FAQ - Distribution Planning in R12 - DRP / DPP

(Doc ID 761820.1)
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Modified:13-
May-2013
Type:FAQ


In this Document

Purpose

Users Guide Used For
Reference
Resource List

Questions and Answers

When discussing
Distribution Planning,
why do some people
use the term DPP and
others DRP?

What are the main
features of Distribution
Planning?

Does Distribution
Planning look at
resource constraints?

What kind of
business/verticals
require Distribution
Planning solution?

How does typically
ASCP integrate with
Distribution Planning
solution?

Does Distribution
Planning looks into
multi level BOM?

What is inventory
rebalancing?

I want to do inventory
rebalancing only after
ensuring that my next 4
days demands are met.
Only excess over and
above that should be
used to transfer it to
other org. Is it possible?

What types of supplies
are considered available
for inventory
rebalancing?

What planning method I
should use to plan my
items in Distribution
Planning?

I am not able to plan
trips, Why?

How do I set up by
Shipment Method /
Transit mode
capacities?

What is the default
demand priority used by
Distribution Planning.
Is it mandatory for me
to define demand
priority?

When should I
define/use demand
priority rules?

Can we have telescopic
allocation buckets?

What is the use of
allocation buckets?
How do the rules for
demand priority,
allocation bucket and
supply allocation work
together?


Which calendar is used
to create allocation
bucket?
By default Sales Order
(SO) has higher priority
than Forecast, does it
mean if SO on Day10
and Forecast is on
Day3, we still allocate
the supply to SO first
and starve the Forecast?

Is it mandatory to
define supply allocation
rules?

Can we have allocation
from some sources
based on org priority
and from other sources
based on demand
prioritization rule?

I have demand at Org2
and Org1 is source,
which has supply.
When I run Distribution
Planning plan, I see two
types of shipment
orders. It generates
recommended
shipments and planned
shipments. What is the
difference between the
two types?

Which order modifiers
are considered by
Distribution Planning?

Does Distribution
Planning support
Planning Time Fence
(PTF)?

How does Infinite Time
Fence (ITF) Horizon
Days work? Is it
applicable to all the
orgs?

Are allocation buckets
end dates fixed or
dynamic?
I am not able to release
IR/ISO. Getting errors,
which look related to
OM in the log file

What are the
Distribution Planning
specific profiles, which
I need to be aware of?

Why Does DRP Plan
Show Zero Qty for PO
Or Req With Action -
Cancel?

When releasing an
internal Order from
Distribution Planning,
the In transit Lead time
is not reflected in the
Suggest dock date -
Why?

How To Use The New
User Defined Row For
The Horizontal Plan in
11.5.10, 12.0 and 12.1

Why do sometimes I
dont see my future firm
supplies netted with
current demand and I
see a new planned order
created by DRP?

With 11.5.10 source,
why am I not able to
release Inter Operating
Unit planned Inbound
shipments?

Sometimes I dont see
inventory rebalancing
happening even though
I have enough supplies
in the supplying org.

Why Target Inventory
level when maintaining
Safety Stock is enough
for me?
How can I define target
and maximum
inventory levels?

Why are All Planned
Order Supplies from
Supply Schedule
(ASCP Plan) Firm in
the DRP Plan output?
Can We Release These
Planned Orders from
the DRP Plan?

Can DRP see IR/ISO
that is created by
Inventory Min-Max
Planning?

References

APPLIES TO:
Oracle Advanced Supply
Chain Planning - Version
12.0.4 to 12.1 [Release 12 to
12.1]
Information in this
document applies to any
platform.
PURPOSE
***Checked for relevance
on 19-NOV-2011***
Development and Product
Management for APS
(Advanced Planning and
Scheduling) Applications,
working with Support has
put together this list of
Frequently Asked Questions
to help Support and Users
have a better understanding
the Distribution Planning:
Users Guide Used For
Reference
Oracle Advanced Supply
Chain Planning
Implementation and User's
Guide
Release 12 (12.1.1) Part No.
E13358-02 - October 2008
(Download Link - 8.6 MB)
Resource List
Note 412702.1 Getting
Started with R12 -
Advanced Planning and
Scheduling Suite FAQ
Note 414332.1 Getting
Started With R12 -
Advanced Planning Support
Enhanced RCD
This includes links to
presentations and PDF of
Powerpoint presentations.
Note 397199.1 R12 Feature
Document - Distribution
Planning

For 12.1.1 - See Note
763631.1 R12.1 Advanced
Planning and Scheduling -
Support Enhanced RCD -
Release Change Document




QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
When discussing
Distribution Planning, why
do some people use the
term DPP and others DRP?
In 11i10, the term DRP was
phased out. When
Distribution Planning was
introduced in R12, the
abbreviation is DPP.
However, many R12 users
refer to Distribution
Planning as DRP.

This should not be confused
with old standard MRP style
Supply Chain Planning in
11.5.9 and below where
DRP was seen in the menu
and item attributes Planning
Method lookup.
What are the main features
of Distribution Planning?
Fair share allocation, Load
consolidation , inventory
rebalancing and ability to
define inventory policy at
multiple levels.
Added ability to release both
the Internal Requisition (IR)
and the Internal Sales Order
(ISO) from the plan. Ability
to reschedule both the
existing IR and the ISO
from plan
See Note 414332.1 Getting
Started With R12 -
Advanced Planning Support
Enhanced RCD for more
information and links to TOI
presentations
Does Distribution Planning
look at resource
constraints?
No.
No. Distribution Planning is
designed to create detailed
distribution plan given the
supply schedule.
Distribution Planning plan is
mainly constrained by
shipping load sizing (Truck
capacity); supplier capacity,
supplier lead-time and inter-
org trans lead-time.
Distribution Planning does
not consider resources and
routings
What kind of
business/verticals require
Distribution Planning
solution?
Any business with
distribution intensive
environment would need
Distribution Planning
solution to create optimal
distribution plan. This can
include mfg where a
company manages both mfg
and distribution.
Distribution Planning is
designed to integrate well
with mfg planning in ASCP.
How does typically ASCP
integrate with Distribution
Planning solution?
Distribution Planning can be
used to push down Store /
Regional Distribution
Centers(RDC) / Distribution
Centers(DC) level demands
to the Manufacturing plant
where ASCP is run. After
creating constraint supply
schedule in ASCP,
Distribution Planning can be
used to allocate and push
supplies to
DCs/RDCs/Warehouses.
Does Distribution Planning
looks into multi level BOM?
Distribution Planning
supports kitting, which is
typically required to create a
small kitting assembly or to
pack items together at
DC/RDCs/Warehouses.
Distribution Planning can
explode multi-level Bill Of
Material(BOMs). However,
typically distributors would
not require this feature.
For more details , see
Defining Bills of Material
for Kitting in User Guide
page 12-3.
What is inventory
rebalancing?
If a particular RDC1 has
excess inventory and the
other RDC2 needs supply
then instead of pushing
down the RDC2 demand to
primary source and
ultimately to plant, it makes
sense to utilize the inventory
present in the network.
Inventory rebalancing first
looks at the inv present in
the rebalancing org (RDC1
here) and create inventory
transfer orders from RDC1
to RDC2. Any unmet
demand at RDC2 is passed
on to primary source. It
balances the supplies across
the network and reduce
excess inv production.
For more details , see
Inventory Rebalancing in
User Guide page 12-21..
I want to do inventory
rebalancing only after
ensuring that my next 4
days demands are met.
Only excess over and
above that should be used
to transfer it to other org. Is
it possible?
Only excess over and above
that should be used to
transfer it to other org. Is it
possible?
Ans: Yes.There is a
parameter in the plan option
InvRebalancing surplus
days. Use this parameter.
It is important to set this
parameter in the plan
options. If this parameter is
set to 0 (ZERO), then you
can see excessive
rebalancing shipments
between locations occurring
almost daily.
For more details , see
Setting Distribution Plan
Options in User Guide
page 13-11.
What types of supplies are
considered available for
inventory rebalancing?
Only firm supplies are
considered for inventory
rebalancing (On Hand
supplies, and any supply
that shows the Firm Flag
checked in the Planner
Workbench).
What planning method I
should use to plan my
items in Distribution
Planning?
In Item Attributes -
MPS/MRP Planning Tab -
set the Distribution Planning
planned flag to yes. Notice
that this item attribute is
different from MRP
Planning Method.
For more details , see
Defining Items as
Distribution Planned in
User Guide pg 12-2.
I am not able to plan trips,
Why?
In the Item Attributes
Physical Attributes Tab,
check the setups for Weight
and Volume
How do I set up by
Shipment Method / Transit
mode capacities?
In the:Transit Times form,
set the maximum trip limits
in terms of weight and
volume.
For more details , see
Defining Trip Limits for
Ship Methods by Lane in
User Guide. pg 12-7
What is the default demand
priority used by
Distribution Planning. Is it
mandatory for me to define
demand priority?
If demand priority rules are
not defined then
Distribution Planning will
use following priority, Sales
Orders> Forecast >
Overconsumed Forecast>
Safety Stock > Target
Inventory > Excess.
When should I define/use
demand priority rules?
Typically when you want to
prioritize one customers
Sales Order (SO) over other
or one orgs SO over other
then set up demand classes
and use the demand class, to
can prioritize the orders and
forecasts. Ion the priority
rules, specify which demand
classes have a higher or
lower priority.
For more details , see
Setting Up Distribution
Planning in User Guide
Can we have telescopic
allocation buckets?
Yes. We can have daily
allocation buckets for some
duration and then we can
have weekly for the
remaining planning
duration. Or we can have
only period (monthly)
allocation bucket.
See the next two questions
for more information.
What is the use of
allocation buckets? How do
the rules for demand
priority, allocation bucket
and supply allocation work
together?
Supply allocation to demand
is done by each allocation
bucket, one bucket at a time.
First we look at the highest
priority demands and within
a bucket, all demands
having that priority are
allocated the supply first,
based on the supply
allocation rule. Note that
allocation bucket and the
plan buckets are two very
different concepts.
Which calendar is used to
create allocation bucket?
The calendar defined in
profile MSC: Calendar
Reference for Bucketing
Plan is used for bucketing.
If not defined, we have seen
plan failures in DRP and
ASCP planning.
Can be defined at the
Responsibility Level for
Distribution planning if a
different calendar is
required than the one used
for ASCP.
IF not defined AND the plan
completes without error,
THEN the calendar for Org
owning the plan would be
used for bucketing.
By default Sales Order (SO)
has higher priority than
Forecast, does it mean if
SO on Day10 and Forecast
is on Day3, we still allocate
the supply to SO first and
starve the Forecast?
We do supply allocation by
allocation-bucket. In this
example if the bucket is
daily then the Forecast is
first allocated. We look for
demand priority within the
bucket. If the allocation
bucket in the above example
is monthly then we will first
allocate to SO because now
both the demands fall in the
same bucket and SO gets
higher priority over
Forecast.
Is it mandatory to define
supply allocation rules?
No. You can define default
fair share allocation rule on
the plan options- Main Tab
Can we have allocation
from some sources based
on org priority and from
other sources based on
demand prioritization rule?
No. Once we select Use
Organization Priority
Overrides" on the Main Tab
in Distribution Planning
Plan Option, it overrides all
other demand priority.
I have demand at Org2 and
Org1 is source, which has
supply. When I run
Distribution Planning plan,
I see two types of shipment
orders. It generates
recommended shipments
and planned shipments.
What is the difference
between the two types?
Recommended orders are
unconstrained orders used to
push down the demand to its
source. Whereas planned
shipment orders are actual
orders, which we can
release, and its based on
constrained supplies.
For more details , see
Managing Distribution
Plans in User Guide.
Which order modifiers are
considered by Distribution
Planning?
Distribution Planning
considers Fixed Lot
Multiplier (FLM). It can be
defined at item attributes
level for the destination org.
FLM can also be defined as
a source-destination pair for
the destination org, in the
supply allocation rule. The
FLM defined in supply
allocation rule is considered
first before item attribute
FLM.

In VCP 12.1.3.8, DRP now
supports two more order
modifiers: maximum order
quantity and minimum order
quantity. This is in addition
to the currently supported
fixed lot multiplier and
round order modifiers. Users
can specify maximum and
minimum order quantity as
an item attribute. Users can
also choose to specify each
newly supported order
modifier on the supply
allocation rule. Order
modifiers specified on a
supply allocation rule are
applied to transfers between
organizations. Ref the
release notes - Note
1462299.1
Ref Note 746824.1 for more
information on our
cumulative patches for
12.1.3.
Does Distribution Planning
support Planning Time
Fence (PTF)?
Yes. Within the PTF,
Distribution Planning
doesnt create any new
planned orders or any new
planned shipment
(inbound/outbound).
How does Infinite Time
Fence (ITF) Horizon Days
work? Is it applicable to all
the orgs?
ITF is applied to only those
orgs, which have a supply
schedule. Supplies outside
the ITF are considered
unconstrained (unlimited).
Trip consolidation and fair
share allocation is not done
outside the ITF
For more details , see
Defining Distribution
Plans in User Guide.
Are allocation buckets end
dates fixed or dynamic?
Allocation buckets end dates
are fixed, its based on the
planning calendar. Note that
if only weekly allocation
buckets are selected in the
plan option, then the number
of days in the first week
allocation bucket is
dynamic, depending on
which day of the week the
plan is run on. Similarly, if a
combination of daily and
weekly allocation buckets
are selected, then the
number of daily allocation
buckets is dynamic so that
the last daily allocation is
always the last day of the
first week in the plan.
I am not able to release
IR/ISO. Getting errors,
which look related to OM in
the log file
Go to OM / Set up /
Transaction types / Define.
Check if for the transaction
type Internal SO, all the
set up is correctly defined
be sure to check the
Effective Dates end date.
Also see:
Note.757599.1 - In
Distribution Planning When
Canceling, The Checkbox
'For Release' is Not
Unchecked After Release
Note.746762.1 - Release of
Shipments For DRP Plan
Errors When Trying To
Create Internal Req and
Internal Sales Order
What are the Distribution
Planning specific profiles,
which I need to be aware
of?
MSC: Distribution Planning
Ship Date
MSC: Cancel Outstanding
Sales order quantities
MSO: Maximum Inventory
level % of Safety Stock
MSO: Target Inventory
Level % of Safety Stock
MSC:Inventory Rebalancing
Surplus Inventory basis
MSC: DPP discrete job
cutoff window (Days)
For more details , see
Profile Options in User
Guide.
Why Does DRP Plan Show
Zero Qty for PO Or Req
With Action - Cancel?
Please see Note
760428.1 for the explanation
When releasing an internal
Order from Distribution
Planning, the In transit
Lead time is not reflected in
the Suggest dock date -
Why?
Please see Note
758493.1 for the explanation
How To Use The New User
Defined Row For The
Horizontal Plan in 11.5.10,
12.0 and 12.1
Please
see Note.743420.1 for the
explanation of this
functionality

Added 18-Sep-2009
Why do sometimes I dont
see my future firm supplies
netted with current demand
and I see a new planned
order created by DRP?
In DRP, we do netting of
supply and demand within
an allocation bucket.
So if allocation bucket is say
weekly then supplies of 2nd
week onwards wont be
used to meet the demand of
1st week.
This is current
functionality.
To make this functionality
more flexible, in R12 CU8
we have provided one
profile where based on the
business requirement, user
can select whether to net
supplies of next buckets to
meet demands of current
buckets. The profile name is
"MSC: Distribution
Planning Use Firm Supplies
and Minimize Excess
Supplies".
Note 421097.1 shows latest
CU (Cumulative) Patches
released for R12.0.4/12.0.6
With 11.5.10 source, why
am I not able to release
Inter Operating Unit
planned Inbound
shipments?
You need to set profile
MO:Operating Unit at the
Responsibility level as
Source Orgs operating unit ,
in which ISO gets created.
If you have a scenario where
some of the items are
sourced from one operating
unit and others sourced from
different operating unit then,
you need to create two
responsibilities and set the
profile MO:Operating Unit
at the responsibility level for
each. Use the correct
responsibility while
releasing planned inbound
shipment
CAUTION: In a distributed
installation, where you have
EBS Source and APS
Destination on separate
instances, then the
responsibility must be
defined on BOTH the EBS
Source and APS
Destination and all fields
must match exactly. Then
assign the responsibility to
the user in both instances
Sometimes I dont see
inventory rebalancing
happening even though I
have enough supplies in
the supplying org.
Inventory rebalancing tries
to meet demand on time. So
if we have demand in Org A
on day 3 and supply in org
B on Day 1 and transfer lead
time from B to A is 5 days
then DRP doesnt do
inventory rebalancing since
the demand in Org A cant
be met on time. In such
scenario , DRP creates
planned Inbound from the
primary source org even if
the demand is met late from
this source org.
Why Target Inventory level
when maintaining Safety
Stock is enough for me?
Target Inventory level
allows flexibility while
planning trip due dates. This
helps in planning effective
truckloads and thus utilizing
transport constraints
effectively. We can decide
whether we want to plan for
new supplies to meet Target
Inventory levels.
Moreover and most
importantly, target inventory
is used to push excess
supplies from plants into the
distribution system.
How can I define target and
maximum inventory levels?
Following hierarchy is used
to define and derive target
and maximum inventory
levels:
A) Time phased target and
max inventory levels can be
defined directly in DRP.
B) If not defined then
planning uses item attribute
level target and max
inventory definition.
C) If its not defined then
plan will use profiles, MSO:
Maximum Inventory level
% of Safety Stock and
MSO: Target Inventory
Level % of Safety Stock to
calculate inventory levels.
Why are All Planned Order
Supplies from Supply
Schedule (ASCP Plan) Firm
in the DRP Plan output?
Can We Release These
Planned Orders from the
DRP Plan?
Supply Schedule
Orders are always firm
in the plan output. This
is per design.
You cannot release
supplies that are
coming from ASCP
manufacturing plan
from a DRP distribution
plan.
The source of truth for
the supplies planning in
ASCP manufacturing
plans are those same
manufacturing plans.
Supplies need to
released from ASCP
manufacturing plans
only.
Can DRP see IR/ISO that is
created by Inventory Min-
Max Planning?
While we realize the right
way to do Min-Max
planning with DRP is to use
the Safety Stock / Target /
Maximum inventory levels
for DRP inventory
rebalancing .. But we are
currently using this solution
and cannot switch all
items/users at one time.
Yes, DRP will see these
IR/ISO's that have been
created IF the item is also
checked for DRP Planning
in the item setups.
Notes:
1. In order to
see all the
supplies and
demands,
both orgs
must be
included in
the plan
options and
sales orders
parameter
should be
checked.
2. Also if the
demand for
these items is
not in the
plan, then we
can
recommend
that we
cancel the
requisitions
and the sales
orders. So in
this case,
using profile
MRP: Firm
Internal
Orders
transfered to
OE = Yes
should be
used.