Scheduling

The product availability check supports the following two scheduling scenarios:

Backward scheduling
Forward scheduling

Backward scheduling is executed to calculate the date on which a material must be in stock to enable an on-time delivery for the requirement. This date is calculated backwards from the requested delivery date and takes factory calendars into consideration. First the transport time is subtracted to determine the goods issue date (the date on which the transport has to start). The loading time is then subtracted from the goods issue date to determine the loading date (the date on which the goods have to be ready for loading). Based on the loading date, the following two dates are calculated:

Material availability date
The material availability date is calculated by subtracting the picking and packaging time from the loading date.

Transportation planning date
The transportation planning date is calculated by subtracting the transportation planning time from the loading date.

If the material availability date or transportation planning date is in the past, the system does not confirm the requirement for the requested delivery date. Instead, the system runs forward scheduling and determines the earliest date for which the requirement can be confirmed. The latest material availability date and transportation planning date are calculated to keep the material availability date as close as possible to the confirmed delivery date, as illustrated in the following figure:

Backward and forward scheduling

If, for example, the transportation planning date is significantly earlier than the material availability date, and it is also in the past, the system performs a new forward calculation. The system sets the earliest date to today and calculates the earliest delivery date for the confirmation. In addition, the latest material availability date is calculated.