[1] APS is especially well-suited to environments where simpler planning methods cannot adequately address complex trade-offs between competing priorities.
Production scheduling is intrinsically very difficult due to the (approximately) factorial dependence of the size of the solution space on the number of items/products to be manufactured.
This approach is simple but cumbersome, and does not readily adapt to changes in demand, resource capacity or material availability.
However, attempts to change to the new system have not always been successful, which has called for the combination of management philosophy with manufacturing.
Unlike previous systems, APS simultaneously plans and schedules production based on available materials, labor and plant capacity.