Production planning for manufacturers
OptiLine builds each shift's plan from the parts on your shelves, the hours on your lines and the certified people on your floor. Then it ranks the work by what matters most to your customers and your margin. Every shift, see what can run, what can't, and why.
Shift-level production planning.
A plan that looks fine in a spreadsheet still breaks the moment it meets real stock, real people and a real shift.
The spreadsheet said there was stock. Two jobs were counting on the same bin.
The run needs a certified operator, and nobody checked who was actually in today.
Every job fit on its own. Together they needed a 20-hour shift.
How it works
OptiLine runs every candidate job through the same four checks your best planner does in their head, for every shift, in seconds.
Each run claims its components and subassemblies in rank order, so two runs never count on the same box of parts.
Runs share the shift's real minutes. When the line is full, the plan stops adding work.
A run only makes the plan if someone trained and certified for it is on that shift.
What's left is ranked by the margin each run earns and the priority you set, so the most valuable work goes first.
Only runs that pass all three checks get ranked, by the margin they earn, the priority you've given the product, and how much of it the shift can build. Each run shows why it's there, like “Ranked #2: high margin, fits in 2 hours, parts reserved.” You can override the order before you approve it.
Anything that doesn't pass is listed with a plain-language reason, so you know exactly what to fix: a part to expedite, a person to schedule, or a run to move.
A day shift of 8 hours and 6 people. At 85% efficiency, that's 6.8 hours of line time to plan.
| Rank | Run | Units | Line time | Why it's here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valve assembly 3in | 12 | 3.6 h | The most valuable run the shift can build. Parts reserved, 2 certified operators assigned. |
| 2 | Pump housing | 8 | 2.0 h | Fits in the time left. Watch: Rubber seal 2in drops below your safety level after this run. |
| 3 | Fitting kit | 12 | 1.2 h | Uses the last of the shift. Lower value, so it runs last. |
| Total | 6.8 h | |||
Sample data for illustration.
Shaping OptiLine with a small group of plants. Bring your own products and we'll set you up and plan your first shifts with you.
Request a demoThe product
Production, supply chain, and sales and finance work from the same plan, so a change on the floor shows up for everyone, with no spreadsheets to reconcile.
Pick a shift and OptiLine ranks every product that could run on it, after checking parts, line time and who's on the crew.
Every approved run by day and shift. Drag to reorder, or add a run by hand and pin it so re-planning leaves it alone.
Each active run with units done so far. Runs complete themselves when they hit their target.
Add, move or remove workers on active runs mid-shift. The options only show people trained and certified for that run.
Training records with expiry dates, linked to the products and product lines that need them.
Projected stock subtracts what upcoming runs have already reserved, so alerts fire before the shelf is actually empty.
One list of everything that will go wrong in the next few weeks if nothing changes.
Planned versus actual revenue and margin, from the same runs the floor closes out each shift.
Change prices, simulate a part shortage or drop a product, and compare the result with today's plan shift by shift.
Who it's for
If you build products from a bill of materials, share lines and crews, and plan in spreadsheets today, OptiLine is built for you.
Many customers, one set of lines.
Show which jobs you can actually build this week with the parts and people you have, and what each is worth.
Problems it solves
Built from parts, built from subassemblies.
A finished machine is only as ready as its slowest subassembly. OptiLine plans the layers together.
Problems it solves
Built from a bill of materials, built in batches.
Electronics, electrical, furniture, consumer and industrial goods. Balance batch runs against the stock you actually have.
Problems it solves
Welding, fabrication, transportation equipment.
The schedule should know who's certified before the shift starts, not after the run is on the board.
Problems it solves
Import SKUs, components, bills of materials and orders from CSV. Every row is checked and previewed before anything is saved.
Already labeled with Code 128 or Code 39? OptiLine reads those, plus QR, from a phone camera.
Point a phone camera at a tag to claim parts, receive stock, count a bin or check out a tool. No scanner hardware needed.
Production, supply chain, and sales and finance each see their own sections. Every change is recorded in an audit log.
Getting started
Import products, components, bills of materials and open orders from CSV. No clean BOMs yet? Start with your top three products and build the rest in the app.
Set your line capacity, shift times, and who's trained on what.
Open the Priority List, review the plan and the reasons behind it, and approve.
No. OptiLine plans and tracks production. It doesn't do accounting or invoicing. Today your data comes in through CSV import for products, components, bills of materials and customer orders, and every row is checked and previewed before anything is saved.
Mostly bringing over what you already keep in spreadsheets, then adding your lines, shifts, workers and who's trained on what. In the demo we'll use a few of your own products so you can see what that looks like for your plant.
Yes. Scanning reads Code 128, Code 39, EAN, UPC, Data Matrix and QR codes from a phone camera, with no scanner hardware needed. You can also print new tags as QR, Code 128 or Code 39.
You set which training each product or product line needs and record each worker's training with an expiry date. Planning only schedules a run on a shift where someone qualified is present, and a report shows certifications expiring in the next 30, 60 or 90 days.
Re-plan the shift and OptiLine re-ranks everything that hasn't started, leaving in-progress, finished and pinned runs where they are. You can also move workers between runs on the spot, limited to people qualified for each one.
Yes. A subassembly has its own bill of materials and its own stock. A finished product's bill of materials can include both parts and subassemblies, and planning checks stock of both before it schedules a run.
Access is by role. Production, supply chain, and sales and finance each get their own sections, and each company's data is kept completely separate. Every create, change and delete is recorded in an audit log.
Scanning is built for a phone camera, and the menu works on small screens. Planning and reporting screens are designed for a computer, where there's room to see the whole week.
Your ERP works out what to buy and assumes you'll have the time and people to build it. Detailed schedulers sequence every machine, but they take months to set up and break when the day changes. OptiLine sits in between. For each shift it answers what you can actually build with the parts, hours and certified people you have, and what that work is worth. It starts from the spreadsheets you already keep.
Yes. Open POs and their expected dates count toward projected stock, so a part due Tuesday is available for Wednesday's shift. Receiving the PO moves the quantity into stock.
Every component has its own unit of measure (each, kg, g, m or L), and bills of materials use it. Minimum order quantities and lot sizes are supported too.
A plan is only as good as the counts behind it. Phone scanning lets you receive, claim and count bins as they happen, and every stock change is recorded in the audit log.
We quote after the demo, based on your plant. We'll go through it with you on the call.
Bring a few SKUs and a typical week. We'll show you what OptiLine would plan, and why.
Request a demo