Spreadsheet before
- Colour-coded Gantt-like rows that break when sorted
- Manual drag of jobs between day columns
- Hidden formulas calculating load by work centre
- Verbal updates that never return to the master plan
Workflow
Replace Excel production planning before the schedule lives in someone's head
Planning spreadsheets often hide tribal knowledge: which jobs can run together, which changeovers matter and which dates were only optimistic guesses.
The problem
Replace Excel production planning
When the plan is a workbook, changes are hard to communicate, capacity assumptions are invisible and shop-floor updates arrive too late. Planners become bottlenecks and everyone else works from screenshots or printed tabs.
Signs Excel has been outgrown
- Only one planner understands the sequencing rules
- Schedule changes are announced by email or walkie-talkie
- Capacity assumptions are buried in helper columns
- Shop floor works from printed versions of yesterday's plan
- Material readiness is checked in a different spreadsheet
- Late changes create cascading manual rewrites
Managed app after
- A live plan with clear work centres and horizons
- Controlled reschedule actions with history
- Status feedback from production without workbook edits
- Views for planners, supervisors and managers
What a replacement can include
- Jobs or batches assigned to work centres and dates
- Constraints and notes that travel with the job
- Change history for schedule moves
- Readiness flags for materials or approvals
- Shift or day views without destroying source data
- Exports for stand-up boards when needed
Why not just add more formulas?
Macros that reshuffle rows still leave planning knowledge trapped in one file. A managed app makes sequencing, ownership and feedback part of the product rather than a planner's private craft.
Who it suits
- Discrete manufacturers
- Job shops balancing urgent and planned work
- Operations teams coordinating multi-stage production
Managed service
Each app is built around your workflow. The plans set the size and access model, while your assessment decides which useful features belong in the app. Hosted plans include hosting, maintenance and ongoing support so your team is not left maintaining fragile workbooks.
Pricing context
Every project starts with a £295 Spreadsheet Assessment (excl. VAT). If you proceed, that fee is credited before VAT. Eligible managed plans such as Business (£399/month) include hosting and support.
FAQ
Ready to assess your spreadsheet process?
Start with a free fit check, then a Spreadsheet Assessment for a clear replacement plan.