The Graphical Inventory Profile is a free app on Microsoft AppSource that visualises how supply and demand affect your inventory over time. It works particularly well together with Reverse Planning, because it explains the lines behind your planning and shows exactly why an item ends up with a shortage. You can run it directly from the item card, and it lets you update its parameters with the settings from your Reverse Planning calculation, so the two tools show the same picture.
When you view the profile for an item, you can see the projected inventory development, including any breaches below zero. For example, you can see that an item ends up at minus four in inventory, which immediately tells you where a problem lies. The app keeps your supply and demand parameters consistent across both standard MRP planning and Reverse Planning.
What the Graphical Inventory Profile app does
The Graphical Inventory Profile is available on Microsoft AppSource. It is free of charge, and you can use it straight out of the box. It is a separate app that you install on top of Business Central.
The app gives you a graphical overview of an item’s inventory profile, showing supply and demand over time and the resulting projected inventory. You run it from the item card, so it is easy to get to when you are working with a specific item.
Using it together with Reverse Planning
We recommend using the Graphical Inventory Profile together with Reverse Planning. It is very good at explaining the lines that come out of your Reverse Planning, so you can understand why an item shows up as critical and what is happening with its supply and demand.
You can also update the Graphical Inventory Profile with the information from the Reverse Planning, so both tools use the same parameters.
How the parameters work and why they need to match
In the setup of the Graphical Inventory Profile, you decide which supply and demand entries to include. You might, for instance, choose to include only released production orders and the components of released production orders.
When you run Reverse Planning with the Simple MRP, you also work with a set of parameters for supply and demand. In one template you might focus on finding critical items, and the supply and demand setup there could include firm planned and released production orders and their components.
These two setups can differ. If the parameters you used the last time you ran the Graphical Inventory Profile are different from the parameters you used when you calculated the Simple MRP, the two tools would show different results for the same item. That makes it hard to use one to explain the other.
Synchronising the profile with your MRP calculation
To keep the picture consistent, the app handles this for you. When you click a line, for example for a lamp item, and choose to view the Graphical Inventory Profile, the app detects that the setup from the last profile run differs from the setup used in the Simple MRP calculation.
It then asks whether you would like to update the Graphical Inventory Profile parameters with the parameters from the Simple MRP. When you say yes, it updates the setup for the graphical profile to match. From that point, you can use the profile to explain why an item shows up in the Simple MRP, what is happening to all its supplies and demands, and where the inventory breaches below zero.
A concrete example
Take item number 1500 on the production location. With the profile set to include only released production orders and their components, the item shows an ending inventory of 116.
When you calculate the Simple MRP for critical items on the production location, the app finds the items that are critical. Clicking through to the Graphical Inventory Profile for an item and accepting the parameter update lets you see the full supply and demand picture, including a breach below zero where the item ends up at minus four in inventory.
Where you can use the profile
The Graphical Inventory Profile is good at explaining what is happening when you do planning. You can use it in standard MRP planning directly from the item list, and it works alongside all the apps that deal with availability and planning.
Q&A
Where do I get the Graphical Inventory Profile app?
It is available on Microsoft AppSource. It is free of charge, and you can use it out of the box after installing it as a separate app.
Why should I use the Graphical Inventory Profile with Reverse Planning?
The profile is very good at explaining the lines produced by your Reverse Planning. It shows you why an item is critical and what is happening with its supply and demand, so you can understand the result instead of just seeing it.
What happens if the profile setup differs from my Simple MRP setup?
When you open the Graphical Inventory Profile from an MRP line, the app detects that the parameters differ and asks whether you want to update the profile parameters with the ones from the Simple MRP. If you say yes, it synchronises the setup so both tools show the same supply and demand picture.
Can I run the Graphical Inventory Profile from the item card?
Yes. You can run it directly from the item card, and it also works from the item list and alongside the other availability and planning apps.