What Is an MPS Entry Status (Suggested, Firm, Released)?

An MPS entry status is the state of one master production schedule quantity as it moves from a system suggestion to a committed, released build. It takes one of three values: Suggested, where the system has calculated a quantity but no one has acted; Firm, where the planner has committed the quantity but no work order exists yet; and Released, where a build-to-stock manufacturing order has been created and is now the scheduled receipt behind the plan. The status is what separates a proposal a planner can freely change from a commitment the shop floor will act on.

This entry defines the MPS entry status lifecycle and shows how it behaves inside EDGEBIC by User Solutions. For the wider index of planning terms, see the manufacturing glossary, and for the committed build schedule these entries live on, read what is a master production schedule.

How it works

The mental picture is a bakery manager's weekly board. First the system pencils in a suggestion: build 100 sourdough this week, based on demand. The manager reviews it and, deciding it is right, firms it: yes, 100 sourdough, committed. Later the manager releases the work: a real batch ticket is created and handed to the bakers. Each of those three moments is a distinct status, and the plan only becomes real production at the last one.

Suggested is the starting state. The planning layer calculates a quantity to cover projected demand and places it on the master schedule, fully editable. Nothing downstream depends on it yet.

Firm is the planner's commitment to that quantity. It locks the intent so the rest of the organization can rely on the number, but it does not yet create an order or reserve capacity on the floor.

Released is where the commitment becomes a build. Releasing creates a build-to-stock manufacturing order for the quantity and stamps the entry so it points at that order. From that point the order is a scheduled receipt the inventory projection nets against, and the finite scheduling engine places its operations on real dates.

A concrete example

A planner is working the master schedule for a stocked product. For the week of the 14th, the projection shows a shortfall, and the system posts a Suggested entry: build 100 units. The planner reviews it against known demand and firms it, so the entry now reads Firm 100, a committed intent with no order behind it.

Two days later, ready to put the work on the floor, the planner releases the entry. That action creates a build-to-stock manufacturing order for 100 units due the week of the 14th, and stamps the entry Released, linked to that order. The projection now treats those 100 units as a scheduled receipt, the balance recovers, and the scheduling engine slots the job's operations onto real machines. The single quantity has traveled the full lifecycle: proposed, committed, built.

How EDGEBIC uses it

EDGEBIC carries the Suggested, Firm, and Released statuses on each master schedule entry, keyed to a product and bucket date. The projection overlays these entries onto the running balance so a planner sees demand, supply, and committed plan on one grid. Suggested entries are the system's proposals; firming records the planner's commitment; and releasing performs an atomic create-and-stamp that produces the build-to-stock manufacturing order and marks the entry Released against it.

Because a Released entry links to the specific order that satisfies it, the system can tell when that link goes stale, for instance if the order is later canceled, and its anomaly checks flag the orphaned entry so the planner can re-release or revise it rather than trusting a Released status with no real build behind it. Releasing also stamps the resulting order's demand source as coming from the master schedule, so its origin is traceable.

This staged lifecycle keeps planning stable and auditable: quantities are proposed automatically, committed deliberately, and only then turned into shop-floor work. To see the schedule these entries sit on, read what is a master production schedule. For the bucketed grid they align to, see what is a master production schedule bucket. And for how the resulting order records where it came from, read what is a demand source in production planning.