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Customer Centric Supply Chain Planning

Production and Capacity Planning

Strengthen Productivity with Precision

What is Production and Capacity Planning Software?

ICRON Production and Capacity Planning helps manufacturers build feasible production plans by aligning demand, materials, and finite capacities in one decision environment. Planners can compare scenarios, resolve bottlenecks before execution, and balance service and cost objectives using constraint-based, multi-objective optimization. With clear outputs and operational KPIs, teams can release plans with confidence and improve throughput, OTIF, and capacity utilization.

Production and Capacity Planning Insights Discover Our Platform
Digital performance charts on a laptop, highlighting planning KPIs for production and capacity management.

How Production and Capacity Planning Works:

  • Bring planning inputs into one view

    Combine demand plans, confirmed orders, inventory, BOMs, routings, resource calendars, and operational constraints to create a single planning baseline.

  • Generate a feasible production + capacity plan

    Create constraint-aware plans that align volumes with available capacity across sites, lines, and key resources, while respecting rules like changeovers, campaign sizes, and lead times.

  • Compare scenarios before committing

    Run what-if scenarios (demand shifts, capacity changes, material limits, service targets) and evaluate trade-offs across cost, service, inventory, and utilization.

  • Publish and align execution

    Approve the best scenario and release the plan to execution-facing teams with clear assumptions, KPIs, and a shared view of the decisions behind the plan.

ICRON named a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions

ICRON Named a Visionary in the
2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for
Supply Chain Planning Solutions

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Optimizing Supply Chain Performance Through
Production and Capacity Planning: Customer Stories

See how manufacturers turn capacity constraints into executable production plans using scenario comparison and
optimization. These examples show how planning decisions become practical, feasible actions across production,
materials, and resources.

Customer Story
Video thumbnail: Judy Cheng from SAESL sharing insights on capacity planning and capability management.

SAESL (Aviation MRO) | Capacity Planning with ICRON

SAESL integrated ICRON with SAP to unify planning across engine overhaul and component repair, replacing spreadsheet-based planning with a connected environment for long-term capacity decisions. With ICRON, they enabled 10-year capacity forecasting for 200+ resources and automated the generation and update of optimal plans and schedules as demand, capacity, and job scope change.

What it delivered: improved planning accuracy, capacity plans more closely aligned with real-time supply-and-demand shifts, and stronger resource utilization with reduced set-up times and work-in-process (WIP) inventory. They also support daily execution by scheduling 30,000+ operations across 100 work centers.

Read The Customer Story
Customer Story
Aerial view of modern high-rise buildings, representing large-scale operations and planning complexity.

StarGrup Cuts Production Planning Time by 75% with ICRON

StarGrup implemented ICRON Capacity Planning and Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) to replace manual, spreadsheet-based production planning with optimized daily schedules and clearer capacity visibility. With integrations to MES, Lisec cutting optimization, and ERP (Axapta), planners worked with up-to-date shop-floor data and aligned cutting plans, inventory, and production decisions in one flow.

Results: 75% reduction in production planning time, 95% on-time delivery, 79% reduction in semi-finished goods stocks, 60% reduction in process waste, plus lower raw glass stocks and higher workforce efficiency.

Read The Customer Story

Business Benefits of Supply Chain Production and Capacity Planning

Production and capacity planning delivers measurable improvements in cost, service, lead time, and inventory
by aligning demand, materials, and finite resources across end-to-end operations.

10

Improvement in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

15

Reduction in operational costs

20

Reduction in backorders

30

Reduction in overtime

*Typical outcomes reported by customers. Results vary by industry, constraints, and planning horizon.

Business Impact of Production and Capacity Planning

Production and capacity planning improves operational performance, service outcomes, and long-term stability by aligning demand, materials, inventory, and finite resources within one feasible plan.

Warehouse worker scanning box for inventory tracking

Gain Visibility Over Goods

Production and capacity planning provides end-to-end visibility from raw materials to finished goods. This enables teams to align supply, production, and inventory decisions to meet demand reliably across mid- to long-term horizons.

Logistics team managing warehouse operations with digital tools

Optimize Long-Term Capacity Plans

By optimizing capacity plans across resources, calendars, and BOM alternatives, organizations can keep plans feasible while balancing cost, service, and utilization objectives. This supports long-term capacity decisions without losing operational realism.

Engineer using tablet to monitor production line performance

Seize Opportunities

Continuous scenario evaluation helps identify opportunities across production plans, stock allocation, and capacity commitments. Teams can compare trade-offs quickly and act on the options that improve service and cost performance.

Team analyzing project schedule on computer screen for planning

Enhance Flexibility in Capacity Planning

By modeling factory calendars, downtime, and unavailability rules, capacity plans reflect real operating conditions. Planners can adjust capacity assumptions and immediately see the impact on feasible output and service levels.

Aerial view of large logistics port with shipping containers

Achieve Resource Planning Excellence

A comprehensive resource planning approach connects renewable, consumable, and complex resources within a single model. This supports consistent decisions on what to produce, where to produce it, and which constraints truly limit throughput.

Businessperson using digital interface for workforce analytics

Optimize Resource Utilization

Utilization insights make total capacity usage, regular versus overtime loading, and constraint patterns transparent over time. This helps balance workloads, expose capacity risks earlier, and improve capacity management decisions.

Workers using digital tools to streamline factory operations and improve efficiency

Elevate Inventory Management

By linking material requirements planning with production decisions and bucket-based BOM selection, organizations can improve inventory positioning and material availability. The result is more stable production plans with clearer inventory outcomes.

Using digital interfaces to optimize supply chain management and data control.

Boost Order Satisfaction

Balancing demand priorities with resource capacity and inventory targets improves fulfillment performance. This supports higher order satisfaction through plans that are both feasible and service-aligned.

Package moving along a conveyor belt in a warehouse for efficient order fulfillment

Enhance Production Continuity

Teams can assess how material purchases, component availability, and resource downtime impact production decisions. This enables earlier issue detection and selection of feasible alternatives to maintain production continuity.

Key Outputs for Production and Capacity Planning

Key outputs translate planning decisions into an execution-ready package. Teams can review constraints, compare scenarios, and align on a feasible plan before release.

  • Feasible production plan by site/line, product family, and time bucket

  • Capacity loading plan showing utilization, critical resources, and limiting constraints

  • Shift and labor requirements (where relevant) to support the approved plan

  • Order fulfillment outlook including expected delays, shortages, or backorder risk

  • Inventory projection by item/location, including anticipated build-ups and draw-downs

  • Constraint and exception list highlighting where plans are tight or infeasible without changes

  • Scenario comparison results with assumptions and KPI deltas (cost, service, inventory, utilization)

  • Approved plan package ready to share across planning and operations for alignment

A Unique Perspective on Production and Capacity Decisions
with ICRON’s Differentiators

Customer Centricity

  • Customer centricity in production and capacity planning enables precise and reliable fulfillment by aligning customer demand, forecasts, inventory, and finite resources.
  • By optimizing inventory and resource decisions for order fulfillment, organizations can reduce stockouts and backorder exposure while supporting customer loyalty. This supports faster adaptation to changing demand and consistent customer satisfaction.
Read E-Book

Dynamic Global Pegging

  • Dynamic global pegging in production and capacity planning enables rapid assessment of inventory and capacity strategies using detailed projections and time-phased views.
  • By evaluating inventory and resource plans against disruptions, market fluctuations, and regulatory shifts, organizations can validate effectiveness and maintain operational resilience. This supports more robust production planning decisions under changing conditions.
Read E-Book

Embedded Analytics

  • Embedded analytics integrates advanced data analysis into production and capacity planning, enabling actionable insight across inventory, resources, and supply chain data within the decision process.
  • By combining real-time analysis with predictive and prescriptive models for demand and supply lead times, organizations can improve decision quality and optimize capacity with greater precision. This supports deeper utilization analysis and detailed time projections for capacity planning, production, and bottleneck management to improve overall efficiency.

Risk Management

  • Risk management in production and capacity planning enables organizations to turn uncertainty into informed choices by evaluating alternative sourcing and distribution strategies before committing.
  • By aligning inventory and resource approaches with the organization’s risk tolerance, decision-makers can balance conservative and competitive options with clearer trade-offs. This supports timely notifications and heat maps that highlight potential risks, reducing stockout exposure and improving utilization of critical resources.
Read E-Book

Sustainability

  • Sustainability in production and capacity planning is supported by optimizing production plans and capacity allocations to reduce energy consumption and minimize the environmental impact of manufacturing activities.
  • By aligning production, distribution, and material sourcing decisions with carbon emission constraints, organizations can manage feasibility alongside environmental objectives. This supports setting target inventory levels and production activities in ways that help minimize waste.
Read E-Book

Adaptive Scenario Planning

  • Adaptive scenario planning in production and capacity planning enables real-time adjustment of production strategies to support timely responses to market shifts.
  • By assessing long-term trends and challenges and comparing outcomes across multiple scenarios, organizations can build proactive production management plans and select the most suitable strategy as conditions change. This supports agility and more confident production decision-making.
Read E-Book

Features of Production and Capacity Planning

ICRON Production and Capacity Planning is equipped with cutting-edge technological features that empower your organization to optimize its supplying capability and capacity at all strategic, tactical and operational levels, facilitating efficient and informed decision-making.

Resource Capacity & Bottleneck Management

  • Factory calendar management
  • Unavailability management
  • Resource capacity management

Parametric Multi-objective Optimization

  • Flexible and multi-objective optimization management
  • Competitive strategy-based optimization models
  • Considering resource and BOM alternatives
  • Objective prioritization
  • Embedded with customizable objective and constraint management.

End-to-End Production Plan Visibility

  • Detailed medium to long-term production planning for each BOM levels
  • Thorough end-to-end production plan visibility including detailed resource and inventory engagements
  • Effective resource workload management.
  • Mid to long-term period-based item inventory projection
  • Flexible time horizon and granularity management

Resources

Gain insights, and stay ahead of supply chain trends and updates with the latest thinkings on the supply chain.

View All
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E-book
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Supply chain pain points are unavoidable, but with the right approach, they can be turned...

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Production and Capacity Planning FAQs

Fundamentals & Business Impact

1. What is production and capacity planning, and why is it essential for manufacturing and supply chain management?

Production and Capacity Planning determines what to make, when to make it, and with which resources—aligning machine, labor, and material capacity to demand. It reduces waste and bottlenecks and improves service levels across the supply chain.

2. What key benefits can businesses expect from using Production Planning software in terms of efficiency and cost reduction?

Businesses can expect improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), reduced operational costs, fewer backorders, and less overtime. Moreover, inventory and resource costs go down through better alignment of production and capacity.

3. How does the solution help align production capacity with actual demand, reducing stockouts and overproduction?

ICRON aligns capacity with demand by balancing forecast, orders, inventory, and resource capability, then runs scenario analysis to right-size production, minimizing both stockouts and excess WIP/FG.

4. What is the role of capacity planning during demand fluctuations?

Capacity planning ensures flexible scaling—absorbing spikes with alternate routings, overtime, subcontracting, or inventory buffers—without chronic overcapacity or underutilization.

5. How can the solution help companies improve on-time delivery and customer satisfaction?

End-to-end visibility, promise-date accuracy (available-to-promise/capable-to-promise), and dynamic rescheduling drive reliable fulfillment and shorter lead times.

6. Can ICRON help cut inventory by improving schedule accuracy?

Yes. Through more precise alignment of production to demand and better resource planning, it helps reduce excess inventory.

Optimization, Constraints & Rescheduling

7. How does the solution optimize production schedules and maximize resource utilization?

The Production and Capacity Planning solution applies multi-objective optimization across routing and BOM alternatives, considers renewable/consumable resources, and respects calendars and unavailability to generate feasible, high-utilization schedules.

8. How does the ICRON tool manage capacity constraints and supply chain disruptions to ensure on-time delivery?

ICRON models capacity constraints (e.g., resource calendars, unavailability) and runs what-if scenario simulations to adjust production plans proactively. Planners can re-optimize instantly with what-if scenarios to keep OTIF on track.

9. How does the ICRON Production and Capacity Planning solution help businesses manage peak seasons and bottlenecks?

The solution runs scenario simulations, tests alternative resource allocations, and pre-emptively identifies bottlenecks, then rebalances loads to smooth capacity during peaks.

10. How does the software enable capacity optimization based on available resources and demand?

The ICRON Production and Capacity Planning software utilizes multi-objective optimization algorithms that consider available resource constraints and demand requirements to maximize utilization and meet demand.

11. How does ICRON Production and Capacity Planning adapt to fluctuating production rates and changing customer needs?

The ICRON system supports scenario re-optimization and dynamic adjustments, enabling planners to adapt production rates in response to demand shifts or disruptions.

12. Does the solution support real-time adjustments to production schedules in response to supply chain disruptions or equipment downtime?

Yes. The ICRON Production and Capacity Planning supports real-time re-optimization and adjustments (what-if scenarios) in response to disruptions or resource unavailability.

Planning Scope, Integrations & Scalability

13. Can the ICRON Production and Capacity Planning solution integrate with ERP, CRM, and other business systems to synchronize data?

Yes. ICRON connects to ERP/MES/APS/CRM/data lakes to synchronize items, BOMs, routings, orders, inventories, and calendars—creating a single planning backbone.

14. Can ICRON Production Planning software support multi-location production and manage global supply chains?

ICRON offers multi-site capacity planning and resource modeling across locations, enabling global production coordination, resource sharing, and scenario planning across the supply chain network.

15. Can ICRON Production and Capacity Planning be configured for the unique needs of different industries?

Yes. The ICRON Production and Capacity Planning tool serves industries such as automotive, high-tech, consumer goods, chemicals, and others, taking into account industry-specific planning rules and constraints.

16. How does the ICRON Production and Capacity Planning solution integrate with demand forecasting?

Forecasts directly inform supply, production, and capacity plans; planners can run scenarios for forecast adjustments and lock in feasible plans.

17. How does the solution ensure scalability for growing businesses?

It is designed to scale, supporting larger data volumes, multi-site operations, and more complex constraints without performance degradation.

Performance Visibility, AI & Enablement

18. How does the production and capacity planning software help track and manage production performance?

The ICRON Production and Capacity Planning provides real-time dashboards that track capacity utilization, OEE elements, plan adherence, OTIF, queue times, and overtime vs. regular hours to monitor performance in real-time.

19. What role does AI play in the Production and Capacity Planning tool?

AI in Production and Capacity Planning supports scenario simulation, pattern recognition, optimization, and decision intelligence—moving beyond predictions to recommend optimal plans, thereby speeding decisions and reducing errors.

20. How secure is the production and capacity planning software for managing sensitive manufacturing data?

ICRON follows enterprise-grade security practices and integrates within your IT landscape; deployment and security details are aligned with your policies.

21. Is there a demo or trial version available for businesses to evaluate the Production Planning tool?

Yes — offers a “Request Demo” option on the website for prospective customers to evaluate the solution.

22. What kind of training and support options does ICRON offer for new users of Production and Capacity Planning software?

Onboarding, training, and support are tailored to your needs—contact us for current programs and enablement options.

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