Multisite planning clusters

If the multisite concepts are activated, planning clusters and sites are mandatory. A planning cluster can include multiple sites, but a site can be linked to only one planning cluster.

This means that Enterprise Planning performs order-based planning for the warehouses of the sites linked to the cluster.

When Enterprise Planning is performed for a cluster, the aggregated supply and demand for all warehouses of the sites linked to the cluster are added to the default warehouse of the cluster. If you want to plan the replenishment of a specific warehouse within the cluster, you can use kanban, TPOP, or generate order advice (SIC).

If Enterprise Planning is to be performed separately for one or more warehouses at a business location, separate sites and planning clusters need to be set up for the warehouse or warehouses for which planning is to be performed.

Example

Customer X has location XYZ at which production and service activities are performed.

Production is performed in production hall ABC that includes various work centers, a purchased materials receipt warehouse, a shop floor warehouse, and a finished goods warehouse. The purchased materials receipt warehouse supplies the shop floor warehouse that in turn supplies the work centers.

To support the service activities, spare parts and other service-related items are stored in service warehouse SW1.

Service office SO1 is responsible for service warehouse SW1. The inventory of warehouse SW1 is used exclusively for service purposes. It is not allowed to use this inventory for production.

Therefore, order planning and purchase order creation for service warehouse SW1 is done by service office SO1 and is performed separately from the planning performed for the warehouses of production hall ABC.

For this purpose, separate planning clusters and separate sites are set up for service warehouse SW1 and production hall ABC. This is because a site cannot include more than one planning cluster.

Consequently, location XYZ has these sites and planning clusters:

  • Planning cluster PL1 and site PRD1 for production hall ABC.
  • Planning cluster PL2 and site SRV1 for warehouse SW1 and service office SO1.

For both planning clusters order planning is used but planning is performed separately for each cluster. Inside site PRD1, the purchased materials receipt warehouse supplies the shop floor warehouse through kanban.

For each site all data, such as item data, needs to be set up separately.

In general, performing planning for all warehouses within one site and one cluster results in lower inventory levels and lower prices. If customer X would choose for this option, they could set up a single site and cluster that would include the service warehouse in addition to the warehouses of the production hall. The service warehouse could then be replenished through warehouse planning such as TPOP.

In this example, the need for customer X to perform separate planning for the service warehouse outweighs the advantage of cost effectiveness and leaner setup that can be achieved through central planning.