Independent IFS Cloud practice · Planning and supply chain
Dynamic structures and MRP in IFS Cloud: why the plan and the promise to the customer drift apart
MRP plans supply for the whole site in one run, a dynamic structure plans one customer order, and the delivery date a customer hears can come from a third calculation. This article follows the IFS Cloud documentation to show where the disagreement comes from and how to check, fix and prevent it.
Key takeaways
- "Dynamic structure" is not an IFS documentation term; the feature it points to is Dynamic Order Processing (DOP). It builds a multi-level plan for a customer order with pegging at any level, and MRP manages the parts below the pegging level.
- MRP nets day by day, earliest demand first: inventory covers demand first, then anticipated receipts. It proposes rescheduling existing orders before it plans new ones.
- In my reading, the capability check is its own order promising calculation, so its date can differ from the last MRP run.
1.How does MRP net demand and supply in IFS Cloud?
MRP in IFS Cloud is a planning engine that calculates part requirements from master scheduling, product structures and inventory data, and it produces order proposals to manufacture or purchase plus suggested re-planning of existing orders. The Phases of MRP page gives the sequence.
- Remove proposals from the last run. Unreleased proposals from the previous run are deleted at the start of a new run.
- Net demands against supply. Demands are netted day by day, earliest first. Existing inventory covers them first, then anticipated receipts.
- Reschedule existing receipts. MRP first suggests moving existing orders and suggests cancellations when receipts exceed demand.
- Generate planned receipts. After existing supply is applied, MRP plans new make, buy or distribution receipts.
- Explode component demand. The explosion uses the parent quantity, the quantity per assembly and the scrap factor, and the start date, which is the due date minus lead time, sets when the component demand falls due.
Parts with planning methods B, C or N are not processed by MRP, which is why a reorder-point part behaves differently, as covered in reorder point planning in IFS Cloud. Selective MRP replans chosen parts using the demands from the last full run, and the documentation recommends a full site MRP afterwards to rebalance supply and demand.
2.What is a dynamic structure, and how does MRP work with it?
In this article, a dynamic structure means the multi-level structure that Dynamic Order Processing builds for a customer order. The documentation uses the DOP name and has no page titled dynamic structure or dynamic plan. DOP supports make-to-order, build-to-order, assemble-to-order, configure-to-order and engineer-to-order, and is described as highly integrated with MRP and customer order processing.
The DOP Header carries settings such as Structure Depth, Financial Integration, Auto Release, Allow Changes to DOP Structure and Netting. A DOP Order is one element of the structure, equivalent to a part in the bill of materials. The structure can come from an existing product structure, a previous DOP structure, or manual entry, and intermediate parts with planning method K (Blow Through) or P (Phantom) are removed from it.
A DOP Order's status decides how freely it can change. An Unreleased DOP Order has no shop order or purchase requisition yet, so dates and quantities change easily, while a Released one has pegged supply orders. For configured products, the configuration starts as Parked and must be set to Completed. If the configuration changes and the alarm is resolved, the existing structure is replaced and manually added components are removed.
3.What do MRP messages and action messages ask a planner to do?
MRP messages are flags on parts and orders that need a planner decision, reviewed on the MRP Action Proposals and MRP Action Proposals Workbench pages. The Messages from MRP page defines each one.
| Message | Documented meaning |
|---|---|
| Early Order | Order due date is earlier than the part's due date; the order needs rescheduling. |
| Late Order | Order due date is after the part's due date; the order needs rescheduling. |
| Remove Order | The supply order is not needed to meet demand; cancel it. |
| Need Orders | Existing orders plus beginning on-hand do not cover current demand. |
| Order After Horizon | Order due date falls outside the MRP planning time frame. |
Early Order and Late Order mean supply exists on the wrong date, Remove Order means it is surplus, and Need Orders means supply is missing.
4.Why can customer order promising and the plan disagree?
The promise and the plan can disagree because different calculations with different inputs produce them, and the documentation pages I read do not state that the two must return the same date. The reasons below come from documented behaviour, except where I mark them as my reading.
- In my reading, the capability check is its own calculation. It checks whether the requested delivery date can be met and, if not, calculates a new one. It nets available stock and open supplies, optionally also capacity on finite work centers and labor classes, and "Include Only Firm Demands" and "Include Only Firm Supplies" limit the netting to firm items. It is not fully separate from MRP: its documented Run MRP option starts a selective MRP as a background job for the demanded part, and requires the Reserve and Allocate or Allocate only reservation option.
- Interim orders hold supply. With Reserve and Allocate or Allocate only they are saved, so later checks do not net the same supply. With Neither Reserve nor Allocate they are cancelled after the calculation.
- MRP rebuilds its proposals. Unreleased proposals disappear at the start of the next run, so a date implied by a proposal from the previous run is not a commitment.
- Released orders change when their status allows. A change to Order Qty or Due Date on a DOP Order replicates to the pegged supply order if its status allows it, and changes to DOP components are not replicated to supplier material lines on a pegged purchase order.
- One header to several lines has no automatic update. A one-to-one link can update the customer order line, but with several lines an alarm is raised on the line with the latest planned shipping date.
- Lead time definitions differ. The 26R1 Lead Time page says Manufacturing Lead Time assumes all parts are available from inventory, while Expected Lead Time includes acquisition, and shop order and DOP order start dates depend on Expected Lead Time.
In my view, a promise is a snapshot of one calculation and the plan is a snapshot of another, so the consultant's question is which events make them diverge. See also order promising that the plan can keep.
5.How do you check where the plan and the promise diverge?
Checking a drifted date starts from one customer order line with a disputed date. The table pairs what you see with the first thing to open. This sequence is my method, not an IFS procedure.
| What you see | What to check first |
|---|---|
| A promised date planning cannot meet | The line's supply code and capability check reservation option, then the Interim Order Header field. |
| Two lines promised the same stock | Whether the checks ran with Neither Reserve nor Allocate, which saves no interim orders. |
| Late Order on a pegged part | DOP Order status and the flags DOP Pegged SO Update and DOP Pegged PO Update. The pages I read do not state how MRP treats pegged DOP orders, so treat the message as a prompt to look, not as a diagnosis. |
| Dates look too optimistic | Manufacturing Lead Time against Expected Lead Time on the part. |
| Order After Horizon appears | The MRP horizon against the cumulative lead time of the end product, which the documentation advises not to undercut. |
For a sales order with nothing behind it, see sales orders without coverage.
6.How do you fix a plan and promise that have drifted apart?
Fixing a plan and promise that have drifted apart means bringing the supply order, the DOP order and the customer order line to one agreed date. This sequence is mine, not an IFS procedure.
- Decide which date is true. The capability check updates the line's planned delivery date when the requested one cannot be met, so the line may already carry the later date.
- Move the supply, then read the message again. For Early Order and Late Order, reschedule the existing order. Before cancelling on Remove Order, check that the order is not pegged to a customer demand.
- Use Propagate Changes. The documentation says quantity or date changes can propagate up or down a DOP structure.
- Run a full site MRP after selective runs, as the documentation recommends.
7.How do you stop the drift from coming back?
Prevention is the author's practice and not an IFS recommendation: I treat the gap between promise and plan as something to measure on a schedule.
- Agree one reservation option per product family and write it down, so two planners do not promise the same stock under different rules.
- Give the rescheduling messages an owner and a fixed review rhythm.
- Maintain Expected Lead Time and recheck the MRP horizon after any lead time change.
- Measure the gap on a schedule. In my practice, a read-only comparison of promised date against supply order date, run daily, gives an exception list. It is a custom check, not a rule shipped in the SCM Automation Pack. The article process drift after go-live explains why settings slip once the project team leaves.
Sources: IFS Cloud documentation pages Material Requirements Planning (25R2), Phases of MRP (25R2), Planning Methods (25R2), Messages from MRP (25R2), Dynamic Order Processing (25R2), DOP Header and DOP Order (25R2), Make to Order Planning (25R2), Run Capability Check (25R2) and Lead Time (26R1). The Lead Time page is the one page I read on 26R1, and behaviour can differ between releases, so check the release you run.
8.Frequently asked questions
What is a dynamic structure in IFS Cloud?
"Dynamic structure" is not an IFS documentation term; the feature it points to is Dynamic Order Processing (DOP): a multi-level structure built for a customer order, with control of time, cost and pegging. MRP manages the parts below the pegging level.
How does MRP net demand against supply in IFS Cloud?
MRP nets day by day, earliest demand first. Inventory covers demand first, then anticipated receipts. It then suggests rescheduling or cancelling existing orders, and after that plans new receipts.
What do Early Order, Late Order and Remove Order mean?
Early Order and Late Order say an order's due date is earlier or later than the part's due date and the order needs rescheduling. Remove Order says the supply order is not needed to meet demand and should be cancelled.
Why does a customer order date differ from the MRP plan?
In my reading, the capability check is its own order promising calculation that nets available stock and open supplies, and optionally capacity, while MRP rebuilds its unreleased proposals on each run. The documentation pages I read do not state that the two must give the same date, so a difference is a reason to check settings and inputs.
9.About the author
Dariusz Myśliwiec brings 18 years of hands-on work with IFS (Apps 7.5–10 and IFS Cloud). IFS Certified Associate Consultant. PRINCE2® 7. Based in Kraków, delivering remotely across Europe and globally as an independent practice, so you talk to the consultant who builds it.
Selected clients: Fugro · LGC · BVI Medical · Betafence (PRÆSIDIAD) · Barlinek · NGK Ceramics · Newag · Oleofarm.
IFS is a registered trademark of IFS AB; this practice is not affiliated with IFS AB.
Find where your promise and your plan part ways
Bring one customer order whose date was disputed. On a 30-minute fit call we can walk through its supply code, capability check option, DOP status and lead times.