Understanding Project Planning with ETO
Typically, the project planning phase begins after the customer accepts the project quote and you run the Accept Quote process for the project. The project planning phase consists of all of the activities that are required to convert the project information into a plan to be carried out during the project execution and control phase. During the initiation phase of a project, not all of the detailed information for tasks, work orders, schedules, resources, and budgets may be required or available. During the planning phase of a project, the project manager can refine the project information. You can enter transactions for the project tasks and make financial and inventory commitments either before or after you run the Accept Quote process.
If you use job cost integration, the system uploads the project planned costs from the Project Workbench form to the job cost original budget during the Accept Quote process.
You can run the MRP/MPS Requirements Planning program (R3482), based on the task information on the work breakdown structure, to generate the detail messages that the system uses to generate purchase orders and work orders for replenishment. You can create purchase orders manually for items on a parts list. You can also create purchase orders for items that are not consumed by a manufacturing work order on the project, but that are sold to the customer as part of the project.
If you select the Interface to Job Cost option in the project attributes and then run the Accept Quote process, you can continue to refine and plan the project information. You can proceed to the next project stage by selecting Freeze JC Budget from the Form menu. As a result, the planned amounts from the work breakout structure are loaded into the original budget one last time, and the budget total is frozen.