Production planning
Plan production and generate work orders
State how much of a product to make and by when, release the plan, then generate its work orders in one go or in batches and follow its progress.
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In this article
A production plan states which finished product to make, how much and by when. It is the planner's tool: once a plan is released, it generates the work orders that the factory actually runs, and its progress follows those orders.
Before you start
The product needs an approved BOM, or it will not appear in the plan form.
To generate work orders, the product also needs an approved routing.
Create a plan
Open Manufacturing › Production Planning › View Production Plans and select New plan.
Choose the Product / BOM. Only products with an approved BOM are listed.
Enter the Quantity and the Start date and End date. The end date must be after the start date.
Optionally link the Sales invoice this plan fulfils. This is for traceability only. It does not change quantities, dates or cost. Leave it empty for production to forecast or to stock.
Choose the Priority. Urgent and high plans are scheduled ahead of medium and low ones when capacity is limited.
Select Save. The plan starts as Planned.
The panel How production planning works on the list page summarises the same steps.
Release the plan and create work orders
On a planned plan, select Release and confirm. The plan becomes Released and can no longer be edited.
Select Create work orders.
In Batch size (optional), enter the quantity per work order, or leave it empty to create one work order for the full quantity. Choose the work order Type.
Select Create work orders.
The system splits the quantity that is not yet scheduled into work orders of the batch size and spreads their dates evenly across the plan's period. It uses the product's active BOM and its newest approved routing, and gives each order the plan's priority. The new orders start as Planned, and the plan moves to In Progress. You can generate more work orders later until the whole quantity is scheduled.
Follow the plan
Click a plan to open it.
Work orders lists the orders created from the plan with their Order #, Planned qty, Completed qty and status.
Component requirements lists each Component with its Code, the quantity Required for the plan, what is On hand and the Shortage.
The demand source shows the linked sales invoice, or Forecast / stock.
When the plan's work orders are completed, the plan becomes Completed by itself.
Cancel or delete a plan
Delete is available only while the plan is Planned.
Cancel plan works on planned, released and in-progress plans, but only when none of its work orders is still open. Cancel those work orders first. See Cancel or reverse a work order.
Common questions
Can I create plans automatically? Yes. Run MRP creates one released plan per forecast product.
The Create work orders action says the product has no approved routing. Approve a routing for the product first. See Create and approve a routing.