Tentative Master Schedule Generation

The generation of a tentative master schedule allows the planner to analyze and adjust a planned schedule without affecting the existing schedule.  The tentative master schedule is expressed as a quantity to be produced in each week, for each standard master scheduled part.  Daily master scheduled parts are not processed in the Tentative Master Schedule Generation.

The Master Scheduling module allows the planner to develop the tentative master schedule automatically through off-line processing or manually via online update.  A combination of the two methods may also be used, as described in the Considerations section below.  In both cases, master scheduling will generate a tentative plan that takes into account projected and consumable demand, target inventory levels, current inventory position, lot-sizing rules, and the demand fence date.

In online maintenance, the planner may select an option to generate a new schedule or to review and modify an existing schedule.  The planner may then modify the schedule or the target inventory, trying different plans before saving an updated tentative schedule.  This facility allows the planner to perform "what if" analyses before deciding on the final schedule.  The tentative master schedule is updated on its own file through asynchronous processing.

The off-line process may be used to generate the schedule for all standard master scheduled parts, or for only those parts associated with a particular planner, or for an individually selected part.  Parts that were planned by the online conversation optionally may be bypassed during the batch processing.  Tentative master schedules cannot be generated for planning parts (part type 4) because planning parts represent product groups rather than individual items and, therefore, the rollover process is not performed for them.  A report may be printed detailing the tentative master schedule that was generated.

The tentative master schedule is presented, for both the online screen and the batch report, as a week-by-week summary.  This includes the total demand for each week, the tentative schedule, and any target inventory that the planner is working against.  The actual schedule and projected inventory are also shown for comparison purposes.

The online conversation also provides access to a schedule detail screen, which displays the current master schedule and suggested order action.  The planner may modify any open or firm orders based on the action message, then return to the Tentative Master Schedule Maintenance conversation to continue reviewing and modifying the tentative schedule.  This will be particularly useful when short-term schedule changes are required.  Planned orders are controlled automatically by the rollover process.

Related

• Processing
• Considerations