Guidelines for Using Alternate Resources and Substitute Components for Planned Orders

Use alternate resources and substitute components to plan your orders to meet high-priority demands. You can plan your orders effectively if you can firm a resource or component to a particular planned order.

You can select alternate resources and substitute components for a planned order from the Supplies and Demands page in the Supply Planning work area.

To select and firm alternate resources, select a planned order on the Supplies and Demands page and click the Edit icon in the Firm Resources column. You can also firm alternate resources by selecting the Firm Resources option on the Actions menu.
To select and firm substitute components, select a planned order on the Supplies and Demands page and click the Edit icon in the Firm Components column. You can also firm components by selecting the Firm Components option on the Actions menu.

Note: For the firmed substitute resources and components to appear in the work order once the planned make order is released, you must rerun the plan using the Do not refresh with current data option.

On the Supplies and Demands page, if you want to see the Firm Resources and Firm Components columns but they’re not visible, you can add them by using the Manage Columns option from the View menu. An Edit icon appears in these columns only if the planned order meets the criteria to be firmed, as described in the following points to consider.

Points to Consider for Firm Resources

Consider these points before you firm resources:

The order type must be a planned order and the item must have a work definition.
The planned order is firmed when you select a resource from the Firm Resource dialog box.
The start date of the planned order must be within the effective date range of the operation for which the firm resource is selected.
To save the changes that you make in the Firm Resources dialog box, you must close the Firm Resources dialog box and save the Supplies and Demands page.

Points to Consider for Firm Components

Consider these points before you firm components:

The order type must be a planned order and the item must have an item structure defined.
The selected item structure determines which components are available to be firmed. You can choose an alternate by selecting a different item structure from the Item Structure Name drop-down list. When you change the item structure, the planning process firms the underlying planned orders.
The Operation Sequence Number column in the Firm Components dialog box includes the list of values (operation sequence number, effective start date) contained within the work definition.
You must select an operation in the Firm Components dialog box to firm a component. The start date of the planned order must be within the effective date range of the operation for which the firm component is selected.
To save the changes that you make in the Firm Components dialog box, you must close the Firm Components dialog box and save the Supplies and Demands page.

Using the Actions Menu to Firm Resources and Components

Consider these points before you firm resources and components using the Actions menu:

When you select multiple planned orders, you can select Firm Resources and Firm Components from the Actions menu.
To firm resources, all selected rows must have the same item and organization, and the order type must be a planned order. The item and organization must have at least one work definition defined.
To firm components, all selected rows must have the same item and organization, and the order type must be a planned order. The item and organization must have at least one work definition or one item structure defined.