To use clusters in distribution planning

If you define supplying relationships between a supplying and a receiving warehouse in the Supplying Relationships (cprpd7130m000) session, the clustered item can be supplied by an other warehouse / cluster through distribution. If so, Enterprise Planning generates planned distribution orders to supply the clustered item.

You must define supplying relationships between clusters, because for each supplying relationship, Enterprise Planning always plans on the same default warehouse of the cluster.

Distribution planning Enterprise Planning can plan distribution in the following directions:

From a nonclustered item to a clustered item.
From a clustered plan item to a nonclustered plan item.
Between clustered plan items.

You can set up the distribution relationships between plan items in the Supplying Relationships (cprpd7130m000) session. The possibility to set up distribution structures of clustered items and nonclustered items provides LN with the flexibility that is needed to support business cases such as, for example, regional distribution centers that perform sales order acceptance and aggregate the netted requirements to the central production site. The production site then replenishes the regional distribution centers. LN derives the proper cluster from the item/warehouse combination on the sales order line.

Another business example is the situation in which sales order acceptance is performed in the local sales offices, and where the requirements are aggregated through the a regional distribution center to the central production site. The regional distribution center is subsequently replenished from the production site, and the local sales offices, for their part, are replenished from the regional distribution center.

Distribution in a cluster

Enterprise Planning always plans on the default warehouse of a clustered item. When you enter an other than the default warehouses in the cluster on a sales order line, Enterprise Planning still generates the planned sales orders for the default warehouse.

However, if you want to replenish a specific warehouse in a cluster that is not the default warehouse, you can manually enter a warehouse transfer between two warehouses in a cluster in the Warehousing Orders (whinh2100m000) session.

An alternative way to create warehouse transfer orders is based on the reorder point. In the Item Data by Warehouse (whwmd2510m000) session, you can set the Supply System field to Time Phased Order Point and specify a quantity in the Reorder Point field. The result is that LN generates warehouse transfer orders if you run the Generate Order Advice (SIC) (whina3200m000) session.

Example: distribution structure with clusters

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

Cl X	Cluster X
Cl Y	Cluster Y
Cl Z	Cluster Z