APS-SME or multi-national the issues are the same

Advanced planning and scheduling (APS) is one of the recent additions to the ever-increasing list of industrial systems. It covers a wide range of activities, including: forecasting; demand planning; production planning; finite capacity scheduling; and much more. APS is essentially, another facet of supply chain planning, which itself is a frequently misunderstood term. This paper puts both supply chain planning and APS in context. It will also identify some of the challenges and benefits associated with implementation, the APS system must be part of a broader system that has the correct structure, and management must not abdicate responsibility to the APS system. (4 pages)