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Definition

The planning framework is the main working environment for sales and profit planning. Firstly, this framework contains all the possible settings for building your planning architecture. Secondly, you can carry out planning from this framework screen.

Structure

The elements that you can use to build your architecture for planning and to edit your planning data are essentially as follows:

You use the planning level to determine the level at which planning is to occur. You do this by specifying the characteristics for planning.

You specify characteristic values in a planning package. In this way, you determine the market segment for which planning is to take place for a particular period. A planning package can thereby be seen as a work package that determines which planning objects are relevant to a specific planner.

Planning methods are functions with which planning data can be entered and changed.

A parameter set contains all the settings necessary for executing a planning method.

You can use personalization profiles to produce a user-specific view of the planning framework elements. Using these profiles means that, for each user, only those planning elements relevant to his or her task will appear in the planning framework.

The layout for the planning framework looks like this:

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

The planning levels and planning packages, as well as the planning methods and parameter sets, are all displayed in a tree hierarchy. With the right mouse button, you access the context menu for each element. You can use this menu (or the relevant menu entry under Edit) to display or maintain detailed information.

You can use a traffic light icon in the hierarchy to set the status for a planning package. This allows you to tell at a glance whether planning for a given planning package is complete or still in processing.

Note

This status is not assigned automatically. Instead, you can specify the status according to your own criteria by double-clicking the icon.

 

The screen layout represents how the individual elements are related. The dependencies existing between them will now be discussed.

Dependencies

Through determining the characteristics, a planning level forms the highest structural level in planning. Planning packages (in which you specify the values for the planning level characteristics) are directly dependent on the planning level. Since a planning package is assigned directly to a planning level, these elements are displayed in a tree structure.

The available planning methods are also dependent on the planning level. The system automatically displays which planning methods are available when you select a planning level. You can use the same planning method with all planning packages belonging to the corresponding planning level. It is necessary, however, to have a parameter set containing the settings for the particular planning method that you wish to execute. Parameter sets are thus directly dependent on planning methods, and these elements are therefore represented in a tree structure.

Alternatively to using the permanently defined planning packages and parameter sets that are displayed in the hierarchy tree, you can also define ad hoc planning packages and ad hoc planning sets during the planning session. To define these ad hoc elements, you use the context menu for the corresponding higher-level element (planning level or planning method). They are only valid for the planning session in which they are defined.

Integration

You can call up the planning framework in Customizing as well as from the CO-PA application menu.

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