Planning optimization

A hyper-scalable multitenant real-time distribution requirement planning service. The service enables companies to maintain a dynamic plan that's close to real time and supports high data volume.

Customers today are relying on prompt system reply, and companies that operate close to 24/7 can't afford a planning batch job that runs for several hours every night to generate the needed master plan. Many companies would like to run the planning multiple times during working hours to stay updated on demand and supply changes. Planning optimization will remove the load of master planning from their ERP system and provide a constantly updated dynamic plan that will give them close to real-time insight to requirement changes and potentially enable them to achieve savings by reduction of the total lead time, as new demands are detected and managed earlier.

Real-time planning

Planning optimization provides a constantly updated dynamic plan with close to real-time insight to requirement changes on the supply side as well as affected existing orders.

This enables customers to achieve:

• Potential savings and improved sales by reduction of the total lead time, as new demands are detected and managed earlier—order same day because you don’t have to wait for the nightly plan.
• Improved customer service and order taking, as the impact of other changes as well as the entered sales order is detected and the plan is fully optimized accordingly.

Performance

If you have long-running master plans in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, will planning optimization work for you? Yes, planning optimization is specifically designed for very fast calculations with massive data volume. It’s built as a hyper-scalable multitenant service, meaning that multiple tenants can cooperate simultaneously to calculate the plan. Also, planning optimization will remove the load of master planning from your ERP system and work with a data stream that minimizes the server load.

This enables customers to achieve:

• Greatly improved planning performance with shorter run time.
• Ability to unload master planning from the ERP system.
• More frequent planning runs—not just daily or weekly.
• Comfort that future business growth will not overload the planning system.

Availability

At first, planning optimization will be available to selected customers via a preview program. Later the preview will open up to a wider range of customers before becoming generally available.

Feature highlights

• The first version of planning optimization will address the needs of both distributors and wholesalers.
• Out-of-the-box integration with Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations to support near real-time planning.
• Support purchase and transfer supply suggestions.
• Ensure supply suggestions to maintain fixed safety stock levels, based on on-hand levels and future demand.
• Time-based safety stock option, to support fluctuation and seasonality in demand.
• Include purchase and transfers lead times, for duration and order date calculation.
• Pegging between supply and demand, providing full visibility for how a given demand is fulfilled or what demand a given supply fulfills.
• Lot-for-lot reordering policy support, combining all demand within a defined period into one supply suggestion.
• Order quantity modifiers that adjust order suggestions to a desired minimum, multiple, and/or maximum quantity.
• Plan just one item or a subset of all products by filtering the products included in a given planning run.
• Multiple plans with specific setup, allowing the planner to simultaneously operate with a daily static plan, a dynamic real-time plan, as well as multiple what-if plans.
• Near real-time dynamic plan.
• Detect and communicate order delays and possible fulfillment dates, when the plan can’t be optimized to fit all demands.
• Calendar support to handle available and closed periods related to warehouses, vendors, customers, and more.
• Support for reservations between supply and demand are recorded and respected by the planning engine.
• Option to include demand forecast with reduction based on recorded demand.
• Reordering policy that supports refilling to a predefined maximum inventory level.