Meaning
Planning routines project inventory balances across future time buckets by combining current stock and scheduled receipts against projected demand. Time-phased availability establishes future material stock levels across defined planning horizons. The calculation governs order promising, master scheduling, and material requirements planning.
It stops applying outside the defined master planning schedule horizon.
Projection Logic
Enterprise software projects future inventory balances by taking current on-hand stock, adding expected purchase receipts, and subtracting component allocations per time bucket. Incorporating supplier lead times and production schedules allows the software to predict material shortages weeks before they occur. Scaling operations requires continuous updating of supplier delivery dates, as unvalidated vendor promises generate false availability projections.
Overestimating demonstrated production rates causes projected balances to exceed real stock levels.
Supply Planning
Projecting stock availability across future time periods enables sales teams to commit customer orders accurately. Clear visibility into upcoming supply deficits allows procurement specialists to arrange expedited deliveries before line shortages occur.
Verification Control
Master planners review time-phased stock projections to validate supply commitments against actual plant throughput. Updating lead times and vendor reliability parameters maintains calculation accuracy inside planning systems. Regular adjustments prevent artificial stock shortages and maintain customer delivery performance.
