Creating and Entering a Planning Item

Design the layout for the planning item.

Create the feature groups.

Feature groups are used to tie inventory items in a bill of material together, grouping like or similar types of material.

Access the Feature Groups form.
Create a new group and enter the appropriate data in the required fields:
- Feature Name: Specify a unique name for this feature group.
- Description: Specify a description for this feature group.
- Qualifier Mask: Specify the qualifier mask for this feature group. The qualifier mask shows where this information will be placed in the feature string.
- Mandatory: Specify whether this option from this feature group is mandatory for planning.
Select Actions > Save to save the record.

Note: When entering the qualifier mask use . (periods) for spaces and X's for characters. An * (asterisk) can be used as a wildcard for all the other feature codes to the right.

Create feature group qualifiers.

The feature group qualifiers are the actual codes that will be used to describe each choice of the inventory items of a feature group.

Access the Feature Group Qualifiers form.
Select the appropriate feature group.
Add a new qualifier record and specify this information:
- Include/Exclude: Use Include to specify a valid Feature Codes for the Feature Group. Use Exclude to specify an invalid Feature Code for the Feature Group. All combinations of invalid Option Codes must be specified.
- Qualifier String: Accept the default from the qualifier mask listed on the feature group. Replace the Xs with the appropriate Feature Codes.
Select Actions > Save to save the record.

Create all inventory items that are needed for the planning item.

Update the Items form to reflect that this item is a planning item. Any item that has the Configuration Flag selected at any level in the BOM must also have the Configuration Flag field selected at the end-item level.

On the Items form, create the inventory item.
Select the Configuration Flag field to indicate that this item is a planning item.
After creating the inventory item, you must create the bill of material. The Current Materials form required fields are:
- Feature: Select a valid feature group.
- Option Code: Enter the feature code part of the feature group qualifier string.
- Incremental Price: Enter a value if this item is not included in the base price of the planning item.
- Probable: Enter the probability that this particular item will be selected from this feature group. If all items have an equal chance of being selected, enter 1. If this item has a 20% chance of being selected, enter .2. This value must be greater than zero.
If the individual inventory items, also referred to as components, are not lot or serial tracked, make sure these features are turned off. You can turn off lot or serial tracking at the individual item level on the Items form's Controls tab.

Note: If lot or serial tracking is done at the individual inventory item level, you will be prompted to enter the required information for each item when inventory is impacted.

Create the feature group rank.

The feature group rank tells the features-and-options product configurator which feature groups are being used for this planning item. This step will need to be executed for all BOM items which contain sub-planning.

Access the Feature Group Ranks form.
Find the correct inventory item to rank.
Click the Generate button to generate the ranking.