Order Planning Window

Provides a tool for manual supply planning that displays all new demand along with availability information and suggestions for supply. It provides the visibility and tools needed to plan for demand from sales lines and component lines and then create different types of supply orders directly. Although Order Planning uses the program's MRP logic to find and prioritize demand, it is a simplified alternative to automated supply planning that is designed for manual decision making, for example:

• It generates an updated list of all unfulfilled demand sorted by earliest demand date. This date is defined by:
  - the unfulfilled component line with the earliest due date, in case of production demand
  - the unfulfilled sales line with the earliest shipment date, in case of sales demand.

• It calculates the needed quantity of each demand line, based on total availability. The calculation is done order-by-order:
  The order which includes the demand line with the earliest due/shipment date is considered first, and all other demand lines in that order, irrespective of their individual due/shipment dates, are also calculated for that order. Therefore, all planning lines under one order header line have the same demand date.

• The needed quantity is proposed on the planning line as the quantity to order.
  This quantity relates to the demand line only - it does not consider any planning parameters defined on the item card (right-hand side of the Planning FastTab).

• At the top of the window is a Show Demand as filter where you can choose to see Sales Demand, Production Demand, or All Demand.

• The Order Planning window can be opened from a production order, in which case it shows Production Demand only and the production order in question is expanded.

• It has options to change the supply order type in the Replenishment System field and a dynamic Supply From field.

• From the window are links to related information and features, such as advanced item availability, production order requirements, order tracking, dimensions, and more.

• It includes flexible functions to make different types of supply orders directly, or move them to planning worksheets as order proposals. Also, you have options to make supply orders for a single line, an entire order, or for all demand lines when starting the Make Supply Orders batch job.

• At the bottom of the window are information fields about alternative supply, from which you can look up details about availability at other locations and substitutes respectively.

• Information about the earliest date available according to inbound supply is also shown at the bottom.

Level-by-Level

Unlike the planning and requisition worksheet, the Order Planning window only considers one product level at a time. Therefore, it will only propose to create production orders for one production BOM level at a time, and if those new production orders introduce new demand, the plan must be recalculated (Calculate Plan) to pick up that second-level demand. A complete planning flow for a sales order for a produced item with two production BOM levels could be as follows (purchased components not shown):

First calculation run: The sales order creates sales demand.

Second calculation run: The production order creates production demand for the first BOM level.

Third calculation run: The production order creates production demand for the second BOM level.

Demand Considered

The Order Planning tool does not consider demand from:

• Forecast

• Blanket sales order

• Planning parameters (including reordering policies)

Recommendations

The level-by-level principle and the high degree of flexibility mean that the Order Planning tool should be used according to certain rules to avoid generating unnecessary dependent demand.

• It is not advisable to use Order Planning if the company already uses the planning or requisition worksheets. Supply orders created through the Order Planning window may be changed or deleted during the automated planning runs. This is because the automated planning run uses planning parameters (right-hand side of the Planning FastTab) and these may not be considered by the user who made the manual plan in the Order Planning window.

• If the window shows multiple demands on different dates, it is advisable to always start with planning lines at the top, those with the earliest demand date, and then make the necessary supply orders before moving down the list.

• When you plan for produced items with multiple production BOM levels, it is advisable to plan all levels in the same work flow (create order, calculate plan, create order, calculate plan....) before moving on to planning lines for other items.

While the presence of multiple lines in the Order Planning window demands certain care, it also, on the other hand, offers an opportunity to make consolidated planning based on the overview provided. For example, in case of multiple demand lines for identical items within the same (or proximate) demand date, you have the opportunity to overview the total needed quantity of several lines and consolidate them in one supply order.

Refer to related tasks below for more instructions about using the Order Planning window.

Quick guides for manufacturing are available in a document that you can edit and print in Microsoft Office Word. The file, called Quick Guides – Manufacturing Foundation.doc, is installed in the documentation folder of your client installation.

See Also

Reference

Planning with/without Locations

Other Resources

How to: Plan for New Demand
How to: Replan Production Orders
How to: Plan Project Orders
Requisition Line
About Planning Functionality
How to: Refresh Production Orders
Unplanned Demand