Production planning and scheduling systems are integrated with the system. To make the right decisions on production scheduling, you will work from a single version of the truth.
Master data will come directly from the system and ensure that orders, bills of material, process definitions and item attributes are accurate and aligned with the host MRP/ERP system.
There are a number of ways to connect with the host system data. This can provide an overview to help you choose the right method and get started quickly and easily, free from any need for complicated IT support.
The simplest and quickest way is to connect with ASCII Text Files, (.txt). 
This is a universal file format that virtually every computer system can use. Data in ASCII text files are most commonly structured using a line for each row and then a delimiter to separate columns.
We recommend tab delimited values (tab separated values) as there is little chance that any data will have tab characters in it. Comma separated values are also commonly used. The text file method is straight forward for IT to support and with a simple script, the master data tables can be output into a system drive location that each user can access.
More dynamic solutions may use ODBC database connections or datamarts. There are a number of solutions to data integration that can elevate Fast Excel systems to a true enterprise-grade level. However, for the first system, we would usually recommend to keep it simple and reduce the points of failure as much as possible. The text file method offers a virtually unbreakable way to connect with data in the system.
Next: separate system data, calculation and reporting for fast, clean development