1. Using Sales and Operations Planning
  2. Run a Sales and Operations Plan

Run a Sales and Operations Plan

When you run a sales and operations plan, you can specify the scope of the plan that you want to run. For example, you can generate the demand forecasts or supply replenishments, or both.

You can decide whether to refresh the plan's 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.

After you create a plan, you must run the plan to generate the data. In the Run Plan dialog box, Parameters tab, options are sequenced in the order of operations: data refresh, scope, demand, and supply. The data refresh process runs first, then the forecasting process runs, and then the output is used for planning calculations. You can configure the following options for a sales and operations plan:

  • 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 incremental what-if plan simulations. There is no advancement of the plan start date.

  • Refresh with current data: Select this option to refresh the complete plan with the latest collected data and advance the plan start date. If you are running the plan for the first time, this is the only data refresh option available and it is selected by default.

    If you select this option for a sales and operations plan, the Plan demand and Plan supply check boxes in the Scope Options section are selected by default and cannot 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.

  • Plan supply: Select for the planning process to calculate the supply when running the plan. The Plan supply check box in the Scope Options section is available only when the Plan supply check box is selected on the Plan Options page, Supply tab. If not selected, then the aggregate planning engine is not invoked as part of the plan run. If selected, and you also select the Refresh with current data check box in the Data Refresh Options section, then the Plan supply option is selected by default and cannot be deselected.

  • Archive plan: Select to archive data after you run the plan. The Archive plan option is available when the Enable for archiving check box is selected in the Scope: Advanced Options dialog box, which you navigate to from the Plan Options page, Scope tab. If the plan is enabled for archiving, then the measures in the measure catalog specified in the Measure Catalog for Archival field will be archived.

Demand Plan Run Options

Use Demand Plan Run Options to generate a demand forecast. Select the forecasting profiles that you want to include as part of the plan. If you do not select a forecasting profile, then the demand forecasting process does not run.

Supply Plan Run Options

The following supply plan run options are available for sales and operations plans:

  • Interactive: Select this option to run incremental what-if plan simulations. If you select Interactive, the Schedule tab is disabled and the plan is set to run as soon as possible. When the plan run completes, the plan is available for review.

  • Batch: If you select Batch, the Schedule tab becomes available where you can select to run the plan immediately or set up a schedule for when to run the plan, such as weekly or monthly.

Running a Sales and Operations Plan

To run a sales and operations plan:

  1. Open the Run Plan dialog box:

    1. In the Navigator, click the Sales and Operations work area.

    2. Click the Plans panel tab.

    3. In the Tasks panel drawer, click the Manage Plans link.

    4. Enter the search parameters and click the Search button.

    5. In the Search Results region, 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: If you are running the plan for the first time, select Refresh with 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. In the Demand Plan Run Options section, select the forecasting profiles that you want to include as a part of the plan run.

    4. In the Supply Plan Run Options section, select Interactive or Batch.

  3. If you selected Batch in the Supply Plan Run Options section, 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.