E9.1 MRP Multi-Branch Question

[richchipper]

We are in the process of opening our third distribution center / manufacturing facility before the end of the year - West Coast, East Coast, Midwest. We've run MRP with these two facilities for several years, running daily.

We are at a loss as to how to set up our MRP process with this new DC. In essence, it's likely that all three will be sourcing from each other (West Coast could source from either East Coast or Midwest; Midwest could source from either West or East Coast, etc.).

Our third party consulting group is telling us that MRP has to be run one branch at a time (one Branch Relationship at a time) without processing the messages in order for this to work. Our MRP generally runs daily and takes three hours to run. We are a multi-national company and we already struggle with finding a window to run MRP now. This would create a huge problem.

I can't think we are the only company with this issue. Any help we can get in the process would be awesome. I've read a JDETips paper on using DRP / MRP / MPS process, but would love to get a little more granular.

 

[jhsiao520123]

I have been working on projects for R3483 functionality and don't get the idea why it needs to be run one BP at a time? One BP Relationship (P3403T) should cover your needs of BPs sourcing from each other, therefore to me there is one F3403T needed but you have to define the BP Level and BP Priority carefully by P3403T.
As to 3-hour to run R3483 I am assuming you are running with multi-level at a time? And if this is your true headache then if possible think about running MPS and MRP separately which may have benefits for your multi-national situation.

 

[richchipper]

I have been working on projects for R3483 functionality and don't get the idea why it needs to be run one BP at a time? One BP Relationship (P3403T) should cover your needs of BPs sourcing from each other, therefore to me there is one F3403T needed but you have to define the BP Level and BP Priority carefully by P3403T.
As to 3-hour to run R3483 I am assuming you are running with multi-level at a time? And if this is your true headache then if possible think about running MPS and MRP separately which may have benefits for your multi-national situation.

YEAH! I feel better about this because it didn't make sense to me either.

How would you set up the BP relationships in this case? Assuming level 1 is the Manufacturing Branches on the West/East Coast. What would be level 2, 3, etc.?

We use a lot of kit processing which is why the time is so long (customer SKU numbers are sacred cows here - so every SKU is set up with a forecast under a kit SKU which explodes to an inventory SKU. MRP produces over 3 million messages - most are garbage ones we won't use). But, any ideas on reducing the time would be awesome. I haven't worked much with MPS - any ideas where I should go to do some research?

 

[conbry]

" In essence, it's likely that all three will be sourcing from each other". I am wondering if you mean that any item can be sourced from each other. If so, it implies circular branch relationship like b/p A->B->C->A, which R3483 could not handle. Maybe that's why the idea of one branch relationship at a time was suggested. But, I don't feel it would work, as the circular relationship cause the results change with each R3483 run. If you could share an example how to pick the winder of several competing demand/supply relationships when creating a transfer order, hopefully we could figure out something for your case.

On the other hand, if there is no circulation relationship for each item, you could run R3483 with all relationship.

As three hours run R3483, maybe you could explore the possibility of running R3483 in parallel if your server have multiple processors.

Best
Conbry

 

[richchipper]

" In essence, it's likely that all three will be sourcing from each other". I am wondering if you mean that any item can be sourced from each other. If so, it implies circular branch relationship like b/p A->B->C->A, which R3483 could not handle. Maybe that's why the idea of one branch relationship at a time was suggested. But, I don't feel it would work, as the circular relationship cause the results change with each R3483 run. If you could share an example how to pick the winder of several competing demand/supply relationships when creating a transfer order, hopefully we could figure out something for your case.

On the other hand, if there is no circulation relationship for each item, you could run R3483 with all relationship.

As three hours run R3483, maybe you could explore the possibility of running R3483 in parallel if your server have multiple processors.

Best
Conbry

Sorry for the late reply as I got pulled off on other priorities.

Let me try to lay out the scenario.

• I make Wacky Widgets exclusively in Denver.
• I make Gotcha Gizmos exclusively in Miami.
• I have a distribution center in Chicago which may in the future exclusive make Tubular Thingamabobs.
• All trucks "should" run through Chicago in route to/from Denver/Miami.
• I have direct-to-consumer distribution centers in all three locations.
• If I run MRP in Miami first, I will not see Chicago or Denver's demand for Gizmo's.
• If I run MRP in Denver first, I will not see Chicago or Miami's demand for Widgets
• If I run MRP in Chicago first, I will only see Chicago's demand in the other locations.

Currently, we've run Denver and Miami at the same time. And it's worked with just a couple of minor exceptions. However, can I run all three locations at the same time and what will that do? Or do I need to run them independently and then run again without deleting messages?

 

[conbry]

In your example, Denver is the only sourcing for Wacky Widgets, Miami for Gotcha Gizmos, Chicago for Tubular Thingamabobs, each of three different productions has its one sourcing. R3483 would handle it well if three branches are run at the same time.

R3483 plans in the sequence of low level code/item/branch. For simplification, assuming three products have same low level code, when Wacky Widgets is planned, demand branches (Miami and Chicago) is planned first, R3483 converts their net demand into transfer order (OT for the two branches, ST for Denver), then Sourcing Denver is planned last, the ST demands from Miami and Chicago Denver and customer demands for Denver are considered, R3483 will recommend a replenishment order to meet the total demands from the three branches. You could manually create transfer orders in reversed order, from Miami/Chicago to transfer Wacky Widgets to Denver as an exception, which R3483 can handle it as well.

Similarly, for Miami is planned last for Gotcha Gizmos, Chicago for Tubular Thingamabobs.

Best

Conbry

 

[richchipper]

In your example, Denver is the only sourcing for Wacky Widgets, Miami for Gotcha Gizmos, Chicago for Tubular Thingamabobs, each of three different productions has its one sourcing. R3483 would handle it well if three branches are run at the same time.

R3483 plans in the sequence of low level code/item/branch. For simplification, assuming three products have same low level code, when Wacky Widgets is planned, demand branches (Miami and Chicago) is planned first, R3483 converts their net demand into transfer order (OT for the two branches, ST for Denver), then Sourcing Denver is planned last, the ST demands from Miami and Chicago Denver and customer demands for Denver are considered, R3483 will recommend a replenishment order to meet the total demands from the three branches. You could manually create transfer orders in reversed order, from Miami/Chicago to transfer Wacky Widgets to Denver as an exception, which R3483 can handle it as well.

Similarly, for Miami is planned last for Gotcha Gizmos, Chicago for Tubular Thingamabobs.

Best

Conbry

Thanks for your reply. I tried this out and out of 8 items, I found that 3 showed orders in supply and demand, but the demand did not accumulate. For instance, I ran the three DC's at the same level, but the demand from the DC in Chicago did not appear in the MRP messages for the DC in Denver. Is there something I missed?

 

[conbry]

Do you mean that a supply was created for the DC in Chicago instead of the DC in Denver?

If the branch relationship defines that item Wacky Widgets is supplied to branch Chicago and Miami from Denver, and R3483 is run once with selection of branch equal to (Denver, Chicago, Miami) and item equal to (Wacky Widgets), the demand from Chicago would appear for the DC in Denver.

I am guessing something incorrect with branch relationship for item Wacky Widgets. Was the availability check enabled? Processing option 5. Manufacture At Origin in R3483 was enabled? Or R3483 was run three times, once for each branch?

If you could download the branch relationship and messages for the item, and share them using Wacky Widgets, and three DCs, I might be able to find out the reason,


Best

Conbry