Run a Supply Plan or an Integrated Plan

Run a supply plan or an integrated plan to generate forecasts and safety stock levels and to create replenishment.

An integrated plan includes both a demand and a supply plan. You can run a supply plan or a demand and supply plan from the Supply Planning, Planning Central, or Demand and Supply Planning work areas.

When you run a supply plan or an integrated plan, you can specify the scope of the plan that you want to run. You can decide whether to refresh the plan input data before running it. Also, you can run the plan immediately or you can run the plan in the background at a set time or on a repetitive schedule, such as daily or weekly.

Note: For a constrained supply plan, you can only run the plan in Batch mode.

After you create a supply plan or a demand and supply plan, you must run the plan to generate the data. In the Run Plan dialog box, Parameters tab, run plan options are sequenced in the order of operations: scope, demand, and supply. You also have an option to recalculate safety stock levels. The forecasting process runs first, safety stock is calculated next, and then the output is used for supply planning calculations. You can configure the following options, depending on the plan type:

• Data Refresh Options

• Scope Options

• Demand Plan Run Options

• Supply Plan Run Options

Data Refresh Options

The following data refresh options are available:

• Do not refresh with current data: Select this option to run your plan with no changes to demand, including no advancement of the plan start date.

• Refresh with selected current data: Select this option to partially refresh your data. You can refresh transaction data and some reference data without performing a full refresh. For example, selectively refreshing Demand history and measures and Forecasts covers the following scenarios:

  • Demand history and measures: You have reloaded external or third-party forecasts and the plan must reflect these recent updates (for example, Sales Forecast, Marketing Forecast, Financial Forecast, and Shipments Forecasts).

  • Forecast: You have changed the input measure level on the Plan Options page, Supply tab, Organizations and Schedules subtab, in the Demand Schedules section. For example, you copy a plan, change the input measure level to another forecast within the same plan, and want to rerun the plan. In this scenario, specify the Refresh with selected current data option for Forecast. Because you changed the plan options but didn't edit the plan, the plan doesn't require a full refresh.

• Refresh with current data: Select this option to refresh the complete plan with the latest collected data. When you run the plan for the first time, this is the only data refresh option available and it's selected by default. If you select this option for an integrated plan (Demand and Supply Plan type), the Plan demand and Plan supply check boxes in the Scope Options section are selected by default and can't be deselected.

Scope Options

Scope options restrict the focus of the replan. The following scope options are available:

• Plan demand: Select to forecast demand when running a plan. If you selected Refresh with current data in the Data Refresh Options section, then this option is selected by default for an integrated plan. This option is available for Demand and Supply Plan types in the Planning Central and Demand and Supply Planning work areas.

• Approve plan: Select to approve the plan during the plan run. This option is available for Demand and Supply Plan types in the Demand and Supply Planning work area.

• Recalculate safety stock: Select to recalculate safety stock quantities when running a plan. This option is available for Supply Plan or Demand and Supply Plan types in the Planning Central, Supply Planning, and Demand and Supply Planning work areas.

  The Recalculate safety stock check box is available only when one of the following safety stock planning methods is selected on the Plan Options page, Safety Stock tab:

  • Statistical safety stock for end items, none for all others

  • Statistical for end items, user-specified for all others

• Plan supply: Select to have the planning process calculate only the supply. If you selected the Refresh with current data check box in the Data Refresh Options section, then this option is selected by default for an integrated plan. This option is available for Demand and Supply Plan types in the Planning Central and Demand and Supply Planning work areas.

• Archive plan: Select to archive data from the plan. This option is available for Supply Plan or Demand and Supply Plan types in the Supply Planning and Demand and Supply Planning work areas.

Demand Plan Run Options

The Demand Plan Run Options section is available for Demand and Supply Plan types, but isn't available for Supply Plan types.

Forecast Profiles: Select the forecasting profiles that you want to include as part of the plan. If you don't select a forecasting profile, then the forecasting process doesn't run.

Include details of forecast methods: Select to specify whether to provide details of the forecast methods that make up the forecast. This option is available for Demand and Supply Plan types in the Demand and Supply Planning work area.

Include details of causal factors: Select to specify whether to provide details of the causal factors that make up the forecast. This option is available for Demand and Supply Plan types in the Demand and Supply Planning work area.

Supply Plan Run Options

The Supply Plan Run Options section appears for unconstrained supply plans but not for constrained supply plans. You can only run constrained supply plans in batch mode. The following supply plan run options are available:

• Interactive: Select this option to run a plan into memory, without saving the plan to the database. If a typical plan is scheduled to run on weekends, you can use the Interactive option to run the plan during the week. If you select Interactive, the Schedule tab is disabled and the plan is set to run as soon as possible.

  Note: Interactive option isn't available for a constrained supply plan.

• Batch: Select this option to run the plan per a schedule. When you select this option, the Schedule tab becomes available where you can set up when to run the plan.

  Use Batch to save all plan data to a database, including calculated totals. To save a plan to a database, you must run the plan at least once. The plan will be available for analysis without loading into memory.

Run a Supply Plan or an Integrated Plan

Use these generic steps to run a supply plan or an integrated demand and supply plan:

1. Open the Run Plan dialog box:

   1. From a Supply Chain Planning work area, click the Plans panel tab and expand the Plans list.

   2. Select the plan that you want to run, click Actions, and then select Run.

2. In the Run Plan dialog box, Parameters, tab, expand Details to review the plan options:

   1. In the Data Refresh Options section, review the options and make appropriate selections.

      Note: When you run the plan for the first time, you must select Refresh with selected current data. This option refreshes historical data, imports sales orders, and advances the plan start date to align with the current date.

   2. In the Scope Options section, select the options that you want for the plan run.

   3. For demand and supply plan types: In the Demand Plan Run Options section, select the appropriate demand plan run options, including the forecasting profiles that you want to include as part of the plan run.

   4. For unconstrained supply plans: In the Supply Plan Run Options section, select the options that you want for the plan run.

3. If you selected Batch in the Supply Plan Run Options section, or for constrained supply plans, click the Schedule tab to set up the frequency parameters:

   1. To run the plan immediately, select As soon as possible.

   2. To run the plan in the background at a set time, select Using a schedule and then select a Frequency, such as Daily or Weekly.

4. Click OK to run the plan.