# Manufacturing Planning Overview
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Data Entry Procedures | Reports and Inquiries | Update Processes
Purpose
The Manufacturing Planning module provides the facilities required to
effectively plan the manufacturing process. The Primary functions within this
module are:
Master Production Scheduling (MPS)
Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP)
Prerequisites
The Engineering and Inventory modules must be installed before using this
module. To effectively utilize the MPS and MRP functions the Marketing and
purchasing modules should also be installed, as well as the Production module.
The Production module is also required if you intend to use CRP.
Data Files
There are twelve primary data files which maintain the data directly
associated with the module.
The CRP Detail file (CRPD) maintains one record for each work center and date on which a demand for capacity is present. Demand is created by work orders that require a task to be performed at the work center. The file is keyed by a combination of the work center and date.
The CRP Summary file (CRPS) maintains the capacity information required for each work center. The file provides summarized information for quick access in reports and inquiries.
The Independent Demand file (ID) maintains information regarding demand for a part that is outside of the normal demand generated by sales orders and sales forecast. This file is often used to identify the projected requirements for spare parts. Each record maintains the dates and quantities forecast for the part number.
The MPS Detail file (MPSD) maintains one record for each MPS part and date on which an event is scheduled. Events include demands for the part and scheduled receipts. The record is keyed by a combination of the event date and the part number.
The MPS Output file (MPSO) contains the exploded requirements from MPS that are passed to MRP. The file is keyed by part number.
The MPS Summary file (MPSS) maintains the MPS information for each part number. This file is a summarized version of the the detail file (MPSD) for the purpose of providing quick access to information about the part. The file is keyed by part number.
The MRP Detail file (MRPD) maintains one record for each MRP part and date on which an event is scheduled. Events include demands for the part and scheduled receipts. The record is keyed by a combination of the event date and the part number.
The MRP Summary file (MRPS) maintains the MRP information for each part number. This file is a summarized version of the the detail file (MRPD) for the purpose of providing quick access to information about the part. The file is keyed by part number.
The Master Schedule file (MS) maintains information about the planned production for an item. The records are keyed by part number and must exist in the Parts file. Each record contains the dates and quantities planned for future production of the part.
The Planning Bill file (PB) is used to define requirements for a group of items, such as a product family. It is structured in a manner similar to that of a bill of material, in that you may define several items within a planning bill, which may in turn reference other planning bills. Each item referenced in the planning bill is given a percentage to indicate how much of the planning bill schedule, which is also defined in the Planning Bill record, should be applied to the item. Planning Bills may be used to create sales forecast records, production forcast, and master schedule items.
The Planned Order file (PLORD) contains the planned orders for each part as suggested by the MRP process. The file is keyed by part number and contains the quantities and dates on which the suggested new orders should be released.
The Sales Forcast file (SF) maintains information about forecasted sales activity. The file is keyed by the part number which must exist on the Parts file. Each record contains the forecasted dates and quantities for the part number by which it is identified.
System Interface
This module contains interfaces to the Engineering, Production, Marketing,
Purchasing and Inventory modules. The engineering module is used to define
valid part numbers and create bills of material. Sales order demand is
generated by the Marketing module. The Purchase Order module is accessed to
retrieve parts and schedules for open purchase orders. The Inventory module is
used to determine on hand inventory balances. The production module passes
work order demand and completion information to this module.
User Interface
The user interface to the module consists of data entry procedures to enter
independent demand, sales forecast and master schedule items. Also available
are procedures to define planning bills and to release planned orders and
master schedule items. Reports, inquiries and batch update procedures are also
part of the Manufacturing Planning module. Access to these procedures is
controlled by the user's security profile. For example, some users may be
allowed to enter new planning bills while others may only be allowed to make
changes to existing records. Some users may only be allowed to look at the
data without the ability to change it, and some may not even be able to access
the procedure. Access to batch procedures is usually restricted to use by only
the system administrator since these are usually run overnight.
Setup Procedures
There are two setup processes which may need to be performed prior to
beginning the normal flow of activities, depending on which functions you want
to use.
The PLAN control record ( PLAN.CONTROL ) must be setup if you intend to do Master Production Scheduling (MPS) or MAterial Requirements Planning (MRP). This procedure defines the parameters by which MPS and MRP are operated including the planning horizons to be used.
The CRP control record ( CRP.CONTROL ) must be setup if you intend to run the Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) process. This procedure defines the parameters by which CRP is operated including the planning horizon.
In addition to the setup procedures you will need to set each part number in the system to use MRP, MPS or Min/Max. This is done in the Enginering module using PARTS.E . Another procedure in the Engineering module that is required is PARTS.P4 which sets the low level codes for all part numbers. This process must be run at least once before MPS.P1 or MRP.P1 are run, and must be rerun any time the bill of material structure is changed. For this reason the PARTS.P4 procedure is usually included in the nightly batch process before MPS.P1 and MRP.P1 .
Flow of Activities
The flow of activities for Master Production Scheduling (MPS) and Material
Requirements Planning (MRP), depends on wether or not MPS is used, and how it
is used. This is because MRP will use information from MPS when it is
available. Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) runs independently of MRP and
MPS, as does Min/Max inventory reporting.
Master Production Scheduling (MPS)
Defining Planning Bills is an option available in MPS. Planning bills allow you to define a product or set of product options into groupings at multiple levels in a fashion similar to the structure of a bill of materials. They are defined using the PB.E procedure. Once defined they may be used to generate sales forecast or master schedule items using the PB.P1 procedure.
Sales Forecast is the next, optional step, in the process. Sales Forecast may be generated through Planning Bills as described in the previous step, or entered manually using SF.E . Even if you generated the forecast from the Planning Bills you may adjust individual items with SF.E .
Entering Master Schedule items is the next step, although it may also be an ongoing process. Master Schedules are entered with the MS.E procedure. Even if they were created through Planning Bills, you may still adjust Master Schedule items with MS.E .
Once you have completed all of the previously described procedures that are appropriate, you are ready to create the MPS reporting files. This is done by running the MPS.P1 procedure. Unlike the previously described operations, this process is run on a regular basis, usually daily or weekly, so that the effect of ongoing transactions against inventory and sales are taken into account. Therefore, this procedure is often setup in a nightly or weekly batch process.
Once the MPS report files are available you can run the reporting and inquiry procedures. MPS.R1 is used to run reports against the MPS based on exceptions calcuated by the system. This allows you to focus on areas that need attention without reviewing every MPS item. The MPS.Q inquiry is used to look at details about individual MPS items such as demand pegging. The MPS.Q inquiry is usually used in conjuction with the MPS.R1 report by those who are monitoring and making adjustments to the MPS. Based on the information in the MPS the planner can make adjustments to the MPS such as releasing existing master schedule items as work orders and adding new master schedule items and adjusting the dates of existing items.
Another option available to the planner is the PLAN.E procedure. This procedure allows you to release master schedule items from MPS, or planned orders from MRP and create work orders automatically based on factors such as product category and planned date. This procedure is particularly useful in environments where there is a high volume of orders generated.
The data generated by MPS for lower level MRP demand is automatically made avialable to MRP. In addition you may also specify independent demand using the ID.E procedure. This allows you to add demand for specific items, independently of what is generated by MPS. This is useful when spare parts are required beyond normal sales activity.
Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
The first step in using the MRP system is to generate the MRP files. This is done by running the MRP.P1 procedure. This process is usually run on a regular basis, usually daily or weekly, so that the effect of ongoing transactions against inventory, purchasing, sales and production are taken into account. Therefore, this procedure is often setup in a nightly or weekly batch process. If you are using MPS then you will want to make sure that the MPS.P1 process is run before MRP.P1 so that the output from MPS will be availble to MRP.
Once the MRP report files are available you can run the reporting and inquiry procedures. MRP.R1 is used to run reports against the MRP based on exceptions calcuated by the system. This allows you to focus on areas that need attention without reviewing every MRP item. The MRP.Q inquiry is used to look at details about individual MRP items such as demand pegging. The MRP.Q inquiry is usually used in conjuction with the MRP.R1 report by those who are monitoring and making adjustments to the MRP. Based on the information in the MRP the planner can make adjustments to the MRP such as entering and adjusting work orders and purchase orders.
Another option available to the planner is the PLAN.E procedure. This procedure allows you to release master schedule items from MPS, or planned orders from MRP and create work orders automatically based on factors such as product category and planned date. This procedure is particularly useful in environments where there is a high volume of orders generated.
Min/Max Reporting
The only step required for Min/Max reporting is to run the INV.R5 report. This report always utilizes current inventory information and requires no pre-processing before it is run. While it is possible to specify a part as both a Min/Max and an MRP or MPS item, it is not recommended. A decision should be made as to which method is appropriate for the item and it should be defined as such to avoid the possibility of duplicate ordering due to the part appearing on more than one planning report.
Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP)
The first step in capacity planning is to run the CRP.P1 procedure. This process builds the CRP files required for the reporting. If you chose the option in the CRP.CONTROL procedure that enables on-line update of the CRP files, then as work orders are added to the system, the hours required are automatically added to the CRP files. This option should be used if you are using finite loading of work orders so that capacity is consumed as orders are added. CRP.P1 is usually run on a daily basis and is usually included in the nightly batch process.
To examine the capacity information you can use the report CRP.R1 or the inquiry CRP.Q .
General
In addition to the procedures described above, you may also need to run some of the purge procedures on a regular basis. The purge procedures in the Manufacturing Planning module differ from those in other modules. Instead of deleting entire records that have lapsed beyond a certain date, these procedure purge schedule dates and quantities defined with records based on a date. The procedures that perform these purges are SF.P1 (Sales Forecast), ID.P1 (Independent Demand), MS.P1 (Master Schedule), and PB.P2 (Planning Bills).
Independent demand should be purged regularly to insure that there are no past due requirements driving demand that has probably already been met. Sales forecast should also be purged of past due items for the same reason, although in some cases it may make sense to maintain a certain period of past due items since MPS automatically consumes demand with actual demand. Master schedule items, on the other hand, may never need to be automatically purged, but should be instead rescheduled since they represent a planned level of production which should not be arbitrarily changed. Since planning bills are usually used to define a broad plan for an extended period of time, they will only need to be purged the next time you are ready to lay out the production plan.
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