Demand, Supply and Planning

Planning takes demand, explodes it through the structures, nets off what you have and what is already coming, and says what must be made or bought and by when.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → ERP - Operations:

Demand — what is required — orders, forecasts, minimum levels
Supply — what is already coming — purchase orders, works orders
Stock Policies — reorder levels and lead times per item
Structures — the graph demand is exploded through

Netting

Requirements are not gross. Need 100, hold 30, with 20 on order, and the requirement is 50.

That is why stock accuracy determines whether planning output is useful at all. Planning against wrong stock produces wrong suggestions with complete confidence, and people act on them.

Lead times

Working backwards from a due date through each level's lead time produces the start dates. A component with a six-week lead time needs ordering six weeks before it is consumed, not before the finished item is due — which on a three-level structure can be a month apart.

Enter the lead times your suppliers actually achieve, not the ones they quote. The difference is usually the whole reason a plan slips.

Planning suggests, it does not act

Output is a set of suggestions for a person to review and convert into real orders. Nothing is placed automatically.

Treat a run producing surprising suggestions as a question about the data — usually stock, lead times or an effectivity date — rather than as an instruction. The first few runs after go-live are largely a data-quality exercise, and that is normal.

Before you rely on it

Stock must be accurate, including reservations.
Structures must be complete and correctly dated.
Lead times must be realistic.
Open purchase orders must be recorded as supply, or planning will suggest buying what is already coming.

Run planning in parallel with your existing method for a cycle or two and compare before anybody acts on the output.

Worked example

A works order for 500 assemblies is due in eight weeks. Planning explodes it: 500 housings held in stock, 1,000 fasteners needed against 200 held with 300 on order, so 500 to buy — and with a four-week lead time, ordered within two weeks or the build slips. The buyer sees one suggestion with a date rather than working it out from a spreadsheet.

Recommendations

Fix stock accuracy before enabling planning. Everything downstream depends on it.
Record open purchase orders as supply from day one.
Use achieved lead times, and review them annually.
Run in parallel for two cycles before anybody acts on suggestions.