Edward Josling Director

In many cases, a variability factor of more than 1 (100%) is required to adequate size the red / safety zone. Currently you cannot specify a value more than 1. We need to be able to specify a value more than 1.

When we look at the DDMRP form "Decoupling points by net flow" it will only include items that are decoupled (buffered). It would be nice to have all items (buffered / non-buffered) in the same view as the net flow view, with an indications of the planning method (coverage type), then the planner would not have to jump between screens all the time. At the moment, they look at the net flow positions and then have to jump to the standard planned orders form to view all the non-buffered items. It will also give them a more complete picture of the status of all the items.

An example would be a storage warehouse where raw material is kept and then it is transfered to the production warehouse for consumption. Part of the modeling, the item is buffered in the storage warehouse, but is non-buffered at the production warehouse.

Currently the spike threshold can only be specified as a quantity on the item coverage record. Can this be changed to a percentage of the red zone please as this is the typical way the spike is defined?

Also, can the spike threshold also be moved and or added to the item coverage group setup? Typically, the spike is managed on the buffer / coverage group level.

For DDMRP (decoupling) planning, the spike horizon is determined by the coverage time fence defined within the coverage group. However, we need the flexibility to configure the spike horizon at two levels:

• Default Level: It should default to the decoupled lead time of the item.
• Group Level: There should be an option to adjust (increase or decrease) the spike horizon at the coverage group level, ideally with a factor.

Using the coverage time fence for this purpose is not practical. Doing so would require us to create separate coverage groups—or buffer profiles—based on varying lead times, which adds unnecessary complexity. Additionally, this approach could result in excluding potential actual demand and receipts from consideration in the net flow calculation.

According to the official DDMRP definition, qualified demand should only include actual (or firmed) demand. For instance an actual created sales order, transfer order or works order. Currently, even planned demand - based on the net requirements calculation - is included in the qualified demand calculation.

It would be a great addition if the buffer status as well as the priority can be updated automatically AFTER a planned order is firmed.

Currently, we need to initiate a manual planning update on the item(s) after orders have been firmed.

In DDMRP planning methodology, there is also the concept of a non-buffered part (think of make-to-order items). The same net flow equation is used and planned orders are only then generated where the net flow is negative (On-hand + on-order - qualified demand) < 0. The exception with non-buffered managed parts are that the net flow is not compared against the buffer (because there is no buffer).