This article explains how to plan transfer orders to service cars and other locations in Business Central using simple MRP and the Direct Replenishment journal. You learn how to combine automatic planning with manual top-ups so a service car gets fully restocked when it returns to your main location.
You run simple MRP with a template that excludes your production location, so the planning only covers your shops, service cars, and other distribution points. The system suggests order quantities up to safety stock or reorder point and creates transfer order lines from your production location.
You use the Direct Replenishment journal to add items that normal planning would not suggest. This lets you fill a service car up to its reorder point plus reorder quantity while it is at your location anyway, instead of only delivering the one item it needed.
You set the “Skip if Already Planned” check mark on the template so the journal keeps the lines you already planned and does not delete them.
The scenario: planning replenishment to service cars and shops
Imagine a company that uses several service cars and vans, and transports goods to different shops. In Business Central these are set up as separate locations. You have one main location, your production location, which is where you produce and buy items into, and from there you distribute items out to all the other locations.
The goal is to plan replenishment so that each service car and shop gets the stock it needs, while production gets planned separately afterwards.
Running simple MRP for transfer orders
You start by running simple MRP with a template that calculates transfer orders. In this example the planning brings stock up to safety stock, but you could just as well plan to zero or another level.
The important detail is the template setup. It uses a location filter that excludes the production location. That way the planning only looks at the other locations: the shops, the service cars, and everything else you push items to from production. You plan those first, and then plan production afterwards based on the resulting demand.
The template suggests the quantity to order automatically, so you do not have to enter quantities by hand for the planned lines.
The limitation of standard planning
In this example, service car number one needs a single item, a tube to refill the truck. Standard planning suggests that one item, and when you carry out the action message for the service car, the line moves to the reverse planning worksheet so you can create a transfer order from production into the car.
The problem is efficiency. The service car has to drive back to your inventory to pick up that one tube. To avoid wasting fuel or electricity on a trip for a single item, you want to top up everything else the car should carry while it is there anyway, according to safety stock or reorder points.
Standard planning will not suggest those extra lines, because there is no demand triggering them. That is where Direct Replenishment comes in.
Using the Direct Replenishment journal to top up a location
Direct Replenishment is a separate journal that shows you all items within a specific filter or set of criteria, regardless of whether planning would normally suggest them. This is useful when you have set up stockkeeping units for a service car with min/max, safety stock, or reorder points to control what should be in that car.
To use it, you run Calculate Direct Replenishment with the following setup:
- Choose the transfer orders template, so the journal plans transfers rather than purchases or production.
- Plan up to reorder point plus reorder quantity, so you can see what the car could hold.
- Filter on stockkeeping units that are set to transfer only, so you only look at items replenished by transfer order into that location.
- Make sure the “Skip if Already Planned” check mark is set on the template, so the journal does not delete the line you already planned.
With “Skip if Already Planned” set, the tube you already planned for service car number one stays in place. The journal then adds lines for all the other items in the car, and suggests order quantities automatically. Because the template is set to reorder point plus reorder quantity from zero, the quantities are calculated for you, and order modifiers round them up.
Carrying out the lines and creating the transfer order
From this view you can see everything else the car needs and decide what to top up while it is at your location. You set action messages on the lines and carry them out, which moves them into the reverse planning worksheet.
You do not even need to filter on quantity to order first. You can set the action messages directly and carry out, and all the lines flow into the reverse planning worksheet together. There you have the original tube as the first line, followed by all the other items.
From the reverse planning worksheet you create a single transfer order from production into the car, and a pick to go with it. The whole replenishment is prepared and ready for the car when it comes home.
In short, Direct Replenishment lets you create the lines that normal planning would not suggest, so you can fill a service car or shop completely in one trip instead of delivering one item at a time.
Q&A
How do I plan transfer orders to service cars and shops before planning production?
Run simple MRP with a transfer orders template that uses a location filter excluding your production location. The planning then covers only the other locations, such as shops and service cars, bringing them up to safety stock or reorder point. You plan production afterwards based on the resulting demand.
Why does standard planning only suggest the items a location actually needs?
Standard planning only creates lines where there is demand. If a service car needs one item, planning suggests one item. It will not add the other items the car should carry, even though it would be efficient to top them up while the car is at your location.
How do I top up a service car with items that planning does not suggest?
Use the Direct Replenishment journal. It shows all items within your filter regardless of demand, so you can fill the car up to its reorder point plus reorder quantity based on the stockkeeping units you have set up for it.
How do I keep the lines I already planned when running Direct Replenishment?
Set the “Skip if Already Planned” check mark on the template. The journal then keeps the lines you already planned instead of deleting them, and adds the additional top-up lines on top.
How do I filter Direct Replenishment to only transfer orders for a specific location?
Filter on stockkeeping units that are set to transfer only. This limits the journal to items replenished by transfer order into that location, such as a specific service car.
What happens after I carry out the lines in Direct Replenishment?
The lines move into the reverse planning worksheet together with any lines you already planned. From there you create a single transfer order from production into the car and a pick, so the full replenishment is prepared for when the car returns.