Production planning software a small shop can follow.
See what your confirmed orders need, what's short, and what's due this week. Plan the work order or draft the PO in one click, and every phone in the shop reads the same schedule.
Free · Every module · No card needed
What is production planning software?
Production planning software answers the questions a shop asks every Monday: what do we need to make, what do we need to buy, and what runs first? It starts from the orders you've taken, runs them through your bills of materials, and nets the result against live stock. TrackFinch does it on the same ledger as inventory and work orders, so the plan already knows what's on the shelf.
Production planning and scheduling, in one flow
Production planning is the what and the how much: which parts are short against the orders you've taken, which ones you make and which you buy, and how many. In TrackFinch it ends in a planned work order or a drafted purchase order.
Production scheduling is the order the floor runs it in, and TrackFinch keeps it by due date. A small shop doesn't need a planner and a scheduler in two systems. It needs the shortage list and the schedule reading the same numbers.
Production scheduling
A production schedule sorted by what's due.
The schedule is every open work order in due-date order, bucketed the way a foreman thinks: what's late, what's this week, what's this month. There's no Gantt wall to maintain and no machine-minute model to feed. If a job is on the schedule, it's because it's due.
- Open work orders grouped Overdue, This week, Next 30 days, and Later
- Late jobs carry an overdue flag, not a footnote
- A work order planned from a shortage lands on the schedule straight away
Material planning
Every shortage, with the fix one click away.
TrackFinch works out what your confirmed orders need, runs it through each BOM, and nets it against what's on hand, on order, and already being made. Whatever's left is a shortage, and each one comes with its fix. Parts that have dropped below their reorder point show up too, even with no order behind them. The full material side lives in MRP software.
- Shortages worked out from confirmed orders through your BOMs
- Plan the work order for parts you make, in one click
- Draft the PO for parts you buy, to the best-priced vendor, with the ETA from their lead time
The shop floor
The same schedule on every phone in the shop.
The schedule isn't a printout that ages all day. It's the same list the floor works from. A machinist taps start or done at the machine, the work order updates, and the office sees it without walking anywhere.
- One-tap status from any phone: start it, finish it
- Office, bay, and crib read the same list
- Shop-floor scanners are free and unlimited on paid plans
How production planning works in TrackFinch
Planning is a five-minute habit, not a Monday meeting.
Confirm the orders
Confirmed sales orders are the demand. TrackFinch runs them through your BOMs and nets them against stock.
Fix the shortages
Each shortage is one click: plan the work order for what you make, or draft the PO for what you buy.
Run it by due date
The floor works the schedule from the top. Every status tap lands on the work order for everyone.
Production planning tools on one ledger
Because the plan, the parts, and the jobs share one ledger, nothing needs syncing.
Production planning for job shops and batch makers
Batch days, job shops, install calendars — sequencing is sequencing.
All industriesFrequently asked questions
What is production planning software?
Production planning software works out what a shop has to make and buy to deliver the orders it has taken, and in what order the floor should run it. In TrackFinch it shares one record with your inventory and work orders: it reads your confirmed orders, runs them through your BOMs, nets the result against live stock, and turns each shortage into a planned work order or a drafted purchase order.
What is the difference between production planning and production scheduling?
Planning answers "what does this order need, and what are we short?" — materials, quantities, make or buy. Scheduling answers "in what order does the floor run it?" Small shops need both answered simply, in one place, which is why TrackFinch treats them as one flow instead of two modules: shortages become work orders, and work orders run by due date.
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 doesn't try: it plans the materials, runs the schedule by due date, and leaves the call on what fits this week to the person who knows the floor. If your bottleneck really is one machine booked to the minute, a dedicated scheduler is the better tool.
How does the plan connect to materials?
The plan starts from them. Confirmed orders run through their BOMs and get netted against what's on hand, what's on order, and what's already being made. Anything short shows up with its fix attached: a planned work order for parts you make, or a purchase order drafted to your best-priced vendor for parts you buy. See MRP software for the material side, or what is MRP if the acronym is new.
Can the floor see the schedule?
Every phone in the bay shows the same list — what's overdue, what's due this week, what's next. A status tapped at the machine goes straight onto the work order, so anyone who opens the list sees it. No morning huddle required to redistribute yesterday's stale printout.
Can I do production planning in Excel?
For a handful of jobs, yes. A spreadsheet schedule works until stock, BOMs, and due dates start changing every day and three people keep their own copy. Then the sheet says one thing and the shelf says another. Production planning software builds the schedule from the stock you actually have, so shortages are worked out, not remembered. If you're not ready to switch, our free templates are a fine place to start.
What is the best production planning software for a small shop?
Depends on the shop. Enterprise schedulers and APS suites fit plants with a full-time planner and a machine model to feed. A small shop usually needs less: a plan built from its live stock, readable from the floor, and quick to start. If you're comparing, see TrackFinch vs MRPeasy, Katana, and Fishbowl.
What does production planning software cost?
Production planning comes with TrackFinch, and TrackFinch is free. Every module is included, your whole team can join, and there's no card to enter. 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 the week from what's actually due.
See the shortages, plan the work orders, and hand the floor one schedule. Production planning is in the Production and Complete plans.
Free · Every module · No card needed