Coverage settings

Master scheduling uses coverage settings to calculate item requirements.

You can specify coverage settings in several ways:

• Specify coverage settings for a coverage group.

  You can create a coverage group that contains settings for all products that are linked to the coverage group. To create a coverage group, go to Master planning > Setup > Coverage > Coverage groups. You can link a coverage group to a product. If the link is specific to a site, warehouse, or product dimension, use the Coverage group field on the Item coverage page. If the link is generic, regardless of the product dimensions, use the Coverage group field on the Plan FastTab of the Product details page. By default, if you don't link a coverage group to a product, master planning uses the general coverage group that is specified on the Master planning parameters page.

• Specify coverage settings for a product.

  You can create coverage settings for a specific product. Go to Product information management > Products > Released products. Select the product, and then, on the Action Pane, on the Plan tab, in the Coverage group, select Item coverage to open the Item coverage page. If the product is already linked to a coverage group, you can override the coverage group settings by using the Override field. The coverage settings on the Item coverage page take precedence over the settings on the Coverage group page.

• Specify coverage settings for a product by using a wizard.

  The wizard guides you step by step through the process of setting up the primary item coverage parameters. On the Item coverage page, on the Action Pane, select Wizard to open the Item Coverage Wizard.

• Specify coverage settings for a dimension group.

  Go to Product information management > Products > Released products. On the Released product details page, on the General FastTab, in the Administration section, select the link in the Storage dimension group field. On the Storage dimension groups page, select the Coverage plan by dimension check box to create the coverage settings for a dimension in the storage dimension group. The Coverage plan by dimension field must be selected for all product dimensions, such as configuration, color, size, and style.

Coverage codes

Master planning can be configured to use different replenishment methods. The replenishment methods or lot-sizing methods are the techniques used by the system to determine the batch size for purchased or produced items.

Each replenishment method is assigned one of the following coverage codes:

• Manual – The lot-sizing method where the system doesn't suggest purchased, transfer, or production orders for the item. The planner for the item will be in charge of creating the required orders for the replenishment of the item.
• Per requirement – The lot-sizing method in which the system creates a planned purchase, transfer, or production order per requirement for the item. This is generally used for expensive items with intermittent demand.
• Per period – The lot-sizing method that combines all the demand for a period into one order for the item. The order will be planned for the first day of the period and its quantity will fulfill the net requirements during the established period. The period starts with the first demand of the item and covers the defined length in time. The next period will start with the next requirements of the item.
• Min/Max – The lot-sizing method that contains the replenishment of inventory up to a certain level when the predicted on-hand is below a threshold. The replenishment quantity will be the difference between the maximum level and the predicted on-hand level.
• Priority – A strategy that allows you to replenish buffers for a product according to its minimum, reorder point, and maximum stock quantities. Whenever the projected on-hand inventory falls below the reorder point quantity, it will be replenished to its maximum quantity. For replenishing, priority (not date) is considered, which ensures that the most urgent orders are replenished first. For more information, see Priority-based planning.
• Decoupling point – The coverage code that identifies a product as a decoupling point (buffer) according to the Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP) methodology. DDMRP is a specific planning and execution methodology. To specify that a product is a decoupling point, open its Item coverage page and, under Use specific settings, set Coverage code to a coverage group that has coverage code of Decoupling point. For more information about the DDMRP methodology, see Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP) overview.

Demand-specified BOM or formula versions and/or routes

For make-to-order businesses, it can be useful to configure coverage groups to consider BOM or formula versions and/or routes specified in demand lines (such as sales order lines) when creating supply (such as planned production orders). For demand where no BOM or formula version and/or route are specified, the system chooses the currently active ones.

Prerequisites

To use the Prioritize existing supply over required BOM or formula version or route version setting described in the next section, your system must meet the following requirements:

• You must be running Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management 10.0.38 or later.
• The feature that is named Prioritize existing supply over required BOM/route in Planning Optimization must be turned on in feature management.

The Use the specified BOM or formula version and Use the specified route version settings described in the next section don't require these prerequisites. However, without the Prioritize existing supply over required BOM/route in Planning Optimization feature, the system will always work as though Prioritize existing supply over required BOM or formula version or route version were set to No.

Configure a coverage group to use demand-specified BOM or formula versions and/or routes

To configure a coverage group to use the BOM or formula versions and/or routes specified in demand lines, follow these steps:

1. Go to Master planning > Setup > Coverage > Coverage groups.
2. From the list pane, select the group you want to set up.
3. Make the following settings on the General FastTab for your selected group:
   • Use the specified BOM or formula version – Set to Yes to allow demand lines to identify a specific BOM or formula version when creating planned production orders for items that belong to the current coverage group. Set to No to always use the currently active BOM or formula version.
   • Use the specified route version – Set to Yes to allow demand lines to identify a specific route version when creating planned production orders for items that belong to the current coverage group. Set to No to always use the currently active route version.
   • Prioritize existing supply over required BOM or formula version or route version – This setting only applies when Use the specified BOM or formula version and/or Use the specified route version are set to Yes. Set this setting to Yes to prioritize existing supply (such as on-hand inventory, if available) over demand-specified BOM or formula versions and/or routes. Set to No if demand-specified BOM or formula versions or routes should always result to creating new supply (such as planned production orders), even if existing supply is available.

Additional resources

• Master plans overview