ERP Scheduling Module vs Standalone Scheduling Software
Our ERP has a scheduling module, but nobody trusts its dates and the planners work in spreadsheets anyway. Should we fix the module or buy standalone scheduling software?
Keep the ERP for orders, inventory and costing, and add standalone finite capacity scheduling when the module plans to infinite capacity. EDGEBIC by User Solutions sits beside any ERP: it imports orders, routings and work centers through Excel, CSV or database tables, schedules them against real capacity, and sends realistic dates back.
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Why ERP Scheduling Modules Disappoint
ERP systems are built around transactions: orders, inventory, purchasing and accounting. Their scheduling modules usually plan to infinite capacity with fixed lead times, so they will accept a plan that loads a machine at 150 percent and still print confident dates. Setups, alternates, operator skills and what-if comparison are thin or missing.
The ERP module is enough when capacity is rarely tight, routings are simple and repeatable, and a weekly bucket is precise enough. When planners are exporting to spreadsheets to make the dates believable, the module has stopped being the schedule.
- The ERP accepts a master schedule that exceeds available capacity
- Planners export to Excel to build the real schedule by hand
- Setup times are fixed per operation, regardless of sequence
- There is no way to test a new order or an extra shift before committing
- Upgrading the ERP scheduling module is quoted as a large project
- Dates the ERP prints and dates the floor delivers never match
How EDGEBIC Works Beside Your ERP
EDGEBIC by User Solutions is a standalone scheduling application that does not replace your ERP. The ERP stays the system of record; EDGEBIC becomes the scheduling layer.
Data in from the ERP you already have
Import masks map products, work centers, customers, sales orders, routings, actuals, holidays and shifts from Excel, CSV or database tables. Guides cover SAP, Epicor, NetSuite, Dynamics, QuickBooks, Sage, JobBOSS and more.
Finite capacity, not infinite
Every operation is placed on a real machine and shift with free capacity, across machines, labor, tooling and material, so the dates are ones the plant can hit.
The constraints the module leaves out
Sequence-dependent setup matrix, alternate and parallel work centers, operator skills, lot streaming and Theory of Constraints anchoring around the bottleneck.
What-if and optimization included
Test new orders, shifts or machines as scenarios, and run the two-layer optimizer (multi-run search plus Google OR-Tools CP-SAT). Both are in the base EDGEBIC APS edition.
Dates back out to the ERP
Scheduled start and finish dates export back so sales, purchasing and MRP work from realistic dates. No middleware or custom API project is required.
A published one-time price
EDGEBIC APS is a $25,000 one-time license and implementations are measured in days, not a months-long ERP project.
Stopped using the ERP planning module and planned in RMDB instead
BAE Systems / Ordnance Systems, Inc.
BAE Systems / Ordnance Systems had purchased and implemented an ERP with MRP and capacity requirements planning. The MRP product let planners enter a master schedule that exceeded available capacity and gave little visibility when they did, so the team discontinued it for production planning.
After sending sample data from its ERP for review, it selected RMDB by User Solutions, the engine behind EDGEBIC, and loaded most of its bills of resource, inventory items and work centers in a very short time. The team recommends it to others looking for a capacity and production planning solution, either integrated with ERP or standalone.
ERP Scheduling Module vs Standalone Scheduling Software
How a typical ERP scheduling module compares with standalone finite capacity scheduling software, and where EDGEBIC by User Solutions sits. ERP modules vary; check your own module against each row.
| Typical ERP scheduling module | EDGEBIC by User Solutions | |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity model | Often infinite capacity with fixed lead times | Finite across machines, labor, tooling and shifts |
| Setups | Fixed setup time per operation | Setup matrix charged by sequence and setup family |
| Alternates and skills | Limited alternate routings, labor as a rate | Alternate and parallel work centers, machine pools, operator skills |
| What-if scenarios | Rare, or a copy of the database | Scenarios compared side by side before committing |
| Optimization | Usually none | Multi-run search plus Google OR-Tools CP-SAT, included |
| Relationship to the ERP | It is the ERP | Works alongside any ERP through Excel, CSV or database tables |
| Cost | Included, or an add-on module or upgrade project | $25,000 one time ($35,000 with MRP) |
Who Makes EDGEBIC
EDGEBIC is made by User Solutions, Inc. of South Lyon, Michigan, which has built manufacturing scheduling software since 1991. EDGEBIC is RMDB 2.0: the current generation of RMDB (Resource Manager DB), the scheduling engine behind results at the US Navy, GE, Cummins and BAE Systems. RMDB customers remain supported. EDGEBIC is an installed Windows application (.NET 8, SQLite or SQL Server) that works alongside any ERP through Excel, CSV and database import and export. See the EDGEBIC product overview.
EDGEBIC Pricing: Published, One-Time
Two editions of EDGEBIC by User Solutions, both perpetual licenses with updates included and no per-seat annual fee. EDGEBIC is an installed Windows application, not a subscription service. See EDGEBIC pricing and editions or how this compares with the market.
| Edition | What it includes | One-time license |
|---|---|---|
| EDGEBIC APS | Finite capacity scheduling and optimization: graphical routing designer, forward and backward scheduling, Theory of Constraints anchoring, parallel work centers, sequence-dependent setup, lot streaming, operator skills, and a two-layer schedule optimizer. | $25,000 |
| EDGEBIC Complete | Everything in EDGEBIC APS plus MRP, inventory, purchasing and material pegging, so material availability constrains the schedule alongside machines and labor. | $35,000 |
Read More on This Problem
ERP Scheduling Module vs Standalone FAQs
Customer Stories
Manufacturers scheduling with EDGEBIC and RMDB, the User Solutions engine behind it.
Test it on an export from your ERP
Send an export of open orders and routings from your ERP. We will schedule it in EDGEBIC to finite capacity and compare the dates with what your ERP module shows.
Or see EDGEBIC pricing or the EDGEBIC product overview.