Daily Master Schedule Tasks

Hi Jeff,

I guess lot of guys can step into this discussion, but since it is a large topic… eeeh you don’t know where to start and stop.

I share a handful tips considering the screens and the setup in the system. But first, what version are you using?

1 - Finding parts that needs more or less immediate actions, using Master Schedule Action Proposals screen

Create a saved query that focus on following messages:

• E511 - Actual demand is past due
• E514 - Supply is past due
• E515 - Negative projected available
• E536 - Projected Balance is below Safety Stock

So you should be able to create a saved query by typing in: “E511;E514;E515;E536” and save it with a good name - or of course please go ahead and twist and turn above so it fits you.

It is always good to hunt down orders that are past due. And if we have negative projected available balance we surely would like to find those parts. E536 is similar to E515, but less important, however going under safety stock could threat customer service.

2 - How do you set your demand- and planning time fence? This is a balancing act.

Longer planning timefence

• Stability in plans - less nervous MRP
• More manual work in Master Scheduling (you have quite a few MS planned parts) - watch out for message E515

Shorter planning timefence

• Changes in customer order demands will have impact on the proposed MS for good and bad
• Adherence to the voice of the customer
• Less manual work in Master Scheduling, but perhaps more at the shop floor since we have to chase more

3 - I think it is good to define both a Backward- and a Forward consumption window for your MS planned parts. Because it is not always that the forecast dates aligns good with the actual demands.

4 - Spend some time in the Master Schedule Grid tab, to move/hide columns so it feels good for you. For example I recommend that when you change your fixed master schedule receipts inside PTF, then it is good to show the column Firm Supply Created, you will notice that when and if you start working with this.

5 - A little bit of lot sizing strategies (of course this is very much related to YOUR business. General: a) Don’t have to small lot sizes in MS,  b) try to use lot-for-lot at intermediate levels in the BOM, c) okay to use the more fancy lot sizing rules at the bottom level of the BOM. Well… this is just some tricks to create a less nervous MRP system.

6 - Educate yourself in IFS Master Scheduling and in IFS MRP :-)

I think I should stop now, hope some of it helps.

Good Luck,

Mats at IFS RnD

Hi again,

Your columns in the master scheduling grid looks good. From my point of view I can make following observations for this part:

Your actual demand is higher than the forecast in the near future. Probably a good sign. In MS Action Proposals page you might want to search for: E531 - Insufficient unconsumed Forecast to satisfy Actual Demand. I mean if you have lots of those messages, then you need to look into your demand management system. Also do you have enough capacity to build this parts and all other parts if you have a rising demand trend?

(Much of a master schedulers daily activity is to consider competing demands for the shop floor capacity - Here in the future you might consider to use our RRP-tool)

I can also see that you probably change your supply qty using the shop order page rather than changing your fixed MPS. This is not a problem, however the Total Supply column is then more important to look at. Actually it is possible to change the fixed MPS quantity and then - under the hood - the connected shop order gets updated. Works for Planned and Released Shop Orders. And as you know most of the columns in the grid gets refreshed when you run the level 1 calculation job.

Oooh I realized that the message E532- Insufficient unconsumed Supply to satisfy Actual Demand, is also a good one to follow up. It sometimes goes hand in hand with E515 - Negative projected available.

Many master scheduling customers import demand on a weekly or monthly basis, but many of them run the level 1 calculation every night followed by MRP.

@majose is there any documentation in which these message numbers such as E511 and E514 are listed with the corresponding message description? I can only find the messages without the shorthand numbers.