Many people search the Internet to look for ERP scheduling software. Perhaps this is how you have ended up on this article. This is a key function of ERP systems and seen as a silver bullet to many. Especially those that are new to ERP.

Using the right scheduling software can make a massive difference to a business. From improving machine and labour utilisation, to driving productivity. Getting your resources working on the right work at the right time is key for all. 

Many of our users are trying to schedule their production with Excel or a whiteboard when we meet them. Often they have found that this task has become too complex. What worked when they were a smaller business is clunky now that they have grown.

If you are reading this you might be wondering if Fraction ERP is a cost effective scheduling solution. Let me tell you about some of our scheduling features.

ERP isn't complicated

First off, ERP isn't always complicated. Patrick, Junzi and myself (Giles) have spent years working with complicated software. We know what to avoid!

When it came to the ERP scheduling software part of Fraction ERP, we wanted to make it as simple as possible. Once you have created your works order, choose when you want to make it. We have three options (linked to our pricing plans) to schedule. They are weekly buckets, daily buckets or hourly buckets. That's it.

For many businesses, weekly is accurate enough. If you don't need the precision of daily or hourly, then why pay more?

The benefits of ERP scheduling software

There are two key things, speaking as an ex-Production Manager, that ERP scheduling can do for you:

1. It can save you time. Manually scheduling, or using tools that aren't designed for this purpose take longer. If you want to save time from scheduling, getting a proper tool to do the job pays for itself.
2. As ERP systems link up data, your schedule should automatically produce a 'work to list'. Fraction ERP does and this allows you to dynamically update the work queues for your production teams.

Fraction ERP work to list view

Visual scheduling screens

Our ERP scheduling software incorporates a visual scheduling board. This keeps with the spirit of simplifying ERP systems.

The board also has built in capacity management. You can see when you loading your factory what each workcentre has committed. Before you overload a particular team / machine, you can plan around it.

For those of you that don't want to overthink scheduling, our auto plan function is here to help. This handy tool schedules your production operations for the first available slot.

Fraction ERP's visual scheduling board, including capacity flags

If you find that you need to flex your working hours, to meet demand, you can do that with a few clicks.

Setting up Fraction ERP is quick and simple too. In a few minutes you can create a digital version of your factory, ready to schedule.

We really have tried to make ERP scheduling as simple as possible.

Demo and free trial

To help you find out if moving to Fraction ERP makes sense, we offer a free demo and trial. During the demo we'll show you the features that can help your business to grow in a controlled manner.

If you like what you see during the demo, you can use Fraction ERP free for two weeks. Play with it. Input your data. See how it works and find out if it is a solution that can help you move your business forward.

To organise your demo, fill in the form below.

I hope this article has given you some food for thought. Scheduling resources effectively can make all the difference to your performance. Fraction ERP is a simple, low cost, scheduling software solution. I hope we can share it with you soon!