Planning Policy Fields

For MRP parts, Master Scheduling and Requirements Planning create time-phased orders, which are arranged to meet the demand for an item each period.  The Planning Policy Code determines when orders will be created for a part and what quantity is ordered each time.  For MRP parts, you can choose one of four codes:

·     As required.  Orders can be created in any period, and the order quantity can vary from period to period. 

·     Fixed time period.  Orders are placed at regular intervals for whatever quantity is required during that interval.  The interval is specified in the Planning Policy Quantity field.  For example, if the Planning Policy Quantity is 3, orders will be created every third week for Master Scheduling parts and every third day for Requirements Planning and Service parts.  The quantity of each order may vary from period to period.  For a Planning Policy code of 2 (fixed time), the increment serves as the multiple quantity if anything other than zero is entered.  In other words, it will be treated as a combination of fixed time and fixed quantity with the increment serving as the minimum order quantity and the order quantity multiple (increment).

·     Fixed quantity.  Orders are created in any period, but only for a standard quantity.  The Planning Policy Quantity field represents the minimum order size; larger orders will be increased by a multiple of the value in the Order Policy Increment field.  An order policy increment of zero will result in a fixed batch size, each order for the minimum order size.

·     Physical control.  Orders must be created manually.  The Requirements Planning module will print planning information for physically controlled parts, but it will not suggest or generate procurement schedules.  This planning policy code cannot be specified for master scheduled parts.

For JIT parts, Master Scheduling and Requirements Planning determine the production rates required for various intervals to meet the demand.  Four planning policy codes are available for JIT parts.

·     Fixed Time Period.  Flow authorizations are placed at intervals for whatever quantity is required during that interval.  The interval is specified in the Planning Policy Quantity field.  For example, if the Planning Policy Quantity is 3, flow authorizations for Master Scheduling parts will cover three weeks' worth of supply and three days' worth of supply for Requirements Planning and Service parts.  The quantity of each flow authorization may vary from period to period.  For a Planning Policy code of 2 (fixed time), the increment serves as a multiple quantity. 

·     Fixed quantity.  Flow authorizations are created in any period, but only for a standard quantity.  The Planning Policy Quantity field represents the minimum order size; larger production quantities will be increased by a multiple of the value in the Order Policy Increment field.  An order policy increment of zero will result in a fixed flow authorization size, each flow authorization for the minimum order size.

·     Partial.  Daily production rates equal the sum of demand on the corresponding days.

·     Average.  Daily production rates are averaged over all days in an interval.