Production Planning Software That Plans to Real Capacity
Production planning software decides what your plant will make, how much and in which week, and checks that plan against the machines, people, tooling and material you actually have. EDGEBIC (RMDB 2.0) by User Solutions does it for small and mid-size manufacturers, then turns the plan into a finite capacity schedule the shop floor can run.
Built for planners and operations managers who plan in spreadsheets today, or whose ERP accepts a plan that exceeds capacity without saying so. One-time license from $25,000.
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A Plan Is Only as Good as the Capacity Behind It
Most plans fail quietly. A spreadsheet adds up demand but not machine hours. An ERP planning module usually assumes infinite capacity, so it will accept a master schedule the plant cannot meet. The gap shows up weeks later as overtime, expediting and late orders.
EDGEBIC plans against finite capacity from the start. The plan and the production schedule come from the same model of your work centers, shifts and routings, so what you promise in the plan is what the floor can build.
What EDGEBIC Plans For You
- Capacity by work center and shift, with utilization, backlog and free hours
- Forward and backward finite capacity planning
- Theory of Constraints anchoring around the bottleneck
- Operator skills, certifications and shift rosters as real limits
- What-if plans: extra shifts, weekend work, added machines, outside operations
- Quoting with what-if scenarios and quote-to-order conversion
- Two-layer optimizer, including Google OR-Tools CP-SAT
- MRP, inventory, purchasing and material pegging in EDGEBIC Complete
- Sub-assemblies up to 10 levels deep
- Plans and dates exported back to your ERP
A six-month production plan that took two weeks off lead times
Technical Glass Products
Technical Glass Products, a job shop in Snoqualmie, Washington, had run RMDB for finite capacity scheduling for years when its task standards and skill balance drifted. With a few days of remote help from User Solutions, the team blended new time studies and cross-trained skills into the schedule and ran a series of what-if scenarios.
The result was a realistic master production plan six months out. By taking two weeks off lead times, TGP took on 4% more business with the same workforce while keeping its customer service standard.
EDGEBIC vs Spreadsheets, ERP Planning Modules and Enterprise APS
Four ways manufacturers build a production plan. The row that decides whether the plan survives contact with the shop floor is the first one: does it know your real capacity?
| Spreadsheet | ERP planning module | Enterprise APS | EDGEBIC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan checked against capacity | Only if you build the formulas | Usually infinite capacity, so a plan can exceed it without warning | Yes, finite | Yes, finite across machines, labor, tooling and shifts |
| Material in the plan | A separate tab, kept by hand | MRP with fixed lead times | Yes | EDGEBIC Complete: MRP, inventory, purchasing and material pegging |
| What-if plans | Copy the file | Rarely | Yes | Yes, run in memory and compared before you accept one |
| Works with your ERP | Manual re-keying | It is the ERP | Pre-built connectors to major ERPs | Any ERP that exports Excel, CSV or database tables |
| Time to a first plan | Hours | Part of the ERP project | Months, usually consultant-led | Days to weeks (Plastilite: 5 days with ERP integration) |
| Pricing | Free | Included or an add-on module | Quoted privately, often $50K+ before services | $25,000 or $35,000, one time |
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 |
Works Alongside Your ERP
Keep your ERP as the system of record. Orders, routings, work centers and actuals come into EDGEBIC from Excel, CSV or database tables, and finite capacity schedules and realistic dates go back out. No middleware and no custom API project. Step-by-step integration guides:
- EDGEBIC with SAP
- EDGEBIC with Epicor
- EDGEBIC with NetSuite
- EDGEBIC with Microsoft Dynamics
- EDGEBIC with QuickBooks
- EDGEBIC with Sage
- EDGEBIC with JobBOSS
- EDGEBIC with Infor
- EDGEBIC with Acumatica
- EDGEBIC with Odoo
- EDGEBIC with Fourth Shift
- EDGEBIC with SYSPRO
- EDGEBIC with Global Shop Solutions
- EDGEBIC with Plex
- EDGEBIC with IQMS / DELMIAworks
- EDGEBIC with Made2Manage
Using a different system? Any ERP that exports Excel, CSV or database tables works. See EDGEBIC ERP integration and the ERP scheduling add-on.
Production Planning Software FAQs
Production Planning Success Stories
Manufacturers planning with EDGEBIC and RMDB, the scheduling engine behind it.
Transportation
Repair Shops Triple On-Time Shipping from 30% to 90%
GE Railcar Services
Read storyDefense
Finite Capacity Scheduling of USS Nimitz Aircraft Carrier
US Navy
Read storyConsumer Products
Affordable MRP for Smaller Manufacturer
Sleepmaster Ltd
Read storyWoodworking
Amish Manufacturer Rapidly Amortizes Scheduling System
Homestead Furniture
Read storyGlass Manufacturing
Job Shop Increases Throughput and On-Time Shipping
Technical Glass Products
Read storySoftware / Manufacturing
ERP Vendor and Manufacturer Turn to RMDB
ERP Partners
Read storySee your own plan checked against real capacity
Bring a few weeks of real demand. We will load your work centers and routings into EDGEBIC and show where the plan holds and where it breaks.
Or see EDGEBIC by User Solutions or RMDB, the engine it grew from.