What is the best production planning and scheduling software for a manufacturer?
Epicor Kinetic is the best production planning and scheduling software for a manufacturer that builds to order, because it is an ERP its maker describes as specialized for discrete, make-to-order manufacturing. A custom scheduling system built by Black Badger ranks third, and it is the right choice when your schedule depends on rules only your planner knows and the plan is rebuilt in a spreadsheet every morning.
Manufacturers adding work orders beside their accounting
Inventory and manufacturing control tied to your accounting package
Published starting prices for three inventory plans
Connects to accounting tools such as QuickBooks Online
Plans include only 2 to 10 users
Advanced Warehouse and Advanced Manufacturing need a quote
Does not replace a full finance system
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Epicor Kinetic
Best for make-to-order shops that plan around customer orders
Planning is hardest when every job is different, and that is the work Epicor says Kinetic is built for. It ranks first here because a schedule depends on the orders, materials and routings behind it. In an ERP specialized for discrete, make-to-order manufacturing those are in the same system as the plan. A general ERP can also schedule, but Kinetic is designed around make-to-order work.
Watch for. Epicor gives no price on the Kinetic page, only a demo request and a sales contact. Bring a real week of jobs to the demo.
How it charges
Quoted by sales, no published price
Main limit
Quote only, built for discrete make-to-order manufacturers
Best for plants that want the schedule fed by the plant floor
Plex ranks second for planning. A plan is out of date as soon as a machine goes down, and Plex is sold as a plant to business package, with tiers that begin at plant-level MES and MOM. Its subscription covers unlimited users and machines, so every work center can report against the schedule. It trails Epicor on this list only because Epicor names make-to-order work as its specialty and Plex does not.
Watch for. Plex sells by package scope. Check that the package you are quoted includes the planning functions you saw in the demo.
How it charges
Annual subscription, quoted, with no per-user license
Main limit
Quote only, built for manufacturers, and sold as a plant to business package
Best for plants whose working schedule is a spreadsheet the planner owns
Custom ranks third on this list. A product's scheduling logic often misses the working rules a planner keeps in memory. Those rules include which jobs can share a setup, which customer always gets priority and which machine nobody trusts with tight work. Black Badger builds a scheduling system from those rules and connects it to the ERP you keep, so the planner no longer rebuilds the plan by hand. We publish this guide and this is our own service.
Watch for. The rules have to be written down before they can be built. Discovery does that, and the written scope that follows states the cost and schedule.
How it charges
One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
Main limit
Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Best for manufacturers in a sector with its own Infor suite
Infor CloudSuite ranks fourth for planning. Its value is that each suite is built for one industry, and Infor names automotive, food and beverage, aerospace and defense and industrial manufacturing. Planning practice differs between those sectors, so a suite built for yours needs less configuration. Outside the sectors Infor serves, that advantage disappears.
Watch for. Ask whether the planning functions you need are in the base suite or part of an add-on. Infor publishes no price for either.
How it charges
Quoted by sales, no published price
Main limit
Quote only, sold as industry suites, so the choice depends on your sector
Best for mid-size manufacturers with straightforward production
Business Central ranks fifth. Manufacturing is included in the Premium plan, which is charged per user at a published price and paid yearly. That makes it one of the few planning options here where you can work out the license cost before you talk to anyone. It fits a manufacturer with standard production on Microsoft tools. A plant that needs a deep manufacturing feature set should look at the systems above it.
Watch for. Essentials does not include manufacturing. Budget every planner and production user at the Premium price, and buy through a partner as Microsoft directs.
How it charges
Per user, paid yearly, bought through a Microsoft partner
Main limit
Manufacturing needs the Premium plan, and Microsoft sends buyers to a partner
Best for manufacturers that will adopt SAP preset processes
SAP S/4HANA Cloud ranks sixth. The public cloud edition is sold as GROW packages, and the supply chain package shows a published per-user rate for the Base edition, with a 15 user minimum. It suits a manufacturer that wants a standard system from a large vendor and is willing to plan the way SAP presets it. A plant that needs heavy changes to how the system works is the wrong fit.
Watch for. The published rate applies to 25 to 39 users and varies with user count. SAP says to request a quote for the exact price.
How it charges
Per user, 15-user minimum, rate varies with user count
Main limit
Sold as fixed packages with a 15 user minimum, rate depends on user count
Best for manufacturers adding work orders beside their accounting
Fishbowl ranks seventh for planning. Its Advanced Manufacturing plan is billed at a monthly rate and adds manufacturing control on top of inventory, connected to an accounting package you already run. That is a lighter answer than an ERP, and for a plant with simple routings it may be all the planning it needs. It is last here because it is an inventory and manufacturing control tool first, and a plant with complex scheduling will ask more of it than that.
Watch for. Advanced Manufacturing is priced by users and deployment and needs a demo request for a quote. Ask to see scheduling with your own routings.
How it charges
Monthly rate by plan, billed annually, Advanced plans quoted
Main limit
Plans include 2 to 10 users, and the Advanced plans need a quote
We ranked for a plant with enough work centers and open jobs that the schedule can no longer be kept in one person's memory. The main test was whether the plan is in the same system as the orders, materials and routings it depends on. The second was how much of the planner's own logic an option can hold.
Where a vendor publishes a price we used the plan that includes manufacturing instead of the entry plan. Where it publishes none, the entry says so.
Questions buyers ask
What is the difference between production planning and production scheduling?
Production planning decides what to make and what material it needs. Scheduling decides which job runs on which machine and when. Most ERPs handle planning. Scheduling is the part plants often move to spreadsheets, because the rules are local and change with the mix of work.
Why do planners keep a spreadsheet when the ERP has a scheduler?
Planners keep a spreadsheet because it holds rules the ERP scheduler does not, such as setup families, operator skills and a customer who always gets priority. If the planner exports from the ERP every morning and rebuilds the plan by hand, the ERP is supplying data and the spreadsheet is doing the scheduling.
Can a custom scheduling system work with our existing ERP?
Yes, a custom scheduling system can work with your existing ERP, and that is how Black Badger usually builds one. The ERP remains the record of orders, inventory and routings. The scheduling system reads from it, applies your rules and writes the result back, so the plan and the ERP agree.