# SyteLine MRP vs APS: Which Planning Engine Do You Need? > Source: https://netray.co/tools/syteline-mrp-vs-aps-assessment > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Free Tools ## Short answer Answer ten questions about capacity, routing complexity and planning cadence to see whether SyteLine MRP is enough or an APS tool is worth evaluating. ## Category syteline ## Erp Infor SyteLine ## Industry Discrete Manufacturing ## Audience - Production planner - Operations manager - SyteLine administrator ## Tool **Kind:** assessment **Questions:** #### How often are you unable to meet due dates because a work center is overloaded, even though material is available? **Help:** Material is MRP's strength. Capacity conflicts are where finite scheduling helps. **Options:** ##### Rarely or never **Score:** 0 ##### A few times a quarter **Score:** 1 ##### Monthly **Score:** 2 ##### Weekly or constantly **Score:** 3 #### How many routing operations does a typical job have? **Options:** ##### 1 to 3 **Score:** 0 ##### 4 to 8 **Score:** 1 ##### 9 to 15 **Score:** 2 ##### More than 15 or heavy outside processing **Score:** 3 #### How constrained are your bottleneck resources (machines, tools, skilled people)? **Options:** ##### No clear bottleneck **Score:** 0 ##### One occasional bottleneck **Score:** 1 ##### One or two persistent bottlenecks **Score:** 2 ##### Many shifting bottlenecks **Score:** 3 #### How much do setup times depend on the sequence of jobs (colors, alloys, tooling)? **Options:** ##### Not at all **Score:** 0 ##### Slightly **Score:** 1 ##### Significantly for some work centers **Score:** 2 ##### Sequence drives most of our schedule **Score:** 3 #### How is the shop floor schedule built today? **Options:** ##### MRP dates and dispatch lists are enough **Score:** 0 ##### Planner adjusts MRP output in a few places **Score:** 1 ##### A large spreadsheet maintained by one or two people **Score:** 2 ##### Whiteboards, spreadsheets and tribal knowledge **Score:** 3 #### How often do orders change (quantity, date, priority) after release? **Options:** ##### Rarely **Score:** 0 ##### Weekly **Score:** 1 ##### Daily **Score:** 2 ##### Several times a day **Score:** 3 #### Do you make to order with promised delivery dates that must be quoted reliably? **Options:** ##### No, we build to stock **Score:** 0 ##### Some products **Score:** 1 ##### Most products **Score:** 2 ##### Yes, and quoting a wrong date has a real cost **Score:** 3 #### How current and accurate are your routings, run rates and work center calendars? **Help:** A scheduling engine only gives good results with good data. **Options:** ##### Poor or outdated **Score:** 0 ##### Mixed **Score:** 1 ##### Mostly accurate **Score:** 2 ##### Accurate and reviewed regularly **Score:** 3 #### Do you have someone who can own the planning tool and its data day to day? **Options:** ##### No one has time **Score:** 0 ##### Part time ownership **Score:** 1 ##### A dedicated planner **Score:** 2 ##### A planning team with an administrator **Score:** 3 #### How well is your current MRP set up (lead times, safety stock, lot sizes, planning parameters)? **Options:** ##### Poorly, planners distrust it **Score:** 0 ##### Needs cleanup **Score:** 1 ##### Reasonable **Score:** 2 ##### Well tuned and trusted **Score:** 3 **Bands:** #### Standard MRP is probably enough **Min:** 0 **Max:** 30 **Verdict:** Your constraints and complexity are modest, or your data is not yet ready to support finite scheduling. Improving MRP set up will likely give more benefit than a new planning tool. **Recommendations:** - Review lead times, lot sizes and safety stock in item master data. - Fix routings and work center calendars before considering any scheduling tool. - Run the SyteLine MRP health check to find parameter problems. #### Tune MRP and add light scheduling controls **Min:** 31 **Max:** 55 **Verdict:** You have some capacity pain, but not necessarily enough to justify a new engine. Better data, firm planned practices and load reports may solve most of it. **Recommendations:** - Use capacity load reports to find the real bottleneck work centers. - Clean up routing times and shift calendars. - Document where the spreadsheet schedule adds value that MRP lacks. #### Evaluate APS with a focused pilot **Min:** 56 **Max:** 78 **Verdict:** Capacity conflicts, sequencing or order changes are costing you delivery performance, and your data and ownership are good enough to benefit from finite scheduling. **Recommendations:** - Define two or three measurable goals such as on-time delivery and schedule adherence. - Pilot on one bottleneck area before rolling out plant wide. - Plan time for data cleanup and planner training. #### APS is likely worth a serious business case **Min:** 79 **Max:** 100 **Verdict:** Your complexity, volatility and delivery commitments point toward finite scheduling. Confirm that routings and ownership are strong, because those decide whether the tool delivers. **Recommendations:** - Build a business case around late orders, overtime and expediting cost. - Make sure routings, rates and calendars are accurate before go live. - Name an owner for the planning tool and its parameters. ## Content **Intro:** MRP answers what to make or buy and when, assuming infinite capacity. Advanced planning and scheduling adds the question of whether the plant can actually do it in that order. This assessment helps you decide if you have a capacity problem big enough to justify more than good MRP. **Sections:** #### How to use the assessment **Body:** Answer each question for your plant as it runs today, not as you wish it ran. The scores add up to a percentage of the maximum, which lands in one of four bands from standard MRP to a serious APS business case. The question on data quality and ownership is deliberately weighted like the rest: many scheduling projects fail not because the engine is weak but because routings and run rates were never reliable. #### MRP versus APS in plain terms **Body:** MRP explodes demand through the bill of materials, nets against stock and supply and proposes orders with dates based on lead times. It does not know that three jobs need the same machine on the same day. Finite scheduling loads operations against work center capacity and sequences them, which exposes conflicts and gives a realistic completion date. The benefit grows with routing length, bottleneck pressure, sequence dependent setups and frequent changes. The cost is data accuracy, planner time and a disciplined process. **Bullets:** - MRP is about materials and timing. - APS is about capacity and sequence. - Both depend on accurate master data. #### Reading your result and next steps **Body:** A low score is not a failure. It usually means money is better spent on parameter tuning, routing accuracy and shop floor discipline. A middle score suggests proving the pain first with load reports before buying anything. A high score means do a structured evaluation with a pilot area, written success measures and an honest estimate of data cleanup. In every band, the same warning holds: a scheduling tool applied to bad routings only produces precise wrong answers. **Cta:** Netray can analyze your SyteLine routing and work center data to show whether the data would support finite scheduling, and where the biggest capacity conflicts really are. **Faq:** #### Does SyteLine MRP consider capacity? **Answer:** Standard MRP plans materials against lead times and does not schedule against finite capacity. Capacity load reports show overloads after the fact. Finite scheduling requires an additional planning and scheduling capability that sequences operations against work center calendars. #### Can I get APS-like results without buying a tool? **Answer:** Sometimes. Accurate routings, realistic work center calendars, firm planned jobs for the near term and a weekly capacity review fix a lot of problems. If conflicts continue after that, you have a stronger case for dedicated scheduling. #### What data does APS need to work well? **Answer:** Accurate routings with realistic setup and run times, correct work center capacities and calendars, reliable on-hand and open order data and sensible priorities. Without these, the schedule looks precise but cannot be executed on the floor. #### How long does an APS project usually take? **Answer:** It depends mostly on data cleanup and process change rather than software installation. Plan for a pilot on one area first and expect planning and routing data work to be the longest part. Avoid committing to plant wide dates before the pilot is done. ## Search terms syteline mrp vs aps, syteline aps, syteline advanced planning and scheduling, syteline finite scheduling, do i need aps, syteline mrp limitations, infor csi planning scheduling, mrp vs aps assessment --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json