Masterproduktionsplan

Masterproduktionsplan, often abbreviated as MPS, is a time-phased planning tool used in manufacturing to translate demand forecasts and confirmed customer orders into a detailed schedule for producing finished goods over a finite horizon. It specifies what to produce, in what quantities, and when, for each end item, aligning production with anticipated demand.

The primary purpose of the masterproduktionsplan is to balance supply and demand, ensure feasible shop-floor execution, and optimize use of capacity and inventory. It focuses on finished goods and major components rather than on every raw material, providing a bridge between sales planning and detailed manufacturing activities.

Key inputs include demand forecasts, actual customer orders, current inventory levels, lead times, bill of materials and routings, and available capacity. Outputs consist of released production orders, timing for manufacturing operations, and recommendations for procurement or rescheduling as needed. The plan is typically reviewed and revised at regular intervals to reflect changes in demand or capacity.

Relation to MRP and ERP: the MPS serves as the input to material requirements planning (MRP). The MPS tells MRP what to produce and when, while MRP computes the material requirements to support that production schedule. In capacity-constrained environments, rough-cut capacity planning (RCCP) may be used to check the plan’s feasibility and adjust the schedule accordingly.

Benefits include improved alignment of production with demand, reduced stockouts and excess inventory, better delivery performance, and more stable shop-floor scheduling. In practice, the term masterproduktionsplan is used in German-speaking contexts to denote the same concept as the Master Production Schedule in English.