Supply Planning & Network Design
Community converts demand into a heuristic constrained supply plan. Enterprise adds the mathematical optimization required to choose structural network alternatives against a global objective.
MPS/MRP determines what must be produced, purchased and transferred under the current network. Network Design determines which locations and structural alternatives should exist.
01 · COMMUNITY MPS/MRP
The heuristic traverses materials, locations, periods, production versions, routings and bills of material in sequence. It generates purchase requirements, multi-stage production, transfers and projected inventory without using a mathematical solver.
02 · COMMUNITY CONSTRAINED PLAN
Starting from the unconstrained requirement, heuristic capacity leveling uses available production capacity, build-ahead, alternative routings and eligible origins. Transfers are positioned through the lane lead time, and any residual remains visible in the Constrained Plan.
03 · ENTERPRISE NETWORK DESIGN
Brownfield and Greenfield analysis suggests candidates and decides which plants, warehouses or distribution centers should be activated or deactivated. This decision is optimizer-dependent and therefore exists only in Enterprise.
04 · ENTERPRISE GLOBAL OBJECTIVE
The solver evaluates candidate locations and flows simultaneously, balancing fixed logistics cost, tier-1 and tier-2 freight, production cost, raw materials, capacity, service and margin instead of applying sequential rules.
The Community engine is deterministic and sequential: it produces a feasible operational answer, but it does not claim to find the global economic optimum.
The numbered rows make the constrained-planning and Network Design scope explicit. Only Enterprise uses an optimizer to redesign the network or solve all alternatives simultaneously against an economic objective.
| Capability | Community | Pro / Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Network, routings, BOMs and production-version master data | Included Input structure for MPS/MRP; this is not Network Design. | Included, with managed governance and scale. |
| Heuristic MPS/MRP | Included Sequential generation of purchase, production, transfer and inventory requirements. | Included as a fast planning option. |
| Capacity- and lead-time-aware Constrained Plan | Included Heuristic capacity leveling, build-ahead and eligible origins, without a solver. | Expanded with simultaneous optimization and advanced constraints. |
| Point 06AUnconstrained, Constrained and Working Plan scenarios | Included The heuristic exposes the unrestricted requirement, applies capacity and lead-time rules, and preserves the feasible plan and residual gaps. | Expanded with optimizer-driven scenarios and advanced constraints. |
| Point 06BConstraint gap, sales impact and sensitivity analysis | Capacity bottlenecks and unserved residuals remain visible for planner review. | Enterprise Trace the demand affected by each productive, logistics, material or lead-time restriction and test the additional capacity or lead-time reduction required for full service. |
| Point 01Brownfield / Greenfield Network Design | Not included Network data supports planning, but Community does not redesign the network. | Enterprise Suggest candidate locations and optimize which plants, warehouses or distribution centers should be activated or deactivated. |
| Network Design economic trade-off | Not included | Enterprise Balance fixed logistics cost, tier-1 and tier-2 freight, production, raw materials, capacity, service and margin under one global objective. |
| Global optimizer and process-chain orchestration | Not included | Enterprise Service, cost, inventory, capacity and margin solved together. |