How to Choose the Right APS Solution

At the heart of every factory lies a single focal point where everything converges: the production schedule. It’s not a by-product of IT, it sets the rhythm for the entire organization. All internal operations and activities move in sync with the schedule—just in time. And it’s this rhythm that determines production lead times, inventory levels, delivery performance, and ultimately both cash flow and manufacturing costs. Yet in many companies, this rhythm is vague, imprecise, or entirely arbitrary. The consequences: long lead times, excessive inventory, unsynchronized processes, and declining resource efficiency.

Choosing a production scheduling system is a strategic choice that directly affects competitiveness, delivery reliability, resource utilization, and overall efficiency. A powerful APS changes everything. But the difference between a generic ERP or MES scheduling module and a high-performance APS solution is dramatic.

So what really matters in this decision? Beyond feature lists and marketing claims, one key question stands out: What functions are essential for realistic and feasible production scheduling? Here are the criteria that truly make the difference:

Key Criteria When Selecting an APS

1. Process Mapping and Configurability

• A high-performance APS provides complete coverage of all production processes and constraints and delivers a feasible schedule for every individual resource. A solution that includes extensive standard parameters eliminates the need for programming.
• It must allow full and flexible adjustment of the scheduling logic to specific operational requirements to ensure that scheduling outcomes align with your objectives.

2. Scheduling and Simulation

• The system must create feasible work orders for each resource—synchronized across processes and based on finite capacity constraints.
  • It must run continuous simulations for short-, mid-, and long-term scheduling horizons and assess each result in terms of delivery dates, lead times, inventory levels, and costs.
  • For every new order, it must calculate a feasible delivery date on the spot.

3. Material and Inventory Integration

• The system must automatically incorporate raw material availability, material usage and fluctuations, inbound deliveries, and stock levels (including semi-finished and finished goods) into the schedule.

4. Bottleneck Management and Responsiveness

• The APS can identify potential bottlenecks in advance to counteract them at an early stage.
  When priorities shift or rush orders arise, it can react instantly and highlight the impact across the entire schedule.

5. Optimized Sequencing and Timing

• A powerful APS can optimize production sequences and timing based on setup times, lot sizes, internal and external material procurement, and preventive maintenance.

6. Visualization and Monitoring

• The system must provide continuous visual feedback on the status of both current and upcoming production orders. By comparing actual progress against the schedule, planners can monitor progress continuously.
• Key visuals include:
  • Synchronization across processing, assembly, inspection, and related operations.
  • Material movements/flows and fluctuations
  • Resource utilization and availability
  • Order status

7. Disruption Management

• As soon as disruptions or deviations affect the schedule, the APS can immediately recalculate feasible alternatives to prevent delivery delays.

8. Predictive KPI

• The APS must support detailed scheduling months and years ahead, providing predictive KPI for:
  • Resource capacity utilization and availability
  • Delivery performanceProduction costs
  • Lead times, value-adding times, setup times and downtimes
  • Resource productivity
  • Inventory levels and more

9. High-speed scheduling

• In a dynamic production environment, planners need to react instantly to changing conditions. A powerful APS solution recalculates complex scheduling and simulation scenarios within seconds—or just a few minutes, not hours. Only with this kind of responsiveness can planners compare alternatives efficiently and make sound decisions.
• The APS must provide a flexible interface for smooth integration with ERP, MES, and shop floor data collection systems.

10. IT Integration

• The APS must provide a flexible interface for smooth integration with ERP, MES, and shop floor data collection systems.

11. Transparency and Traceability

• Planners need full transparency into scheduling parameters and scheduling generate realistic results.
• A transparent white-box system supports planners in selecting the best scenario and empowers managers to improve factory performance strategically.

The Proof is in the Prototype

As of today, Asprova APS is the only software on the market that fully meets all of the above requirements. Ultimately, the only reliable way to select a powerful APS is to verify it by building a prototype—based on your actual data.

• Mapping your actual products
• Mapping your actual processes and restrictions

Any other selection method is a gut decision.

What an APS Must Deliver to Make all this Possible

All of the above features and benefits are only achievable if the APS can fully capture the reality of your production processes. Because scheduling is only as good as the model it’s based on.
That’s why the first essential requirement for any high-performance APS is the ability to map every product-, process-, and resource-specific attribute, rule, and restriction in full—without programming, and without compromise. Only then will the scheduling results be realistic and reliable.

The following examples illustrate the detailed requirements and questions that result from this.

1. Resources

• Can all current processes, methods, workflows, and restrictions be mapped realistically and in detail?
• Does the scheduling consider the capacity of all resources simultaneously?
• Are the limited capacities of all main resources (e.g. machines) and sub resources (e.g. workers) included in the calculation?
• What is the maximum number of resources the system can handle? How many sub-resource levels can it represent?
• Can working calendars be set individually for each resource and sub-resource?
• Is it possible to define individual shift schedules for each specific resource and sub-resource?
• Can overtime or reduced working hours be configured individually for each resource and employee?
• Can weekend work be set specifically by resource?
• Is it possible to configure a limited usage period for resources (e.g. deactivation at a specific date)?
• Can multiple alternative resources be assigned to one process?
• Can a qualification matrix be mapped—for example, which employee is qualified for which process?
• Can work speeds be defined individually per employee or machine?

2. Routings

• Can a product be assigned to multiple alternative routings?
• Can alternative routings have different process and setup times?
• Is it possible to define a preferred machine when multiple machines are suitable for a process?
• Can branching processes be assigned to calculate the optimally precise timing for nodes??
• Can merging processes be assigned to calculate the optimally precise timing for nodes?
• Can parallel processing be represented?
• Is lot size splitting possible—for example, handing over 4 units at a time from a lot of 20 to the next process?
• Can operation splitting be performed automatically?
• Can start and end times of parallel processes be defined individually?
• Can new routings and new BOMs be configured directly in the system

3. Process Times

• Can product- and process-specific buffer times be mapped individually by product and/or process?
• Can minimum idle times or transport times be defined for intermediate processes

4. Setup

• Can setup times be defined individually by machine and product (e.g. Product A = 15 min, Product B = 25 min)?
• Can internal and external setup operations—such as pre-setup, post-setup, or cleaning—be mapped separately?
• Can a setup team be defined as a separate resource?
• Can specific areas be configured to prevent simultaneous setup operations within the same area.
• Does the system check whether the setup team is available at the required time?

5. Maintenance

• Can planned maintenance be integrated into the schedule as fixed events with defined start times and durations—without jeopardizing delivery dates?
• Can maintenance be scheduled automatically, for example based on usage (e.g. after 200 operating hours) or calendar entries (e.g. every last workday of the month at 7:00 p.m.)?

6. Scheduling Rules

• Can the APS account for different service levels?
• Does the scheduling use finite capacities—that is, does it operate under realistic constraints?
• Können Aufträge sowohl rückwärts (z. B. Just-in-Time vom Liefertermin aus) als auch vorwärts (z. B. Eilaufträge ab Planungszeitpunkt) geplant werden – jeweils individuell pro Auftrag?
• Can orders be scheduled either backward (e.g. just-in-time from the delivery date) or forward (e.g. rush orders from the planning start)—individually per order?
• Can order priorities be set individually?
• Is bottleneck calculation possible?
• Does the system support active bottleneck management that prioritizes reducing total lead time—for example, by optimizing the start times of upstream operations according to the bottleneck’s availability?
• Can scheduling parameters be freely combined?
• Can scheduling parameters be prioritized—for example: 1. service level, 2. delivery date, 3. setup time reduction, 4. customer?
• Can users define their own scheduling parameters?