To distribute master-plan quantities over calendar days

In principle, the quantities in an item master plan or channel master plan are stored by plan period.

However, there are cases in which these quantities must be disaggregated to quantities by day, for example, when the plan is rolled forward. The basis for the distribution is the company calendar specified in the Companies (tcemm1170m000) session.

Distribution of quantities

LN uses the following basic rules to distribute the plan period quantities over the calendar days:

  • The quantity per day is proportional to the capacity on that day divided by the total capacity in the plan period (see example)
  • If there is no capacity in the plan period, the total quantity is allocated to the first day.

Example: distribution of quantities

Assume a plan period of seven days with a (production) volume of 100 pieces.

The capacity by day and the distribution of the quantity over the days would be the following:

Day Capacity [hours] Distributed quantity
Sunday 0 0
Monday 8 20
Tuesday 8 20
Wednesday 8 20
Thursday 16 40
Friday 0 0
Saturday 0 0

Distribution of the inventory plan

The inventory plan is distributed differently over the calendar days of the plan period than it is for the quantities. The inventory plan is not a quantity but a target inventory. LN determines the inventory plan by day by first setting the inventory plan at the end dates of each plan period. The inventory plan at the end date of a plan period equals the inventory plan for the plan period. The inventory plan on intermediate days (between consecutive end dates) is determined in a linear fashion while taking into account the available capacity. On days with no capacity, the inventory plan will be the same as on the previous day.

Example: Distribution of inventory plan

Assume a plan period of seven days with a (production) volume of 100 pieces.

Inventory plan at the end of the previous plan period : 100. Inventory plan at the end of the current plan period : 200

This results in the following inventory plan by day:

Day Capacity Inventory plan
Saturday   100
Sunday 0 100 (*)
Monday 8 120
Tuesday 8 140
Wednesday 8 160
Thursday 16 200
Friday 0 200
Saturday 0 200

(*) No capacity

When aggregating the day quantities back to period quantities, LN makes the inventory plan of a plan period equal to the inventory plan of the last day of the plan period. As a result of this procedure, information is lost if the inventory plan in the middle of the plan period is higher than at the end because that higher inventory plan level will not be retained.