When you create an order, the system determines the required materail availability date on the basis of the customer’s requested delivery date. On this date, you must begin picking, packing, labeling, and loading the goods. Therefore, this is the date of significance for requirements planning on which the availability should be checked.

The following data is required for determining this date:

• Route from the shipping point to the ship-to party location

• Shipping point from which the goods are issued

• Loading group from the material master record

• Weight group determined from the order using the order quantity

This data, which you have already entered in the system, means that scheduling can occur automatically. Since scheduling is carried out backwards from the requested delivery date, it is also called backward scheduling. If backward scheduling determines that the preparation for the shipping activities should have been started already to meet the customer's requested delivery date, the system then starts forward scheduling automatically from the current date.