Production planninga small shop can follow.
Line released work orders up against the days you actually have. Materials reserve themselves, shortages surface early, and every phone in the bay reads the same plan.
Free for 14 days · Full access
What is production planning software?
Production planning software answers the two questions a shop asks every Monday: what are we running this week, and can we actually do it? It sequences released jobs against real capacity and due dates — and because TrackFinch plans on the same ledger as inventory and work orders, the plan already knows whether the materials exist.
Capacity, honestly
A plan made of days, not decimals.
Enterprise schedulers model every machine-minute and get ignored by lunch. TrackFinch plans at the level a small shop really runs on: jobs, hours, due dates, and who's in this week. It's a plan your crew will follow because they can read it.
- Sequence released work orders by due date and priority
- See the week's load before you promise the next job
- Re-plan by dragging, not re-modeling
Materials meet the plan
Shortages surface before Monday.
Every planned job carries its BOM, reserved against live stock at release. If the bracket run is four sheets short, the plan says so on Thursday — with the purchase order already drafted and the vendor's lead time on it.
- Materials reserved when jobs release to the plan
- Shortages flagged with drafted POs attached
- Lead times pull purchasing dates from due dates
The floor sees it
One plan, on every phone.
The plan isn't a printout that ages all day — it's the same live board the floor updates. A machinist taps "done", the next job moves up, and the office watches it happen without walking anywhere.
- Statuses update the plan the moment they're tapped
- Everyone reads the same sequence — office, bay, and crib
- History shows what the week actually did vs. the plan
From pile of jobs to plan.
Planning is a five-minute habit, not a Monday meeting.
Release the jobs
Work orders come in from quotes with BOMs attached — materials reserve on release.
Sequence the week
Order jobs against your real days. Shortages and conflicts flag themselves.
Let the floor run it
Every status tap updates the plan live. Friday's review reads itself.
Planning that touches everything it should.
Because the plan, the parts, and the jobs share one ledger, nothing needs syncing.
Plans for floors of every flavor.
Batch days, job shops, install calendars — sequencing is sequencing.
All industriesFrequently asked questions
What is production planning software?
Production planning software decides what the floor works on and when: it lines released jobs up against the hours you actually have, sequences them by due date and priority, and shows the whole shop the same plan. In TrackFinch it sits on the same ledger as your inventory and work orders, so the plan already knows what materials exist.
What is the difference between production planning and production scheduling?
Planning answers "can we take this job, and what does it need?" — capacity, materials, lead times. Scheduling answers "in what order does the floor run this week?" Small shops need both answered simply, in one place, which is why TrackFinch treats them as one flow instead of two modules.
Do I need finite capacity scheduling?
Probably not the enterprise version of it. Finite-capacity engines model every machine-minute — powerful, and famously ignored by the actual floor. TrackFinch plans at the honesty level a small shop runs on: jobs, days, hours, and due dates. A plan people follow beats a model people bypass.
How does the plan connect to materials?
Releasing a work order reserves its BOM materials against live stock, so the plan and purchasing agree by construction. A job that's short on stainless shows its shortage on the plan — and the drafted PO that fixes it. See MRP software for the material side.
Can the floor see the schedule?
Every phone in the bay shows the same board — what's queued, what's running, what's next. A status tapped at the machine updates the plan the same second. No morning huddle required to redistribute yesterday's stale printout.
What does production planning software cost?
Production planning ships with TrackFinch 2.0 — no extra module fee. Free for 14 days, then flat pricing; see the pricing page.
Runs on the same ledger.
Everything in TrackFinch shares one source of truth — start anywhere, the rest is already connected.
Plan a week the floor will actually follow.
Release the jobs, see the capacity, and let due dates drive purchasing. Free for 14 days.
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