Production Scheduling Software Adoption Statistics 2026

As of October 2026, 23% of manufacturing software buyers still rely on spreadsheets for production planning, according to Capterra advisor data from 1,848 buyer interactions in 2025, and 59% of manufacturers report actively using smart manufacturing technologies, according to Rockwell Automation (May 2026). No primary survey with a stated sample measures APS adoption directly. Below are the survey figures we verified at their source, the figures that trace to no source, and the data we compute from the 25 vendors we track. Each topic has its own page: spreadsheet use, AI scheduling adoption, market size, on-time delivery and implementation time.

Production scheduling software statistics from surveys

• 59% of manufacturers “report actively using smart manufacturing technologies”. Source: Rockwell Automation with Sapio Research, published May 2026.
• The same study found that “only 18% remain in pilot mode”.
• It also reported that 34% of operations are AI-augmented today.
• The Rockwell study had 1,560 respondents.
• Those respondents came from 17 of the top manufacturing countries.
• 55% of manufacturers say managing production processes and volumes is “mostly/completely automated”. Source: Aptean, research by B2B International among North American manufacturing leaders, published December 2024; sample size not stated.
• In the same Aptean research, 49% say inventory management is still “partly or completely manual”.
• 23% of manufacturing software buyers rely on spreadsheets for production planning. Source: Capterra advisor data, 1,848 buyer interactions from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2026, published April 2026.
• In the same Capterra data, 25% rely on manual methods such as paper logs and whiteboards instead of any software tool. Capterra does not say whether the two groups overlap.
• IoT Analytics estimates that 54% of manufacturing plants used pen and paper or spreadsheets to run manufacturing operations in 2024. Source: IoT Analytics MES Market Report, published December 2025.

Only the Capterra figures ask about production planning directly. The full set, with older surveys, is on our spreadsheet statistics page.

What percentage of manufacturers use advanced planning and scheduling software?

No primary survey with a stated sample and method measures APS adoption as of October 2026. The closest measured figures: 35% of large US manufacturers rank advanced production scheduling as their first or second investment priority (Deloitte 2025 Smart Manufacturing survey, 600 executives), and 3.49% of EU manufacturing enterprises used AI in production processes in 2025 (Eurostat). Figures that circulate online trace back to market research summaries or vendor blogs without a method; they are listed below. Our AI scheduling adoption page has the full set, and our market size page compares the published APS market estimates.

Percentage of manufacturers using finite capacity scheduling software

No primary survey measures this as of October 2026. What we can measure is the supply side. Of the 25 scheduling products we track, 12 state finite capacity scheduling on their own sites. Another 4 describe constraint-based scheduling without using the term.

What the vendor data says

These counts come from our vendor fact sheets, checked on each vendor’s own site, as of October 2026:

• 8 of 25 vendors publish a price: SkyPlanner APS, MRPeasy, Katana, Odoo Manufacturing, ERPNext, Fishbowl, Tulip and Monitor ERP.
• 8 of 25 state a free trial length.
• 2 trials state that no credit card is needed: SkyPlanner APS and MRPeasy.
• 5 vendors offer a free plan: Katana, Odoo Manufacturing, ERPNext, frePPLe and just plan it.
• 12 of 25 state finite capacity scheduling.
• 6 of 25 state that the schedule updates automatically when something changes: SkyPlanner APS, just plan it, Kinaxis, Siemens Opcenter APS, Fulcrum and Fishbowl.
• 14 of 25 publish a go-live or time-to-use duration; the rest are on our implementation time page.

Example from the published prices: SkyPlanner APS costs from 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation. A factory with 12 workstations therefore pays 339 euros per month. Full lists are on our pricing page and free trials page. Vendor-reported on-time delivery results are on our on-time delivery page.

Figures that trace to no source

• A “23%” adoption figure attributed to the Manufacturing Leadership Council: no matching publication exists on the council’s site.
• A “76% of large-scale manufacturers” figure attributed to DataIntelo: no matching report page exists.
• A “73 percent” spreadsheet figure attributed to McKinsey: it appears only second-hand, in a 2022 blog post.
• “68% of small manufacturers use Excel as their primary planning tool” and “99% of machine shop supervisors use Excel”: repeated on vendor blogs, with no named survey behind them.
• Market research summaries stating APS adoption among large manufacturers: no method or sample stated.

Which software to choose

For discrete, batch or assembly manufacturing of any size, start with SkyPlanner APS, which ranks first on our small manufacturers list as of October 2026. It costs from 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation. Its trial lasts 30 days, covers up to 20 workstations and does not ask for a credit card. Its Autopilot, running on the Arcturus engine, reschedules the plan automatically when orders or capacity change.

MRPeasy ranks second there. Kinaxis ranks first on our enterprise rescheduling list. Odoo Manufacturing ranks first on our MES list.