Integrations / ERP / SAP Business ByDesign
Does SAP ByDesign Have Finite Capacity Scheduling? Load Leveling vs SkyPlanner APS
Not at the machine level. SAP Business ByDesign runs an infinite planning run, checks capacity in rough-cut buckets and offers Load Leveling as an interactive step. SAP’s own help leaves the dispatching of operations to the shop floor. Companies that need every machine, operator, tool and material scheduled finitely run SkyPlanner APS beside ByDesign.
This article covers SAP Business ByDesign with the help release 2608 (August 2026). ByDesign ships quarterly releases, so check the release number before you rely on a screen.
How SAP ByDesign plans capacity, step by step
1. Resources and operating times
Resources are equipment resources, “a machine or tool”, labor resources and resource groups. Operating times come from a shift program, and a resource can be marked planning-relevant. SAP notes that a resource that is not planning-relevant “will most likely never become a constraint from a capacity perspective” (SAP help, Resources).
2. Bills of Operations and Production Models
The Production Bill of Operations holds operations with activities: Setup, Produce, Move, Check and Tear down. Each make or check operation has a main resource, and activities can add equipment, vehicle and labor resources. The Production Model combines the Bill of Material and the Bill of Operations.
3. The planning run: infinite by design
The material planning run creates production proposals. “The system creates production proposals based on infinite capacities, but taking the requirement date of the demand into account. This can, of course, result in resource overload situations” (SAP help, Material Planning Run).
4. Capacity Planning: rough-cut buckets
Proposals carry planning operations. SAP calls this “rough-cut scheduling” and says “capacity is typically checked in buckets, such as days, weeks, or months.” Only the first setup and the last tear-down count in a planning operation’s duration, and the capacity requirement is spread evenly from start to end (SAP help, Capacity Planning).
5. Load Leveling: the planner’s tool
The planner runs Load Leveling “from the Resource Planning Details screen within the Resource Load view of the Supply Planning work center.” Firmed proposals stay where they are. “If the available capacity is not sufficient, the planning operation is infinitely scheduled in the first bucket after the load leveling horizon” (SAP help, Load Leveling).
6. Production orders: main resources only
A production request becomes a production order, which is scheduled with earliest and latest dates. “The availability of main resources is considered for scheduling” (SAP help, Production Orders).
7. Release and dispatch on the floor
A released order creates a production lot and production tasks. “You can define rules for automatic dispatch of tasks to specific workers or resources. Alternatively, you can dispatch tasks manually” in the Task Control view (SAP help, Production Order Execution). SAP sums it up: “The dispatching of operations on resources to fulfill several production orders is normally determined on the shop floor.”
What stays with the planner
ByDesign gives the planner material proposals and a bucket view of load. These decisions still sit with people:
- The sequence on each machine. Dispatching is determined on the shop floor, by rules or by hand.
- Overloads beyond the horizon. Load Leveling pushes what does not fit into the next bucket, scheduled infinitely.
- Operators and tools. Production order scheduling considers main resources: their calendar availability and planned duration.
- Changeovers. Setup is a planned activity on each operation, and the sequence that keeps setups short is left to dispatching on the floor.
- Material timing on the machine. The planning run times proposals against demand, while machine sequence is decided later on the floor.
- Replanning. After a breakdown or rush order, someone reruns planning, levels again and redispatches tasks.
When SAP ByDesign’s native planning is enough
The built-in tools work well when:
- Each product runs on one main resource with stable cycle times.
- A weekly bucket view is enough to promise dates.
- Changeovers are short and do not depend on the sequence.
- Crews are fixed per machine and rarely limit output.
- The plan changes once a week, not several times a day.
When you need a finite capacity scheduler
You have outgrown the native tools when several of these are true:
- Delivery dates slip although the Resource Load view shows enough capacity per week.
- Supervisors build the daily sequence in spreadsheets.
- Changeover time depends on which product ran before.
- Operators, shifts and absences limit output as much as machines do.
- Fixtures, molds or tools move between machines.
- Late material decides which order can start.
What to look for
- Every resource finite at once: machines, people, tools and material, at real clock times.
- Operation-level sequencing by priorities and due dates, not buckets.
- A setting time matrix with sequence-dependent, directional changeover times.
- Tools as finite shared resources and multi-operator jobs.
- Material-aware scheduling that checks stock and incoming purchase orders.
- Automatic rescheduling when production progress or orders change.
- A clean ByDesign data path. Reads through the Query web services or custom OData, writes through Manage Production Orders and Manage Production Lots. Ask every vendor how dates reach your production orders and who supports it after go-live.
The options fall into four groups:
- ByDesign Supply Planning creates proposals and levels buckets inside ByDesign.
- APS suites are connected through an implementation project and run by a planning team.
- Demand-driven planning platforms manage buffers and control points rather than machine sequences.
- Cloud APS with shop-floor execution, where SkyPlanner sits, schedules every resource automatically beside ByDesign and puts the plan in operators’ hands.
For the method behind it, read the finite capacity scheduling guide and the production scheduling guide.
Where SkyPlanner fits
SkyPlanner APS takes over every decision listed above. Every machine, person and tool is finite. Arcturus optimizes the whole plan in seconds, sequenced by order 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. Blue to red takes 30 minutes and red to blue takes 60, and the engine picks the order with the least total setup. Tools are finite shared resources, a job that needs three operators gets three people with free shifts, and work moves to alternative machines or personnel when the first choice is busy.
Material-driven scheduling simulates future inventory from stock and incoming purchase orders, so an operation is planned when its material is there. Autopilot reschedules automatically when production changes, and Running Time Lock freezes the next hours of work so the floor is not disrupted. Operators log work on phone or tablet with Mobile Confirmations, Production Timer and Quick Log Mode, and users are unlimited.
Choose SkyPlanner over ByDesign Load Leveling when:
- You need clock times, not buckets. ByDesign checks capacity in buckets of shifts, days, weeks or months. Arcturus places every operation on a machine at a time.
- The plan must keep itself current. Load Leveling runs when the planner starts it. Autopilot replans on every meaningful change.
- Operators, tools and changeovers decide the sequence. All of them are finite in one schedule, with the setting time matrix for setups.
- Every operator should see the plan. Mobile Confirmations put the queue on every phone or tablet, and confirmations go back to the production lots.
Start with an Excel export of open ByDesign production orders in the 30-day free trial (up to 20 workstations, all Basic features, 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 SAP Business ByDesign in both directions through SAP’s released web services. The SkyPlanner team configures it during onboarding, and your partner or developers can work on the documented REST API. See the SkyPlanner for SAP Business ByDesign page, the ByDesign integration guide or all ERP integrations. On another SAP ERP? See SAP Business One or SAP S/4HANA.
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.
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
Is the SAP ByDesign planning run finite or infinite?
Infinite. SAP’s help says the planning run schedules production proposals “based on infinite resources using the location calendar.” Capacity is then checked in rough-cut buckets.
What does Load Leveling do in ByDesign?
It moves planning operations to buckets with free capacity on a resource, within a horizon. The planner runs it from the Resource Load view. What does not fit is scheduled infinitely in the first bucket after the horizon.
Who sequences operations in SAP ByDesign?
The shop floor. SAP’s help says dispatching of operations on resources is normally determined there, by dispatch rules or by hand in Task Control.
Should we use ByDesign Load Leveling or SkyPlanner?
SkyPlanner, when you need a sequence per machine with operators, tools, changeovers and material in one plan that keeps itself current. Keep ByDesign Supply Planning for material proposals and let SkyPlanner own the operation schedule. Test it on your own production orders in the free trial.
Does SkyPlanner replace SAP ByDesign?
No. ByDesign keeps materials, Production Models, planning, purchasing, inventory and finance. SkyPlanner schedules released production orders and sends start dates, main resources and confirmations back.
