Integrations / ERP / Global Shop Solutions
Global Shop Solutions Integration Guide for Production Scheduling with SkyPlanner APS
This Global Shop Solutions integration guide shows partners and IT teams how to connect Global Shop Solutions ERP to SkyPlanner APS. SkyPlanner integrates with Global Shop in both directions:
- Parts, BOMs, Routers with their sequences, Workcenters and work groups, capacity calendars, employees, open Work Orders, material requirements and purchase orders flow in.
- Planned start and finish times go back to each work order sequence, with the Workcenter SkyPlanner assigned.
- Operator time and quantities can post back as labor against the work order, if you choose.
- SkyPlanner webhooks push schedule changes as they happen.
The SkyPlanner team configures the integration to your Global Shop setup during onboarding and supports it after go-live. This guide is for partners, Global Shop developers and IT teams who want to take part, or to build on SkyPlanner’s documented REST API (API reference) themselves.
Global Shop’s integration tools
Global Shop extends and connects its ERP with its own toolset rather than a public REST API:
- Global Application Builder (GAB) SDK. “The Global Application Builder (GAB) SDK allows you to tailor screens and create applications specific to your manufacturing processes” (Global Shop). The product sheet lists “Integrate with third-party APIs and office software suites”, “Manage data flow”, “Automate processes”, “Schedule reporting” and “Create custom ERP subsystems that integrate with the base package” (GAB product sheet). Global Shop adds that “GAB’s innovative use of business data objects removes the risk normally associated with extending your ERP system” (Global Shop blog). This is the integration route for SkyPlanner.
- Global Shop services. Global Shop offers “Development as a Service (DaaS)” and help to “Add Third-Party Integrations, Applications, Automations & Software” (info pack). Its integration catalog invites buyers to discuss “your specific integration needs” (integrations).
- Excel and file exports. Microsoft Excel and Access appear in Global Shop’s integration catalog, and GAB can schedule reports to run. Exported files of parts, Routers, Workcenters and open work orders are the trial route into SkyPlanner.
On the SkyPlanner side the REST API reads and writes orders, products, materials, process steps, timelogs and purchase orders. It authenticates with an API token in the Authorization-Token header (SkyPlanner Settings > API) and is documented in Swagger/OpenAPI. The integration tutorial walks through the first calls.
How the pieces connect
- Outbound from Global Shop. A scheduled GAB process reads Work Orders, Router sequences and purchase orders changed since its last run and sends them to SkyPlanner’s REST API. GAB can “Schedule processes and reports to run at regular intervals,” so jobs sync every few minutes and master data hourly or nightly.
- Inbound to Global Shop. SkyPlanner sends a webhook when the schedule changes, and the planned dates are read from SkyPlanner’s REST API. A GAB process writes the start and finish times to the matching work order sequences. Whether GAB takes the webhook directly or picks up changes on a short schedule is set during onboarding scoping.
- Shop floor. SkyPlanner timelogs are available from the REST API or by webhook, and GAB posts them as labor against the work order, if you choose.
Global Shop runs on-premise, in Global Shop Cloud (provided by Amazon Web Services) or as SaaS. Where the GAB process runs and the network path to SkyPlanner are agreed with your IT team or Global Shop during scoping.
Data mapping
| Global Shop object | SkyPlanner object | Direction | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parts (parts master), BOMs, multi-level BOMs | Products, materials, product structure | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | Initial load, then on change |
| Routers: labor, material and outside service sequences with Workcenter and times | Process steps with durations and setup times | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | Initial load, then on change |
| Workcenters and work groups | Workstations, workstation groups, alternative workstations | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | Initial load, rarely after |
| Capacity calendars, employees, shifts | Shifts, calendars, personnel | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | Daily, or own shifts in SkyPlanner |
| Work Orders: part, quantity, due date, priority, linked sales order | Orders with due dates and priorities | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | GAB process every few minutes |
| Work order sequences: status, quantity complete, hours remaining | Jobs per process step | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | GAB process every few minutes |
| Material requirements, purchase orders, outside process POs | Material needs, purchase orders by delivery date | Global Shop → SkyPlanner | Hourly or on schedule run |
| Work order sequence scheduled start and finish, Workcenter | Planned start and finish, machine and operator per step | SkyPlanner → Global Shop | On schedule change, via SkyPlanner webhook |
| Labor: time and quantities per work order sequence | Timelogs and operator confirmations | SkyPlanner → Global Shop | Per confirmation or per shift, if chosen |
| SkyPlanner scheduling rules | Setting time matrix, tools as finite resources, multi-operator jobs | Maintained in SkyPlanner | Set up during onboarding |
Integration patterns
1. Initial master data load. Read Parts, BOMs, Routers, Workcenters, work groups, capacity calendars and employees. Map Workcenters deliberately: a Workcenter with four identical machines becomes a workstation group with four workstations, so SkyPlanner sequences each machine. Work groups map to alternative workstations.
2. Work order sync. Read open Work Orders with their sequences, material requirements and open purchase orders. SkyPlanner treats ordered material as available on the PO delivery date and updates stock when the PO is marked Delivered. Outside service sequences carry their lead time as time-only steps.
3. Schedule write-back. When the engine places or moves a sequence, a SkyPlanner webhook triggers GAB. GAB writes the planned start and finish to that work order sequence, and the Workcenter when SkyPlanner moved the work to another machine. Dispatch lists and the APS views then show SkyPlanner’s sequence.
4. Shop-floor confirmations. Operators log work with SkyPlanner Mobile Confirmations or the Production Timer, and the timelogs keep the schedule current. You choose whether actual time posts back to Global Shop. If yes, each confirmation becomes labor on the work order sequence. If no, Shop Floor Data Collection stays as it is, and SkyPlanner reads progress from the work order sequences.
5. Ownership and conflict rules. Write them down before go-live:
| Data | Owner |
|---|---|
| Parts, BOMs, Routers, quantities, due dates, work order status | Global Shop |
| Sequence order, start and finish times, machine and operator per sequence | SkyPlanner |
| Setting time matrix, tool and operator requirements, alternative resources | SkyPlanner |
| Capacity calendars and shifts | One system, chosen in scoping |
| Labor, material issues, receipts, costing | Global Shop, entered there or posted from SkyPlanner timelogs |
Pick one writer of sequence dates. Planners move work in SkyPlanner and the dates flow to Global Shop. Global reschedules and drag-and-drop moves in Global Shop APS stop for the work orders SkyPlanner schedules, or the two plans drift apart.
Typical project steps
Implementation is normally completed within weeks after onboarding starts. Before that, validate the schedule in the 30-day free trial with Workcenters, Routers and open work orders exported from Global Shop as Excel or CSV.
- Scoping. Fix the mapping table, ownership rules, sync intervals and whether labor posts back. Confirm your deployment (on-premise, Cloud or SaaS) and who writes the GAB side.
- Access. Create the SkyPlanner API token and agree the outbound network path for GAB.
- Initial load. Parts, BOMs, Routers, Workcenters, work groups, calendars and employees.
- Work order and purchase order sync. The scheduled GAB process, with change detection, retries and logging.
- Constraint setup in SkyPlanner. Setting time matrix, tools, operator counts per job and alternative machines or personnel.
- Schedule write-back. Webhook-driven writes to work order sequences, plus labor if chosen.
- Parallel testing. Run SkyPlanner beside the current APS plan, compare dates, fix master data.
- Go-live. Switch on write-back once the data matches, and stop manual reschedules for SkyPlanner-scheduled work.
What to plan for in a Global Shop Solutions integration
- Workcenters versus machines. Global Shop plans by Workcenter and work group. Decide which Workcenters hold several machines and split them into SkyPlanner workstations.
- Three kinds of sequences. Routers hold material, labor and outside service sequences. Only labor sequences use your capacity. Material sequences become material needs, and outside services become time-only steps.
- Setup and run time. Carry setup and run time separately, so the setting time matrix can replace the fixed setup where the sequence matters.
- Calendars. Global Shop keeps capacity calendars with date-specific changes. Choose one owner for shifts and holidays, or the two plans disagree.
- People per workstation. Global Shop schedules employees by skill set. Agree in scoping how people are assigned to workstations in SkyPlanner.
- Rush flags and priorities. Map Global Shop priorities to SkyPlanner priority and Fast Track, so rush work keeps its place.
- Upgrades. Global Shop Cloud includes “Semi-annual upgrades.” Re-test the GAB process after each upgrade.
Who configures and supports the Global Shop integration
- The SkyPlanner team configures it during onboarding and supports it after go-live, across the agreed objects and sync rules. Every plant runs Global Shop differently, and this is where that know-how goes.
- Global Shop’s services team can take part. Its DaaS developers know GAB and your setup and can build the Global Shop side alongside the SkyPlanner team.
- Your own GAB developers can build on it against SkyPlanner’s REST API with an API token. An API token is enough to start, and the SkyPlanner team assists when needed. Integration documentation is at SkyPlanner integration docs.
SkyPlanner starts from 199 € per month with 5 workstations included, billed monthly. The integration is quoted up front for your process and needs, together with your plan. See pricing, Global Shop Solutions finite capacity scheduling, the Global Shop Solutions page, SkyPlanner features and the ERP integrations hub.
Manufacturers running SkyPlanner
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.
Fewerstoppages from material shortages
“The value SkyPlanner brings us is that it is a tool that works in daily use, especially for setting delivery dates.”
Tommi Männistö, Production Planning Manager
Eskomatic · Contract machining
Automatic load scheduling gives more accurate delivery dates, and production stoppages caused by material shortages have fallen sharply.
1,000swork orders scheduled automatically
“Production is under control in a different way, and our understanding of capacity is on a completely different level.”
Hannu Ryynänen, CEO
Mamec · Industrial mixers, pumps and high-tech contract manufacturing
Thousands of work orders are scheduled automatically, with a real-time view of production for the whole organization.
FAQ
Does Global Shop Solutions have an API?
Global Shop connects to other systems through its Global Application Builder (GAB) SDK, which can “integrate with third-party APIs,” and through its own integration services. The SkyPlanner integration uses GAB on the Global Shop side and SkyPlanner’s REST API and webhooks on the other.
What is GAB in Global Shop Solutions?
The Global Application Builder is Global Shop’s SDK for custom screens, applications and integrations. It works with business data objects, can manage data flow and can run processes on a schedule.
How are planned dates written back to Global Shop?
Per work order sequence. A SkyPlanner webhook triggers GAB, which writes the planned start and finish to the sequence, plus the Workcenter when SkyPlanner moved the work to another machine.
Does the integration work with Global Shop Cloud and SaaS?
Yes. SkyPlanner is cloud SaaS and connects to Global Shop on-premise, in Global Shop Cloud or on SaaS. Where the GAB side runs and the network path to SkyPlanner are agreed with you and Global Shop during onboarding scoping.
Who builds the Global Shop side?
The SkyPlanner team configures the integration and supports it after go-live. Global Shop’s DaaS team or your own GAB developers can build or extend the GAB side on SkyPlanner’s documented API.
Can we test SkyPlanner before building the integration?
Yes. The 30-day free trial supports up to 20 workstations with Excel or CSV imports from Global Shop, no credit card needed. Start the trial, or talk to sales to scope the integration.
