Planning vs. Scheduling: Which is the best solution for your needs?
Find the Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solution that fits your specific needs.
Manufacturing planning and production scheduling may sound similar, but there are specific, distinctive factors that set the two processes apart.
- Planning is about strategy. The aim of production planning is ultimately to define what is to be done and how.
- Scheduling is about tactics. It effectively provides specificity and targets to the plan.
Depending on your actual production needs you might need a planning solution or a scheduling solution or both.
Find the Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solution that fits your specific needs.
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What is manufacturing planning about?
Manufacturing planning involved thinking strategically about your goals. During manufacturing planning, you’re probably asking some of the following questions:
- What do we make?
- When do we make it?
- How much is required?
- Where is the best place to make it?
- What materials are required?
- What resources are required?
What is production scheduling about?
Scheduling, meanwhile, is about tactics and how best to make products. Therefore, it’s important to consider:
- What is the sequence of operations?
- How can we manage constraints?
- How do we handle priorities?
- How do we avoid resource conflicts?
- How do we manage shop floor changes?
What is the difference between planning and scheduling?
Planning considers forecast and long-term orders, while scheduling considers detailed production demand. Scheduling predicts the effects of changes in production, interruptions, machine breakdowns, scraps and other factors. Planning, on the other hand, sets the general direction of production and dynamically sets target stock levels to meet future demand. Finally, planning supports major decisions of production capacity in the medium-long term, while scheduling reacts to real-time production and supports immediate and short- and medium-term decisions.
Find the best planning and scheduling (APS) solution that fits your specific needs in an interactive way
It’s not always clear what planning and scheduling tool fits your needs. Take our short and quick questionnaire to determine which solution is the best fit for you. Give it a try now!