Creating a Planning Cycle

This topic provides overviews of planning cycles and planning cycle setup and discusses how to define planning cycle criteria.

Page Name

Definition Name

Usage

Planning Cycle Page

PL_CYCLE_REQ

Define the planning cycle criteria.

PeopleSoft Supply Planning facilitates lights-out processing, enabling you to run a complete planning process overnight. Using the Planning Cycle component, you run a solver, perform mass maintenance, and commit the plan process. You must set up run controls prior to setting up the cycle for all the processes except the starting the planning engine and shutting down the engine.

Note: Ensure that you define the same level of security for the Planning Cycle page as that of each individual process that is included in the planning cycle.

Plan Process Creation

To create a plan, you need to first load the planning instance. You define the frequency with which you load the planning instance using a run control that you define. The system populates the planning instance tables based on the business unit groups and item filters that you defined on the Planning Instance Definition page and based on the parameters that you defined on the Load Planning Instance run control.

Note: You must create a planning instance prior to running a planning cycle.

Plan Solutions

When solving a plan, you can perform mass maintenance in any processing order. Performing mass maintenance is an optional step that enables you to perform preprocessing on the data before the solvers run or before the system commits the plan. For example, you might perform mass maintenance prior to a solver run to reschedule past-due orders or freeze specific orders. You might perform mass maintenance after a solver run to freeze, auto-approve, or consolidate orders.

To solve the plan, run one PeopleSoft Supply Planning solver against the planning instance.

Plan Process Commitment

To commit a plan, you must run the Post Updates process. This process obtains data from the planning instance tables and generates update messages for the other PeopleSoft SCM applications, including PeopleSoft Production Management, Inventory, Supplier Relationship Management, and Order Management. You can review the update messages using these components under the Supply Planning - Commit Plan menu:

  • Review Inventory Post Errors.

  • Approve Inventory Updates.

  • Review Production Post Errors.

  • Approve Production Updates.

  • Review Purchasing Post Errors.

  • Approve Purchasing Updates.

  • Review Order Management Post Errors.

  • Review Order Management Updates.

  • Planning Updates report.

Before you can use lights-out mode and other optimization features, you must use the PeopleSoft Integration Broker to configure the Supply Planning service operations and routings that send and receive optimization messages. PeopleSoft delivers most of the service operations and routings with a default status of Inactive; however, these Supply Planning service operations and routings are delivered in active mode.

To set up this EIP within PeopleSoft Integration Broker and Enterprise Components, use the information in the table below and refer to the setup instruction in the PeopleSoft Supply Chain Management Integrations documentation, "Implementing Integrations" set of topics, Setting Up Service Operations section.

To set up this service operation:

  1. Set up within the PeopleSoft Supply Planning application:

    Use the Planning Cycle process page to define the run control with the planning cycle criteria.

  2. Set up within PeopleSoft Integration Broker and Enterprise Components:

    Use the information in the table below and refer to the setup instruction in the documentation PeopleSoft Supply Chain Management Integrations, "Implementing Integrations" set of topics, Setting Up Service Operations section.

Service Operation

Direction and Type

Handlers

Chunking Available?

Integrates With

OPT_CALL

Synchronous

REQUESTHDLR

No

Third-party analytics server

SPL_OPT_CALL

Synchronous

REQUESTHDLR

No

Third-party analytics server

SPL_OPT_CALL_ARRAY

Synchronous

REQUESTHDLR

No

Third-party analytics server

SPL_DMD_VIOLATIONS_EXTRACT

Synchronous

REQUESTHDLR

No

Third-party analytics server

SPL_REMOTE_CALL

Synchronous

REQUESTHDLR

No

Third-party analytics server

SPL_SHOW_SUPPLY_DEMAND

Synchronous

REQUESTHDLR

No

Third-party analytics server

See the product documentation for PeopleTools: Integration Broker

Use the Planning Cycle page (PL_CYCLE_REQ) to define the planning cycle criteria.

Navigation:

Supply Planning > Create Plan > Planning Cycle

Use this page to select the steps that you want to include in the planning cycle. Each step of the planning cycle might require that the optimization engine be available or unavailable when running a step.

The Load Planning Instance and Post Updates processes require that the optimization engine be unavailable, while other planning processes require that the planning engine be running. For the Load Planning Instance and Post Updates processes, you can define the availability of the planning engines for a job using the Process Scheduler. You can select the Pre Auto-Shutdown or Post Auto-Startup check boxes when defining the jobs. The Start Planning Engine and Shutdown Planning Engine planning process types are available in the planning cycle. This is an alternate way to start and stop a planning engine before a job is run in the planning cycle.

The Load Planning Instance process and Post Updates process steps require that the optimization engine be unavailable, while other planning steps require that the planning engine be running. Each Application Engine job requires that the planning engine be started before the job is run and shut shutdown after the job is completed or that the engine be shutdown before running the job, and then restarted after the system completes the job.

You define the availability of the planning engines for a job using the Process Scheduler. You can select the Pre-Process Auto Startup check box or the Post-Process Auto Shutdown check box.

Field or Control

Description

Planning Instance

The system initially populates this field with the value that you defined on the Define User Preferences - Planning page. If you defined no user preference, the system populates this field with the default value that you defined during installation. This field is required.

Note: Availability of certain processes depends on the planning engine status for a planning instance. For example, you cannot run the Load Planning Instance process if you have started the planning engine. Conversely, you cannot run the mass maintenance or solver processes unless you have started a planning engine. You can define each process to start or stop a planning engine automatically.

Default

Click to generate the steps of a planning cycle based on default values. These values include:

  • Load Planning Instance/(Pre-Solver)

  • Mass Maintenance/Initiate Material Solver/(Post-Solver)

  • Mass Maintenance/Extract Demand Violations/Post Updates

Cycle Processes

You use the group box to define planning processes for a planning instance. The processes appear in the Planning Process column.

Field or Control

Description

Step

Displays the order of the processing steps. PeopleSoft Supply Planning runs the processes in the sequence in which they are presented on the Process Cycle page.

Apply Inventory Updates (no engine)

Select to initiate the IN Apply Planning Messages COBOL process that processes the PeopleSoft Inventory updates that you have approved. This process applies the updates so that PeopleSoft Inventory can act on the suggestions made by PeopleSoft Supply Planning.

Apply Production Updates (no engine)

Select to Initiate the Apply Planning Messages COBOL process to process the production control updates that you have approved. This process applies the updates so that PeopleSoft Production Management can act on the suggestions made by PeopleSoft Supply Planning.

Capacity Report

Select to create the Capacity Usage report. The run control generates a report with the capacity usage for work center resources across a production period.

Detail Resources Report

Select to create the Detail Resources report. The run control generates the report that lists the number of machines, crews, and tools used in a production process.

Excess Stock Report

Select to create the Excess Stock report. The run control generates the report that lists the quantity and value of on-hand stock levels that are above the excess and safety stock levels at period end.

Extract Demand Violations

Extract demand violations for orders that are pegged to low-level orders with violations.

Extract Pegging Information

Select to extract pegging information. The run control extracts information on supply that has been pegged to top-level demand.

Initiate Feasible Solver

Select to initiate the Feasible Solver process in the planning cycle.

Note: You can run a solver only after you have loaded the planning instance into a planning engine.

If you elect to include a solver process, select the solver to run in the Solver field. Values are Material, Feasible, and Enterprise.

Initiate Forecast Consumption

Select to initiate forecast consumption processing. The run control provides the planning instance against which you want to consume a forecast.

Initiate Material Solver

Select to initiate the Material Solver process. The run control defines the material planning options and runs the Material solver.

Note: You can run a solver only after you have loaded the planning instance into a planning engine.

If you elect to include a solver process, select the solver to run in the Solver field. Values are Material, Feasible, and Enterprise.

Load Planning Instance

Select to include all of the processes that are required to populate the planning instance tables.

Mass Maintenance

Select to perform mass maintenance on the data before the solver process.

Note: You can perform mass maintenance only after you have loaded the planning instance into a planning engine.

Planning Report

Select to create the Planning report. The run control defines report print options and filter criteria and generates the report.

PO Auto Sourcing Option (no engine) (purchase order sourcing option)

Select to initiate the purchase order sourcing options. This process applies the updates so that PeopleSoft Purchasing can act on the suggestions made by PeopleSoft Supply Planning.

Planning Reschedule Report

Select to create the Planning Reschedule report. The run control generates the report that lists all of the reschedule messages, including production, purchase order, transfer, sales order and quote, buying agreement, extra demand, and stock request messages.

Planning Updates Report (no engine)

Select to run the Planning Updates Report. The run control defines the search criteria for the report that displays a list of planning updates generated by PeopleSoft Supply Planning.

Planning Useup Report (no engine)

Select to run the Planning Useup Report. The run control defines business unit and item parameters to generate a report that displays use-up items, their phase-out dates, and their substitute items.

Post Updates

Select to post the updates to PeopleSoft SCM Integrations Advanced Planning.

Projected Stock Out Report

Select to create the Projected Stock Out report. The run control generates the report that calculates the date at which an inventory level will fall to zero (or near zero).

Shutdown Planning Engine

Select to shutdown the Planning Engine.

Slow Moving Inventory Report

Select to create the Slow Moving Inventory report. The run control generates the report for a specified planning instance and lists items with on-hand inventory and little or no demand.

Start Planning Engine

Select to start the Planning Engine.

Run Control ID

Select a run control ID for each corresponding process that you want to include in the planning cycle.

URL (uniform resource locator)

Select a URL for use with the run control.

View Run Control

Click to access the run control page for the corresponding planning process.