Commercial advanced planning and scheduling (APS) systems have been around for about 25 years and have seen widespread adoption in a variety of companies. The promises made by APS system implementations are high, and at the same time, APS projects are complex, costly, and carry a significant risk of failure. There is a great need for guidance on how to successfully implement APS systems, which is why this book was written. In this book, we aim to discuss all facets of APS implementation, from theoretical background to definition, vendor selection, system design and the implementation process. In addition, this book helps readers understand how the underlying concepts were formed, why a concept will work in practice, and when it will not. The contents of this book are based on many years of academic research and APS implementation experience. It draws together theory and practice in production control and explains how theories can be applied to support planning and scheduling processes in practice. This book will help anyone involved in APS implementations to achieve success: human planners generate better plans than before, using the APS.

Hello, I'm Jake, a retired production planner. I've been talking to my coffee mate Ben about the factory where I have spent the better part of my life. Believe me, I have seen things go well and even more go very wrong. I'm outside the gate now, but the grapevine is keeping me up to date. Which is why I know that the factory is heading into oblivion, as management does not seem to understand commonsense principles and they are testing the patience of their main customer. But wait, things look like they might change when new management is brought in. This new plant manager might change things around, and thanks to my old friends we can keep on top of things. Do you want to hear my story? The concepts imbedded in the factory's journey capture the leading practices in progressive and proactive management. The commonsense concepts embody the philosophy of collaboration, shared fate, mutual respect, and leveraging the intellectual capital that exists in each and every factory. This book is for you if you want your factory to survive and thrive!