Master Production Schedule (MPS): Glossary Definition

Master Production Schedule (MPS): definition

A master production schedule (MPS) is the committed, time-phased plan of how many of each finished item a plant will build in each period, usually a week. It turns demand (customer orders and the forecast) into a build plan that a planner commits. MRP explodes that plan into component and purchase orders, and a finite capacity schedule turns it into jobs on machines.

In one line: the forecast says what customers might buy; the MPS says what the plant will make.

Key facts

Full guide and worked examples

This entry is the short definition. The full explanation, with the projected available balance and available-to-promise formulas, time fences, and three worked examples (make-to-stock, make-to-order and available to promise), is in what is a master production schedule.

• To build one step by step: how to build a master production schedule
• To try it with numbers: the free master production schedule Excel template
• For software: tools like Resource Manager DB (RMDB) and its continuation, EDGEBIC (RMDB 2.0) by User Solutions, take the committed MPS and schedule the operations across machines and work centers. See master production schedule software.

Related terms

• Capacity Planning: checking whether enough resources exist to execute the MPS
• Available to Promise: the uncommitted part of the MPS that sales can still promise
• Time Fence: the boundary that controls when the MPS may change
• Scheduling Horizon: the time period covered by the MPS and detailed schedules
• Operations Scheduling: the detailed scheduling of individual operations that executes the MPS

Learn more in our complete manufacturing glossary.