How Assignment Set Hierarchy Determines Which Sourcing Rule Is Used in Backlog Management
The sourcing assignment levels that you select when you create sourcing assignments in an assignment set formulate a sourcing hierarchy for that assignment set. The backlog planning process uses the sourcing hierarchy to determine which sourcing rule or bill of distribution to follow to find a source for a specific item. It always uses the most specific sourcing rule or bill of distribution that's applicable in the hierarchy.
Settings That Affect the Sourcing Hierarchy
The position of a sourcing rule or a bill of distribution in the sourcing hierarchy is determined by these two factors:
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The assignment level at which you assigned the sourcing rule or bill of distribution to the assignment set.
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The rule or bill type which can be global sourcing rule, local sourcing rule, bill of distribution, or source organization. Source organization is the type used to designate when the set of item attribute values is what determines the source instead of a sourcing rule or bill of distribution.
For example, if a plant initially receives all items belonging to a specific item category, such as the Fasteners item category, from Supplier A, then the sourcing rule to buy from Supplier A can be assigned at the Category assignment level for the Fastener item category.
If you then determine that a specific fastener is to be sourced from a different supplier, Supplier B for example, then you can assign a different sourcing rule to buy from Supplier B at the item level for the specific fastener. The detailed-to-general hierarchy determines that the specific fastener will be sourced from Supplier B, while all other fasteners are still sourced from Supplier A.
How the Sourcing Hierarchy Determines Which Rule Is Used
The sourcing hierarchy can be envisioned as a detailed-to-general table where each row in the table is a combination of assignment level and rule type. The first row, the row where a sourcing rule is assigned at the item and customer and customer site assignment level, is the most specific row. The last row, the row where a global sourcing rule is assigned at the global assignment level, is the most general row. You use the sourcing hierarchy to answer which sourcing rule, bill of distribution, or set of item attribute values will be used to find a source for a specific combination of values of these four criteria:
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Assignment set
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Date
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Organization
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Item
For the sourcing rules and bills of distribution within the assignment set where the effective date of the sourcing assignment meets the date criteria, each rule or bill is associated with a specific row in the sourcing hierarchy. The sourcing assignment attribute values, such as the item value, determine which of the rules, bills, and set of item attributes are applicable to the specific criteria set. Multiple rules, bills, or item attributes can be applicable; therefore, multiple rows can be applicable. The rule, bill, or set of item attributes associated with the highest row in the hierarchy is the rule, bill, or set of item attributes that will be followed to determine the source.
From the Manage Assignment Sets page, you can click the View Sourcing Hierarchy button to view a table containing rows of the sourcing hierarchy.
This table lists the sourcing hierarchy. The most specific, most granular, row is the first row. The least specific, least granular row, is the last row.
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Assignment Level |
Sourcing Rule Type |
|---|---|
|
Item and organization |
Sourcing rule |
|
Item and organization |
Source Organization |
|
Category and organization |
Sourcing Rule |
|
Item |
Bill of Distribution |
|
Item |
Sourcing rule |
|
Category |
Bill of Distribution |
|
Category |
Sourcing Rule |
|
Organization |
Sourcing Rule |
|
Organization |
Source Organization |
|
Global |
Bill of Distribution |
|
Global |
Sourcing rule |