Zionex is proud to announce the launch of the Master Planning module in its SaaS SCM service “PlanNEL,” designed for the SaaS platform.

Introduction of Master Planning Feature

What is Master Planning?

Master Planning plays a pivotal role in the manufacturing and sales industry, focusing on developing sales strategies derived from demand forecasts. Once the company reaches a consensus on these strategies, they guide the procurement of materials and the setting of production levels. Master Planning is essential for ensuring timely product delivery in the necessary quantities, considering constraints such as material procurement time, production capacity, transportation, and costs. It includes forecasting up to a year in advance, considering key material procurement and production capacities to meet the sales budget. This process involves simulating demand requirements.

Reasons for Launching Master Planning

A unified plan that integrates views from management, finance, factories, and distribution is essential for forming future profit, equipment, personnel, and budget plans. Departments often operate independently, creating optimized plans that might not benefit the overall company. Recognizing the need for a unified medium- to long-term plan that encompasses the whole supply chain, PlanNEL introduced the Master Planning function to enable coordination across departments by considering the capacities of various factories and distribution centers.

Capabilities of PlanNEL’s Master Planning

The Master Planning function enhances PlanNEL’s capabilities beyond demand forecasting, sales, inventory, and replenishment planning. Incorporating specific data from factories such as equipment capacity, material constraints, and transportation capacity, Master Planning allows for the creation of detailed medium- to long-term supply and demand plans.

It enables the generation of multiple plans based on different scenarios, prioritizing factors like costs, delivery schedules, and customer preferences. The management dashboard facilitates plan comparison, helping identify supply chain bottlenecks, forecast supply and operation rates, and plan for personnel and equipment investments. PlanNEL aims to further improve supply chain management by linking these plans with the production planning systems of manufacturers through APIs.

Ideal Candidates for Master Planning

The Master Planning function is ideal for companies facing challenges in planning for personnel and equipment over medium- to long-term periods, those with multiple production facilities requiring a comprehensive view of operational rates and capacity, and businesses looking to compare and optimize plans based on different conditions.

Zionex is committed to continuously enhancing the “PlanNEL” SaaS SCM service by incorporating user feedback, supporting small to medium-sized businesses in achieving efficient supply chain management.

About the “PlanNEL” SaaS SCM Service

PlanNEL is a supply chain management service designed for the small to medium-sized manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution sectors. Utilizing software employed by over 300 global companies, it offers a full suite of features for demand planning, optimal inventory management, and order planning. The service allows for the phased introduction of each function, providing flexibility in implementation.