Cost

Before you jump into the world of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), you certainly will wonder: How much do advanced planning and scheduling systems cost?

When you are looking for the best solution to your scheduling needs, most companies ask you to talk to a sales person before they disclose any details. The purpose for this is so that you will need to get engaged with a salesperson who can try to control your direction, rather than just giving you the information freely.

We, on the other hand, believe in transparent pricing from the beginning so our pricing is clearly spelled out on our website, without even requiring visitors to enter information to access it. The best scheduling software is one that includes the advanced or simpler tools each customer needs, and that allows you the flexibility to purchase what you need. By visiting our pricing page, you will notice that our packages are based on the number of plants you have and not the number of users. This gives you the flexibility to use the system as widely as you like within your company and removes the need to predetermine who will and will not use it. It’s also important to start with the level of functionality you find appropriate and customize and expand over time if needed. Start by solving your immediate issues. In our experience, the projects tend to fail because of companies trying to do too much at the beginning so we advise starting as simply as possible and building upon your incremental success.

Overall, costs will vary. What affects the cost of production scheduling software?

• First think of the software price. Which production scheduling systems are most and least expensive? Some of these will require a subscription fee while others have a perpetual license; some will ask you to renew your licence every year, while others ask for you to pay upfront. Think about how you want to pay, whether through capital budgeting (perpetual license) or operating expenses (subscriptions) and then ensure the option you want is available.

• Like in any other case, you need to make sure you include enough budget for maintenance. This covers your support and upgrades over time. Most subscription pricing models include the maintenance as part of the subscription.

• The other important part related to effective use of planning and scheduling software - service. This includes implementation, consulting, integration and training. Service is usually either fixed price or charged by the hour when the customer needs it. Since your control of an hourly budget can be limited once the project commences, a fixed price agreement will be your best bet for ensuring you don’t exceed your budget.

Now that we know the differences. Let’s dig in into the key parts of buying into an advanced planning and scheduling software.

Most softwares have different pricing levels. At PlanetTogether, we offer three different levels:

• Essentials. The basic plan suggested for small to mid size businesses with the essential tools for scheduling, with unlimited number of users, what if scenarios and data analysis.
• Pro. A complex software suggested for complex businesses. It’s a powerful tool for optimization, includes everything in essentials plus master production scheduling, productivity optimization and more.
• Enterprise. The perfect tool to ensure perfect planning and optimization across plants and warehouses -- what we at PlanetTogether call a SuperPlant™ and SuperChain™ system.

Make sure you get to know what levels there are when you decide to buy into an advanced planning and scheduling software, and which is right for you. You’ll probably be able to determine this in part from reading the detailed feature descriptions but it can be challenging. The best way to choose the level that’s right for you is to go through a hands-on pilot or proof-of-concept project so you can see exactly what you’ll end up using. No sense paying extra for capabilities that you won’t use. Also, check to see if there’s any cost penalty for upgrading later -- if there’s not then start as simply as you can.