Production scheduling for textile, apparel and footwear
Textile and apparel production scheduling software
SkyPlanner APS turns your orders, styles, fabrics, machines, sewing lines and shifts into one finite-capacity schedule. It runs dye lots light to dark, keeps every size and color of a style moving from cutting to sewing to finishing, and rebuilds the plan in seconds when fabric arrives late, a reorder comes in or a collection date moves. It integrates with any ERP or MES through its open REST API.
- Color sequencing light to dark
- Finite-capacity scheduling
- Any ERP or MES via REST API
- From 199 € / month
6 months
of free capacity visible to sales ahead, Fredman Operations
Seconds
to answer schedule-change requests that took an hour or more, Fredman Operations
98%
delivery reliability, up from around 50%, KJH-Comp
99.2%
delivery reliability this year, Piristeel
Results reported by SkyPlanner customers Fredman Operations, KJH-Comp and Piristeel. Read all SkyPlanner APS reviews
Why textile and garment production is hard to schedule
Many styles, every size, every shade, one season
A textile or garment plant turns fabric into hundreds of style, size and color combinations through cutting, sewing, dyeing and finishing, and every collection and reorder comes with a fixed ship date.
Dye lots run light to dark
Going from a pale shade to a darker one is a quick change. Going from navy back to white means a full machine clean. The order of dye lots decides how much of the day goes to washing out.
One style, dozens of variants
Every style comes in several sizes and colors, and each variant needs its own fabric, trims and quantities while sharing the same cutting tables and sewing lines.
Cutting, sewing and finishing in sequence
Sewing cannot start before the bundles are cut, and pressing, inspection and packing wait for sewing. A delay at the cutting table travels down the whole line.
Fabric and trims gate every order
A style cannot be cut before its fabric is in, and it cannot be finished before zippers, buttons, labels and packaging arrive.
Collections and reorders compete
Seasonal collections fill the plant for weeks, and fast reorders of best sellers have to fit in between without pushing the launch.
Part of the sewing is outside
Subcontracted sewing or embroidery adds time between steps, and the plan has to know when the goods come back before finishing can start.
SkyPlanner follows a style from fabric roll to packed carton. It loads every cutting table, sewing line and dye machine to its real hours, runs shades light to dark, waits for fabric and trims and replans the season in seconds when a reorder arrives.
Color, size and variant sequencing
Pale shades first, dark shades last, on every dye machine.
Every wash-out and every change of color, fabric or size on a line is machine time without good output. SkyPlanner knows which properties each job carries and sequences each machine so changeovers cost as little time as possible.
Shade, fabric and size as properties
Tag products with properties such as color, material or dimension, and define a changeover matrix for each machine: how long it takes to move from one value to another, in each direction.
White to navy, not navy to white
A light to dark change can be a short rinse and the reverse a full clean. The AI scheduling engine groups similar jobs in succession and minimises total changeover time while still meeting due dates.
Variants of one style stay together
Sizes and colors of the same style that share fabric and setups are grouped on the cutting tables and sewing lines, so a line changes style as rarely as the due dates allow.
How SkyPlanner schedules a textile and apparel plant
From fabric roll to packed carton on one schedule
SkyPlanner schedules to the tables, lines, machines and fabric you really have, and shows the same plan to every cutter, sewer and finisher.
Finite capacity across cutting tables, sewing lines and people
Each cutting table, sewing line, dye machine and finishing station has its own shift calendar, and planned maintenance, holidays and breakdowns can be entered as exceptions. Personnel scheduling assigns cutters, sewers and machine operators to shifts and workstations, so the plan never puts work on a line with nobody to run it.
- No job lands on a line that is blocked, unstaffed or busy with another style
- Several plants scheduled together, with transfer times between sites
Fabric, trims, cut parts and subcontracted sewing
Yarn becomes fabric, fabric becomes cut parts, and cut parts become finished garments or shoes. SkyPlanner handles multi-level bills of materials and sub-products, calculates material needs at every level and, with material-based scheduling on, starts a job only when its fabric and trims will be there. Subcontracted sewing and embroidery run on subcontract workstations, and teardown and wait times hold the next step until the goods are ready.
- Need dates for fabric and trims flow back to your ERP
- Minimum degree of completion lets sewing start before the whole cutting lot is done
Cutting room, sewing floor and dye house work from one queue
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 what has actually been cut, sewn and finished.
Late fabric, fast reorders, launch dates moved
A late fabric delivery moves one style, not the season
When a reorder comes in, a dye machine goes down, fabric arrives late or a retailer moves a launch, the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the schedule in seconds. Lock jobs that must not move, raise priorities or fast-track an urgent order.
- Add next season’s styles as a sales prospect scheduled as a simulated order and see the earliest realistic delivery date, without disturbing confirmed orders.
- See what squeezing in a reorder of a best seller does to every collection already in the plan.
- Quote ship dates from real line hours and the fabric already on order.
SkyPlanner gives you the foundation for the whole plan.
Anu Järvinen, Production Manager, Fredman Operations Oy
Integrates with any ERP or MES
Styles, sizes and fabric stock stay in your ERP. SkyPlanner sequences the cutting, sewing and dyeing.
SkyPlanner connects to all ERP and MES systems through its open REST API, including in-house systems. Orders, styles and variants flow in, planned times and material need 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
- Sales orders & reorders
- Styles, sizes & colors
- Fabric, trims & stock
- Customers & ship dates
SkyPlanner APS
Schedules production
- Cutting tables
- Sewing lines
- Dye machines
- Shifts
- Changeovers
- Materials
- Schedule
Back to your ERP
ERP · Reports · Management
- Planned start & end times
- Fabric & trim need dates
- Progress & quantities
- Delivery dates
- SAP S/4HANA
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Oracle NetSuite
- Infor
- Epicor
- IFS Cloud
- Sage X3
- Odoo
- CGS BlueCherry
- Datatex
Where SkyPlanner fits
Used by textile, apparel and footwear makers of every size
From one sewing floor to groups with mills, dye houses and garment plants in several countries. Wherever many styles, sizes and shades share the same tables, lines and machines, SkyPlanner plans them.
Textile, apparel and footwear segments
- Textile mills and weaving
- Knitting and knitted fabrics
- Dyeing, printing and finishing
- Apparel and garment production
- Technical and industrial textiles
- Home textiles and furnishing fabrics
- Footwear manufacturing
- Workwear, uniforms and protective clothing
Why SkyPlanner for textiles and apparel
Why textile mills and garment makers choose SkyPlanner
SkyPlanner APS is AI production scheduling software for textile, apparel and footwear manufacturers that want every dye lot, cutting table and sewing line planned to real capacity and a ship date they can hold for each collection. It fits mills, dye houses, garment plants and shoe factories, and runs on its own from day one.
Shades sequenced automatically
Per-machine changeover matrices with a time for each direction let the AI engine run dye lots light to dark and group colors, fabrics and styles while meeting due dates.
Fabric and trims gate the plan
Material-based scheduling starts cutting and sewing only when fabric and trims will be there, and need dates flow back to your ERP.
Cutting, sewing and finishing linked
Multi-level structures, minimum degree of completion and subcontract workstations keep every size and color moving through the plant and through outside sewing.
Collection dates sales can promise
Enter next season or a big reorder as a simulated order and see its realistic delivery date from real capacity, without moving a single confirmed order.
Replans in seconds
When fabric is late, a machine stops or a launch moves, the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the finite-capacity schedule in seconds.
Published price, any ERP, 29 languages
From 199 € / month with 5 workstations included and 20 € per month per additional workstation. Connect any ERP or MES through the open REST API, and give every plant the interface in its own language.
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 cutting tables, sewing lines, dye machines and changeover matrices.
Questions textile and apparel manufacturers ask
Frequently asked questions
What is the best production scheduling software for textile and apparel manufacturers?
Textile and apparel scheduling software has to sequence dye lots and colors with direction-dependent changeover times, start cutting and sewing only when fabric and trims are in, and carry every size and color of a style through cutting, sewing, outside work and finishing to a fixed ship date. SkyPlanner APS does all of this with finite-capacity AI scheduling, and the Arcturus AI engine rebuilds the plan in seconds when a reorder arrives. Pricing is published from 199 € / month, there is a 30-day free trial, and the open REST API integrates with any ERP or MES.
Is SkyPlanner a finite-capacity APS for dye houses, cutting rooms and sewing lines?
Yes. SkyPlanner APS is an advanced planning and scheduling system that loads every dye machine, cutting table and sewing line only up to its real shift hours and staffing. It turns sales orders and reorders into a timed sequence for each style, size and color, and its AI engine optimises that sequence against every ship date.
Can SkyPlanner sequence dye lots from light to dark?
Yes. You tag products with properties such as color or material and define a changeover matrix for each dye machine, with a different time for each direction. The scheduler groups similar jobs in succession and runs shades so that wash-outs and setups cost as little time as possible, while still meeting due dates. The same logic groups sizes, colors and styles on cutting tables and sewing lines.
Which style and fabric data moves between SkyPlanner and SAP or CGS BlueCherry?
Sales orders, reorders, styles with their sizes and colors, fabric and trim stock and customer ship dates flow in from the ERP. Planned start and end times, fabric and trim need dates, progress quantities and delivery dates flow back. SAP, CGS BlueCherry, Datatex and any other ERP or MES, including in-house systems, connect through the open REST API, built by Skycode or by your own developers with the public API documentation.
What stays in the apparel ERP once SkyPlanner plans the cutting room and sewing floor?
Styles, bills of materials, fabric stock, purchasing and costing stay in the ERP, which remains your system of record. SkyPlanner takes over the detailed sequence: which dye lot runs next, which table cuts which style and which sewing line sews which size run. Every change in the plan then returns to the ERP as updated dates.
How quickly can a garment factory or dye house run its first SkyPlanner schedule?
Today. Start the 30-day free trial for up to 20 workstations with no credit card, enter your cutting tables, sewing lines and dye machines with their shifts, and load styles and orders by CSV import or by hand, or begin with demo data. The first schedule runs standalone before any ERP integration, and onboarding workshops then set up your shade changeover matrices, routings through outside sewing and multi-level fabric structures.
Does SkyPlanner fit a single sewing floor as well as a group of mills, dye houses and garment plants?
Yes. Weavers, knitters, dye houses, garment makers and footwear factories of every size run the same scheduling engine, from 199 € per month with 5 workstations included and 20 € per month per additional workstation. Groups schedule several plants together with transfer times between sites, and the interface in 29 languages lets planners and operators in each country read the same plan in their own language.
Can SkyPlanner hold cutting and finishing until fabric, trims and subcontracted embroidery are in?
Yes. With material-based scheduling on, a style is cut only when its fabric will be there and finished only when its zippers, buttons, labels and packaging arrive. Subcontracted sewing and embroidery run on subcontract workstations with wait times, so finishing starts when the goods come back, and minimum degree of completion lets sewing begin before the whole cutting lot is done.
More industries
Production scheduling in related industries
Sequence presses by colour, format and substrate, and plan dies and plates to capacity.
Plan bulk to filling, shade and fragrance changeovers, components and SKUs.
Bring one season of styles. See every size and shade scheduled.
Send us a week of orders with your cutting tables, sewing lines and dye machines. In a demo we schedule them, show the shade sequence on each machine and the ship dates you can give each collection.
