Business Central lets you run a complete planning sequence in one step, covering transfer orders, production orders, and purchase orders. You set up the order of the iterations once, and the system runs them all in sequence when you start the calculation.
You build the sequence from templates. Each template handles one type of replenishment, for example transfer orders to safety stock first, then production orders, then purchase items. The system processes them in order, so demand on your sales locations is covered by transfers before production and purchasing fills the remaining gaps.
Each template has its own planning parameters. You set the suggest quantity template, the planning date, rounding rules, item filters, and SKU filters per iteration. This gives you an iterative planning algorithm where every step can use different settings.
The results land in the Reverse Planning Worksheet as suggestions, where you can review the full overview, accept the action messages, and carry them out.
Running transfer, production, and purchase planning in one step
The goal is to plan in the right order. First you calculate demand from your selling locations, such as your shops in Copenhagen, Aalborg, Hamburg, and the BMW Center. Then you plan production on your main production location. Finally you plan purchasing for the items you still lack.
You start this from Calculate Simple MRP and select a template. The whole setup, including the list of locations, comes from that template. When you run it, the system breaks everything down and moves the result into the Reverse Planning Worksheet. The Simple MRP journal itself ends up empty because everything has been transferred across.
Reading the result in the Reverse Planning Worksheet
In the worksheet you see all the suggestions for new items in one place. At the top you see the transfer orders, generated from the demand on your different locations. These come with a suggested quantity that respects order multiples and safety stock, moving items from the transfer source towards production.
Scrolling down, you see the production orders. These cover only the items you need to produce and that you actually lack. Below that you see the purchase orders for the items you need to supply from suppliers.
This gives you a clean overview of transfers, production, and purchasing together. From here you accept the action messages and carry them out.
Setting up the template sequence
Business Central ships with three templates out of the box with a standard setup, and you can modify them. In this example the first template plans transfer orders to safety stock, the second plans production orders, and the third plans purchase items.
Each line in the template uses the auto run functionality. For the transfer line, the system automatically runs Suggest Quantity to Order using the template written into the line, then carries out the action so the result is moved into the Reverse Planning Journal. When that is done, it runs the next template, production orders to safety stock, which does the same with different filters. After that it runs the purchase items template.
You can keep adding templates this way and run as many as you want in one go.
Configuring filters per iteration
Each iteration has its own Suggest Quantity template, and these can differ between lines. In the template you define the date for suggesting quantity, the rounding up and down, the item filters, and the SKU filter.
For the transfer line the goal was all transfer items, but you cannot filter on that directly on the item card. So the item filter only states that the type must be Inventory and Blocked must be No. The actual transfer logic comes from the SKU filter, which states that the Replenishment System must be Transfer, combined with the locations you saw suggested by default on that first template.
For the production template, the item filter is type Inventory, Blocked No, Replenishment System Prod. Order, and location Production, which is the main location. For the purchase template, the filter again targets the main Production location but only for purchase items.
Why iterative templates are useful
This approach lets you build an iterative planning algorithm where every iteration has its own planning parameters. Each step, such as the transfer step, has its own planning template card where you define exactly the parameters that iteration needs to include.
The result is an agile way to set up planning iterations. You control the order, you control the filters, and you control the parameters for each step, all running in a single calculation.
Q&A
Can Business Central plan transfer, production, and purchase orders in one step?
Yes. By building a sequence of templates in Calculate Simple MRP, Business Central runs transfer order planning, then production order planning, then purchase order planning in one go, with all results collected in the Reverse Planning Worksheet.
Where do the planning suggestions end up?
They are transferred into the Reverse Planning Worksheet. The Simple MRP journal ends up empty because everything is moved across. In the worksheet you review the suggestions, accept the action messages, and carry them out.
How do you filter for transfer items when you cannot filter on the item card?
You use the SKU filter instead of the item filter. Set the item filter to type Inventory and Blocked No, then create a SKU filter where the Replenishment System must be Transfer, combined with the relevant locations.
Can each planning step use different parameters?
Yes. Each iteration has its own planning template card, so you can define separate Suggest Quantity templates, dates, rounding rules, item filters, and SKU filters for every step in the sequence.
How many templates can you run in one calculation?
You can add as many templates as you want and run them all in one go. The system processes them in the order you define.