Integrations / ERP / Monitor ERP
Does Monitor ERP Have Finite Capacity Scheduling? Priority Planning vs SkyPlanner APS
Monitor ERP plans capacity per work center, but it does not build a finite schedule for the whole plant. Monitor G5 shows load per work center in the Loading plan and calculates a New finish per operation in Priority planning, one work center at a time. The planner resolves overloads and sets the sequence. Plants that want every work center, person, tool and material scheduled finitely run SkyPlanner APS beside Monitor.
How Monitor G5 plans production, step by step
Planning is part of the Manufacturing module in every Monitor package, with “procedures for handling manufacturing order/subcontract including loading plans and priority planning.” (Monitor help)
1. Work centers and capacity
Each work center (produktionsgrupp) has a type: Machine, Manual work, Subcontract, Pool, Pick or Staffing. Capacity is Basic time x Number of machines (or persons) x Availability factor.
Monitor explains the factor: “The availability factor reduces the gross capacity to a net capacity. The default value is 80 % when creating a new work center.” (Monitor help)
Time precision is set per work center:
- Day planning: capacity as basic time per day.
- Hourly planning: activated with a system setting, load shown per hour.
- Capacity via schedule: a production schedule cycle generates gross capacity.
Calendar exceptions override capacity for single days.
2. BOM and routing
A manufactured part has a BOM and routing (beredning) with material rows and operation rows. Each operation row carries a work center, setup time, unit time, queue time and overlap in %. Alternative work centers can be added per operation row.
3. Registering a manufacturing order
When you register a manufacturing order (tillverkningsorder), Monitor plans its operations backward from the final operation’s planned finish. “The calculation for planned start date takes queue time, setup time, unit time, and overlap of the operations, into consideration.” (Monitor help)
Capacity is governed by the system setting Check capacity during manufacturing order registration. It has two values:
| Value | What Monitor does |
|---|---|
| No | “The order is registered as per the requirement date in BOM and routing regardless of the work center’s capacity.” |
| Yes (within order) | “The work center’s capacity is taken into account when the order contains multiple nodes with the same work center.” |
Neither value looks at the load from other orders. (Monitor help)
4. Loading plan and Master planning
The Loading plan (beläggningsplan) shows “how different work centers’ loading is affected by manufacturing orders over time,” by month, week or day. The chart is read-only: “It is not possible to update the loading chart.” Start and finish are replanned in the List tab. (Monitor help)
Master planning works the same way. Monitor calls it “a loading plan where any overload might require the entire order to be replanned with regard to quantity and dates.”
5. Priority planning and the Priority plan chart
Priority planning (körplan) “shows all operations for the work center in all manufacturing orders,” sorted by priority and start date. The planner drags rows to change the order.
Monitor then calculates New finish: “an expected finish date/time considering capacity and remaining time on the operations and their priority in the priority plan.” The planner applies it with Rescheduling according to New finish. (Monitor help)
The Priority plan chart (körplansgraf) shows operations as blocks per work center on an hour or day scale. Its Replanning view “shows if operations are overloaded and thereby need to be replanned.”
6. Pool planning, CDT and Daily management
- Pool planning links equivalent machines to a Pool work center. Suggest new work center proposes “the work center that gets the earliest date for New finish,” and the planner accepts or moves each operation.
- Check delivery times (CDT, LTK) searches free capacity operation by operation for one order line. It checks material coverage and can suggest an alternative work center.
- Daily management (daglig styrning) puts priority plans on shared touch screens for daily follow-up.
What stays with the planner
- No plant-wide finite run. Orders are registered “regardless of the work center’s capacity” by default, and the within-order option ignores every other order.
- Overloads are a planner task. Master planning flags overloads that “might require the entire order to be replanned.” The Loading plan cannot be edited.
- One work center at a time. New finish is calculated per work center from its queue, and Monitor notes “the new finish date is not always in the same order as the rows.”
- Pools stay separate. A Pool work center “must be handled in the Pool planning procedure,” not in Priority planning. (Monitor help)
- CDT checks one order line. CDT plans one order line, and manual replanning in its result “are not saved.” (Monitor help)
- Setters and crews are checked in the chart. The Priority plan chart helps you spot that “two setups should not be planned at the same time if there is only one machine setter.” The planner fixes the clash. (Monitor help)
- Setup savings by filter. With the Tools & Maintenance option, “you can also filter orders that use the same tool in order to save set-up time.” The grouping itself is manual. (Monitor help)
- Daily management is day-precision. “Daily management currently supports day planning.” Each display computer needs its own Daily management licence. (Monitor help)
In practice, the planner drags rows every morning and checks setters and tools by eye.
When Monitor’s own planning is enough
Priority planning plus CDT does the job when:
- One or two work centers are the real bottlenecks and the rest have slack.
- A planner owns the priority plan and works it every day.
- Equivalent machines are few and Pool planning covers them.
- Setup order, shared tools and operator availability rarely decide what runs next.
- Your main need is realistic quotes for single order lines from CDT.
When you need a finite capacity scheduler
You have outgrown Monitor’s planning when several of these are true:
- The bottleneck moves between work centers with the product mix.
- Delivery dates slip although each work center’s priority plan looks fine.
- Changeover time depends on which product ran before.
- Operators, setters and shifts limit the plan as much as machines do.
- Dies, molds or fixtures are shared between machines.
- Material arrival decides which job can start.
- Rush orders and breakdowns force a replan several times a week.
What to look for
- All resources finite at once, across every work center in one run.
- A setting time matrix: sequence-dependent, asymmetric changeover times the engine uses to cut total setup.
- Tools as finite shared resources, so one fixture is never on two machines at once.
- Multi-operator jobs staffed with people who each have their own shift.
- Material-aware scheduling against stock and incoming purchase orders.
- Alternative machines and personnel the engine uses when the primary resource is busy.
- Automatic rescheduling when production progress or orders change.
- A concrete write-back to Monitor. Ask how planned start and finish reach the manufacturing order operation through the Monitor ERP API, and which Monitor version that needs.
Where SkyPlanner fits
SkyPlanner APS closes each gap above. Every workstation is finite, and the Arcturus AI engine sequences all of them together in seconds. The planner reviews the schedule instead of dragging rows per work center.
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 machine or person is unavailable, the engine moves the work to the alternatives you define, including your Monitor pool members.
Material-driven scheduling simulates future inventory from stock and incoming purchase orders. Ordered material counts as available on its delivery date, so work is planned only when material is there.
Autopilot reschedules automatically when production changes, within your locks and priorities. Operators see their queue and log work on phone or tablet with Mobile Confirmations, Production Timer and Quick Log Mode.
Choose SkyPlanner when the priority plan takes hours a week and the bottleneck moves between work centers.
Choose SkyPlanner when setups, setters and shared tools decide what can run next.
Choose SkyPlanner when you replan several times a week and want a working schedule of your own production in weeks.
Start with an Excel export of your open manufacturing orders 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, cancel any time. The integration is quoted up front for your process and needs, together with your plan.
SkyPlanner integrates with Monitor ERP in both directions through the Monitor ERP API. Planned start and finish go back to the manufacturing order operations, and the SkyPlanner team configures the integration during onboarding. See the SkyPlanner for Monitor ERP page, the Monitor ERP integration guide or 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.
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.
FAQ
Does Monitor G5 have a planning board?
Monitor G5 has the Loading plan, Priority planning with the Priority plan chart, Pool planning and Check delivery times. The “Planning Board” found in search results belongs to the older MONITOR 8 and 9 help, not to G5.
What is New finish in Monitor priority planning?
New finish is Monitor’s expected finish per operation, based on capacity, remaining time and the operation’s place in the work center’s priority plan. The planner applies it with Rescheduling according to New finish. It is calculated per work center, so it does not resequence other work centers.
Can Monitor plan machines and operators at the same time?
Monitor plans per work center, and a work center counts machines or persons. Setter and crew clashes are shown in the Priority plan chart for the planner to resolve. SkyPlanner APS schedules machines, people and tools together, including jobs that need several operators.
Can I test SkyPlanner before integrating it with Monitor ERP?
Yes. Export open manufacturing order operations and work centers from Monitor to Excel and import them during the 30-day trial. Compare the result with your priority plan. See pricing, start the trial or talk to sales.
