Cycles overview

Cycles consist of a set of business plans or scenarios, for specific business cycles (with a defined period, for example, months). A business cycle type can be, for example, a normal cycle which contains a set of plans for normal operations, or a disaster cycle, with a separate set of plans, in case of major issues.

To each cycle (definition), these objects can be linked:

• A calendar, which includes the time periods, such as years, months, weeks, and quarters. Plan data can be reported in these time periods in the application.
• A default item hierarchy (level) and default location hierarchies for the cycle's implemented modules. Plan data can be reported in the application for these planning hierarchies.
• A cycle process, which contains the events that must be executed in each period. A cycle process can be controlled and monitored by workflow definitions that are defined in Ion Desk, are used to execute the overall process.
• The default planning scenarios for a specific business area, for example, a scenario for Demand, a scenario for Supply, and so on. These scenarios can be controlled and monitored by the processes that specify the steps required to complete the scenario.
• Additional planning hierarchies. Specify these hierarchies, to calculate planning data for the default planning hierarchies as specified for the cycle, and also for other items and locations, in the worksheets.
• Rolling periods. Specify these periods, to calculate planning data not only for the current cycle period (hierarchy), but also for other calendar periods, in the worksheets.
• Additional pivot attributes. Specify these attributes, to view planning data of the selected item and location dimension, and also for additional groups of item or locations, in the worksheet.
• Default notes. Specify default notes to ensure the logging of notes when saving scenario changes and/or recalculating a worksheet's planning data within a cycle.