APS

You can select either the Infor Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) or Material Requirements Planning (MRP) for planning your material requirements. There are two planning modes: APS and Infinite APS. In APS mode, you can set resources to have a finite capacity, while Infinite APS mode considers all resources to have infinite capacity. MRP and Infinite APS mode are built into SyteLine. APS mode is a separately licensed SyteLine module.

MRP plans requirements for items according to the level the item appears in a BOM, batching together requirements needed at the same period of time. APS and MRP both generate planned orders, which you firm into actual SyteLine transactions. MRP and APS use the same basic input data. However, the APS system plans all requirements for one demand (through the end item's entire BOM), then plans all requirements for the next demand, and so forth for all the demands, based on order priority and each demand's due date.

APS generates real-time projections of when you can complete orders by comparing all demands against a long-term plan. The system views the current status, including inventory levels, forecasts, job schedules, PO due dates, customer orders, etc. and creates planned orders accordingly to satisfy the demands. You then "firm" the planned orders into purchase orders, purchase requisitions, job orders, production schedules, or transfer orders.

For more information about how APS (or MRP) is used, see the online help. The rest of this section focuses on how APS is used in a multi-site system.

The APS planning algorithm, which produces planning output that is sent back to the SyteLine SQL database, uses a Planner database (PDB) as its in-memory database. Since the PDB is in memory and requires a lot of CPU when it is running, a separate Planning Server is required.

In a multi-site environment, you can generate a global plan for all sites defined in your APS Sites and Alternative Management form. Planned transfer orders are not created when you run planning in a single site.

There are two modes for global planning: Global Planning and Multiple Site Planning, which is defined on the Planning Parameters form, Advanced APS tab. In both modes, all sites are planned. The difference lies in how demands for components supplied by remote sites are planned.

With Global Planning mode, these demands are planned by contacting the remote site to get a realistic delivery date. A transfer supply is created at the local site and corresponding transfer demand is created at the supplying site.

With Multiple Site Planning mode, these demands are planned using lead time and planning replication creates the transfer demand at the supplying site.

A global plan generates all plans, transfer supply orders, and transfer demand orders for any remote components using up-to-date planning data at the remote site. To use this option, multiple sites must be defined on the APS Sites and Alternative Management form. The site you are logged into must be configured on the Main tab, and the other sites must be configured on the Remote tab. If Global Planning Mode is set to Global Planning, then each site must populate the Main and Remote tabs of the APS Sites and Alternative Management form. If Global Planning Mode is set to Multiple Site Planning, then you only need to add remote sites in the site where you will be running Global APS Planning. The sequence in which each site is planned is determined by the site priority defined at the local site where you run APS Planning.

Global Planning steps

When you run APS Global Planning in Global Planning mode, APS performs these steps:

Connects to all sites that are defined on the APS Sites and Alternative Management form. All sites' PDBs are now locked. No site is able to perform the Get ATP/CTP process or run APS Planning during the time of the global planning process.
Evaluates the site priorities and begins planning at the site that has the highest priority (the site with the lowest numerical priority value).
Removes and replans all demands at the site. Transfer orders are planned for any components supplied by a remote site.
Begins planning the next site in the site priority hierarchy.
When the system finishes replanning all sites, the global plan is complete and the PDBs are unlocked. At each site, any transactions entered in SyteLine during the planning process while the PDBs were locked are now entered into the plan incrementally.

Multiple site planning steps

When you run APS Global Planning in Multiple Site Planning mode, APS performs these steps:

Connects to all sites that are defined on the APS Sites and Alternative Management form. All sites' PDBs are now locked. No site is able to perform the Get ATP/CTP process or run APS Planning during the time of the global planning process.
Evaluates the site priorities and begins planning at the site that has the highest priority (the site with the lowest numerical priority value).
Removes and replans all demands at the site (in single-site mode). For any component supplied by a remote site, replication is used to transfer that demand to the remote site.
Begins planning the next site in the site priority hierarchy.
When the system finishes replanning all sites, any remaining unplanned transfer demands are incrementally planned at each site.
When the system finishes planning the transfer demands, the global plan is complete and the PDBs are unlocked. At each site, any transactions entered in SyteLine during the planning process while the PDBs were locked are now entered into the plan incrementally.

Transferred items

During global APS Planning, or during any incremental planning activity, if an item requires a component that is supplied by another site (that is, an "inter-site" transfer), transfer orders are planned using these steps:

Contacts the supply site that produces the remote item (based on the Supply Site field on the Items form).
Plans the item in a test copy of the supply site's PDB (also considering the transit time value defined on the Inter-Site Parameters form).
Plans the component in the supply site's master PDB and creates a planned transfer demand order.
Creates a corresponding planned transfer supply order at the site requiring the remote component.

Note: Due dates on planned transfer orders include transit time.

If APS Planning is unable to contact the supply site (due to the site's PDB being down, network problems, etc.), it uses the item's lead time and the transit time defined on the Inter-Site Parameters form to determine the projected availability of any remote components.

Transfer orders can automatically generate additional remote orders, depending on the component's requirements. For example, if site A needs a component that is produced at site B, and the component at site B requires a component produced at site C, APS Planning plans the demand transfer order at site C automatically.

Note: The system does not globally plan intra-site transfers (that is, items where the Supply Site is set to the local site).

After a transfer supply order is generated by a demand order, no other demand order can use inventory created by the transfer supply order. However, any excess inventory generated due to minimum lot sizes remains available at the supply site for other demands to allocate.

APS Planning creates planned transfer orders; you must firm them into actual transfer orders in the Planning Detail form or the Material Planner Workbench form.

In order to transfer items between sites, there must be a replication rule for the Inventory/Transfer category between the sites.

Site recursion in a bill of material

Global Planning mode does not support site-to-site recursion on a single order line. That is, an item at one site cannot require a component from a site that was a supply site higher in the item's bill of material. The Site Recursion limitation applies only to Global Planning, and not to Multiple Site Planning.

For more information about APS, see the online help.