Production scheduling for process & batch chemicals
Chemical manufacturing production scheduling software
SkyPlanner APS turns your orders, reactors, mixing tanks, filling lines, formulations, materials and shifts into one finite-capacity schedule. It sequences product families so colour and chemistry changeovers cost as little cleaning time as possible, starts a batch only when its raw materials will be there, and rebuilds the plan in seconds when a vessel is out of service, a delivery is late or a customer changes an order. It integrates with any ERP or MES through its open REST API.
- Product-family sequencing
- Finite-capacity scheduling
- Any ERP or MES via REST API
- From 199 € / month
100%
delivery reliability since 2021, Opes Corporation
1 view
of capacity and the production as a whole, Opes Corporation
90%
more efficient production, Laboratory & Allied
+50%
on-time delivery to customers, Laboratory & Allied
Results reported by SkyPlanner customers Opes Corporation (chemical manufacturing) and Laboratory & Allied (pharmaceutical manufacturing). Read all SkyPlanner APS reviews
Why chemical production is hard to schedule
Shared vessels, batch chemistry, constant change
A chemical plant runs batches of many formulations through the same reactors, mixing tanks and filling lines, and the order of those batches decides how much of the day goes to production and how much to cleaning and flushing.
Cleaning depends on what came before
White after black needs a full clean-out. Black after white often needs only a short flush. The same goes for water-based after solvent-based products, or a high-purity grade after a standard one.
Intermediates feed the filling lines
A filling line cannot start before the base, resin or premix is made, and that batch cannot start before its raw materials have arrived.
Vessels and lines must line up
A batch needs a free reactor or tank of the right type, then a filling line that is clean and staffed when the batch is ready to fill.
Batch sizes shape the plan
Minimum batch quantities decide how orders are combined, and one batch of a base often serves several customer orders and pack sizes.
Orders and supply change daily
Customers adjust volumes, a raw material shipment slips, a vessel needs maintenance. The plan has to follow without losing a day.
A spreadsheet cannot see a dirty tank
Spreadsheets and ERP plan to infinite capacity. They do not know which vessel ran black last, which tank is free or which premix is still waiting for raw materials, and every change means hours of rework.
SkyPlanner schedules the plant the way your chemists and operators think about it. It knows what each vessel ran last and what it can run next, plans every reactor, tank and filling line to real capacity and rebuilds the batch sequence in seconds when a shipment slips or a vessel goes down.
Product-family sequencing, changeover-optimised
Run light to dark. Clean out once, not after every batch.
Every clean-out, flush and colour change on a mixer or filling line is paid time with zero output. SkyPlanner sequences each vessel and line so changeovers cost as little time as possible.
Families, colours and chemistries are yours to define
Give products properties such as product family, colour, chemistry or viscosity class, and define a changeover matrix for each vessel or line: how long it takes to move from one value to another, in each direction.
Light to dark is not dark to light
Light to dark can be a short flush and dark to light a full clean-out, or whatever your cleaning procedure requires. Batches that share a property run in succession automatically.
Clean-outs planned, not discovered
The Arcturus AI engine weighs saved changeover time against due dates and customer priorities, so grouping never quietly takes over the plan. The Gantt view shows exactly where every clean-out falls.
How SkyPlanner schedules a chemical plant
From raw material to filled drum, one plan
SkyPlanner schedules to the vessel and line capacity you really have, with the raw materials you really have, and shows the same plan on the shop floor.
Finite capacity across reactors, tanks, lines and people
Each reactor, mixing tank, filling line or workstation has its own shift calendar, and planned maintenance, cleaning windows and breakdowns can be entered as exceptions. When a batch can be made in more than one vessel, alternative workstations let the scheduler use whichever qualified one is free first. Personnel scheduling assigns people to shifts and lines, so the plan never puts a batch on a vessel that has nobody to run it.
- No batch lands on an unstaffed or blocked vessel
- Several plants scheduled together, with transfer times between sites
Batches, formulations and intermediates
Raw materials become a premix, resin or base, and that becomes the product filled into cans, pails or drums. SkyPlanner handles multi-level bills of materials and intermediates, calculates material needs at every level and, with material-based scheduling on, starts a batch only when its raw materials will be there. If a delivery slips, the batch moves to when the materials are available.
- A minimum production quantity per product keeps every batch at or above its minimum size
- Batch job scheduling runs quantities from several orders together as one job
- Due dates for individual process steps, so the base is ready when the filling line needs it
Operators at every vessel see the same plan
Operators see their own work queue in a simple worker view or the SkyPlanner shop-floor app. They start, pause and complete jobs and report produced quantities, consumed raw materials and waste with reason codes as they go, so the schedule always reflects what has actually happened in the plant.
Vessel down, shipment late, order changed
A late raw material moves the batch, not the whole week
When an order is added, a vessel goes down or a raw material shipment is late, the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the schedule in seconds. Lock batches that must not move, raise priorities or fast-track an urgent order.
- Add a sales prospect as a simulated order and see the earliest realistic delivery date, without disturbing confirmed orders.
- Fit in product-development runs and urgent small orders and see their effect on every delivery time.
- Sales quotes delivery dates from free vessel and filling-line capacity, with the batch sequence already planned.
SkyPlanner gives us visibility into capacity and makes planning predictable.
Dan Berglund, COO/CFO, Opes Corporation
Specialty manufacturing at the intersection of chemical and food production · Opes Corporation’s SkyPlanner APS review
Integrates with any ERP or MES
Formulas and stock stay in your ERP. Batch sequence and vessel plan come from SkyPlanner.
SkyPlanner connects to all ERP and MES systems through its open REST API, including in-house systems. Orders and products flow in, planned times and material need dates flow back. It also runs standalone, so you can start scheduling before an integration is in place.
From your ERP
ERP · MES · CSV · Manual
- Sales orders & demand
- Products & formulations
- Raw materials & stock
- Customers & due dates
SkyPlanner APS
Schedules production
- Reactors
- Tanks
- Filling lines
- Changeovers
- Materials
- Intermediates
- Schedule
Back to your ERP
ERP · Reports · Management
- Planned start & end times
- Material need dates
- Progress & quantities
- Delivery dates
- SAP S/4HANA
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Oracle NetSuite
- Infor
- Epicor
- IFS Cloud
- Sage X3
- Odoo
- Deacom ERP
- Aptean Ross ERP
Where SkyPlanner fits
Used by chemical manufacturers of every size
From one mixing room with a single filling line to multi-site chemical groups, including paint, coatings and adhesives makers. SkyPlanner fits wherever many formulations share the same reactors, tanks and lines and the batch order decides how much time goes to cleaning.
Chemical manufacturing segments
- Paints and coatings
- Adhesives and sealants
- Specialty and fine chemicals
- Cleaning products and detergents
- Cosmetics and personal care
- Lubricants and additives
- Inks and printing chemicals
- Contract manufacturing and private label
Why SkyPlanner for chemicals
Why chemical producers schedule their batches with SkyPlanner
SkyPlanner APS is AI production scheduling software for chemical manufacturers that want every reactor, mixing tank and filling line sequenced to cut clean-outs, with batches started only when their raw materials are there, without replacing their ERP. It is the scheduling layer for paint, coatings, adhesives, specialty chemicals, detergents and other batch chemical plants.
Changeover-aware batch sequencing
Changeover matrices per vessel and line, with a different time for each direction, let SkyPlanner group product families, colours and chemistries so clean-outs happen once instead of after every batch.
Batches wait for materials, not the other way round
Multi-level bills of materials and material-based scheduling start a premix or base only when its raw materials will be in, and the filling job follows when the intermediate is ready.
A new plan in seconds
The Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the finite-capacity schedule in seconds when a vessel goes down, a shipment slips or a customer changes volumes.
Delivery dates sales can stand behind
Add a prospect as a simulated order and get a realistic delivery date from real vessel and line capacity, without disturbing confirmed orders.
Start today, connect your ERP when ready
SkyPlanner runs standalone from day one. Its open REST API connects to any ERP or MES, including in-house systems, built by Skycode or by your own developers.
Published pricing and a free trial
From 199 € / month with 5 workstations included and 20 € per month per additional workstation. The 30-day free trial covers up to 20 workstations and needs no credit card. The interface runs in 29 languages for every plant in your group.
Security and data
SkyPlanner runs in the cloud on AWS. If your data needs to stay in a specific country, a dedicated server there is available by agreement. Data is backed up daily and backups are kept for 30 days. Users can sign in with Google or Microsoft accounts and two-factor authentication. A data processing agreement is available, and customer data is never used to train AI models.
Pricing
From 199 € / month
5 workstations included. Each additional workstation is 20 € per month. There is a free trial, and guided onboarding packages are available if you want help setting up vessels, lines, products and changeover matrices.
Questions chemical manufacturers ask
Frequently asked questions
What is the best production scheduling software for chemical manufacturers?
Chemical manufacturers need scheduling software that sequences batches by product family and colour to cut clean-outs, plans reactors, tanks and filling lines to finite capacity, and starts a batch only when its raw materials will be there. SkyPlanner APS does all three and rebuilds the schedule in seconds with its Arcturus AI engine. Pricing is published, from 199 € / month, there is a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and the open REST API integrates with any ERP or MES.
Is SkyPlanner a real APS for batch chemical plants, or a planning board?
SkyPlanner APS is an advanced planning and scheduling system that plans every reactor, mixing tank and filling line to finite capacity, each with its own shift calendar, maintenance and cleaning windows. It knows which product each vessel ran last and what it can run next, and the Arcturus AI engine optimises the whole batch sequence and replans it in seconds.
Which chemical batch data moves between SkyPlanner and SAP or Microsoft Dynamics 365?
Sales orders, products and formulations, raw material stock, customers and due dates flow in from ERPs such as SAP S/4HANA or Microsoft Dynamics 365. Planned batch start and end times, raw material need dates, reported quantities and delivery dates flow back. Any other ERP or MES, including in-house systems, connects through the same open REST API, built by Skycode or by your own developers with the public API documentation.
Do formulas, stock and lot traceability stay in our ERP once SkyPlanner schedules the vessels?
Yes. Your ERP keeps formulas, inventory, purchasing and traceability, while SkyPlanner owns the batch sequence and the vessel and filling-line plan. Purchasing then buys raw materials against the need dates SkyPlanner sends back, so the ERP works to the batch plan the plant actually runs.
How quickly can a chemical plant build its first batch schedule in SkyPlanner?
Today. Open the 30-day free trial with no credit card and up to 20 workstations, enter your reactors, tanks and filling lines, load demo data or your own products by CSV, and build a first batch schedule before any integration exists. Onboarding workshops then set up your changeover matrices, intermediates and shift calendars, and the ERP connection follows on the same REST API.
Does SkyPlanner suit a single mixing room as well as a multi-site chemical group?
Yes. Pricing starts at 199 € per month with 5 workstations included and 20 € per month for each additional workstation, so a paint maker with two dispersers and one filling line runs the same engine as a group scheduling several plants together with transfer times between sites. In multi-country groups every planner and operator works in their own language, with the interface available in 29 languages.
Can SkyPlanner sequence batches light to dark by product family to cut clean-outs?
Yes. You give products properties such as family, colour, chemistry or viscosity class and define a changeover matrix per vessel or line with a separate time for each direction, so a light grade after a dark one carries a full clean-out and the reverse only a short flush. The Arcturus AI engine groups batches to cut cleaning time while keeping due dates and customer priorities in the plan.
Will the premix, resin or base be ready when the filling line needs it?
Yes. SkyPlanner handles multi-level bills of materials, so the intermediate gets its own step due date ahead of filling, and material-based scheduling starts each batch only when its raw materials will be there. Batch job scheduling combines quantities from several customer orders into one batch at or above its minimum size, and when a raw material shipment slips the batch moves to when the materials arrive.
More industries
Production scheduling in related industries
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Sequence allergens and changeovers, plan lines to real capacity and promise reliable delivery dates.
Put a week of your batches into SkyPlanner
Bring your reactors, tanks, filling lines and changeover rules. In a demo we sequence your product families, place every clean-out and show the delivery dates your plant can really hold.
