Production planning done in Excel with no real-time connection to actual machine availability or current inventory levels?
Last-minute material shortages stopping production because MRP wasn't run recently enough?
Planners manually allocating work orders to machines without visibility of current machine loading?
Schedule changes made verbally on the floor that never make it back to the planning tool?
Production Planning and Scheduling Software
Planning production in Excel means the plan is already wrong before the morning shift starts. Machine availability, current WIP, and inventory levels have changed since the file was last saved. Planners spend their day firefighting rather than planning because the tool they have doesn't reflect reality.
We build custom production planning and scheduling software that connects to your live data. Demand, capacity, materials, and machine availability are checked together before a schedule is generated. Planners see what is feasible, not just what was asked for.
Demand-driven scheduling with capacity checking against machine and labour constraints
MRP tied to live BOM and current inventory so material shortages surface before they stop production
Finite scheduling with machine loading and Gantt visualization for planners and supervisors
Scenario planning and what-if analysis for capacity decisions without touching the live schedule
Production planning software converts demand signals into a feasible production schedule by checking capacity, materials, and constraints before committing to a plan. It replaces spreadsheet planning with a system that knows what machines are available, what materials are in stock, and what orders are already running. RaftLabs builds custom production planning and scheduling tools that integrate with your ERP and reflect your actual factory constraints.
100+Products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·12-14Week delivery cycles
What good production planning software actually does
Most production planning problems are information problems. The planner knows the orders. They don't always know which machines are running, how much of a key component is actually on hand, or how long the setup between products takes on a specific machine. When the plan is built without that information, the schedule is optimistic and the floor ignores it.
A custom planning system connects those information sources so the plan reflects reality. Material availability comes from live inventory. Machine capacity comes from the current schedule and maintenance calendar. Labour availability comes from the shift plan. The output is a schedule that the floor can actually execute, not one that needs to be manually adjusted every morning.
We build production planning tools for make-to-order, make-to-stock, and mixed-mode manufacturers. The scheduling logic is built to match your constraints, whether that means sequence-dependent setups, shared tooling, or labour pools that move between work centres.
What we build
Demand-driven production scheduling
Convert customer orders, forecasts, and replenishment triggers into a prioritised production queue. The system checks due dates, customer priority, and current WIP position before generating the schedule. Planners see a ranked order list with demand dates and the calculated start date needed to meet them. Late orders are flagged before they become late. The schedule is recalculated when new orders arrive or priorities change, not at the next morning's planning meeting.
Capacity planning against machine and labour constraints
Model your work centres, machines, and labour pools with their available hours, efficiency factors, and maintenance windows. When orders are loaded against the schedule, the system checks available capacity and flags overloads before they are committed. Planners see machine loading by day or week and can shift orders to balance the load. Labour constraints are checked alongside machine constraints so the schedule is feasible against both.
Material requirements planning
Run MRP tied to your live BOM and current inventory on demand rather than overnight. The system calculates net requirements for each component, checks available stock and open purchase orders, and generates procurement recommendations for what is short. Material shortages are linked to the specific production orders they affect so planners know which orders are at risk. Procurement sees the same shortages and can expedite before the line stops.
Finite scheduling and machine loading
Schedule production orders to specific machines with finite capacity constraints applied. The scheduler respects machine availability, setup times between product families, and minimum run quantities. No order is scheduled to a machine that doesn't have the capacity to run it in the required window. Machine loading views show each machine's schedule by shift so supervisors see what is planned without having to ask the planning team.
Gantt visualization and schedule management
Interactive Gantt charts let planners drag and drop orders across machines and time, with the system checking constraints as moves are made. Colour coding shows order status, priority, and material availability at a glance. Supervisors and production managers see a read-only view of the current schedule so they know what is planned for the shift without relying on a printed schedule from three hours ago.
Scenario planning and what-if analysis
Model capacity changes before committing to them. Add a machine, change shift patterns, bring in a subcontractor, or adjust the product mix and see the impact on your schedule and delivery dates without touching the live plan. Scenarios are saved separately and can be compared side by side. When a decision is made, the chosen scenario is promoted to the live schedule. Capacity decisions are made on data rather than on the planner's best guess.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. ERP integration is a standard part of every production planning project we deliver. Common integration points include pulling open sales orders and forecasts, syncing inventory levels, reading the BOM, and pushing planned production orders back to the ERP. We have integrated with SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle NetSuite, Epicor, and Infor. The integration specification is agreed during scoping so data flows are defined before development starts.
Sequence-dependent setups are modelled as a setup matrix that defines the setup time for every product-to-product transition on each machine. The scheduler uses the matrix when sequencing orders so that setup time is included in the capacity calculation. The matrix is maintained by your engineering or planning team through an admin interface and can be updated without a code change when your product mix changes.
The system receives feedback from the shop floor, either through operator confirmations in an MES, barcode scan events, or manual status updates. When actual progress diverges from the plan, the remaining schedule is recalculated against current WIP and capacity. Planners see the updated picture and can decide whether to resequence, reallocate to another machine, or let the floor catch up. The plan stays connected to reality rather than becoming a document that is ignored after 9am.
Yes. Outside processing operations are modelled as work centres with lead time and capacity constraints like any other resource. When an order includes an outside processing step, the system calculates the send and receive dates and flags the procurement team to raise the subcontract order. Lead time for the outside process is included in the overall delivery date calculation so the plan reflects the actual production path.
Tell us about your planning process and the constraints that make it hard. We'll scope a scheduling tool built around your factory, not the median factory.
