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YourOrderBook

Production planning for growing factories

Know What to Make Next — and What Could Delay It

One machine may be busy. Another job may be urgent. A small change in the plan can affect several orders.

YourOrderBook helps manufacturing teams plan production, understand workstation availability and track work with connected Frappe/ERPNext processes built around their factory.

See the Production PlanDiscuss My Production Process

Three cabinet orders. Two workstations. See how one change affects the week.

See What Happens When the Production Plan Changes

Here is a small example from a metal cabinet factory. The team needs to make 100 cabinets across three jobs. All three need cutting before assembly.

Try putting the urgent job first. Then see what happens when cutting stops for one shift.

A Sample Production Week

One Cutting workstation · One Assembly workstation · Monday to Friday · Morning and afternoon shifts

Can we fit the urgent job? Try changing the order.

Job order
Cutting machine
Cutting
Assembly
  • Planned cutting
  • Planned assembly
  • Unavailable time
  • Earlier plan
  • Needs review

Planned finish vs target

2 on target, 1 needs review

JobSample targetPlanned finishStatus
Job A: Office cabinets · 40Cutting Mon AM + Mon PM · Assembly Tue AM + Tue PMTue PMTue PMOn target
Job B: Storage cabinets · 35Cutting Tue AM + Tue PM · Assembly Wed AMWed AMWed AMOn target
Job C: Urgent cabinets · 25Cutting Wed AM · Assembly Wed PMMon PMWed PMNeeds review · 4 work slots late
Total100 cabinets across three jobs

What changed

The office and storage jobs meet their sample targets. The urgent job finishes later than its target. Could we change the order?

Job C · Urgent cabinets

C must finish cutting before assembly can begin. In this plan it finishes Wed PM. Its target is Mon PM.

Cutting
Wed AM
Assembly
Wed PM

Interactive example only. Finish times are illustrative production estimates, not confirmed delivery dates or a live ERP schedule.

Is a rush job disturbing your production plan?Tell us how your factory handles it.

The Three Questions Behind a Useful Production Plan

  1. Which job goes first?

    See the jobs that need attention and decide what should have priority. An urgent request may affect the work already planned.

  2. Is the workstation available?

    Planning only works when you consider machine hours, other booked jobs and the operations each product needs.

  3. What could finish late?

    When work moves, check the new planned finish and talk to the people affected before making a new promise.

A good plan helps your team discuss the same work, using the same information.

A Production Plan Needs More Than a List of Orders

The team needs to know what to make, what work each product needs and when the workstations are available.

Frappe/ERPNext provides production plans, bills of materials, work orders and job cards. Scheduling details depend on the version, factory setup and information maintained.

See how Bill of Materials works
  1. RequirementsWhat needs to be made, and how much?
  2. Product detailsWhat materials and operations are needed?
  3. Workstation timeWhere can the work fit?
  4. Production planWhat should be made, and when?
  5. Work ordersGive the team clear jobs to carry out.

A Plan Tells You What Should Happen. Recorded Work Tells You What Did.

Imagine the planner has scheduled a batch of 40 cabinets for cutting and assembly. That does not mean 40 cabinets have actually been completed.

Planned work

40 cabinets

40 cabinets scheduled for the job

Job A · Office cabinets

Recorded production

The team records work done, quantities and time against the relevant production operations.

  • Cutting28 of 40 recorded

    12 still to cut

  • Assembly16 of 40 recorded

    24 still to assemble

Sample records. These figures appear only after the team records the actual work.

When the shop-floor team records its progress, the office can review the difference between planned work and actual work. Missing updates are not proof that work has stopped — the records need to be kept current.

Explore Work Orders & Job Cards

Does This Sound Like Your Factory?

  • The urgent order changes everything.

    A customer wants something earlier. The planner needs to see what work would move before agreeing to the new date.

  • One busy machine holds up other jobs.

    Cutting may be occupied even when assembly workers are free. The plan needs to reflect that dependency.

  • People know progress, but the office does not.

    A supervisor may know what is finished, while the latest update is still in a register or a message.

  • Too many separate plans.

    Orders, materials, workstation hours and actual progress are kept in different places, so meetings begin by checking whose information is correct.

The goal is not a complicated schedule. It is a clear plan your team can maintain and use.

Make Production Planning Fit the Way Your Factory Works

A sheet-metal workshop, an assembly unit and a multi-stage factory do not plan work in exactly the same way. We first understand your products, workstations, shifts and production records.

  1. Understand the work

    Review job priorities, production steps, current planning methods and where delays begin.

  2. Set up the right records

    Configure relevant Frappe/ERPNext items, BOMs, workstations, production plans, work orders and progress recording as needed.

  3. Connect the teams

    Help planning, stores, shop-floor and purchasing teams work from linked information. Review custom reports or integrations where the standard setup is not enough.

  4. Improve how the plan is used

    Train the team and refine the process based on how it works in practice. A system is only useful when people keep its information current.

Available screens, scheduling options and automation depend on the ERPNext version, configuration and any agreed custom work.

Production Planning Works Better When Other Records Are Connected

  1. Overview

    Manufacturing Management

    See how raw materials, production, quality checks and finished goods fit together.

  2. Know the materials

    Bill of Materials & Costing

    Understand the material and operations required before production starts.

  3. Carry out the work

    Work Orders & Job Cards

    Follow the actual work and record completed quantities and time.

  4. Check quality

    Quality Control & Inspections

    See where production checks and inspection records fit after operations.

  5. When materials are short

    Purchasing & Materials

    Review what needs attention when planned manufacturing depends on materials that are not ready.

Start with the part of production that is creating the biggest problem. Connect the rest step by step.

Which Part of Your Production Plan Is Hardest to Control?

Is it changing priorities, machine availability or knowing what has actually been completed? Tell us how your factory works today. We will review the process and help you understand what could be improved first.

Review My Production ProcessTalk to YourOrderBook

You do not need to know which ERPNext feature to ask for. Start with the production problem.

Frequently Asked Questions About Production Planning

What is production planning in a manufacturing business?
Production planning means deciding what needs to be made, how much is required and when the work should happen. A useful plan also considers materials, workstations and the jobs already in progress.
How is production planning different from production tracking?
Planning looks at what should happen next. Tracking records what has actually happened. Both are useful because a good schedule can still change during the working day.
Can ERPNext help us plan production against customer orders?
Yes. ERPNext Production Plans can use Sales Orders or Material Requests to plan manufacturing quantities. The right setup depends on how your business receives and plans work.
Can we plan around machine working hours and capacity?
ERPNext has workstation and capacity-planning features. Some scheduling views and options depend on the installed version and configuration. We review the factory setup before recommending a scheduling workflow.
What happens when an urgent production job arrives?
The planner can review existing jobs, available capacity and the effect of changing priorities. An urgent job may move ahead, but other work may then finish later. Changes should be agreed with the people affected.
Does the system automatically know when a machine stops?
Not by default. Machine interruptions must be recorded by the team or provided through an agreed integration. Our interactive timeline is an example of how a delay affects a plan, not live machine monitoring.
How do we track how much production is actually finished?
ERPNext Work Orders and Job Cards can help teams record operations, working time and completed quantities. The accuracy of the progress shown depends on timely and correct recording.
Is a production plan the same as a work order?
No. A production plan helps decide what to manufacture and can support creating Work Orders. A Work Order is a record for manufacturing a particular item and quantity, with linked operations where configured.
Can production planning connect with inventory and purchasing?
Yes. Production requirements can connect to BOM-based material planning and purchasing processes. Stock availability and material actions need the right setup and review; a change in a public demo does not create a real purchase order.
Is this useful for a small factory using Excel or manual registers?
It can be. The starting point is understanding how you plan jobs, record progress and handle changes today. YourOrderBook can help decide which manufacturing records and processes are worth connecting first.