Capable to promise capacity planning solutions offer their users a view into the capability of a given collection of resources to perform a given collection of work. Most good capable to promise systems are actually integrated within a production scheduling system. The scheduling system contains the work load / production plan. In addition the scheduling tool usually contains information on the production cycle times of products and the schedule itself that contains the current plan.

Because the scheduling solutions carry the information about the standard production times and the current machine loading they are the perfect place to query for capacity capability. Most systems that provide this type of functionality have an interface that can be accessed by the customer service department or the production planners. In many systems the functionality is integrated into “what if” optimizations, allowing the scheduler to add soft schedules to the system to test delivery dates and efficiency without actually releasing the plan to the floor.

There are other solutions that provide a tool directly to the customer service department. These systems provide an interface that allows the sales team to enter a quantity and product(s). The system then tells the CSR when it could potentially deliver the job and what the impact might be on related jobs and in some cases raw materials. If your interested in an available to capacity function within your system you might want to take a look at Tuppas. Tuppas is a provider of highly configurable manufacturing modules and functionality for scheduling and planning.