In Business Central, the replenishment system on an item or stock keeping unit (SKU) tells the system how to supply an item once the planning has calculated how much you need and when you need it. You choose between Purchase, Production Order, Assembly, or, on the SKU card, Transfer.
You set the replenishment system on the Replenishment FastTab of the item card. Depending on your choice, you fill in the corresponding fields: purchase fields for purchased items, production fields for produced items, and assembly fields for assembled items.
If a SKU exists for a given item and location, planning uses the SKU card instead of the item card. This lets you replenish the same item differently per location. For example, you can produce the item at one location and transfer it from that location to another.
What the replenishment system does in Business Central
The replenishment system controls how Business Central supplies an item. After planning has calculated the quantity you need and the date you need it, the replenishment system defines how that demand is covered.
You find the setting on the item card under the Replenishment FastTab, in the field called Replenishment System.
The four replenishment options: Purchase, Production Order, Assembly, and Transfer
On the item card you can choose between three options:
- Purchase – the item is bought from a vendor.
- Production Order – the item is produced, using a routing and a bill of material.
- Assembly – the item is assembled, either to stock or directly to a sales order.
On the stock keeping unit card you get a fourth option, Transfer, which lets you move the item from one location to another.
Assembly works like a simple production item. You just take some components and perhaps some resource time and put them together. It is a lighter way of using production, and it is even more closely tied to the sales order than production is.
Filling in the fields for each replenishment system
Which fields you need to fill in depends on the replenishment system you select:
- For a purchase item, fill in the purchase fields on the Replenishment FastTab.
- For a production item, fill in the production fields on the right-hand side.
- For an assembly item, fill in the assembly fields.
Using stock keeping units to replenish per location
A stock keeping unit lets you have one SKU per item per location. This is where the replenishment system becomes more flexible, because you can replenish the same item in different ways depending on where it is stocked.
When you open the list of SKUs and filter on a single item, you can see one SKU per location. For example, item 1000 might have two SKUs: one for the location SILVER and one for the location WHITE.
The key rule is this: if a SKU exists for an item on a location, planning uses the SKU card first and ignores the item card for that location. If there is no SKU for the location, planning falls back to the information on the item card.
So if you plan on a location that has its own SKU, the SKU card decides how the item is replenished. If you plan on a location without a SKU, the item card decides.
A practical example: produce at one location, transfer to another
Take an item with two SKUs. On the first SKU, the replenishment system is set to Production Order. That means when you need to replenish this item at that location, the system tells you to produce it there.
On the second SKU, for another location, the replenishment system is set to Transfer with a lead time of one week. That means you replenish the item at that location by moving it from the first location, rather than producing it again.
With this setup, Business Central automatically calculates how to replenish each location: produce at one, transfer to the other. The SKU cards drive the whole logic.
Q&A
What does the replenishment system do in Business Central?
It defines how an item is supplied once planning has calculated the quantity and date you need. You choose how to cover the demand: by purchasing, producing, assembling, or transferring the item.
What replenishment options can I choose for an item or SKU?
On the item card you can choose Purchase, Production Order, or Assembly. On the stock keeping unit card you also get Transfer, which moves the item from one location to another.
What is the difference between an assembly item and a production item?
A production item uses a routing and a bill of material. An assembly item is a simpler form of production where you combine components and perhaps some resource time, either to stock or directly to a sales order. Assembly is more tightly tied to the sales order than production.
Does Business Central use the SKU card or the item card during planning?
If a SKU exists for the item on the location you are planning, Business Central uses the SKU card and ignores the item card for that location. If there is no SKU for the location, it uses the item card instead.
Can I replenish the same item differently at different locations?
Yes. By creating a SKU per location, you can, for example, produce the item at one location and set up another location to transfer it in from the first one with its own lead time.