales can still promise.
Master production planning only works if capacity checks it
The MPS says 100 units in week 1 and week 4. It does not say whether the machines can make them in those weeks alongside every other product. That check is rough cut capacity planning, and in practice it is where most MPS plans go wrong: every product's plan looks fine alone, and the total does not fit.
ProductionPlanning.ai runs that check for real. Weekly quantities become orders, orders are scheduled with finite capacity on your work centers, and any week that does not fit shows the late orders and the overloaded machine. Read more about capacity planning software.
Master production schedule software that connects to the floor
- Weekly quantities per product from firm orders, and from forecasts (Plant plan and above)
- Scheduled on real work centers, shifts and setup times
- Late weeks and overloaded work centers marked before you commit
- Plan versions compared side by side (Plant plan and above)
- Forecast inputs described on the production forecasting software page
Turn your MPS into a schedule every machine can run
Create your account and schedule your weekly plan with finite capacity.
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