When you work with reverse planning in Business Central, two setup concepts work together to control how planning runs: the planning template and the planning user setup. The planning template holds the generic, company-wide setup, and you can build several templates or use the standard ones we ship. The planning user setup is specific to each user and stores the settings from the last time that user ran a planning function. When you select a template, it updates your planning user setup, and the actual planning run then builds an inventory profile based on that updated user setup.
The planning user setup applies across several Abakion apps, including Graphical Inventory Profile and flexible forecast functions. The planning templates only exist within reverse planning. Set up your templates as best practice, because the settings inherit into the planning user setup for everyone who uses them.
How the planning template and planning user setup work together
The two pieces have different scopes. The planning user setup is per user. The planning template is shared across users. You build templates the way you want to plan in your company. You can use the defaults, change them, or create new ones. Because templates are generic, you can reuse them across everything, so you don’t have to remember many different setups, and everyone plans the same way.
When you select a template and run planning, the template writes its settings into your planning user setup. The planning run then creates an inventory profile based on that user setup.
Running simple MRP from the planning user setup
In daily work, when you open simple MRP and calculate it, the report you see is based on your planning user setup. For example, if you log in as user SLO and run simple MRP, the settings shown come from your own user. Clicking the three dots opens your planning user setup for your user ID, showing the setup from the last time you ran that function.
If you change a setting here, such as Include Planning Lines, you change your planning user setup but not the template. The change applies only to you.
Selecting and opening templates
From the three dots at the top, you can select from the planning template list. If you pick a template such as Find Critical Items and press OK, it updates your planning user setup. That includes settings like whether to include planning lines. To override a template setting on your own user afterwards, you change it again on your specific user.
The three dots on the right-hand side open the specific template directly. You can also open it from the menu by selecting the three dots and choosing the template view.
Underlying tables in the planning template
The planning template uses several underlying tables. It can reference a suggest quantity template, an item filter template, and a SKU filter template. These can be shared across planning templates.
Templates are tied to the planning feature
Each template belongs to a planning feature, and the available templates change depending on which feature you run. When you run simple MRP, you see all the templates set up for that feature, such as the critical items templates. When you run direct replenishment or move demand dates, you see fewer templates, because only the ones tied to that planning feature appear.
The fields shown on a template also depend on the feature. If you search for planning templates from the main menu, you see templates for move demand dates, direct replenishment, simple MRP, and so on. Open a move demand dates template and you see the planning feature set to move demand dates, with the move demand dates area available. You cannot scroll to other records here because a filter limits the list to that feature.
Open a simple MRP template instead and the move demand dates area is hidden because it doesn’t make sense for that feature, while the simple MRP area is shown. It is the same table, the same record, and the same logic. The template writes into the planning user setup it uses.
Where the planning user setup lives
The planning user setup is part of App Manager, not reverse planning. When you open it, you see one row per user ID. In a normal database you have many users. For each user you can see how they have been running their functions, such as the flexible forecast period per item, items in period, and Graphical Inventory Profile, which are separate apps.
Because the planning user setup is shared, the view you see in Graphical Inventory Profile is the same setup, except some fields are hidden depending on the planning feature, just like on the template. A flexible forecast per period may show other fields. The planning user setup also holds an assign quantity setting, which you only see once you have run assign quantity on the database.
Best practice for setup
Set up everything in reverse planning through the planning templates rather than on individual users. The template settings inherit into all the planning users, so you get consistent planning across the company. Build a best practice template for each task, for example one for Monday morning routines, and give different purchasers, planners, and production planners their own templates that match their requirements.
Q&A
What is the difference between a planning template and a planning user setup?
The planning template holds generic, company-wide settings shared across users and only exists in reverse planning. The planning user setup is specific to each user, stores the settings from the last run, and applies across several apps. Selecting a template updates your planning user setup.
Where do I find the planning user setup in Business Central?
The planning user setup is in App Manager, not in reverse planning. It shows one row per user ID, and you can see how each user has been running functions like flexible forecast and Graphical Inventory Profile.
Why do I see fewer templates for some planning functions?
Templates are tied to a specific planning feature. When you run direct replenishment or move demand dates, only the templates linked to that feature appear, so you see fewer than when running simple MRP.
If I change a setting while running planning, does it affect the template?
No. Changing a setting such as Include Planning Lines during a run changes only your planning user setup, not the template. The change applies only to your user.
Where should I set up planning configuration as best practice?
Set up everything in reverse planning on the planning templates. The settings inherit into the planning user setup for all users, giving consistent planning across the company.