Plan Module Overview
What is the Plan Module?
The Plan module is the most potent tool in ALERE’s array of features for managing inventory. This module includes a comprehensive range of MRP (Materials Requirements Planning) utilities that enable users to solve complex inventory ordering, movement, allocation, and production problems. Not simply limited to outputting the required inventory levels to fulfill demand, the Plan module also assists users in generating and releasing the necessary orders to resolve inventory shortages, saving significant time and effort.
Plan’s processes also enable MRP results to be time-phased by demand constraints, allowing organizations to realize significant savings in inventory carrying costs and drastically improve cash flow planning. Furthermore, the module can make and implement recommendations to reschedule or rebalance open purchase orders and work orders when they are not in phase.
The following are components of the Plan module:
Plan Orders
The Plan Orders process is ALERE’s location-based MRP utility used to compute material requirements and need-by dates for material demand within a single location or a group of locations. The output of the Plan Orders process is a list of suggested time-phased items and quantities that require purchase, manufacturing, or transfer orders to fulfill the demand.
MRP process is accomplished by exploding the bill of material, adjusting for inventory quantities on hand or on order, and offsetting the net requirements by the appropriate lead times. Material requirements for every child of a BOM, from the finished good through the raw materials, are calculated in a single pass rather than the traditional MRP method of one level at a time.
The Plan Orders MRP process includes a provision to calculate the material requirements in either a bucketed or bucketless system. In a bucketed system, data is accumulated into groups consisting of weekly or monthly periods, whereas, in a bucketless system, material requirements are output using granular dated records.
If the ALERE Schedule module is present, an option exists to synchronize the Plan Orders process with the finite capacity production schedule to achieve “synchronous manufacturing.” Synchronous manufacturing is an advanced application of the Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing technique whereby the material required for order route steps can be time-phased for delivery to a work center based on when the route step’s scheduled start date. For projects with long horizons, this powerful feature can significantly reduce inventory carrying costs and improve organizational cash flow without the typical manual labor associated with this type of time and material phasing.
The Plan Orders function also contains allowances for cushioning lead times. Driving inventory to different order points, such as safety stock with or zero stock levels. Setting a minimum period between orders and order incrementing, which may include or exclude safety stock and minimum quantities.
Lastly, an option to load forecasts into the demand Plan Orders process is available for those who include best-case, worst-case, and what-if scenarios in their demand planning process.
Sales Order Planning
ALERE’s Sales Order Planning function brings all the power of the Plan Orders MRP function to a single sales order or line item, independent of location.
The Sales Order Planning function is beneficial for performing inventory calculations of custom jobs and when purchasing, work, and sub-work orders. The function enables users to include or exclude existing inventory and outstanding POs, enabling required inventory to be manufactured or purchased for the job rather than combined with other material orders or drawn from existing stock.
Finally, the Sales Order Planing screen assists planners in deciding which materials should be purchased from an external vendor or manufactured in-house through the incorporation of lead times and manufacturing times.
Item MRP Planning
Item MRP Planning further narrows the scope of the MRP process. This function provides planners with collated time-phased insights into the selected inventory item’s demand, receipt, and issuance. Planners, in turn, can utilize this data to route material to specific projects or jobs of concern, knowing the expected date of the subsequent inventory issuances or fulfillments.
The resultant data is also beneficial for sales personnel as it helps them determine the volume of inventory available to promise at any given need-by date during a sales cycle.
Generate Work Orders, Sales Orders, and Transfer Orders
ALERE simplifies the process of fulfilling the demand calculated by the MRP process by providing an easy means of generating work orders, sales orders, and transfer orders from the process recommendations. These processes can selectively choose, edit, and mass-generate the recommended orders and incorporate a variety of constraints, such as minimum quantities, project or sales order-based order pegging, order breakpoints, and choosing between fulfilling material demand by internally manufacturing components or purchasing from an external vendor if applicable. Users may also decide on the status of fulfilling the order, releasing it as a quote, pending, or accepted order.
Order Push Pull
The Order Push Pull function is an extension of the MRP process that assists users in optimizing the scheduling and demand fulfillment quantities of open purchase and work orders within ALERE. The utility uses a specially tailored MRP process to examine current inventory demand and the fulfillment criteria of existing purchase and work orders, such as start dates, need-by dates, and quantities. Based on this analysis, Order Push Pull suggests changes to optimize purchase quantities and work order start dates.
Plan Reports
A wide range of filterable MRP, shortage, and recommendation reports are available with ALERE. These reports assist users in diving deeper into the suggestions and outputs of ALERE’s planning tools, providing unrivaled control and insight into every facet of the organization that inventory affects.