Advanced Supply Chain

Planning
Support Feature Document

For Distribution Planning

Saurabh Surendra
Author:
Creation
31 October 2006
Date:
Last
04 September 2008
Updated:
File
397199.1_FD_ASCP_Distribution_Planning.htm
Name:
Version: 1.2
Status: In Review
1.1 Published 13-Mar-07
Revision
1.2 04-Sep-08 - Updated Implementation considerations for new
12.0.4 requirements and 11.5.10 integration info

Oracle Confidential – For Internal and Customer Use Only

Document Control
Document Control is maintained in the Internal Master List @Note 394274.1

Table of Contents
 1. Introduction
2. Feature Descriptions
3. Minimum Level Requirements (Product)
4. New or Changed Profiles, Forms and Objects
5. Reports
6. Implementation Considerations
7. How To Setup and Use This Feature
8. Performance Considerations
9. Troubleshooting Tips
10. References
11. Feedback

1. Introduction
The objective of the Support Feature Document is to provide information
on the new feature, Distribution Planning, introduced in a Release 12 from
a technical and functional perspective so that Oracle Support and
Customers have the necessary information to help implement and
troubleshoot the new features.

Disclaimer: This document is for informational purposes only and is intended

solely to assist you in planning for the implementation and upgrade of the
product features described. It is not a commitment to deliver any material,
code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing
decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or
functionality described in this document remains at the sole discretion of
Oracle.

Due to the nature of the product architecture, it may not be possible to safely
include all features described in this document without risking significant
destabilization of the code.

Return to TOC

2. Feature Descriptions
Overview
The APS distribution planning enhancements provide distribution intensive
companies with the additional features required to effectively plan product
movement across the supply chain. Automating the distribution processes with
distribution planning yields an optimal supply allocation for your distribution
network and increased planner efficiency.

The new distribution (DRP) planning features include fair share allocation,
multiple inventory policies, circular sourcing, global forecasting with local
allocation of supply, and ship method selection with load consolidation.
Access distribution planning with the new Distribution Planner responsibility
to set up rules and to define and view DRP plans

For manufacturers, DRP allows the planner to select one or more ASCP
manufacturing plans as supply schedules. It then efficiently distributes the
statement of supply from the ASCP plans. Distributors need only use DRP,
and can also define supplier capacities in Oracle Purchasing that are respected
by DRP. DRP supports kitting for distributors with minimal kit assembly
requirements.

Use fair share allocation to define rules that automatically allocate scarce
supplies between competing demands with the same priority. With the new
supply allocation form, users specify the fair share allocation methods
between multiple organizations. In the updated assignment set form, planners
assign the new supply allocation rules to organizations, categories, and items.
New exceptions alert the planner to supply allocation problems.

Multiple inventory policies allow planners to specify safety stock, target and
maximum inventory levels for each item-organization. Planners create bands
of inventory levels and inventory levels should fluctuate between the safety
stock (or minimum) inventory level and the target inventory level.
Occasionally, inventory may exceed target but never exceeds the maximum at
any point in the distribution network. DRP maintains optimal inventory
balances using supply allocation rules and load consolidation rules to decide
when to ship early, on time or late. New exceptions alert the planner to safety
stock, target and maximum inventory level violations.

Circular sourcing allows the user to create mutual sourcing relationships

between organizations. DRP balances inventory between the defined circular
source organizations before drawing inventory from central sources, thereby
achieving efficient distribution of product without planner intervention. The
enhanced sourcing rules form allows the specification of circular sourcing
relationships. New exceptions alert the planner to the user of circular sources.

Global forecasting allows the planner to create global forecasts and sourcing
rules that automatically allocate both global forecasts and sales orders to the
correct source distribution center. For each demand, global forecasting
 considers who and where the customer is, the customer assigned sourcing
rules and inventory availability when selecting the source organization.

Ship method selection and load consolidation between organizations allows

the planner to focus on planner activities. The planner no longer needs to
manipulate individual internal transfers to achieve efficient truck utilization
across the distribution network. In the updated transit times form, the user
specifies weight and volume capacity constraints by ship method. Next, users
specify the maximum and minimum shipment utilization targets in the DRP
plan options. DRP creates transfers between organizations that meet the load
consolidation criteria. When DRP violates the shipment minimum or
maximum because of other constraints, the user is alerted to the problem with
new exception messages.

Define DRP plans using the new DRP plan definitions form where the user
can specify global fair share allocation rules, load consolidation targets,
planning periods, load consolidation days horizon, supply allocation bucket
sizes and circular sourcing parameters. Users specify the planned
organizations with all relevant demand and supply schedules. Users enable the
individual User Defined Decision Rules to control plan output.

The DRP planner’s workbench enhancements include the supply allocation

plan and the find opportunities window. The supply allocation plan allows
planners to quickly view and adjust supply allocations between competing
demands from customers and other organizations. Planners use the find
opportunities window to quickly find additional internal transfers to improve a
shipment’s utilization. DRP horizontal plan enhancements allow the planner
to easily view the movement of product through a distribution network.

Distribution (DRP) planning is fully integrated with the Oracle E-Business

Suite and Oracle Supply Chain Planning including Collaborative Planning
(CP), Demand Planning (DP), Inventory Optimization (IO), Advanced Supply
Chain Planning (ASCP) and Global Order Promising (GOP). The planners can
integrate DRP, CP and Oracle Inventory for advanced VMI capabilities. The
DRP plan accepts DP and IO output as demand schedules. GOP can be based
on DRP plans, allowing the up to date and accurate inventory visibility across
the supply chain.

Details

1. The existing Distribution Requirements Plan (DRP) has been renamed to

Master Plan (MPP) and the new introduced plan type is Distribution Plan
(DPP).

2. The new Distribution Plan uses the same configuration setup (calendar, org
structure, item, BOM, ASL, etc.), supplies, demands and cost data as ASCP.
 DPP uses cost data just to calculate KPI and not for any cost based
optimization.

3. New order types

º Requested Inboud/Outbound Shipments – Unconstrained supply/demand
representing internal transfer.
º Planned Inbound/Outbound Shipments – Constrained supply/demand
representing internal transfer.
º Unconstrained Kit Demand – Unconstrained dependent demand for
components of kit derived from make planned order of kit.
º Constrained Kit Demand – Constrained dependent demand for components
of kit derived from make planned order of kit.

4. DPP plans can be passed to MPP/MPS/MRP plans as input demand schedule.

This is done when manufacturing plans are to be driven by decisions made by
distribution plan.

5. DPP plans can be passed to other DPP plans as demand or supply schedules.
This is done in order to subset the planning problem into multiple DPP plans.
When a DPP plan is fed as a demand schedule to a particular organization
then the system reads interplant (transfer) demands where the source org is
that particular org. Feeding a DPP plan as a supply schedule to another DPP
plan is equivalent of feeding MPP/MPS/MRP plans as supply schedule to
DPP which is considered as a statement of available supply.

6. Items can be enabled for Distribution Planning by enabling a new item

attribute – DRP Planned – in the MPS/MRP Planning tab. This is an item/org
attribute.

7. Multiple Inventory Policies – Distribution plans have the concept of Safety

Stock, Target Inventory Level and Maximum Inventory Level. The three
values combine to create the concept of bands of inventory levels in each
organization.

o Maximum and Target inventory levels are set as item attributes at org level in the
MPS/MRP Planning tab in the new region called Distribution Planning. These can
be set as Days of Supply or Window.
o If these attributes have not been set for an item then DPP can be instructed to
calculate Maximum and Target inventory levels as percentage of safety stock
through the following two newly introduced profiles - MSO: Maximum Inventory
Level % of Safety Stock and MSO: Target Inventory Level % of Safety Stock.
Both these profiles should be greater than or equal to 100.
o Time phased Maximum and Target inventory levels can also be manually entered
at item-org level in the Inventory Optimization inventory levels form.
o If Maximum Inventory Level has been entered in more ways than one then DPP
 uses the following defaulting hierarchy:

• Use manually entered values in the IO form

• If that is not available then use item attribute for Maximum Inventory
Level
• If that is also not entered then use the profile MSO: Maximum Inventory
Level % of Safety Stock
• If the profile is not set then use the item attributes for VMI
• If that is also not there then assume that max inventory level is not defined
and not a constraint.

o If Target Inventory Level has been entered in more ways than one then DPP uses
the following defaulting hierarchy:

• Use manually entered values in the IO form

• If that is not available then use item attribute for Target Inventory Level
• If that is also not entered then use the profile MSO: Target Inventory Level
% of Safety Stock
• If the profile is not set then Target Inventory Level = Safety Stock
Inventory Level

o Distribution Plans always plans safety stock unlike MPP/MPS/MRP plans where
safety stock needs to be explicitly enabled at each org.
o Distribution Plan smoothes safety stock by allocation bucket and not by change
interval.
o Target and Maximum Inventory Levels are also smoothed just as safety stock.

8. Distribution Plans respect Sourcing Rules and BODs just as MPP/MPS/MRP

plans

9. Distribution Plans respect Demand Priorities by Demand Type and Demand

Class. There are six demand types

o Sales Orders
o Over-consumption Sales Orders
o Forecasts
o Safety Stock Level Demands
o Target Inventory Level Demands
o Excess Demand
The priorities of the first three demand types can be manually changed and
also further qualified at demand class level. The priorities of the last three
demand types are fixed as 4, 5 and 6, respectively and cannot be changed.

10. Supply Allocation – Distribution plans use special logic in order to allocate
supplies to destinations. This is mainly achieved through Supply Allocation
Rules.
o The Supply Allocation rules determine how supply is allocated outwards from
more central locations to decreasingly central locations. The Supply Allocation
rules are a mirror image of the sourcing rules. That is, a local sourcing rule defines
multiple sources of supply for a single receiving organization. The Supply
Allocation rules define allocations for multiple destinations from a single shipping
organization.
o Supply Allocation rules are setup in a new form. This is then assigned to an org,
category-org or item-org via assignment sets.
o Supply Allocation Rules are used to:

• Decide how supply is allocated to competing demands when supply is

insufficient.
• Override end-demand priorities for inter-organization demands by
assigning demand priorities to destination orgs.
• Enter different fixed-lot multiplier for different destination organization.

o Fair Share Allocation method is entered in the Supply Allocation Rule which is
used to decide how supply is allocated to various destination organizations. These
methods as listed below. With the exception of Order Sizes method, all the other
methods determine a Fair Share percent of the available supply which is allocated
to each competing demand.

• None: First come first serve logic is used.

• Fixed Percent Method: Percentage manually entered in the allocation rule
is used.
• Safety Stock Ratio Method: For an organization, the Fair Share Percent =
the organization safety stock level / total of all Organization Safety Stock
Levels.
• Current Demand Ratio Method: Fair Share Percents are calculated based
on the quantity of the competing demands in the current allocation bucket.
• Order Size Method: When Order Size Method is selected, then the user
must specify the fixed lot multiplier values and optionally. The
organization with the largest fixed lot multiplier is allocated a fixed lot
multiplier order size quantity, then the next organization is allocated a
fixed lot multiplier order size quantity, then the next until all supply is used
up or there is not enough supply to satisfy any fixed lot multiplier.

o To enable rapid setup, users can select a default fair share allocation method on the
plan options form. The default method is applied to all item-destination orgs
except where a Supply Allocation Rule has been explicitly defined.
o Distribution Plans applies fair share allocation to customer demands (Sales Orders
and Forecasts) as well. The approach taken for this is same as the Current Demand
Ratio Method. The level at which the method is applied can be entered as a plan
option. Valid values are - None, Demand Class, Customer and Customer Site.
o Fair Share Allocation can also be applied in allocating limited supplier capacity to
various receiving organizations. The moethod to be used for this is also entered as
 a plan option and is applicable for all suppliers. The options available here are a
subset of options available for inter-organization transfers in the Supply Allocation
Rules. Valid settings are - None, Safety Stock Ratio and Current Demand Ratio
o Supply Allocation happens by allocation bucket and not by planning buckets.

11. Inventory Rebalancing – This is achieved using mutual sourcing

relationships between organizations through circular sourcing.

o Inventory rebalancing relationships are created using local sourcing rules and
BODs.
o Both the organizations involved in this must have the other organazation as
"Transfer From" source. Also the checkbox "Inventory Rebalance" should be
checked.
o The supplies in the inventory rebalance relationship are used first before additional
supplies are sourced from other locations.
o Only firm supplies (On hand, firm scheduled receipts, firm planned orders) are
considered for this.
o Only Surplus projected available balance is considered as a source of supply for a
inventory rebalancing demand. Surplus could be calculated as (PAB - Target
Inventory Level) or (PAB - Safety Stock Inventory Level) depending upon the
setting of the profile option MSC: Inventory Rebalancing Surplus Inventory Basis.
o A new plan option Inventory Rebalancing Surplus Days (IRSD) is used to allow
the user to specify some number of days that the 'surplus' must exist before it can
be used as a supply for a inventory rebalancing demand.

12. Load Consolidation – Distribution plans can consolidate inter-org shipments

in order to utilize ship method capacity effectively.

o Distribution plans respect Shipping Networks, Ship Methods and Trip Limits. The
trip limit is a weight maximum or a volume maximum or both. This can be setup
in Ship Methods form from Shipping Network or Inter-Location Transit Times.
o User can enter Minimum and Maximum Trip Utilization % and instruct DPP to
keep trip utilization between these two.
o Distribution plan can recommend early shipments in order to utilize truck loads.
o Distribution planner's workbench further allows user to find opportunities to trip
consolidation. User can modify plan's recommendation in order to improve trip
utilization.
o For an inter-org transfer, if a range of dates satisfy all the requirements then a new
profile MSC: Distribution Planning Ship Date is used to arrive at the date.
o If an internal transfer is too big for the maximum trip size, then the internal
transfer is automatically split.

13. Distribution plans respect shipping, transit and receiving calendars

14. DRP selects Ship Methods by working through the list of available ship
methods. The list is sorted in the following order:
 o Rank (lowest value first)
o Cost (lowest cost first)
o In Transit Time (shortest intransit time first)
o Maximum Trip Weight (highest value first)

15. New purchase requisitions and reschedule of existing purchase orders are
created in DRP at the shipment level, not the distribution level. Further the
DPP planning engine also has the capability to recommend a quantity change
to purchase requisitions and purchase orders.

16. Releasing transfer planned orders from DPP directly creates both Internal
Requisition as well as Internal Sales Order.

17. For sales order demands, if the order line must be shipped complete, then only
complete quantities are allocated to the sales order. If a complete quantity is
not available, then if Fair Share would suggest a partial quantity, the partial
quantity is not allocated.

18. Distribution plan considers warehouse capacity constraints but does not
enforce them. It provides an exception message when the warehouse capacity
is exceeded.

19. DPP can plan for multi-level PTO BOMs for "Kitting" and explode
requirements to kit components. However it does not consider
routings/resources. DPP can also recommend to alternate BOM and substitute
components through the use of decision rules.

20. Kit planned orders can be released to create discrete jobs.

21. Distribution Plans respect Planning Time Fence.

22. DPP plans in daily and weekly buckets. Load consolidation is not performed
in the weekly planning buckets.

23. Distribution Plans have the concept of Infinite Time Fence which is set as
number of days from plan run date as a plan option. If supply schedules are
loaded into a DPP and if items in the supply schedule have demands in excess
of supplies then DPP can recommend new planned orders at the infinite time
fence. This is unlike MPP/MPS/MRP plans which creates planned orders only
at the plan horizon.

24. Distribution Plans do not have concept of ECC vs. EDD plans. DPP always
works in enforce constraints mode. There are certain constraints that are
always honoured while there are some that can be optionally enforced through
plan options. There are also some soft constraints which are considered by the
plan but not enforced.
 o Optional Enforced or Not Enforced Constraints.

• Purchasing Lead-time
• Supplier Capacity

o Un-enforced (Soft) Constraints .

• Demand Due Date

• Target Inventory Level

o Enforced Constraints.

• Intransit Lead Time

• Shipping/Receiving/Intransit Calendars
• Maximum Inventory Levels: enforced in destination organizations when
considering transfers in. However, DPP does not transfer out to avoid a
maximum inventory level violation.
• Safety Stock Inventory Levels (enforced constraint in the sense that this
can cause Trip Consolidation constraint to be violated).
• Maximum Trip Weight and Volume
• Fixed Lot Multiplier

25. Distribution Plans can follow Fill or Kill sales order policy through the profile
option MSC: Cancel Oustanding Sales Order Quantities. Fill or Kill means
that if the sales order quantity cannot be met by the Latest Acceptable Date,
then any open quantity is considered canceled after the Latest Acceptable
Date.

26. Distribution Plans support On line / Batch replan.

27. If the plan option checkbox, "Enable Sales Order Splits" is checked then the
DPP planning engine splits sales order lines when the full sales order line
quantity is not available on the Suggested Due Date

28. DPP allows the user to adjust allocations to demands by firming the demand
which in turn causes DPP to allocate first to the firm demands.

29. Following exceptions have been added for Distribution Plans.

o Supply Exceptions for Late Sales Orders and Forecasts.

• Allocation Constraint
• Item shipment Consolidated to a Later Date
• Sales Order Cancellation
 o Material Capacity

• Organization Capacity Exceeded

• Material Shortage

o Substitutes and alternates used

• Alternate / Changed Ship Method

• Planned Order uses Inventory Rebalance Source

o Transportation and distribution

• Trip Under Utilized

• Trip Over Utilized

o Reschedules

• Sales Order Line Allocation Split

• Order Quantity Change

o Shortages and excess

• Items below Target

• Items above Target
• Items above Maximum

o Recommendations

• Trip Recommendations

30. DPP supports the same data flows that are enabled between ASCP and
Collaborative Planning (CP).

31. ATP/CTP can be performed based in DPP plans. However in such a case CTP
considers only components, i.e. resources are not considered. Also ATP for
ATO and allocated ATP are not supported.

Return to TOC

3. Minimum Level Requirements (Product)

Advanced Supply Chain Planning with Constraint Based Optimization
Return to TOC

4. New or Changed Profiles, Forms and Objects

Reponsibilities

Name: Distribution Planner

Application: Advanced Supply Chain Planning

Profiles

o MSC: Apply Safety Stock Change interval to non MRP Planned Safety Stock
> This profile can be set at the Site, Responsibility, or User
> Determines if safety stock smoothing within allocation buckets is applied to
inventory optimization safety stocks and user entered safety stock
> Values
- Yes: Smoothing within allocation buckets is done to all safety stocks including
user entered values, inventory optimization safety stocks and MRP planned safety
stocks (based on the other smoothing profile options).
- No: smoothing is only done to MRP planned safety stocks. Inventory
optimization safety stocks and user entered safety stocks are not smoothed.In
weekly and period allocation buckets, the value on the last working day is used as
the value for the entire buckets.
o MSO: Target Inventory Level % of Safety Stock
> This profile can be set at the Site, Responsibility, or User
> Percentage that should be applied to safety stock in order to arrive at Target
Inventory Level.
> Valid values are NULL or numbers greater than or equal to 100.
o MSO: Maximum Inventory Level % of Safety Stock
> This profile can be set at the Site, Responsibility, or User
> Percentage that should be applied to safety stock in order to arrive at Maximum
Inventory Level.
> Valid values are NULL or numbers greater than or equal to 100.
o MSC: Inventory Rebalancing Surplus Inventory Basis
> This profile can be set at the Site, Responsibility, or User
> Basis for calculating surplus to be considered by the inventory rebalancing process.
> Values
- Target: "Surplus" inventory is defined as the quantity of projected available
balance greater than target inventory level. Target inventory level demands are
considered by inventory rebalancing.
- Safety Stock: "Surplus" inventory is defined as the quantity of projected
available balance greater than safety stock inventory level. Target inventory level
 demands are ignored by inventory rebalancing.
o MSC: Distribution Planning Ship Date
> This profile can be set at the Site, Responsibility, or User
> Controls the behavior of the DRP plan with regard to a trip that is considered for
load consolidation.
> Values
- Ship Full Trips Early or Ship Latest (Target): The Ship Date is set to the
earliest possible ship date when the trip is utilized. In this case, the trip leaves the
source organization just as soon as all of the internal transfers on the trip are
available to ship and the trip utilization is above the plan minimum utilization for
either weight or cube. Note that this respects the maximum inventory levels in the
destination organization. If the trip does not meet minimum utilization, then the
trip arrives at the destination organization just in time to prevent PAB going
below target inventory level for one or more of the internal transfers on the trip.
- Latest Possible Ship Date (Target): The ship date is always set to the latest
possible ship date. In this case, the trip arrives at the destination organization just
in time to prevent unconstrained PAB going below target inventory level for one
or more of the internal transfers on the trip.
- Ship Full Trips Early or Ship Latest (SS): Same as Ship Full Trips Early or
Ship Latest (Target), except that if the trip does not meet minimum utilization,
then the trip arrives at the destination organization just in time to prevent PAB
going below safety stock inventory level for one or more of the internal transfers
on the trip.
- Latest Possible Ship Date (SS): Same as Latest Possible Ship Date (Target),
except that in this case, the trip arrives at the destination organization just in time
to prevent unconstrained PAB going below safety stock inventory level for one or
more of the internal transfers on the trip
o MSC: Cancel Oustanding Sales Order Quantities
> This profile can be set at the Site, Responsibility, or User
> Controls Fill or Kill for sales orders.
> Values
- Yes: If the sales order quantity cannot be met by the Latest Acceptable Date,
then any open quantity is considered canceled.
-
No: Open quantities are considered even after Latest Acceptable Date.

Forms

o Distribution Plan Names

> Navigation: Distribution Plans > Names
> MSCFPCDP.fmb
> Displays DPP plan names in the current organization.
o Plan Options
> Navigation: Distribution Plans > Options
> MSCFPDRP.fmb
 > Allows various plan options to be set that are spread across four tabs.
o Planner's Workbench
> Navigation: Distribution Plans > Workbench
> MSCFNDRP.fmb
> Displays various plan outputs and allows users to act on them.
> Context Windows:
- Plan Summary: This shows the plan's summary, user-configurable most
important exceptions and KPIs along with targets.
- Trips and Trip Allocation Details: Displays trip details.
- Allocation Plan: This is similar in type to the horizontal plan. It presents the
planner with allocation information by allocation bucket and allows the user to
enter updated allocations directly in the allocation plan.

Objects

o New Tables
> MSC_DRP_ALLOC_RULES - Allocation rules used by distribution planning
> MSC_DRP_ALLOC_RULE_DATES - Time phases of DPP allocation rules
> MSC_DRP_ALLOC_RECEIPT_RULES - Allocation rules for receiving orgs
> MSC_DRP_ITEM_ALLOCATIONS - Denormalized table containing allocation
rules used by the plan
> MSC_ALLOCATION_DETAILS - Allocation details by priority for distribution
planning
> MSC_ALLOCATION_LINES - Allocation Lines loaded onto shipments for load
consolidation.
> MSC_ALLOCATION_BUCKETS - Allocation bucket start and end dates for
distribution planning
> MSC_DRP_DMD_PRI_RULES - Demand priority rules used in DPP for
assigning priorities to end demands and inventory levels
> MSC_DRP_PRI_RULES_CALC - Calculated demand priorities
> MSC_SHIPMENTS - Shipments for DPP
> MSC_TRIPS - Trips
> MSC_TRIP_STOPS - Trip stops
> MSC_SINGLE_LVL_PEG - DPP pegging

Files

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5. Reports
Concurrent Programs
 o Supply Allocation Rules Assignment Set Validation
> This program compares the Supply Allocation rules with the Sourcing Network and
alerts the user to inconsistencies between Supply Allocation and Sourcing Rules
> Parameters
- Instance
- Assignment Set
- Check For :
Source - no supply allocation rules
Supply allocation rule missing destination
Sourcing rule missing
Incomplete supply allocation rules for source org
Missing demand priority override rules

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6. Implementation Considerations
Implementation Release Level

• Distribution Planning requires both source and destination instances on

Release 12.0.4 (per Note 412702.1 requirements of June-2008)
OR

• APS Instance can be on R12.0.4 and ERP source can be 11.5.10 (Integration
released Oct-2007 – ref Note 412702.1)

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7. How To Setup and Use This Feature

Set Up Tasks

• Define key distribution planning profile options

• Define organizations
and setup inter-org relationships

• Define carriers and associate with ship methods and orgs

• Define inter-org shipping lanes

 • Define shipping and receiving calendars

• Define distribution planned items and set key attributes

• Define safety stock inventory levels

• Define target inventory levels

• Define maximum inventory levels

• Define BOM’s for kitting

• Define demand priority rule

• Define trip limits for ship methods by lane

• Define sourcing rules

• Define supply allocation rules

• Assign sourcing and supply allocation rules to items

• Define organization and customer selection lists

• Define distribution plan preferences

• Define distribution plans

Return to TOC

8. Performance Considerations
The memory and runtime requirements are typically data specific and depend on
data volumes involved. It would be positively correlated to

• Number of item / orgs with activity

• Ratio of the average daily shipments between locations to load limit

• Ratio of the average demand quantity with respect to the fixed lot multiplier

• Average number of alternate ship methods

• Granularity of demand prioritization

 • Load consolidation horizon

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9. Troubleshooting Tips
o Examine the log file if any failure.
o Examine setup entities and verify the necessary data have been collected properly.
o Verify the additional setup required at destination instance.
> Supply allocation rules
> Shipment limits
> Plan options
> DRP related profile options
o Obtain dat files just as MPP/MPS/MRP plans.

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10. References
Documentation - R12 Advanced Supply Chain Planning Implementation and
Users Guide - B31553-01

See the overview in Chapter 1 - pgs 4-8 and Chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 for this
new functionality

TOI Presentations – there are 5 TOI’s for this extensive new functionality –
these are very important documents that should be reviewed in detail by any new
user of this functionality.

R12: Oracle ASCP - Distribution Planning Functional Overview

(Introduction)

Powerpoint PDF - PPT_DP-1_Intro.pdf

R12: Oracle ASCP - Distribution Planning Functional Overview (Setup)

Powerpoint PDF - PPT_DP-2_Setup.pdf

 R12: Oracle ASCP - Distribution Planning Functional Overview (Define
Plans)

Powerpoint PDF - PPT_DP-3_Define_plans.pdf

R12: Oracle ASCP - Distribution Planning Functional Overview (Analyze

Plans)

Powerpoint PDF - PPT_DP-4_Analyze_Plans.pdf

R12: Oracle ASCP - Distribution Planning Functional Overview (Manage

Plans)

Powerpoint PDF - PPT_DP-5_Manage_Plans.pdf

Other Documents

Release Content Document - Support Enhanced Version - Note 414332.1

Release Content Document - standard released version

Note 412702.1 -Getting Started With R12 - FAQ for Advanced Planning and
Scheduling (APS) Suite

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FAQ - Distribution
Planning in R12 -
DRP / DPP

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 don’t 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 don’t 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?
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.
***Checked for relevance on 20-May-2010***

Purpose
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(BOM’s). 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 customer’s Sales Order (SO) over other or one org’s
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 it’s 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.

Does Distribution Planning support Planning Time Fence (PTF)?

Yes. Within the PTF, Distribution Planning doesn’t 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, it’s 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 don’t 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 won’t 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 don’t 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 doesn’t do
inventory rebalancing since the demand in Org A can’t 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.

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.