- FactoPlan schedules production against real OEE and actual capacity — not the theoretical standard times that most scheduling software (and ERP) still uses.
- Integration with MaintIQ means maintenance windows are automatically factored into production schedules — eliminating the conflict between maintenance needs and production commitments.
- FactoPlan operates as the detailed scheduling layer above ERP production planning — receiving demand signals from ERP and returning execution-level schedules to MES.
The problem FactoPlan solves
Production plans built on theoretical capacity are wrong from the moment they’re generated. Equipment runs at actual OEE — not ideal OEE. Changeovers take the time they actually take — not the standard time set at implementation. Maintenance happens — and if it’s not in the schedule, it’s a surprise.
FactoPlan builds schedules on real data: actual OEE from ProdIQ, actual maintenance windows from MaintIQ, actual changeover times from production history, actual material availability from ERP.
The result: schedules that plants can actually execute — reducing the weekly replanning cycle that most production managers spend significant time on.
Core capabilities
Real-capacity scheduling: Capacity calculations based on actual OEE by machine and product family — updated continuously as production performance evolves.
Maintenance-aware scheduling: MaintIQ predicted maintenance windows are automatically incorporated into the scheduling model — so maintenance and production are coordinated, not competing.
Changeover optimisation: Sequences production to minimise changeover time and, in regulated environments (food, pharma), to optimise allergen or product family sequencing.
Short-interval scheduling: Generates hour-by-hour schedules that adapt to real-time production actuals — deviations trigger automatic reschedule proposals, not manual firefighting.
ERP integration: Receives planned orders and demand signals from ERP; publishes confirmed schedules and production actuals back to ERP inventory and cost accounting modules.
The fastest way to demonstrate FactoPlan value is to compare a week’s actual production output against what FactoPlan’s schedule predicted, versus what the original ERP schedule predicted. The accuracy difference is usually visible immediately — and quantifiable as avoided overtime, missed deliveries prevented, and equipment utilisation improvement.
Industries FactoPlan serves
FactoPlan is configured for:
- Discrete manufacturing: Flexible scheduling across machine/cell configurations
- Food and beverage: Allergen-aware changeover sequencing, sanitation scheduling
- Pharma/CDMO: Campaign scheduling with clean-in-place sequencing
- Automotive supply: JIT delivery commitment scheduling with buffer management
Frequently Asked Questions
FactoPlan provides the detailed scheduling and execution planning layer that ERP APS modules don’t handle well. It can replace a standalone APS, or operate as the shop-floor scheduling layer below an enterprise APS that handles higher-level supply chain planning.
Rush orders are inserted into the schedule with priority flags; FactoPlan automatically evaluates the impact on existing commitments and surfaces the trade-off decisions (which orders need to be pushed, by how much) to the planning team in real time.
Related: AI Agents for Production Planning · AI + ERP · FactoMES · Request a Demo