Production scheduling for coaters, platers and heat treaters
Surface treatment production scheduling software
SkyPlanner APS turns your incoming customer batches, lines, ovens, baths, racks and shifts into one finite-capacity schedule. It runs colors and treatments in an order that keeps cleaning and changeovers short, combines parts from several orders into one oven or bath load, holds the next step until curing or drying is done, and rebuilds the plan in seconds when a rush batch arrives at the gate. It integrates with any ERP or MES through its open REST API.
- Color and treatment sequencing
- Finite-capacity scheduling
- Any ERP or MES via REST API
- From 199 € / month
99.2%
delivery reliability, Piristeel
4 h/day
planning time saved vs. the old process, Piristeel
98%
delivery reliability, up from around 50%, KJH-Comp
2 → 1
supervisors needed for scheduling, KJH-Comp
Results reported by SkyPlanner customers Piristeel and KJH-Comp. Read all SkyPlanner APS reviews
Why surface treatment is hard to schedule
Other people’s parts, your colors, fixed oven loads
A finishing plant works on parts that belong to dozens of customers. Every batch arrives with its own color, treatment and promised return date, and it has to share the same pretreatment, booths, baths and ovens with everything else on the floor.
Color and treatment order decides the day
White after black means a full booth clean. Changing powder type, gloss level or coating system takes its own time on every line. The sequence decides how much of each shift goes to cleaning instead of coating.
Ovens and baths run in loads
A curing oven, a furnace or a plating tank takes a load, not a single part. Parts from different customers have to be combined into the same cycle when their treatment matches.
Racks and jigs are limited
Parts are hung on racks, hooks, jigs or baskets that exist in fixed numbers. When the right rack is still on the line with another batch, the next job waits.
Curing and drying cannot be rushed
Powder has to cure, paint has to dry, parts cool after heat treatment and rinse after a bath. The next step cannot start early, but the line should not stand still while it waits.
Rush batches arrive every day
Customers drop off parts without warning and ask for them back tomorrow. Each urgent batch pushes into a plan already full of promises to other customers.
The whiteboard cannot quote a return date
A whiteboard or spreadsheet shows what is on the floor today, not when a new batch can be back with the customer. Every promise is a guess, and every breakdown means rewriting the board by hand.
SkyPlanner sequences a finishing plant by color, treatment and load. It groups matching jobs on each line, combines parts from several orders into one oven or bath cycle, keeps each rack in one place at a time and gives every customer a return date built from real capacity.
Color, treatment and batch sequencing
Blue after blue, zinc after zinc, full ovens every cycle.
Every booth clean, bath change and half-empty oven cycle is paid capacity that coats nothing. SkyPlanner groups matching work on each line and builds shared loads, while every customer’s due date stays in view.
Color and treatment as properties
Tag products with properties such as color, powder type, coating system or treatment, and define a changeover matrix for each line: how long it takes to move from one value to another, in each direction.
Light to dark, one clean instead of many
The paint line runs blue after blue instead of washing between every job. The Arcturus AI engine weighs the saved cleaning time against due dates and customer priorities, so grouping never quietly takes over the plan.
One load from several orders
Assembly jobs combine the same process step from different orders into one batch job, such as a shared curing cycle or a bath run. After the shared step, each order continues on its own route.
How SkyPlanner schedules a finishing plant
From pretreatment to packed batch, on lines that are free
SkyPlanner plans each customer batch through blasting, pretreatment, coating or plating, curing and inspection, within the lines, racks and people you really have.
Finite capacity across booths, baths, ovens and people
Each line, booth, tank, oven or furnace has its own shift calendar, whether it runs one shift or around the clock, and planned maintenance, bath changes and breakdowns can be entered as exceptions. Personnel scheduling assigns hangers, coaters and line operators to shifts and workstations, so the plan never loads a line that has nobody to run it.
- No batch lands on a line that is blocked, unstaffed or already full
- Several plants scheduled together, with transfer times between sites
Racks, curing times and outside treatments
Racks, jigs and fixtures are managed as tools linked to the products that need them, and a shared tool cannot be in two places at once, so two batches are never planned on the same rack. A fixed-duration step models an oven or furnace cycle that does not depend on quantity, and a teardown time after it covers curing, drying or cooling: the next step for that batch cannot start before the wait is over, while the oven moves on to the next load.
- Treatments you send out, such as hot-dip galvanizing or heat treatment, run on subcontractor workstations in the same route
- Minimum degree of completion lets packing start before the whole batch is through curing
Hangers, coaters and platers see the same plan
Operators see their own work queue in a simple worker view or the SkyPlanner shop-floor app. They start, pause and complete jobs and report quantities as they go, so the schedule always reflects which batches are hung, coated, cured and ready to go back to the customer.
Rush batches, oven down, customer on the phone
Tell the customer when the parts come back, and keep that promise
When a rush batch arrives, an oven goes down or a bath needs changing, the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the schedule in seconds. Lock jobs that must not move, raise priorities or fast-track an urgent customer.
- Add an incoming batch as a sales prospect scheduled as a simulated order and see the earliest realistic return date, without disturbing confirmed orders.
- See what accepting a rush batch does to every other customer’s promise before you say yes.
- Quote return dates from real line, oven and rack capacity, not from the whiteboard.
The value SkyPlanner brings us is that it is a tool that works in daily use, especially for setting delivery dates. There, I think, it works well.
Tommi Männistö, Production Planning Manager, Eskomatic Oy
Integrates with any ERP or MES
Customer orders and pricing stay in your ERP. SkyPlanner decides which line, rack and oven cycle each batch gets.
SkyPlanner connects to all ERP and MES systems through its open REST API, including in-house systems. Customer batches and treatment routes flow in, planned times and return dates flow back. It also runs standalone, so you can start scheduling before an integration is in place.
From your ERP
ERP · MES · CSV · Manual
- Customer orders & incoming batches
- Products & treatment routes
- Powders, chemicals & stock
- Customers & due dates
SkyPlanner APS
Schedules production
- Lines
- Ovens & baths
- Racks
- Colors
- Curing times
- Priorities
- Schedule
Back to your ERP
ERP · Reports · Management
- Planned start & end times
- Material need dates
- Progress & quantities
- Return dates
- SAP S/4HANA
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Oracle NetSuite
- Infor
- Epicor
- IFS Cloud
- Sage X3
- Odoo
- JobBOSS²
- Global Shop Solutions
Where SkyPlanner fits
From one coating line to finishing groups with several plants
Job coaters, in-house paint shops, platers, galvanizers and heat treaters run on the same scheduler. It fits anywhere many customers’ parts share the same booths, baths, ovens and racks, and each batch has a date to be back.
Surface treatment and finishing segments
- Powder coating and wet painting
- Electroplating and electrogalvanizing
- Anodizing of aluminium
- Hot-dip galvanizing
- Heat treatment and hardening
- Blasting and pretreatment
- In-house paint shops of metal manufacturers
- E-coating and multi-layer coating lines
Why SkyPlanner for finishing
Why coaters, platers and heat treaters choose SkyPlanner
SkyPlanner APS is AI production scheduling software for surface treatment plants that want every color, bath, oven load and rack planned to real capacity and a return date they can give each customer. It is the best fit for job coaters, platers, galvanizers and heat treaters handling many customers’ batches every day, and for in-house finishing departments.
Colors and treatments in the right order
Per-line changeover matrices with a time for each direction let the AI engine group colors, powders and treatments and cut cleaning time while meeting due dates.
Full oven and bath loads
Assembly jobs combine the same step from several customer orders into one batch job, so a curing cycle or a bath run is planned once for every order in it.
Racks and jigs never double booked
Racks, jigs and fixtures are tools linked to the products that use them, and a shared tool cannot be in two places at once.
Curing and drying built into the plan
Fixed-duration cycles and teardown times hold the next step until curing, drying or cooling is done, while the oven or line moves on to the next load.
Return dates for every customer
Enter an incoming batch as a simulated order and see its realistic return date from real capacity, and the Arcturus AI engine replans in seconds when a rush batch arrives.
Any ERP or MES, published price
Start standalone today, then connect any ERP or MES through the open REST API. From 199 € / month with 5 workstations included, a 30-day free trial and an interface in 29 languages.
Security and data
SkyPlanner runs in the cloud on AWS. If your data needs to stay in a specific country, a dedicated server there is available by agreement. Data is backed up daily and backups are kept for 30 days. Users can sign in with Google or Microsoft accounts and two-factor authentication. A data processing agreement is available, and customer data is never used to train AI models.
Pricing
From 199 € / month
5 workstations included. Each additional workstation is 20 € per month. There is a free trial, and guided onboarding packages are available if you want help setting up lines, racks, treatments and changeover matrices.
Questions finishing plants ask
Frequently asked questions
What is the best production scheduling software for surface treatment?
A finishing plant needs scheduling software that sequences colors and treatments with direction-dependent changeover times, combines parts from several customers into one oven or bath load, holds the next step until curing or drying is done, and gives every customer a return date from real capacity. SkyPlanner APS does all of this on a finite-capacity schedule that the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds in seconds. Pricing is published, from 199 € / month with 5 workstations included, there is a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and the open REST API integrates with any ERP or MES.
Is SkyPlanner a finite capacity APS for coating lines, plating tanks and heat treatment furnaces?
Yes. SkyPlanner APS is an advanced planning and scheduling system that loads every booth, tank, oven and furnace only up to its real capacity, using its own shift calendar, planned bath changes and maintenance. Each customer batch is planned through blasting, pretreatment, coating or plating, curing and inspection, and the Arcturus AI engine optimises the order of the whole finishing schedule.
Can SkyPlanner plan oven batches, color changes and curing times?
Yes. You tag products with properties such as color or treatment and define a changeover matrix per line, with a time for each direction, and the scheduler runs matching work in succession. Assembly jobs combine the same process step from several orders into one batch job, such as a curing cycle or a bath run. A fixed-duration step models a cycle that does not depend on quantity, and a teardown time after it keeps the next step waiting until curing, drying or cooling is over. Racks and jigs are managed as tools, so a shared rack is never planned in two places at once.
Can a job coater see the realistic return date for a rush batch before saying yes?
Yes. Enter the incoming batch as a simulated order and SkyPlanner shows its earliest realistic return date from real line, oven and rack capacity, without disturbing confirmed orders. You also see what accepting it does to every other customer’s promise, and when you do take it, you lock the jobs that must not move, raise its priority and the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the schedule in seconds.
Which batch and treatment data moves between a finishing plant’s ERP and SkyPlanner?
Customer orders and incoming batches, products with their treatment routes, powders and chemicals in stock and customer due dates flow in from ERPs such as SAP or Microsoft Dynamics 365. Planned start and end times, material need dates, reported progress and quantities, and return dates flow back. Any ERP or MES connects through the open REST API, including in-house systems, built by Skycode or by your own developers with the public API documentation.
What stays in the ERP when SkyPlanner schedules the coating and plating lines?
Customers, pricing, invoicing, powder and chemical inventory and costing stay in your ERP. SkyPlanner decides which line, rack and oven cycle each batch gets and when, and sends the planned times and return dates back so sales and customer service quote from the same plan the shop floor runs.
How quickly can a powder coating or plating shop run its first SkyPlanner schedule?
Today. The 30-day free trial covers up to 20 workstations with no credit card, and you start with demo data or enter your own lines, ovens, racks and treatments by CSV or manually. Add the color changeover matrix for your busiest line and you have a finite-capacity schedule running before any ERP integration, and onboarding workshops then configure SkyPlanner to the rest of your plant.
Does SkyPlanner fit a single powder coating line as well as a multi-plant finishing group?
Yes, every size. A job coater with one line, an in-house paint shop and a group running plating, galvanizing and heat treatment in several plants use the same scheduler, with transfer times between sites. Pricing is from 199 € / month with 5 workstations included and 20 € per month per additional workstation, and hangers and line operators in plants across different countries use the interface in any of its 29 languages.
More industries
Production scheduling in related industries
Plan furnaces, dies and alloys for foundries, forges and stamping plants.
Bring tomorrow’s incoming batches. See every return date.
Send us a few days of customer batches with your lines, ovens and racks. In a demo we schedule them, show the color sequence on each line and the oven loads, and the return date you can give each customer.
