Scenarios in Enterprise Planning

Scenarios are used to simulate planning runs for various business situations. Only one scenario can be the actual scenario, representing the actual plan that is transferred to production, purchase and warehousing.

The scenario-planning horizon can be divided in to plan periods of various lengths. This allows forecasting and planning in small periods on the short-term and in longer periods in the longer-term. The scenario can be defined as rolling, which will periodically redivide the scenario-planning horizon in plan periods starting as the current date. This offers a consistent period division for the planner as time passes.

Static data such as supplying and sourcing strategies and dynamic data such as planned orders can be copied between scenarios.

Relationships between a central scenario and local scenarios in a multisite environment can be defined, this allows a central planning run that triggers the local planning runs. Data such as forecast and orders can be aggregated and disaggregated between the local scenarios and central scenario.

A scenario represents one out of several (possible) overall planning situations.

In Enterprise Planning, planning is carried out within the context of a particular scenario, and depending on the settings in that scenario. You can set up several scenarios to compare possible planning solutions.

Actual scenario

One of the scenarios is the actual scenario; the other scenarios serve for what-if analyses. The planned orders (and production plans) of the actual scenario can be confirmed and transferred to the execution level, where they become actual orders.

Note

The actual scenario is specified in the EP Parameters (cprpd0100m000) session.

How to define a scenario

Use the Scenarios (cprpd4100m000) session to define a new scenario.

If you want to keep using the scenario for a prolonged period of time, you can choose to define the scenario as a rolling scenario.

If you want to use the scenario for central multisite planning, you must designate the scenario as a central multisite scenario.

Plan periods

A scenario is subdivided into plan periods. Plan periods are used as time buckets for master planning. Horizons and time fences are always rounded to the end of a plan period.

Scenario-dependent data

Many basic entities in Enterprise Planning are not dependent upon a particular scenario, but can be used in all scenarios:

  • Plan items.
  • Resources.
  • Channels.
  • Clusters.
  • Plan units.

Several types of planning data, however, are defined within the context of a scenario, and therefore can differ between scenarios:

  • Master plans.
  • Planned orders.
  • Sourcing strategies.
  • Supply strategies.

You can copy the data from one scenario to another scenario. In the Copy Scenario (cprpd4201m000) session several options are available to copy all, or only specific scenario data from the source scenario to the target scenario. The Overwrite check box determines whether Enterprise Planning must add the data of the source scenario to those of the target scenario, or whether Enterprise Planning must overwrite the data of the target scenario. You can even select a range of plan items for which you want to copy specific data from one scenario to another.

Note

Calendars are not scenario dependent. However, the way that calendars are used does vary by scenario, because a different availability type can be used for each scenario.

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