Leverage Aurora’s AI Scheduling More Easily Using nPlan’s Schedule Studio

AI-powered Planning and Scheduling – Now Possible with Stottler Henke’s Aurora

Aurora is an advanced AI-powered project scheduling and optimization system developed by Stottler Henke to handle large, complex, resource-constrained projects across industries such as aerospace, defense, energy, construction, and manufacturing. It leverages artificial intelligence, heuristics, and optimization algorithms to produce efficient schedules that traditional tools like Microsoft Project or Primavera often struggle to generate.

Designed for environments where even minor inefficiencies can lead to significant delays or costs, Aurora can manage projects with over 100,000 tasks, limited resources, shift constraints, and tight deadlines. It supports dynamic re-optimization, automatically adjusting schedules when tasks are delayed, resources become unavailable, or priorities change. Aurora also includes features such as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), Monte Carlo simulations, “what-if” scenario analysis, and real-time reporting.

The system is available in configurations tailored to specific domains, such as pharmaceutical packaging management (Aurora ProPlan). To further enhance its capabilities, Aurora integrates seamlessly with tools like nPlan’s Schedule Studio, increasing the speed of model development while simultaneously providing intelligent scheduling for real-world execution.

By combining the intelligence of nPlan’s AI with the flexibility of Stottler Henke’s Aurora AI-powered project scheduling system, you can generate and edit detailed, logic-linked schedules rapidly & interactively—then export them directly into Aurora for dynamic, optimized resource-constrained scheduling, constraint-based analysis, Monte Carlo risk analysis and real-world execution.

How it Works

1. Generate Your Schedule with AI.
   • Use historical project data to generate intelligent draft schedules with nPlan’s Schedule Studio.

2. Review, Edit, and Refine.
   • Use Schedule Studio’s intuitive web-based interface to modify tasks, dependencies, and durations with live guidance from AI-powered forecasts.

3. Export to Aurora – Instantly.
   • With one click, export your entire project schedule—including structure, logic, and metadata—directly to Aurora’s proprietary scheduling engine for advanced constraint handling, AI-based intelligent resource optimization, and what-if analysis. Leverage Aurora’s Monte Carlo Analysis for risk analysis

Why Integrate with Aurora?

Domain-Specific Deployments

Stottler Henke’s Aurora intelligent scheduling and project management software brings powerful AI-driven optimization to domains where complexity, tight constraints, and dynamic changes are the norm.

• Large Infrastructure Project Planning
• Defense & Aerospace Scheduling
• Oil & Gas Turnaround Plans
• Power Plant Outages

In large infrastructure projects—like bridges, ports, or rail systems—managers face vast numbers of interdependent tasks and resource bottlenecks involving contractors, materials, and permits. Aurora’s constraint-based scheduling engine enables planners to model these factors accurately, ensuring compliance with task dependencies, labor availability, and environmental restrictions. The engine can automatically allocate scarce resources like cranes or skilled trades and adjust to delays in weather, supply chains, or inspections. For example, in airport expansion, Aurora can coordinate equipment staging and contractor schedules to reduce idle time and compress timelines.

In defense and aerospace, where systems integration, testing, and manufacturing are highly complex and regulated, Aurora has been proven at NASA and Boeing. It can integrate task-level detail with program-level oversight, helping manage long project horizons and critical deadlines. Aurora’s intelligent engine handles specialized resource assignment—like test facilities or mission-critical personnel—and can immediately replan in response to component failures or engineering changes. This reduces costly delays and ensures synchronization across multiple stakeholders.

In the oil and gas sector, Aurora is ideal for managing refinery turnarounds—short-duration, high-cost maintenance events. These require precise coordination of thousands of activities across a limited window. Aurora optimizes turnaround plans by sequencing high-value tasks efficiently, identifying resource conflicts, and supporting real-time replanning when delays occur.

Similarly, during power plant outages, especially in nuclear or large-scale thermal plants, Aurora helps streamline activities such as inspections, turbine maintenance, and equipment upgrades. These projects are tightly regulated and extremely time-sensitive. Aurora enables safe, optimized scheduling that minimizes total outage duration while complying with safety standards and crew availability. The software helps balance skilled trades across shifts, avoid overcommitment of support resources, and dynamically adjust the plan as conditions change.

Conclusion

What sets Aurora apart from traditional tools is its ability to model real-world constraints and dependencies, automatically generate near-optimal schedules, and provide rapid, intelligent replanning—far beyond the inferior rescheduling provided in systems like MS Project or Primavera. Aurora also integrates with enterprise systems (e.g., SAP, P6) and supports detailed visualization and “what-if” scenario analysis, enabling informed decisions by both technical and managerial stakeholders. Aurora brings unmatched AI-powered project scheduling intelligence to domains where failure to plan effectively can result in massive delays, cost overruns, or operational risk. Its ability to optimize, adapt, and integrate makes it a strategic advantage in planning complex, high-stakes projects.