Finding the perfect manufacturing ERP solution is like finding the lost city of Atlantis—you know it exists, but you’re just not sure how to go about searching for it. Plus, there are so many types of manufacturing ERP solutions to choose from that you don’t know where to start. We understand. To narrow down your search by a few pegs, have you ever considered investing in production scheduling software?

Production scheduling software is somewhat similar to production planning software but on a more detailed scale, working to effectively keep you on top of resources to meet your production requirements. Please give a round of applause to our efficient research team for compiling an elaborate roster of the best production scheduling software. Let’s discuss these solutions’ key traits and their best benefits and modules before plunging into our list.

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Overview

Production scheduling software and production planning software are similar when allocating materials, machinery, employees and other resources. But some distinct differences separate the two. These differences include:

Production Scheduling

• Defines amounts of individual finished merchandise or stock-keeping units (SKUs).
• Spans between one month and two years at the most.
• Coordinates all available resources to define priorities and initiates rapid handling times.

Production Planning

• Initiate the quantities required to fulfill a group of SKUs.
• Spans six months to three years typically.
• Amasses data from bill of materials (BOMs) to distribute materials and subassemblies.

Benefits

Several perks come with owning a production scheduling system. These benefits include:

• Varying Degrees of Scheduling: Specify scheduling such as work orders, collaborations and digital kanban pulls.
• Increased Visibility/Catch Bottlenecks: Obtain more information about your production line and shop floor with the appropriate production scheduling ERP. It can also inform you of obstacles so you may address them before they become a larger problem.
• Lean Manufacturing: Carry out efficient manufacturing for a rapid turnaround time because you’re utilizing the ideal quantity of employees, machinery, and tools.
• Upkeeps Resource Allocation: Review an accurate roster of the necessary materials needed to complete a job.

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Common Features

There is a wide array of production scheduling software with an assortment of various modules and accessories. Nevertheless, there are some standard features found within this type of platform. Although a module is deemed common by the majority, it does not mean it’s suitable for your facility. According to reviews, typical features include:

• Production Scheduling: Effectively and swiftly schedule each component of your shop floor to complete your work orders.
• Inventory Management: Stay on top of your available materials and finished merchandise. An exemplar inventory management idiosyncrasy helps you maintain your goods, so you know when it’s time to replenish them.
• Capacity Planning and Scheduling: Compare your team’s available duration to the duration needed to complete an assignment. This appliance can help you determine whether or not over-time is necessary to complete tasks and how much time is required.
• What-If Analytics: Make and study the proper production estimates for your facility.
• Gantt Charts: Leverage various Gantt Charts to get a real-time snapshot of several schedules for employees, machinery and other resources.
• Drag-and-Drop Features: Alter or rectify mistakes on production schedules swiftly and efficiently with drag-and-drop tools.

Are you in need of more manufacturing features to finalize your software wishlist? Check out our in-depth features article and detailed requirements template.

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Small Manufacturing Considerations

This software is also ideal for small manufacturing facilities. However, not every solution on the market will be a perfect match for smaller organizations. Before reviewing our solution list, there are some considerations for you to mull over.

Do You Plan on Growing Your Facility?

Do you want to grow your manufacturing business into a mid-sized or enterprise-level warehouse? This question is crucial because some manufacturing ERPs may evolve with your company and some may not. If you just want to remain a small-scale facility, it’s best to only browse for small manufacturing solutions. On the other hand, if you’re looking to grow your organization, ask vendors if their software is scalable.

Which Deployment is Right for You?

Choosing the best deployment is also a worthy question to ask yourself. There are two well-known deployments: on-premise and cloud. On-premise enables you to keep your software, data and other information on company computers and servers — usually operating at one specific worksite. Conversely, cloud software allows you to access your software and data from any location and mobile device with strong internet connections. If you travel often for your facility, cloud deployment may be your best option.

How Much Can You Spend?

Some manufacturing programs are expensive. So it’s vital to establish a detailed budget for yourself and the maximum price you want to spend. This budget and a wishlist of desirable features can help you find a suitable ERP for your organization without spending an arm or leg.

Relevant Trends

When shopping for a new software solution, it’s important to remember that technology advances quickly. To get the best solution for your business, it’s a good idea to be aware of what changes might be coming down the pipeline that could make your new solution obsolete within a few years. With that in mind, there are some manufacturing trends worth looking into as you browse for new programs. These trends include:

• Data Visualization: Effectively gather and analyze KPIs with data visualization. It provides real-time snapshots of your productivity so you may make the right business decisions.
• Internet of Things (IoT): Gain insightful details on machinery and whole areas of the shop floor with IoT. IoT leverages internet-connected sensors to embed anywhere and receive real-time data on the progress of a specific machine. These sensors permit you to verify if a particular machine requires maintenance.
• Robotics: Enable robots to perform repetitive or dangerous tasks while your human employees can take over valuable jobs such as data analyzing, engineering, programming and the like.

Best Production Scheduling Software

Now that you’ve taken time to prepare and perfect your wishlist, it’s time to review our intricate compilation of the best production scheduling software.

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DELMIAworks

DELMIAworks’ Manufacturing Scheduling and Production Planning module is a production scheduling ERP that showcases real-time events transpiring across your supply chains and within your manufacturing and separate ERP systems. Its deployability includes on-premise and the cloud.

An example of DELMIAworks.

Forecasting and Production Planning

The forecasting and production planning accessory enables you to make better business decisions by offering a snapshot of current and projected orders along with their past, present and future effects on annual sales. This module advocates multiple estimations, including support production forecasts, what-if analysis and sales analysis forecasts. It’s feasible for you to evaluate which materials and resources are necessary for assignments in addition to where and when to meet customer and production requirements. You may also modify the forecast per orders delivered electronically via electronic data interchange (EDI) or the internet.

Production Scheduling

Establish every resource and expense needed to fulfill your manufacturing demands such as forecasts, sales orders dependents, current work orders, estimated on-hand balances and transforming data into cohesive production plans with this production scheduling trait. You can recognize resource availability and arising conflicts to guarantee production conforms to delivery deadlines. This accessory is equipped with color-coding highlights to display changes to work order demands, quantities or times. It also permits you to review supply, demand, availability and the running balance of an item following the current sales order, forecast or dependent demand.

Supplementary Idiosyncrasies

Despite DELMIAworks Manufacturing and Production Planning only containing a few of the popular features, there are additional attributes worth mentioning to meet your production scheduling needs. These features are:

• Material Requirements and Resource Planning (MRP): Gauge material availability by the required manufacturing date considering current demand and material lead times.
• Advanced Planning and Scheduling: Indicate plant capacity and formulate a thorough production schedule from an organization level and even down to the specific manufacturing work cell to meet delivery goals.
• Available to Promise or Capable to Promise (ATP/CTP): Study operating hours, production and manufacturing time requirements, machine availability, labor capacity, tooling readiness and required materials.

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Plex Systems

A manufacturing scheduling software dedicated to the aerospace, food and beverage, automotive, high tech and electronics, industrial manufacturing, plastic and rubber and precision metal forming industries, Plex Manufacturing Execution System (MES) allows you to take control of your shop floor with complete visibility throughout your production lifecycle and ERP connectivity.

An example of Plex’s production scheduling tool.

Production Scheduling

Plan every stage of the MRP process with the production scheduling attribute. This appliance allows you to estimate purchased and manufactured materials based on period and computed requirements, customer sales revenue and manufacturing quantity. You may cipher requirements for purchased and manufactured materials based on planned production, maintenance and scheduled downtime and effortlessly transform requirements into purchase order releases for suppliers. This appliance establishes MRP refresh schedules for a near real-time production plan without waiting until the end of the day or workweek.

Finite Scheduling and Capacity Constraints Management

The finite scheduling and capacity constraints management tool enables you to adjust rules, finite capacity and available resources such as employee skills, tools and space.

It’s possible for you to sequence operations under the attributes necessary to maximize production runs, relieving critical expenses and time conflicts. Varying schedule options provide level-load production across work centers. You may research what-if scheduling situations offline to consider additional planning and details and polish the planning engine’s recommendations.

Inventory Traceability

Each transaction and shop floor operation executed is chronicled as a Plex MES transaction thanks to the inventory traceability appliance. You’ll always know who was on the floor at any given time, what operations they were performing and other vital details. You can also archive inventory maneuverings and performances together while storing crucial documentation linked to procedures for auditing purposes.

Supplementary Idiosyncrasies

Although Plex MES has most of the production scheduling ERP features, there are some extra attributes that can streamline your procedures. These appliances include:

• Lot Management: Upkeep upstream and downstream genealogy such as inventory information and lot-specific information, including best-by, use-by and sell-by dates with this function.
• Barcode Printing and Scanning: Implement fully-integrated barcode printing and reading ability for inventory, time and attendance, gage control and more.
• Shipping and Receiving: Obtain an inside glance at fulfillment releases, available inventory and completeness of shipment preparation with the color-coded shipping interface on this feature.
• Sequenced Parts Delivery: View accurate line sequences of inventory packaging and truck loading.
• Production Management: Review jobs, setups and quality checksheets in one place.
• Plant and Equipment Maintenance: Record all events at each work center such as production, setup, maintenance and downtime with this tool.
• Tooling Management: Establish and conduct tooling control plans by harmonizing the tool drawing extensions with your tool manufacturing procedures.
• Quality Management: Construct process control plans with elaborate inspection instructions and checksheets directly tied to product specifications with this attribute.

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TrakSYS

TrakSYS is an on-premise and cloud-deployable solution that caters to mid-sized and large organizations. The industries it serves include automotive, chemicals, food and beverage, life sciences and packaged goods.

A preview of TrackSYS’ reporting module.

Inventory Management

The inventory management accessory allows you to obtain full transparency of your entire supply chain with raw material testing analysis and analysis certificates, production and quality performance by material, supplier or lot and restocking alerts. This appliance offers stock locations, statuses and interruptions in material flow and permits tracking items by suppliers, lot codes, process routes, employee touches, dates and times, quality test results, process parameters and more.

Production

Specify product quantities, schedules, asset assignments and more with the production appliance. It’s feasible for you to express schedule revisions and priorities to the line and management level and obtain real-time clarity of a job’s progress or schedule attainments.
You may obtain visibility into production operations such as the status of jobs, schedule attainments and resource performances. The audit extension provides you with a configurable method to trace files and system revisions for audit purposes.

Supplementary Idiosyncrasies

Since TrakSYS only has a minimal amount of production scheduling features, here are a few more mentionable appliances that can enhance your productivity.

• Quality Management: Set and govern quality control plans related to the products, production steps, materials, labor and assets involved.
• Maintenance Management: Communicate work requests and prioritization to the maintenance department effectively. Maintain records of completed work, implemented labor and documented material expenses with this asset.

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Infor Production Scheduling

A team-oriented production scheduling software that replies to common scheduling challenges faced by process manufacturers, Infor Production Scheduling has a cloud, on-premise or hybrid deployment that aids manufacturers in administering constraint-based scheduling to proficiently allocate resources.

An example of Infor’s solution.

Production Scheduling

The production scheduling tool allows you to manage recipes, by-products, co-products and yield losses. Superintend fermentation and maturation constraints, varying flow rates, storage restrictions, product-dependent filtration and filling constraints, buoyant impasses and more. This tool handles batch-process manufacturing considerations such as shelf life, overlapping operations and clean-in-place (CIP) to guarantee that users satisfy customer requests.

Supplementary Idiosyncrasies

Since Infor Production Scheduling lacks most of the typical production scheduling attributes, there are some additional elements worth mentioning that can enhance operations. These accessories include:

• Performance Measurement: Receive a summary of real-time shop floor performances with color-coded order violations on a single screen thanks to this asset.
• Optimization: Leverage prompt optimization techniques and an instinctive modifiable graphic planning board that you can adjust on short notice when unexpected demands arise.
• Communication and Collaboration: Share useful production data with internal colleagues, suppliers and clients with this appliance.

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Katana MRP

Katana MRP is a cloud-based production scheduling solution that exclusively serves small businesses in the manufacturing industry.

Katana’s visual production planning screen.

Production Planning and Scheduling

The production planning and scheduling feature enables you to supervise production tasks and schedules at varying detail levels. You may trace production from manufacturing orders or production operations with a status that helps you watch and administer production activities that can also trigger relevant inventory movements. These statuses are customizable. Track the availability of the necessary ingredients for particular manufacturing jobs and pinpoint delay risks related to material supply lead times.

Inventory Management

Utilize the inventory management idiosyncrasy to receive real-time inventory control and maximization of finished goods and raw substances. Manage on-hand, committed and anticipated merchandise amounts in real time and conduct reorder points to upkeep adequate inventory quantities. This module also enables you to manage all of your raw supplies throughout all your warehouses.

Supplementary Idiosyncrasies

Despite Katana MRP only consisting of a few standard features, there are some supplementary attributes worth mentioning to keep your production on smooth sailing.

• Sales Order Management: Trace the availability of required products and exercise drag-and-drop capabilities with patron orders.
• Purchase Management: Initiate on-time purchasing in accordance with material requirements, tracking purchases with missing raw materials from suppliers and pinpointing delaying hazards in your supply chain with this accessory.
• Costing: Follow manufacturing costs based on BOMs and production procedures, helping you make better pricing choices with actual product margins.

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Next Steps

Choosing the best production scheduling software is like choosing the right dog from an animal shelter—they all have special qualities that can enhance your organization. It’s challenging to pick just one. However, it’s vital to pick a solution that best aligns with your business and objectives. Are you in need of more manufacturing applications and features to help make a better decision? Review our sophisticated comparison guide for more options.

Which production/manufacturing scheduling software is your favorite and why? Let us know in the comments!