Supply Planning Overview

Supply Planning includes processes and steps that enable supply planners to balance supply and demand to achieve an organization’s financial and service objectives. The following diagram represents the NetSuite Supply Planning process:

Transactional System

The NetSuite supply planning process starts when one, or a combination, of the following transactions is created or initiated:

Transactions – a purchase order, transfer order, or work order. To learn more, see T.
Item Demand Plan – records the expected future demand for an item based on previous or projected demand. To learn more, see I.
Allocation – matches inventory supply sources to demand sources.
Bills of Materials – lists the quantities of raw materials, assemblies, sub-components, and parts needed to manufacture a product. To learn more, see B.
Item Attribute – lists information about an item. For example, color, size, or length.

Planning Data Repository

To send the transactional information to the Planning Repository, the planner refreshes the planning repository. The information is then copied into a new set of tables to provide data consistency and improve supply planning performance. Planners use this data in conjunction with the Supply Plan Definition to run the supply plan.

The Planning Repository stores related planning information that enables you to control how often NetSuite updates planning inputs. The repository refresh process accumulates the most up-to-date data from NetSuite to use for supply planning. The planning process calculates projected available quantity, generates supply orders, and action, and exception messages.

Supply Plan Definition

To establish supply planning criteria, planners use Creating a Supply Planning Definition and Schedule. The plan definition provides the information that drives the scheduling process, such as planning horizon and planning scope. For example, you can run supply planning at multiple facilities at the same time.

The Planning Process

After the supply plan process is run, the system generates planning messages, planned orders, supply, demand, and Pegging information. This system generated information is presented in Supply Planning Workbench.

The Planning Workbench

Planning process data is shown in the Workbench Interface. Review action and exceptions messages that will help you to firm planned orders, release planned orders, create planned orders, and create new supply change orders. These records are then fed back into the supply plan for the planner to update and run supply plans.

Implementing Planned Orders

After the planner has firmed, released, or created change orders, they can implement planned orders from the existing transaction creation page. You can order items, mass create work orders, or replenish inventory by transfer orders to create the transactions.

Approving Change Orders

Finally, the planner goes to the new supply change orders record to approve change orders. This may change the dates on the transaction, reschedule in, reschedule out, or cancel the transaction.