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Production Planning Automation: Connect Your ERP to n8n Workflows with MRPeasy
For small and mid-sized manufacturers, production planning often means juggling spreadsheets, manual data entry and delayed reactions to stock shortages or overdue orders. Connecting your ERP system to an automation layer changes that entirely. With MRPeasy as your cloud ERP for production planning, inventory and purchasing, and n8n as the workflow engine, you can build real-time automations that keep your shop floor and back office in sync — without writing complex custom code.
Why Automate Production Planning?
Manual production planning creates bottlenecks at every handoff: a sales order arrives, someone updates the ERP, someone else checks stock, a purchase order gets created days later. Each delay adds cost and risk. Automation closes those gaps by triggering actions the moment data changes in your ERP.
- Faster reaction times: Stock drops below threshold → purchase order created automatically.
- Fewer human errors: Data flows between systems without copy-paste.
- Better visibility: Teams get notified in Slack, email or Teams the moment a production order status changes.
- Scalability: Workflows handle ten orders or ten thousand without extra headcount.
What MRPeasy Offers as the ERP Foundation
MRPeasy is a cloud ERP built specifically for small manufacturers. It covers production planning, inventory management, purchasing and basic CRM — all accessible via a REST API. That API is the bridge you need to connect it to n8n.
Key MRPeasy modules relevant for automation:
- Manufacturing Orders (MO): Create, update and track production runs.
- Bill of Materials (BOM): Read component requirements per finished product.
- Stock Management: Query real-time inventory levels per location.
- Purchase Orders (PO): Automatically generate orders when stock falls short.
- Sales Orders: Trigger production workflows the moment a customer order is confirmed.
n8n as the Automation Engine
n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform with over 400 integrations. You can self-host it for free or use n8n Cloud. Its visual canvas lets you map out multi-step workflows — HTTP requests to MRPeasy, conditional logic, transformations and actions in tools like Slack, Gmail, Google Sheets or any webhook-enabled system.
For this integration, n8n communicates with MRPeasy via its REST API using HTTP Request nodes. No dedicated MRPeasy node exists yet, but the API is well-documented and straightforward to call with standard authentication headers.
Step-by-Step: Building Your First MRPeasy + n8n Workflow
1. Get Your MRPeasy API Credentials
Log in to MRPeasy, navigate to Settings → Integrations → API, and generate your API key. You will use this key as a Bearer token or as a URL parameter (depending on the endpoint) in every n8n HTTP Request node.
2. Set Up n8n and Create a New Workflow
Open your n8n instance (self-hosted or Cloud). Click New Workflow and add your trigger node. Common triggers for production planning:
- Schedule Trigger: Poll MRPeasy every 15 minutes for new or updated orders.
- Webhook Trigger: Receive real-time pushes from other systems (e.g., your e-commerce store confirming a sale).
- Manual Trigger: Run on-demand for testing.
3. Query MRPeasy with an HTTP Request Node
Add an HTTP Request node and configure it:
- Method: GET
- URL:
https://app.mrpeasy.com/rest/v1/manufacturing-orders - Authentication: Header Auth — Key:
Authorization, Value:Bearer YOUR_API_KEY - Query Parameters: Filter by status, date range or customer reference as needed.
The response returns a JSON array of manufacturing orders. Use n8n's Item Lists or Split in Batches node to process each order individually downstream.
4. Add Conditional Logic
Use an IF node to route orders based on status or urgency. For example:
- If
status === 'overdue'→ send a Slack alert to the production manager. - If
stock_level < reorder_point→ create a purchase order via POST to MRPeasy's PO endpoint. - If
status === 'completed'→ update a Google Sheet dashboard and notify the sales team.
5. Write Back to MRPeasy
To create or update records, use a POST or PATCH HTTP Request node. Example: automatically create a Purchase Order when inventory falls below threshold:
- Method: POST
- URL:
https://app.mrpeasy.com/rest/v1/purchase-orders - Body (JSON): Include supplier ID, item ID, quantity and expected delivery date — mapped dynamically from upstream nodes.
6. Notify Your Team
Connect a Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmail or SMTP node at the end of each branch to keep the right people informed without manual checks. Use n8n's expression editor to include dynamic values like order number, item name and due date in every message.
Three High-Value Workflow Ideas
Workflow 1: Sales Order → Auto-Create Manufacturing Order
Webhook receives a confirmed sales order from your shop (e.g., Shopify or WooCommerce) → n8n checks BOM in MRPeasy → creates a Manufacturing Order → notifies the production manager → logs the action to Google Sheets.
Workflow 2: Daily Inventory Check with Low-Stock Alerts
Schedule Trigger runs every morning → n8n queries all stock levels in MRPeasy → filters items below reorder point → creates draft Purchase Orders in MRPeasy → sends a summary email to the purchasing team.
Workflow 3: Production Order Completion → Customer Notification
Schedule Trigger polls MRPeasy for newly completed Manufacturing Orders → matches each to the original Sales Order → retrieves customer email from MRPeasy CRM → sends a shipping-ready notification via Gmail or ActiveCampaign.
Tips for a Robust Integration
- Use n8n's Error Trigger: Catch failed API calls and send yourself an alert instead of losing data silently.
- Store credentials in n8n's credential manager: Never hard-code API keys in node fields.
- Add a Wait node for rate limiting: MRPeasy API has rate limits; add a small delay between batch calls.
- Log everything to a Google Sheet or Airtable: Maintain an audit trail of every automated action for compliance and debugging.
- Start small: Build and test one workflow fully before adding the next. A working Schedule → HTTP → IF → Notify chain gives you confidence fast.
What You Need to Get Started
- An active MRPeasy account with API access enabled
- An n8n instance (self-hosted or Cloud)
- Basic familiarity with REST APIs and JSON (no programming required)
- 15–30 minutes to build your first workflow
The combination of a purpose-built manufacturing ERP and a flexible open-source automation engine covers the full production cycle — from incoming sales order to shipped product — with minimal manual intervention. For small manufacturers who cannot afford enterprise integration middleware, this stack punches well above its weight.
If you run a small manufacturing business and want to automate production planning end to end, you can manage inventory, production orders and purchasing via MRPeasy — including a cloud ERP built specifically for small manufacturers — to reduce manual work and keep your shop floor running on time.