Example: distribution structure with clusters

In Enterprise Planning you can use clusters to plan business procedures such as:

  • Forecasting
  • Sales
  • Inventory planning
  • Order acceptance
  • Inventory replenishment

Clusters are used to set up the supplying relationships that Enterprise Planning uses to perform planning. This online manual topic gives an example of a distribution structure with clusters.

Example

In the following example, R is a resource, A through E are warehouses. The arrows represent supplying relationships.

[...]
cl1cluster 1
cl2cluster 2
cl3cluster 3

Item BIKE is manufactured at resource R, and stocked at warehouse A. From there, BIKE is first distributed to warehouses B and C (which, from a planning point of view, can be considered as one unit), and then to warehouses D and E (considered as one planning unit) and warehouse F.

In Enterprise Planning, the item BIKE is represented by the following plan items:

  • Nonclustered item BIKE represents the item stocked in warehouse A.
  • Clustered item cl1 BIKE represents the item stocked in warehouses B and C.
  • Clustered item cl2 BIKE represents the item stocked in warehouses D and E.
  • Clustered item cl3 BIKE represents the item stocked in warehouse F.

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