1. SCM (Supply Chain Management)
  2. Inventory Management
  3. Advanced Inventory Management
  4. Distribution Resource Planning

Distribution Resource Planning

Supply chain planners can use the Distribution Resource Planning feature to plan and optimize inventory across locations and, for OneWorld accounts, subsidiaries. Items can be transferred between locations to meet supply needs within a preset distribution network.

Important:

Distribution Resource Planning is part of Time-Phased Planning which is no longer supported. This functionality has been replaced by Planning Rules in Supply Planning (MRP).

When you use Distribution Resource Planning, you also have the option to increase inventory by transferring items from another location within your distribution network. Using NetSuite, distribution planning is implemented based on a distribution network made up of subsidiaries that trade with each other.

For example, Wolfe International includes the following subsidiaries:

Each subsidiary manages multiple distribution categories:

For each distribution category, goods are distributed across locations within the network, per subsidiary.

Soap Category

Retail Location 1 has a large supply of Deluxe Soap, but low demand for it. Retail Location 3 has a low supply of Deluxe Soap, but high demand for it. Both locations are in the same subsidiary, therefore, Wolfe can use Distribution Resource Planning to transfer items between locations to meet demand.

When you use Distribution Resource Planning, you also have the option to increase inventory by transferring items from another location within your distribution network. An item record shows a supply type called Transfer. With this supply type, NetSuite determines the source location of the transfer order based on the bill of distribution associated with the item.

Set Up Distribution Resource Planning

  1. Set up the feature:

    • An administrator must enable the Distribution Resource Planning feature.

      To use Distribution Resource Planning, you must also enable Demand Planning and Multi-location Inventory.

    • Set preferences.

      See Setting Up Distribution Resource Planning.

  2. Create distribution categories.

    See Creating a Distribution Category.

  3. Create a distribution network.

    See Creating a Distribution Network.

  4. Create bill of distribution.

    See Creating a Bill of Distribution.

  5. Associate the distribution category and network to an item.

    See Associating Distribution Categories.

After the setup is complete, generate supply plans that incorporate Distribution Resource Planning settings into demand planning and order generation. For more information, see Generate Supply Plans Using DRP.

Related Topics

General Notices