Automated Disposition

What is Automatic Disposition?

Yesterday an MRP controller, today an inventory manager. In other words, an Automatic Disposition software takes over the disposition of routine order processes and supports the clerk by specifically displaying those cases that require action. This allows the MRP controller to concentrate on decision-relevant and strategic tasks such as supplier and assortment management. Thanks to the linking of inventories, requirements and sales forecasts, materials planning is controlled specifically according to the respective requirements. Inventories that are optimally aligned with the respective demand ensure lower costs and higher yields. The time-consuming manual processing of order proposals is no longer necessary with our software for Automatic Material Requirements Planning. Orders can be placed both within a company, i.e. from the warehouse to the individual branches, and to external suppliers.

For this purpose, the MRP system uses - in simplified form - the gross requirements determined in the sales planning and forecasting module and carries out a stock range analysis. In the coverage calculation, open sales orders and supplier orders, packaging units, purchasing containers and the replenishment lead time (RTI) are taken into account. The dynamic safety stock level is determined on the basis of demand or sales fluctuations, seasonal behavior and the economic importance of an article. The economic order quantity (WBM), the optimum order frequency and the optimum order point are also calculated automatically, taking into account not only ordering or storage costs but also supplier vacations, Chinese New Year, fixed order dates, delivery reliability and numerous other parameters.

Sounds complex? Don't worry: The calculations take place fully automatically and self-learning in the background! The scheduler uses the following tools in daily operations:

• A planning and scheduling cockpit shows each user his workload at a glance.
• The integrated early warning system alerts in a targeted manner and at an early stage in the event of impending shortages, overstocks and other critical cases ("Management-by-Exception").
• The order suggestions are grouped, e.g. listed clearly at product group or supplier level.
• Stock transfer suggestions or postponement instructions are automatically created and displayed.
• A replenishment function enables the final touches to be made to the order quantity, such as rounding to container volume, scale price and other rounding quantities, and also checks the cost-effectiveness of the process.
• Rolling inventory controlling provides key figures, evaluations and overstock lists at every level.

The order proposals are thus transferred ready-optimized to the leading merchandise management system (e.g. as BANF) without any further processing being required here. Thanks to interfaces, seamless docking to any ERP system such as SAP, MS Dynamics, IBM, etc. is ensured.

Cover Calculation

The coverage calculation analyzes the current inventory situation for readiness to deliver or availability of goods, but also for excess inventory, and takes into account the following factors, among others:

• Demand forecast from sales planning and prognosis
• Available warehouse stock
• Open orders and open purchase orders
• Replenishment lead time
• Delivery reliability
• Supplier vacations
• Degree of readiness to deliver
• Dynamic safety stock
• Capacities

Stock range analysis and order point determination

• Early warning system to avoid stock-outs and delivery bottlenecks
• Order and postponement suggestions

Order quantity optimization

Based on various parameters, the MRP module automatically calculates the economically optimal order quantity. The following factors are taken into account:

• Minimum order quantity/value
• Order costs
• Storage costs and storage interest
• Replenishment sizes

Advantages

In summary, the following advantages result from the functional scope and structure of the disposition software:

• No reactionary approach, but consideration of the future
• Automatic consideration of seasonal fluctuations
• Recognition of seasonal and regional trends
• Mathematical algorithms instead of simple mean value methods
• Thus significantly improved planning accuracy
• Integrated replenishment and filling
• Definition of service level and delivery capability (including consideration of outages such as supplier vacation)
• Inventory control according to ABC criterion or margin
• Early warning system, to-do lists: Dispatcher does not have to search for trends and tasks, but receives them automatically
• Automation of routine processes
• Controlling for inventory and disposition
• Transparency through selection at all levels (location, client, article group, individual article, supplier, sales channel, clerk, ...)
• Simulation of inventory-effective measures