Planning Flexibility ... very frequently, users expect this flag as a tool to firm supplies. However, the right way to define what is this flag for is as a tool to Fix supplies but not to firm supplies. How is this flag used in the planning engine?
Just to start with, Planning routine in Dynamics NAV actually performs two actions:
- checks inventory availability
- then, based on the inventory availability, it suggests action messages with proposed changes on the inventory profile.
In the other hand, Planning Flexibility is a flag, which is available on production and purchase orders, with two permissible values: Unlimited and None.
When Planning Flexibility is set to Unlimited means supply (purchase, production) will be use during the planning routine in both inventory availability calculation and the action message proposals. Therefore, planning could request a quantity or due date change of this supply with flag set to Unlimited.
However, if Planning Flexibility is set to None, change proposals (action messages from second step in planning) will ignore any supply (purchase, production) with this flag set to None. This means, supply will be used to calculate inventory availability but will not be considered to propose changes (date, quantity changes) since it is considered as a fixed supply.
