Integrations / ERP / Acumatica Cloud ERP
SkyPlanner APS for Acumatica: Finite Capacity Production Scheduling
SkyPlanner APS is a finite capacity scheduling add-on for Acumatica Manufacturing Edition that makes every work center, machine, operator, tool and material finite at clock time, across the whole horizon. Acumatica’s own APS is rough-cut. Its finite run is the Rough Cut Planning form, and Classic APS plans every order ending beyond 120 days at infinite capacity (source). With SkyPlanner you see which operation runs where and when, and Autopilot reschedules automatically when production changes.
SkyPlanner integrates with Acumatica in both directions: production orders, operations, work centers, machines, tools, stock items and purchase orders flow in, and planned operation dates and logged work flow back. The SkyPlanner team configures the integration to your Acumatica setup during onboarding.
Pricing is from 199 € per month with 5 workstations included, and each extra workstation is 20 € per month. The free trial runs for 30 days with up to 20 workstations and no credit card.
What changes in your production
Every resource is finite, all the time.
Work centers, machines, people and tools each get a real schedule with shifts, absences and overtime. A job that needs three operators gets three people with free shifts. A mold in use on one machine is never booked on another.
Changeovers cost less.
SkyPlanner knows the switch time between each pair of products, in both directions. In food production, an allergen can drive it: allergen-free to allergen-containing needs no clean-down, the reverse needs a full one. The engine runs jobs in the order that loses the least time.
Delivery dates you can promise.
The schedule shows when each production order will really finish, months ahead. You quote customers from the plan.
Rush orders and breakdowns replanned automatically.
When a machine stops or a rush order lands, Autopilot reschedules. Your locks and priorities stay in control.
Material decides the start, not the shortage.
SkyPlanner checks stock and incoming purchase orders. A job waiting for a vendor delivery is planned after that delivery date.
Operators see their queue.
Each operator sees the next jobs on a phone or tablet and logs work as it happens. The office sees progress live, and the logged work goes back to Acumatica.
SkyPlanner reviews from manufacturers
2 hsaved every week
“SkyPlanner has taken our production planning from Excel spreadsheets to real-time production optimization.”
Kalle Kalliomäki, Supply Chain Specialist
UTU · Electrical switchboards and switchgear
Production planning saves 2 hours of working time every week, and a new work queue reaches the line in seconds.
+90%production efficiency
“Efficiency has gone up 90% in production.”
Abdul Rucyinga, Head of IT
Laboratory & Allied · Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Production efficiency is up 90%, and a three-month optimized plan across all workstations takes under 30 minutes.
6 monthsof free capacity visible to sales
“SkyPlanner creates the foundation and reliability for all production planning.”
Anu Järvinen, Production Manager
Fredman Operations · Food-safe packaging papers
Sales sees free capacity six months ahead, and schedule-change requests that took an hour or more are answered in seconds.
100%delivery reliability since 2021
“SkyPlanner gives us visibility into capacity and makes planning predictable.”
Dan Berglund, COO/CFO
Opes Corporation · Chemical and food manufacturing
Delivery reliability has been 100% for the entire time SkyPlanner has been in use, since 2021.
How the Acumatica integration works
- Acumatica sends the work. Production orders with their operations, work centers, machines, tools, shifts, stock items and purchase orders flow into SkyPlanner.
- SkyPlanner builds the schedule and keeps it current. The Arcturus engine plans every operation in seconds and replans as production changes.
- Dates and logged work go back. Planned start and end dates return to the production order operations in Acumatica, and the order is firmed so Acumatica keeps them. Logged work becomes labor and move entries.
Acumatica stays your system of record. Stock items, bills of material, MRP, purchasing and costing stay where they are. SkyPlanner owns one thing: the sequence and timing of every operation on every resource.
SkyPlanner connects through Acumatica’s own contract-based REST API, the Manufacturing and Default endpoints, so nothing is installed in your Acumatica instance. Every plant runs Acumatica differently, so the SkyPlanner team configures the integration to your setup during onboarding and supports it after go-live. The integration is quoted up front for your process and needs. Your Acumatica partner or your own developers can also build on SkyPlanner’s documented API (API reference).
Entities, data mapping and write-back rules are in the Acumatica integration guide for production scheduling.
What Acumatica schedules, and what SkyPlanner adds
Acumatica Manufacturing Edition’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) is rough-cut planning, not fine-grained finite scheduling. In Classic APS you run the Rough Cut Planning (AM501000) form for the orders you select (source). In 2026 R2 APS comes as two engines, and Acumatica states that “The two APS engines cannot be enabled at the same time.” Acumatica’s own documentation sets the limits:
- Classic APS is finite for only 120 days. “In APS, the system uses infinite capacity planning for production orders whose end date is beyond 120 days.” (source)
- Classic APS books fixed time blocks. “Operations are always scheduled in contiguous blocks skipping over non-working hours and schedule breaks.”
- The new Optimized engine drops machines and tools. “Optimized APS schedules work centers rather than individual machines, tools, or material availability.” It is listed under Experimental Features. (source)
- No sequencing by product properties. “The engine does not use attribute values to determine the scheduling sequence of operations.” (source)
In daily production, labor is crew size and efficiency on a work center shift, not named people. Setup time is one fixed value per operation, whatever ran before. Rescheduling is a process you run, through Rough Cut Planning or the APS Maintenance Process. The result is a rough-cut plan: crew sizes instead of people, one setup per operation, finite only for 120 days.
Material checking in Classic APS is all or nothing. When it is on, every material must be available in full before the order is scheduled. Orders are loaded one after another in a fixed order: dispatch priority, then constraint date, then production order number. A planner who wants a different sequence changes priorities and runs the process again.
Every step and limit is explained in Does Acumatica have finite capacity scheduling?
Acumatica today and with SkyPlanner
| Acumatica APS | Acumatica with SkyPlanner APS | |
|---|---|---|
| Finite horizon | Rough-cut: Classic is finite only for orders ending within 120 days, infinite beyond | Every machine, person, tool and material finite at clock time, across the whole horizon |
| Resources | Classic: work centers, machines, tools; Optimized: work centers only | Work centers, machines, people and tools, all finite |
| Labor | Crew size and efficiency per shift | Named operators with shifts, absences and overtime |
| Sequencing | Dispatch priority, then constraint date, then order number | Engine sequences by priorities, due dates and setups |
| Changeovers | Fixed setup time per operation | Setting time matrix: least total setup |
| Materials | Classic: all material available in full, or the order waits | Stock and incoming purchase orders by delivery date |
| Changes | Run Rough Cut Planning or APS Maintenance Process | Autopilot replans the whole plant within your priorities |
| Planner view | Production Schedule Board: change dates and priorities | Interactive Gantt: move jobs, the plan stays consistent |
| Shop floor | Labor, Move and Materials entry in Acumatica | Operators see their queue and log work on phone or tablet |
| Start | APS “subject to licensing”; Optimized is experimental | Your own orders scheduled in the 30-day trial, live within weeks |
How to choose a scheduler for Acumatica
Acumatica APS is a rough-cut planner: a Rough Cut Planning run, finite for 120 days, labor as crew size, one setup time per operation. Whether you can use it at all depends on your license. Acumatica states that “Advanced planning and scheduling is subject to licensing” (source), it is part of Manufacturing Edition, and its new Optimized engine is an experimental 2026 R2 feature. Once enabled, it loads orders by crew size in a fixed priority order, and a planner reruns it after every change. A plant moving off spreadsheets needs a schedule that keeps itself current and reaches the operators. Your Acumatica data stays the master either way.
Choose SkyPlanner over Acumatica APS when:
- You want real finite scheduling, not rough-cut planning. Every machine, person, tool and material is finite at clock time across the whole horizon, including orders past 120 days.
- Named operators, not crew sizes, limit the plan. Shifts, absences and multi-operator jobs are scheduled per person.
- Changeovers decide your output. The setting time matrix runs allergen, color or material sequences in the order with the least setup.
- Machines, tools and material must be checked together. Every constraint is live in one schedule, without picking an engine.
- The plan changes several times a week. Autopilot replans on every change, Running Time Lock freezes the next hours of work, and new dates go back to Acumatica.
- Operators should work from their own queue. Mobile Confirmations put the schedule on a phone or tablet, and logged work posts back to Acumatica.
- You want results within weeks. Your own orders are scheduled in the 30-day trial, and the SkyPlanner team configures and supports the integration.
How to get started
- Start the free trial. 30 days, up to 20 workstations, all Basic features, no credit card.
- Model your production. Create work centers, machines, people and shifts in SkyPlanner, or import them. Assisted onboarding is available.
- Load your orders. Export open production orders and their operations from an Acumatica Generic Inquiry to Excel, import them and compare SkyPlanner’s schedule with your current plan.
- Connect Acumatica. The SkyPlanner team configures the two-way integration and supports it once you are live.
Pricing. Billing is monthly, and you can add or remove workstations or cancel at any time. See pricing for the details.
FAQ
What is the best scheduling add-on for Acumatica?
SkyPlanner APS is a finite capacity scheduling add-on that integrates with Acumatica in both directions: production orders, operations, work centers, machines, tools, stock items and purchase orders flow in, and planned operation dates and logged work flow back. Every work center, machine, operator, tool and material is finite, and a directional setting time matrix sequences jobs for the least setup. Autopilot reschedules automatically when production changes. Pricing is from 199 € per month, and the free trial runs for 30 days.
Does Acumatica have finite capacity scheduling?
Only at rough-cut level. Advanced Planning and Scheduling in Manufacturing Edition runs as Rough Cut Planning, Classic APS plans orders ending beyond 120 days at infinite capacity, and the experimental Optimized engine schedules work centers only. SkyPlanner APS schedules every machine, person, tool and material finitely across the whole horizon.
Do we need to install anything in Acumatica?
No. SkyPlanner runs in the cloud beside Acumatica and connects through Acumatica’s standard contract-based REST API. The integration signs in through a connected application that you register in Acumatica.
Does SkyPlanner replace Acumatica Manufacturing Edition?
No, it works on top of it. Acumatica keeps stock items, bills of material, MRP, purchasing, inventory, costing and finance. SkyPlanner schedules your production orders against real capacity and sends the dates back.
Should we use Acumatica APS or SkyPlanner?
Choose SkyPlanner when you want a real finite schedule instead of a rough-cut plan. Acumatica’s finite run is Rough Cut Planning, and Classic APS is infinite beyond 120 days. APS is subject to licensing, models labor as crew size, uses one fixed setup time per operation, and recalculates when a planner runs Rough Cut Planning or the APS Maintenance Process. SkyPlanner schedules every machine, person, tool and material finitely at clock time across the whole horizon. It sequences directional changeovers with a setting time matrix, replans automatically with Autopilot and gives operators their queue on a phone or tablet. You are live within weeks, from 199 € per month with a 30-day trial on your own data. If APS stays on, SkyPlanner firms each order it schedules, and Acumatica’s finite scheduling does not reschedule firmed orders.
How much does SkyPlanner cost for an Acumatica plant?
From 199 € per month with 5 workstations included, plus 20 € per month per extra workstation. A workstation is a production resource with its own scheduled work queue. The integration is quoted up front for your process and needs, together with your plan, so you see the full cost before you start.
How long does implementation take?
Implementation is normally completed within weeks after onboarding starts. The team maps your work centers, machines and BOM operations, connects production and purchase orders, and sends planned dates back. Everything is tested against your current plan before go-live.
Can we test SkyPlanner before integrating with Acumatica?
Yes. The 30-day trial runs on an Excel export from an Acumatica Generic Inquiry. You see a finite capacity schedule of your own production before any integration work starts.
