Integrations / ERP / IFS Cloud
SkyPlanner APS for IFS Cloud: Finite Capacity Production Scheduling
SkyPlanner APS is a finite capacity scheduling add-on for IFS Cloud that schedules every shop order operation, machine, operator, tool and material. You see which job runs where and when, and Autopilot reschedules automatically when production changes.
SkyPlanner integrates with IFS Cloud in both directions: shop orders, routings, work centers, inventory parts and purchase orders flow in, and planned operation dates flow back. The SkyPlanner team configures the integration to your IFS Cloud 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 shop order competes for real capacity.
IFS Cloud’s standard scheduler treats each shop order as if it were the only one in the plant. SkyPlanner schedules all of them together against real shifts, absences and overtime. When a machine is busy, work moves to an alternative machine or person.
Delivery dates you can promise.
The schedule shows when each shop order will really finish. You answer customers from the plan, not from an Excel file pulled out of IFS.
Rush orders and breakdowns replanned automatically.
When a machine stops, a rush order lands or work finishes early, Autopilot reschedules automatically. Your locks and priorities stay in control.
Fewer changeovers.
SkyPlanner knows how long it takes to switch a machine from one product to the next, in both directions. Blue to red can take 30 minutes and red to blue 60. The schedule runs jobs in the order that loses the least time to setups.
Tools and crews that are really free.
A mold in use on one machine is never booked on another at the same time. A job that needs three operators gets three people with free shifts.
A schedule that respects material.
SkyPlanner checks stock and incoming purchase orders. A shop order waiting for a vendor delivery is planned after that delivery date instead of stopping on the floor.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How the IFS Cloud integration works
- IFS Cloud sends the work. Shop orders with their operations and materials, routings, product structures, work centers, labor and tools flow into SkyPlanner, together with inventory part availability and purchase orders.
- SkyPlanner builds the schedule and keeps it current. The Arcturus engine plans every operation in seconds and replans as production changes.
- Dates go back to IFS. Planned start and finish times and the chosen work center resource return to the shop order operations. SkyPlanner webhooks push every schedule change as it happens.
IFS Cloud stays your system of record. It keeps inventory parts, product structures, MRP, purchasing and costing, and it still creates and releases the shop orders. SkyPlanner owns one thing: the sequence and timing of every operation.
SkyPlanner connects through IFS Cloud’s own OData projection APIs, authenticated with an IFS IAM client, so there is nothing to install in IFS. Every plant runs IFS 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 IFS partner or your own developers can also build on SkyPlanner’s documented API (API reference).
The technical details are in the IFS Cloud integration guide for production scheduling.
What IFS Cloud schedules, and what SkyPlanner adds
IFS Cloud plans materials and gives every shop order operation a date. The capacity check is the gap. IFS’s work center documentation says it directly: “Operations scheduled with CRP and shop order are always scheduled infinite.” In daily production, that means:
- Shop orders overlap on the same machine. The shop order scheduler picks the least loaded resource for each order on its own. Two orders can claim the same hours.
- Planners resequence by hand. Rush orders and breakdowns end up in spreadsheets exported from IFS.
- The Advanced Planning Board sees only part of the plant. IFS says the board “only considers the constraints placed by shop orders and resources that are actually loaded to the APB at a given time.” Everything outside it stays infinite.
- Finite scheduling is a separate module. IFS’s finite option, Manufacturing Scheduling and Optimization (MSO), schedules machines, labor, tools and material availability. It is available to customers with access to MSO, and it runs on a purchased PSO Cloud Service or an IFS.ai Activation Pass (IFS MSO). SkyPlanner schedules every constraint in one engine at a published price. You see a finite schedule of your own shop orders within the 30-day trial and go live within weeks, with shop-floor reporting built in.
Every limit, including MSO, is explained in Does IFS Cloud have finite capacity scheduling?
IFS Cloud today and with SkyPlanner
| IFS Cloud standard scheduling | IFS Cloud with SkyPlanner APS | |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Shop orders and CRP always infinite | Every machine, person and tool has real capacity and shifts |
| Schedule | Each shop order scheduled on its own | All shop orders scheduled together in seconds |
| Changeovers | Setup time per routing operation | Jobs ordered for the least total setup time |
| Tools and crews | Not limited across shop orders | Shared tools and multi-operator jobs booked finitely |
| Materials | Material planned apart from machine load | Jobs start when stock or incoming deliveries are there |
| Changes | Planner reschedules after a rush order | Autopilot replans the whole plant within your priorities |
| Shop floor | Reporting in Shop Floor Workbench | Operators see their queue and log work on phone or tablet |
| Finite option | MSO: separate access plus PSO Cloud Service or IFS.ai Activation Pass | Included from 199 € per month, live within weeks |
How to choose a scheduler for IFS Cloud
IFS Cloud’s standard scheduling fits a plant with spare capacity, short routings and a weekly plan. MSO is IFS’s finite answer, and it comes with conditions IFS documents itself. It “is available for customers with access to Manufacturing Scheduling and Optimization” and needs a PSO Cloud Service or an IFS.ai Activation Pass (IFS MSO). On IFS.ai platform services, “Automatic scheduling mode is not available,” and users “must have a number of dedicated tokens on hand to do a finite schedule or to do a simulation” (IFS MSO 26R1). Advanced parameters are “For modification by PSO/MSO SMEs only,” and IFS positions MSO “primarily” for “detailed short-term scheduling” (IFS MSO 26R2).
Choose SkyPlanner over IFS MSO when:
- You are moving off spreadsheets and want results within weeks, without buying MSO access and a PSO or IFS.ai deployment first.
- The plan must replan itself. Autopilot replans on every change, with no token budget per run and no planner starting a schedule.
- Sales needs finite dates months ahead, not only a short-term window. Fredman’s sales sees free capacity six months ahead.
- Changeovers decide your output. The setting time matrix orders jobs for the least total setup.
- Shared tools, multi-operator jobs and material arrival decide what can run next.
- Operators should work from their own queue on a phone or tablet, with Mobile Confirmations in the same tool.
- You want the integration configured and supported for you by the SkyPlanner team, not tuned by subject matter experts.
How to get started
- Start the free trial. 30 days, up to 20 workstations, all Basic features, no credit card.
- Model your production. Create machines, people and shifts in SkyPlanner, or import them from your IFS work centers. Assisted onboarding is available.
- Load your shop orders. Export open shop orders and their operations from IFS Cloud to Excel, import them and compare SkyPlanner’s schedule with your current plan.
- Connect IFS Cloud. The SkyPlanner team configures the two-way integration and supports it once you are live.
Pricing. Plans are billed monthly per workstation, and you can add or remove workstations or cancel at any time. See pricing for the details. Other ERPs are listed in the ERP integrations hub.
FAQ
What is the best scheduling add-on for IFS Cloud?
SkyPlanner APS is a finite capacity scheduling add-on that integrates with IFS Cloud in both directions: shop orders, routings, work centers, inventory parts and purchase orders flow in, and planned operation dates flow back. Every 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 IFS Cloud have finite capacity scheduling?
Not in standard shop order scheduling. IFS documents that shop orders and CRP are always scheduled infinite. Finite scheduling needs MSO, which requires separate access plus a PSO or IFS.ai deployment, or the older Advanced Planning Board. SkyPlanner APS adds a finite capacity schedule for the whole plant.
Do we need to install anything in IFS Cloud?
No. SkyPlanner runs in the cloud beside IFS Cloud and connects through IFS’s own OData projection APIs. Your IFS administrator registers an IAM client with a service user for SkyPlanner, and the SkyPlanner team configures the rest.
Does SkyPlanner replace IFS Cloud manufacturing?
No, it works on top of it. IFS Cloud keeps inventory parts, product structures, routings, MRP, purchasing, inventory and costing, and it creates the shop orders. SkyPlanner schedules those shop orders against real capacity and sends the dates back.
Should we use IFS MSO or SkyPlanner?
Choose SkyPlanner if you are moving off spreadsheets and want a finite schedule within weeks. MSO needs separate access plus a PSO Cloud Service or an IFS.ai Activation Pass. On IFS.ai platform services it runs in manual mode and uses tokens for every finite schedule or simulation, and IFS reserves its advanced parameters for PSO and MSO specialists. SkyPlanner schedules every machine, person, tool and material in one cloud engine, Autopilot replans automatically on every change, and operators work from Mobile Confirmations. It starts from 199 € per month after a 30-day trial on your own shop orders, and you do not need MSO or PSO to use it.
How much does SkyPlanner cost for an IFS Cloud 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, even for large companies. The team maps your work centers and routings, connects shop orders and purchase orders, and sets up the write-back. Everything is tested against your current plan before go-live.
Can we test SkyPlanner before integrating with IFS Cloud?
Yes. The 30-day trial runs on an Excel export of your shop orders, operations and work centers. You see a finite schedule of your own production before any integration work starts.
