Here you can indicate how the customer schedule should perform during the flow in the module. If the workflow conditions are identical for all parts included, it is advisable to continue in this tab after the agreement header is created and then continue to the Tolerance Check Defaults tab, if tolerance check will be used, and finish with the Customer Parts tab. All conditions will then automatically default for each part line.
It is possible to run the schedule flow completely automatically, without any interference from the user. In this case, the user only has to take care of any schedule lines that for some reason did not complete the flow.
The flow starts by entering a schedule, for example a plan or forecast. As the delivery dates come closer, the customer sends call-offs that give more detailed information on what and how many items should be sent with each particular delivery. To update the call-offs with the customer's and company's delivery records, the reconciliation process is run. It can be either run manually or scheduled at pre-defined times. You can also indicate different options for plans and call-offs. If you wish to use the scheduled function, you can choose whether the customer's and company's cumulative delivery records must match or not, to get a successful reconciliation. Reconciliation behavior is determined by the field Plan/Calloff Reconcile Option. No Reconcile means that the reconciliation process should not be run; Use Delivery Note means that you wish to run the reconciliation process, but match only delivery note numbers; Use Delivery Note and Cum Qty means that the delivery note numbers and the cumulative records must match; and Use Cumulative Quantity means that only cumulative records are compared and delivery notes are not taken into consideration.
A value of Use Delivery Note and Cum Qty indicates that the cumulative receipt quantity indicated by the customer on the customer schedule must match with your internal record of deliveries to the customer for his agreement. This cumulative delivery quantity is maintained on the customer schedule agreement part for each customer part and is initially set to 0; this quantity is incremented as deliveries occur. For example, when a new customer schedule arrives, the customer indicates his cumulative receipt quantity is 10,000 units. The internal record of deliveries to the customer is 10,200. If the sum of deliveries since the Last Delivery Note (Also indicated on the customer schedule) is equal to 200 units, then the cumulative receipts match is successful.
In addition to the reconciliation process, you can choose whether backorders should be matched as well. If you choose to match the backorders they will be compared to the previously entered customer order lines. Match In Reconcile means that you wish to run the reconciliation process for backorders, while Ignore In Reconcile means that you do not wish to check backorders when running the reconciliation process.
In the field Tolerance Check Method you choose whether the tolerance check should be automatically or manually performed upon successful reconciliation.
The next compulsory step is the approval function, where you choose between an automatic or manual performance. Manual Approve means that all schedules must be approved manually, while Auto Approve means that only schedules out of tolerance must be manually approved. If the tolerance function is not used or successfully run then all schedules are automatically approved upon successful reconciliation. The third option, Unconditional, means that regardless of the result of the tolerance check, the schedule will always be approved. This is chosen in the field Approval Method.
The final step of the schedule flow in the customer schedule module is the release process. Just as in the approval function it is possible to have the function automatically or manually executed. Automatic Release means that schedules are automatically released upon successful tolerance check (that is, within tolerance) or upon approval if tolerance checking is not used. This is chosen in the field Release Method.
If your customer is sending the references to be used in the matching process
during release of a customer schedule, the Reference Use option must be set
to Use References. This will ensure that references are required by the
system. If a reference does not exist, the incoming schedule is not approved
and a message will be displayed. If the Reference Use option is set to Do
Not Use References, references in the terms of purchase order line information
can still be received if the option PO Information Use is set to Use.
If however also that option is set to Do Not Use, and purchase order
line information does exist, the incoming schedule is not approved and a message
will be displayed. You must also note, if the Reference Use option is set to
Use References, then the Reconcile option must be set to No Reconcile.
If your customer is sending purchase order line information as information
only, i.e. not to be used in the matching or reconciliation process of a customer
schedule, the PO Information Use option must be set to Use. Note, at
the same time the Reference Use option must be set to Do Not Use References.
This setup will not affect the available reconcile options and the purchase
order line information will be transferred to the created customer order lines
upon release of the customer schedule. When the customer order creation method
is set to Create in Advance in the customer schedule agreement part,
the system validates that the purchase order number stated in the schedule line
matches the purchase order number stated in the customer order connected to
the customer schedule agreement part. If the information does not match, the
customer schedule will receive status Release Exception. Therefore it
is of great importance that the purchase order number is manually entered in
the customer order header before receiving customer schedules with purchase
order line information from the customer. If the customer order creation method
is instead set to Create on Demand in the customer schedule agreement
part, the received purchase order number will first be matched to see if there
is already a customer order created with the same purchase order number stated.
If not, the system will create a new customer order and transfer the purchase
order number.
In the field Deliver Authorization, you indicate whether call-offs, plans, or both can be converted into customer orders when the schedule is released.
When running overlapping schedules you can choose whether the customer call-off schedules should consume customer plan quantities during the release process for overlapping periods. This is indicated in the field Plan Consume Option. Consume Partial means that a call-off quantity can consume only part of a plan quantity, leaving a remainder. Consume Full indicates that the call-off quantity completely replaces any plan quantity. No remainders are calculated.
In the Plan Forecast Option field, you can specify how the delivery authorized quantities on plan schedules are treated when released. With the Create Forecast option, delivery authorized quantities as well as non-delivery authorized quantities received on a plan schedule will be converted to forecast demands. Note that a schedule of type call-off is not affected by this option. On the other hand, with the Do Not Create Forecast option, delivery authorized quantities received on a plan schedule will be converted into customer order lines, or will be disregarded depending on the delivery authorization parameter. Note that non-delivery authorized lines will be converted to forecast demands, and a schedule of type call-off is not affected by this option.
In the Forecast Spread Option field, you can choose to specify whether the demands should be broken down to daily demands or be left untouched when creating the forecast demands. With the Spread Daily option, the quantities from the schedule will be spread into a daily demand, and a forecasted quantity per work day is created. Only the demands with non-delivery authorized quantities will be affected. A delivery authorized demand or information only will not be spread. Likewise, with the Do Not Spread option, the quantities from the schedule are transferred as it is to the forecast quantity.