Integrations / ERP / Katana
Does Katana Have Finite Capacity Scheduling? The Make Screen Schedule vs SkyPlanner APS
No. Katana Cloud Inventory, still widely called Katana MRP, ranks manufacturing orders in one priority list and allocates materials in that order. It can estimate a deadline for each order from one factory-wide weekly throughput figure. It does not schedule operations against the capacity of each machine or person. Plants that need that run SkyPlanner APS beside Katana.
Katana’s own production scheduling page sells the feature as a tool that “automatically prioritizes your manufacturing and allocates materials to open orders”. That is a priority queue with material allocation. It is not a finite capacity schedule.
How Katana schedules production, step by step
1. Products, recipes and production operations
A product needs Make enabled before it shows the Production operations tab. Each row holds an Operation, a Type (Process, Setup, Per Unit or Fixed Cost), a Resource, a Cost per Hour and a Time. For Time, Katana says to “specify the duration required to produce one unit of the product.” (source)
Ingredients sit in the product recipe / BOM, which you can import under Settings > Data import. (source)
2. Resources and operators
A Resource is “the location or unit where an operation runs, such as a workstation, machine, or employee”. Each operation has one default resource, set under Settings > Resources. “Operators are not linked directly to operations – they are linked through resources.” The documentation describes no working hours, shifts or capacity on a Resource. (source)
3. Manufacturing orders
A manufacturing order (MO) is Make-to-Order, linked to a sales order, or Make-to-Stock. When you create it, Katana copies the product’s default operations, resources and operators onto the MO. Manufacturing sits in Katana’s Manufacturing Management add-on. (source)
4. The Schedule tab
Make > Schedule lists every open MO with Ingredient availability, Production deadline, Delivery deadline, Customer and Production status. “The topmost MO has the highest priority.” To change the plan, you “click and drag the MO to the desired position in the list.” (source)
Priority also drives material. “Higher-priority MOs reserve required materials and subassemblies first.” A lower MO can show Not available while stock sits in the warehouse, reserved for an order above it.
5. Production deadlines
Under Configure deadlines, deadlines run in manual or automatic mode. In manual mode, “each new MO gets a default deadline of 7 days from its creation date.” Automatic mode uses the planned production time, the MO priority, a production timezone and one setting: Weekly throughput, the “total production hours available in a week”. (source)
6. Tasks and the Shop Floor App
Make > Tasks shows “all operation steps grouped by Resource”, and “task order reflects the priority of the associated MO.” Operators update task status in the Shop Floor Control App. (source)
What stays with the planner
- One capacity number. “Weekly capacity is spread evenly across 5 weekdays.” Five machines with different loads share one figure.
- Fixed working week. Automatic deadlines count Monday to Friday only, with the day ending at 6:00 PM. Shifts, weekends, holidays and overtime per resource are not part of the calculation.
- No machine timeline. The Schedule tab is a list with a deadline column that “displays the estimated completion date for each MO.” (source) No view shows when an operation runs on a given machine.
- Manual sequencing. The planner decides the order by dragging. Nothing optimizes it.
- Tasks inherit MO priority. Operations are not sequenced per resource by load.
- Setups by cost type. Setup is an operation type with a fixed time. Changeovers that depend on the previous product are not modeled.
- Mode switches erase dates. “Once automatic mode is enabled, all manual deadlines will be overwritten and cannot be restored.”
- Katana’s own limit. “For complex, long-term, or multi-stream production setups, manual deadlines might offer better control.”
In practice: a planner reorders the list every morning, a spreadsheet tracks which machine is really free, and delivery dates are estimates.
When Katana’s own scheduling is enough
Katana’s Schedule tab does the job when:
- You run a handful of products and resources with short cycles and steady daily output. That is the case Katana recommends automatic deadlines for.
- You have one bottleneck or none, and reordering the list once a day is fast enough.
- You make to stock, and material availability is the real constraint.
- Operators need a task list per resource, not a timed plan.
If that is your plant, keep your production operations and Weekly throughput accurate and stay inside Katana.
When you need a finite capacity scheduler
You have outgrown the Schedule tab when several of these are true:
- Several machines or work centers carry different loads, and one CNC is booked for weeks while assembly waits.
- Shifts, overtime, holidays or absences differ by machine or team.
- Changeover time depends on which product ran before.
- Operations across several resources decide the delivery date, or jobs run for weeks.
- Rush orders and breakdowns need the whole plan recalculated, not one MO dragged to the top.
- Sales must check real capacity before quoting a date.
What to look for
- Per-resource capacity with shifts, leave, absences and overtime.
- Whole-schedule sequencing of every open order by priority and due date.
- A setting time matrix with sequence-dependent, asymmetric changeover times.
- Tools as finite shared resources and multi-operator jobs.
- Material-aware scheduling that covers stock and incoming purchase orders.
- Automatic rescheduling when production progresses or orders change.
- A concrete write-back to Katana. The Katana API can move MOs to an exact place on the Schedule tab and set each MO’s production deadline. Ask every vendor which of these their schedule writes.
The options fall into four groups:
- Katana’s Schedule tab ranks MOs inside Katana.
- Spreadsheet schedulers work on CSV exports and hand the result back as a file.
- Shop-floor tools track operation status and work queues.
- Cloud APS with shop-floor execution, where SkyPlanner sits, schedules every resource beside Katana and writes the plan back.
Where SkyPlanner fits
SkyPlanner APS closes each gap above. Every workstation and person gets its own shifts, leave, absences and overtime shifts. The Arcturus engine places each operation on a real time slot on the Gantt timeline, in seconds, by job priority, completion date, customer priority, Fast Track and Dynamic Priorities.
The setting time matrix holds the changeover time between each pair of products in both directions, and the engine picks the order with the least setup. Tools are finite shared resources, and a job can need several operators at once. When a workstation or person is unavailable, the engine uses the alternatives you define.
Material-driven scheduling simulates future inventory from stock and incoming purchase orders. Work is planned only when material is there. Autopilot reschedules automatically when production changes, and Running Time Lock keeps started jobs in place. Operators log work with Mobile Confirmations, Production Timer and Quick Log Mode.
Choose SkyPlanner when several machines share your orders and one weekly throughput figure hides the overload.
Choose SkyPlanner when changeovers, shared tools or crews decide what can run next.
Choose SkyPlanner when you want Katana’s Schedule tab, and its material reservations, to follow a real finite capacity plan.
Start with a CSV import in the 30-day free trial (up to 20 workstations, no credit card). After that, pricing is 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.
SkyPlanner integrates with Katana in both directions through the Katana API. Manufacturing orders, recipes, production operations, resources and purchase orders flow in. The MO sequence, production deadlines and logged work go back. The SkyPlanner team configures the integration during onboarding, or your Katana consultant or developers build it on SkyPlanner’s documented REST API (API reference).
Read the overview on the SkyPlanner for Katana page, go to the Katana integration guide, or compare other systems in the ERP integrations hub.
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.
99.2%delivery reliability
“SkyPlanner has brought visibility to identifying bottlenecks and clarified production management.”
Toni Tuori, Production Manager
Piristeel · Roof safety and rainwater systems
Delivery reliability reached 99.2% this year, and scheduling saves up to four hours of working time per day.
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.
FAQ
Does Katana have a production scheduling tool?
Yes, a priority-based one. The Schedule tab on the Make screen ranks manufacturing orders, reserves materials in that order and shows a production deadline per MO. It does not plan operations against each machine’s capacity.
How does Katana calculate production deadlines?
In automatic mode, Katana uses each MO’s planned production time, its priority and one Weekly throughput figure for the factory. That capacity is spread evenly over Monday to Friday. In manual mode, each new MO gets a deadline seven days after creation.
Can Katana plan against machine capacity and shifts?
No. Resources carry no shifts, calendars or capacity of their own in Katana’s documentation. SkyPlanner APS gives each workstation and person its own shifts, absences and overtime and schedules every operation against them.
Is Katana an ERP system?
Katana calls itself Katana Cloud Inventory. It covers inventory, manufacturing orders, purchasing and sales orders, and it connects to accounting tools such as QuickBooks Online and Xero. Finite capacity scheduling comes from an APS next to it.
Can I test SkyPlanner with my Katana data?
Yes. Import your workstations and open orders from a Katana CSV export during the 30-day trial and compare the schedule with your current plan. See pricing, start the trial or talk to sales.
