Production Planning Software

Production Planning software enables manufacturers to conduct long and mid-term planning for their manufacturing facilities. Current Production Planning software, also known as Advanced Planning software, provides a tool for strategic decision-making about a company’s manufacturing facilities, taking account of forecasts and long-term orders. Production Planning software enables decision-making about feasibility, and it affects the general direction of production operations.

Production Planning software often operates in conjunction with Production Scheduling software, which focuses on short-term and day-to-day production decisions. Production Planning software focuses on larger trends and utilization decisions. With Production Planning software, manufacturing planners have a strategic digital tool that supports major production capacity decisions. These decisions may include whether to extend the workforce, resource capacity or factories. Planning time periods may be days, weeks, months, or a combination of the three.

Production Planning Software Functions

Today’s Production Planning software with Advanced Planning capabilities helps manufacturers oversee all aspects of production planning using numerous functional features:

Bill of Materials (BOM) level planning—Enables an exploded view of the Bill of Materials (BOM), allowing calculation of the production plan for lower level items.

Interactive schedule visualization—Displays data as stock profile graphs and capacity usage graphs. Clicking and dragging a point on a graph may be sufficient to change the Master Planning Schedule (MPS).

Make-to-order planning—Evaluates the effects of future demand changes on the manufacturing process. When a change in demand occurs, planners can quickly assess if it is possible to meet the new requirements.

Make-to-stock planning—Considers rough cut capacity, pack forward figures, target days of stock cover, manufacturing preferences, minimum and maximum re-order quantities, re-order multiples and product shelf life.

Benefits of Production Planning Software

Production Planning software with Advanced Planning capabilities increases utilization and on-time delivery while reducing inventory levels and waste. Optimal synchronization of manufacturing processes and greater visibility of scheduling events and issues are two major benefits of Production Planning software.

Additional benefits:

• Full visibility and control
• Increased utilization and leaner operations
• Faster response to change
• Better customer service
• Higher margins