Supply Planning Overview
In PLAIO, supply planning represents the calculated response to demand, translated into inventory movements, replenishment plans, and projected availability over time. Supply planning answers: Given the current demand signal, inventory position, and constraints—how will demand be fulfilled?
PLAIO calculates orders by taking into account: direct and derived demand, review period, safety stock policy, ordering policy, supplier lead times, MOQ & IOQ, and BOM structure and quantity requirements. These calculations appear in Supply Plan worksheets, inventory projection views, and supply overview views.
Supply Calculation and Replenishment
For each period, PLAIO projects inventory by accounting for opening stock, incoming supply, and outgoing demand. When projected inventory falls below safety stock thresholds, replenishment orders are calculated respecting lead times and ordering constraints.
Replenishment calculations account for lead times, safety stock targets, minimum and incremental order quantities, and order frequency constraints. The resulting supply plan reflects what needs to be ordered or produced, and when, visible in planned order columns, receipt timing views, and supply suggestion indicators.
Multi-Level Planning and Constraint Preservation
When products are connected through BOMs, PLAIO generates supply requirements upstream. Demand for a finished product generates supply requirements for components and raw materials, inventory projections at each BOM level, and replenishment plans across the structure. Planners can trace supply requirements across BOM levels through supply views filtered by BOM level, BOM-linked inventory projections, and multi-level supply tables.
PLAIO preserves the integrity of supply calculations throughout the planning process. Supply is not artificially adjusted to eliminate shortages, inventory policies are not silently overridden, and constraints are not ignored to force feasibility. When supply cannot meet demand under current assumptions, this is made visible through shortage indicators, inventory risk views, and exception-focused supply views.
Supply Overview Grid
The Supply Overview Grid provides planners with a consolidated view of supply and demand data at the SKU level. It aggregates order information, inventory projections, and demand signals into a single worksheet that supports decision-making across the planning horizon.
Key data series displayed in the Supply Overview Grid include:
Total Orders: The combined quantity of all supply orders for an SKU, providing the overall replenishment picture.
FF Orders (Fulfillable Orders): Orders where all necessary subcomponents are available in inventory.
UF Orders (Unfilfillable Orders): Supply orders that cannot be fulfilled due to component shortages.
Demand Types: Breakdown of demand sources including FF Demand, UF Demand, Direct Demand, and Derived Demand.
FF Demand: Total demand that can be met by current inventory, based on available components. FEFO (First Expired, First Out).
UF Demand: Unfullable demand that cannot be fulfilled due to insufficient inventory or component availability. This creates backorders when positive.
Direct Demand: Demand for items that are sold directly to customers, coming from forecasts or external customer orders.
Derived Demand: Component demand created when parent items that use this component are planned for production. This demand is "passed down" through the bill of materials (BOM) structure.
Inventory Levels: Current and projected inventory positions across the planning horizon.
The grid also includes a chart visualization that allows planners to see trends and patterns across time periods. Planners can click on legend items to show or hide specific data series, making it easier to focus on particular aspects of the supply picture.
By presenting supply and demand information in a unified grid format, the Supply Overview Grid helps planners quickly identify imbalances, assess coverage, and prioritize actions across their product portfolio.