Previous	Next		Contents	Index	Navigation	Glossary	Library

Without the anchor date, the planning periods shift each day and individual demands can move from one planning period into the next. This can result in different average daily demands and therefore different suggested daily rates.

Note that the actual demand never changes, it is only the time periods over which they are averaged that move each day. The following diagrams illustrate how the anchor date introduces consistency into your repetitive material plans.

The anchor date must lie on or before the current date and is defined both manually and automatically. You can manually enter a default anchor date as a planning parameter. You can override the default anchor date when you plan material requirements or when you plan your master schedules. Since the anchor date is a system parameter, overriding the anchor date resets the system anchor date. Resetting the anchor date always triggers a recalculation of the repetitive planning periods.

The anchor date is automatically updated to the beginning of the current planning period when the current date moves out of a prior planning period. The anchor date is also automatically updated when you plan material requirements, plan your master schedules or change your repetitive planning parameters. This allows your planning periods to be automatically rolled forward as time passes. The anchor date is always updated to the start date of the current repetitive planning period.

The following diagram illustrates how repetitive planning periods are rolled forward as time passes, and the current date moves from one planning period to another.