Distribution planning answers the question about where you should deploy invento ry when there is excess at your

central locations. As needed, the excess inventory is pushed outwards to locations closer to the customer. In addition, you need fair share rules for supply-constrained items. These fair share rules specify how to cover part of the needs at each of the receiving locations when all of the needs cannot be covered. Key constraints that influence distribution planning decisions are : 1-4 Oracle Advanced Supply Chain Planning Implementation and User's Guide Distribution rules and fair share allocation rules Inventory investments Maximum and target inventory levels Safety stock levels and service level requirements Shipment limits and shipping, receiving, and transportation calendars Distribution planning meets these constraints by: Providing fair share allocation of scarce supplies to competing demands Modeling multiple inventory levels including maximum, target and safety stock inventory levels Rebalancing inventories at regional distribution centers before transferring sup plies from a central distribution center Consolidating shipments between organizations to improve the utilization of shipment capacities Accepting global forecasts and selecting the best facility to meet each demand Creating the documents for inter-organization transfers Performing detailed transportation palling (using Oracle Transportation Management and internal sales order delivery lines)