This is what happens in the video
If you work as a purchase planner doing detailed planning, you have a couple of tools in Business Central to validate purchase order lines and keep your plan accurate. You can drill into a specific item from the item card to see all related purchase order lines, then filter on expected receipt date to check what is coming in over the next week or two. You can also use the planning worksheet to recalculate your plan for purchase items within your detailed planning horizon.
Detailed planning typically covers the period from today and a few weeks ahead. Before you run the purchase planning, you should confirm with your detailed production planner that their plan is fixed, since changes there affect your purchase suggestions.
Validating purchase order lines from the item card
One way to review your purchase situation is to go directly into the item card. Enter the items list, pick the relevant item, and open it. From there you can drill into the quantity on purchase order to see all the purchase order lines tied to that item.
Once you have the purchase order lines in front of you, filter on the expected receipt date. This lets you figure out what you should receive over the next week, or the next two weeks, based on the outstanding quantity. You then make sure each line is confirmed so everyone knows the goods are on their way.
This is a manual part of purchase planning. You are validating the expected receipt date on the purchase lines so the dates reflect reality.
Using the planning worksheet for purchase items
The other tool is the planning worksheet. Open it and calculate your plan on purchase items for whatever period you are working with in detailed planning.
Before you do this, check in with your detailed production planner. If they consider their plan fixed and okay, you can run the purchase planning and make sure everything lines up for that period.
When you calculate, small changes tend to pop up: adjustments to quantities and new suggestions. You might see two lines for the same item, where one suggests deleting an existing order and another suggests creating a new one with a changed quantity. When that happens, look into why a line is being delayed and whether it causes a problem for a firm planned production order that is about to be released.
Combining both approaches in the detailed planning horizon
In practice, you use both methods. The item card drill-down gives you a quick way to validate receipt dates on existing purchase lines, while the planning worksheet surfaces the changes you need to act on. Together they cover the manual validation work a purchaser does within the detailed planning horizon.
Q&A
What time period does detailed purchase planning cover?
Detailed planning normally runs from today and a few weeks ahead. Within this horizon you validate expected receipt dates and confirm what is coming in over the next one to two weeks.
How do you see all purchase order lines for a specific item?
Open the item card from the items list, then drill into the quantity on purchase order field. This shows you all the purchase order lines for that item, which you can filter by expected receipt date.
Why should you check with the production planner before running purchase planning?
The detailed production plan affects your purchase suggestions. If the production plan is not yet fixed, your purchase planning may be based on numbers that still change. Confirm the plan is okay before you calculate.
What do you do when the planning worksheet suggests deleting and recreating a line for the same item?
Look into the suggestion to understand the change in quantity and why a line is being delayed. Check whether the delay causes a problem for any firm planned production order that is about to be released, then correct the lines so everything is accurate.