Partner of the month: SmarterMRP – Enabling Clean Core manufacturing planning with Opcenter APS

1. Could you tell us about your company and your experience working with Opcenter APS?

Carlos: Planning Manufacturing is a company with over 12 years of experience implementing and distributing Siemens Opcenter APS across discrete and process manufacturing. Headquartered in Spain with global reach through partners, we have delivered Opcenter APS to industry leaders including Nissan and P4Q-Kinematics, building deep expertise in connecting advanced planning to real shop-floor execution.

In 2025, we launched SmarterMRP, a cloud-native spin-off built on Mendix under a Clean Core philosophy, designed to extend the value of Opcenter APS and Opcenter X on top of any ERP without custom code. Today, SmarterMRP provides manufacturers with a governed planning layer that delivers validated master data, detailed work orders and purchase proposals directly into Opcenter APS while keeping both the ERP and APS environments standard and upgradeable.

2. What’s your approach to implementing Opcenter APS for clients and what makes it unique?

Carlos: We are one of the few partners fully focused on bringing a Clean Core architecture to Opcenter APS implementations.

Many APS implementations struggle not because of the scheduling technology itself, but because the underlying planning data is incomplete, fragmented or inconsistent. After 30 years implementing APS solutions, we have learned that success depends first on removing those root causes before scheduling begins.

Our approach is designed around that principle. We eliminate missing master data, disconnected Excel-based calculations and ERP customizations before Opcenter APS is deployed into production. Once the APS receives governed and validated data, the scheduling engine can focus on what it does best: optimizing production sequencing and planning.

What makes our approach unique is the Clean Core architecture behind every deployment:

• No custom planning logic inside Opcenter APS
• No core ERP customization for planning calculations
• Standard and upgradeable ERP and APS environments
• Governed master data and validated work orders
• End-to-end planning traceability
• AI-ready and compliance-ready data foundation

SmarterMRP also pre-resolves bill of material (BOM) structures, alternative materials, supplier constraints, lots and capacity logic before the data reaches Opcenter APS. This allows manufacturers running thousands of orders to achieve stable and scalable scheduling performance.

Another important differentiator is cybersecurity and compliance readiness. By eliminating hundreds of ERP customizations and Excel-based planning processes, manufacturers significantly reduce operational risk while supporting frameworks such as NIS2, the EU AI Act and Digital Product Passport initiatives.

Ultimately, our goal is not simply to implement Opcenter APS. Our goal is to make advanced planning clean, scalable, compliant and future-proof.

3. Can you share a specific customer success story where Opcenter APS solved a significant challenge?

Carlos: One example that demonstrates the value of the Clean Core approach is our work with P4Q-Kinematics, a global electronics manufacturer with production facilities across the United States, Spain, Mexico, China, Chile and Brazil. The company operates in highly complex sectors including industrial manufacturing, railway, medical, IoT, automotive and offshore industries using Microsoft Dynamics 365 as its ERP platform.

The challenge

P4Q-Kinematics faced several planning and supply chain challenges:

• Limited short and long-term visibility across the supply chain
• Manual work order and purchase order calculations in Excel
• Large volumes of master data with multiple item versions
• Production bottlenecks difficult to optimize
• Material traceability gaps
• Heavy dependency on spreadsheets for planning and forecasting

The solution

The deployment followed a two-phase Clean Core strategy.

During Phase I in 2024, we implemented Opcenter Scheduling for shop-floor scheduling alongside SmarterMRP as the Clean Core layer for Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) and master data governance. This eliminated Excel-based work order creation and allowed Opcenter Scheduling to receive validated work orders directly from SmarterMRP.

In Phase II during 2025, we expanded the environment with Opcenter Advanced Planning. SmarterMRP provided enriched forecasts, complete master data, purchase proposals and movement proposals, creating a connected planning ecosystem across forecasting, procurement, production and supply planning.

The key advantage was that SmarterMRP resolved complex BOM logic, item versions, supplier constraints and alternative material scenarios upstream. This avoided heavy custom development inside either Opcenter or Microsoft Dynamics 365 while keeping both systems fully standard and upgradeable.

With SmarterMRP we are driving digitalization to respond to our growth and the increasing complexity of the market, which forced us to constantly rethink our plans.

Manuel Jiménez, Corporate Industrial Director, P4Q-Kinematics

The outcome

The project delivered several operational improvements:

• Reduced manual intervention across planning and supply chain teams
• More stable and realistic production schedules
• Reduced overstock through more accurate purchasing proposals
• Improved coordination between demand, materials and production resources
• A viable long-term master production plan
• Successful Opcenter Advanced Planning go-live in 2025

The same Clean Core model is now being used across manufacturers in automotive, electronics, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.

4. What trends are you seeing in manufacturing planning and scheduling, and how does Opcenter APS address them?

Carlos: We are seeing several important trends reshaping manufacturing planning and scheduling.

Advanced Planning is expanding beyond traditional process industries

For years, many manufacturers associated advanced planning mainly with food and beverage environments. However, recent deployments demonstrate that Opcenter Advanced Planning is equally effective in high-tech electronics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and hybrid manufacturing when supported by clean and governed data. The real differentiator is not the industry sector – it is whether the APS receives complete and validated planning data.

Industrial AI depends on governed data

Industrial AI initiatives continue to grow, but fragmented and inconsistent data remains one of the biggest barriers to success. Opcenter APS becomes AI-ready when supported by a governed master data layer that unifies planning, supply chain and production information into a single trusted environment.

Compliance and cybersecurity are now planning priorities

Regulations such as NIS2, the EU AI Act and Digital Product Passport requirements are forcing manufacturers to rethink spreadsheet-driven planning and uncontrolled ERP customizations. Combining Opcenter APS with end-to-end traceability and governed data enables manufacturers to embed compliance directly into operational planning processes.

Partners are looking for lower-risk deployments

Manufacturers and implementation partners increasingly want predictable projects with faster time-to-value and lower technical debt. Productized Clean Core architecture help reduce project risk while improving scalability and long-term maintainability.

In short, Opcenter APS is evolving into a universal planning and scheduling platform for modern manufacturing – provided it is supported by clean, governed and scalable data foundations.

5. What advice would you give to manufacturers considering implementation of advanced planning and scheduling solutions?

Carlos: After 30 years implementing APS solutions, several lessons consistently separate successful projects from unsuccessful ones.

Fix master data before implementation

Poor or incomplete master data remains the leading cause of APS project failure. Incorrect BOMs, outdated routings, inconsistent lead times and duplicated items create unstable schedules and constant manual intervention. Manufacturers should treat master data quality as a planning prerequisite, not an IT cleanup exercise.

Eliminate ERP customizations where possible

Many manufacturers still depend on custom ERP developments created years ago to compensate for planning limitations. Over time, these become technical debt that complicates cloud migration, cybersecurity and system upgrades. Moving planning logic into a governed Clean Core layer helps manufacturers maintain standard ERP environments while improving flexibility.

Remove Excel from operational planning

Spreadsheet-driven planning creates hidden dependencies, version conflicts and limited traceability. If an APS depends on Excel-prepared data, the implementation will struggle to scale reliably.

Don’t customize Opcenter APS unnecessarily

Opcenter APS is already capable of handling highly complex manufacturing environments when fed with complete and governed data. Excessive customization inside the APS often slows performance, complicates upgrades and increases long-term maintenance costs.

Align cloud migration, planning modernization and AI initiatives

Manufacturers should avoid treating ERP migration, APS deployment and AI initiatives as separate projects. All three rely on the same requirement: unified and governed operational data.

Choose implementation partners with real operational experience

Successful APS projects require more than certifications. Manufacturers should look for partners with deep operational experience handling real-world planning complexities such as supplier disruptions, alternative materials, compliance requirements and high-mix manufacturing environments.

The bottom line is simple: successful APS implementations depend on clean master data, a Clean Core architecture and experienced implementation partners.

About SmarterMRP

Built on Mendix within the Siemens Xcelerator ecosystem, SmarterMRP was created to solve one of the biggest challenges in advanced planning and scheduling: ensuring that Opcenter APS receives complete, governed and reliable data without relying on custom ERP developments or spreadsheet-driven processes. The platform acts as a Clean Core layer between the ERP and Opcenter APS, providing manufacturers with validated master data, detailed work orders, purchase proposals, demand forecasting and end-to-end traceability from sales order through to shop-floor execution. Designed to work alongside ERP platforms including SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle, Sage and SAP Business One, SmarterMRP helps manufacturers modernize planning environments while keeping both ERP and APS systems standard, upgradeable and AI-ready. The solution is already supporting manufacturers across automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, cosmetics and industrial manufacturing, including companies such as Nissan, P4Q-Kinematics, Faes Farma and Palacios Group.

For more information:

• Company: SmarterMRP
• Website: https://www.smartermrp.com/
• Contact: Carlos Bayona – carlos@smarterMRP.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/smartermrp
• Partner of the month: Kudos Solutions – Delivering advanced planning expertise with Opcenter APS
• Siemens Partner Spotlight!

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