Using the Planning Module
Last updated November 6, 2025
The Planning tab provides a forward-looking view of inventory levels and allows you to manage replenishments for each product (or group of products). Essentially, this is where Flowlity generates supply plan recommendations (planned orders) based on the forecasts and parameters, and where you can fine-tune those plans.
Planners use the Planning module to answer: “Given the forecast (Final Forecast) and our inventory policies, how will our stock evolve? And what orders should we place, and when?”
Navigation & Alerts: Similar to the Demand page, you can search or filter for specific SKUs or tags on the Planning page. You can also navigate product to product using arrows. In addition, the Planning module introduces an alerts-based filter to help focus on items that need attention:
- Selection by Alerts: You can filter to show only products with certain alerts active. Flowlity defines several alert types in the Planning view:
- Above optimal stock: The projected stock exceeds the Stock Max (maximum inventory level) for the item at some point. This could indicate overstock risk or too much on order.
- Below optimal stock: The projected stock falls below the Stock Min (safety stock or minimum level) at some point. This indicates a risk of stockout if not corrected.
- Out of stock: The stock projection actually drops to 0 (or below) – i.e., a stockout is projected. This is a critical alert to address.
- Expiring Stocks: Some inventory is projected to expire (if shelf-life is tracked). This alert warns that you may have products that will go bad if not used by a certain date.
- Possible outlier (demand): Similar to the demand module, it flags that recent actual demand was abnormally high, which might not be typical and could distort planning if not addressed.
- Possible shortage (demand): Indicates a period of zero or low sales that might be due to having had no stock (a lost sale scenario).
By selecting an alert filter (e.g., view all “Out of stock” alerts), the list will show only the SKUs meeting that condition. This helps prioritize where to intervene – for instance, seeing which products are projected to stock out so you can expedite orders or adjust forecasts.
Graph & Planning Grid: When you select a product in the Planning module, you see a stock projection graph and the supply planning grid for that item. The graph shows key elements of the item’s supply picture:
- Stock Projection: Displayed as an orange dotted line, it represents the expected inventory level over time (given current stock, incoming orders, and forecast). This line will go up when deliveries (replenishments) arrive and go down as demand consumes stock.
- Stock Interval (Min/Max band): Shown as a green shaded range on the graph, indicating the recommended Stock Min and Stock Max levels over time. These targets come from your inventory policy – often calculated by Flowlity’s algorithms. When the stock projection goes outside this band, it usually triggers the above/below optimal stock alerts.
- Firm Orders (POs): Represented as dark blue bars on the graph, these are confirmed Purchase Orders that are in the system (imported from your ERP) with their quantities and due dates. They are fixed supplies that will increase stock when delivered. Firm orders are part of “My Supply” and not changed by Flowlity (unless you cancel them in your ERP).
- Flowlity Order Recommendations (PRs): Shown as light blue bars on the graph. These are the planned order suggestions calculated by Flowlity’s algorithm to replenish stock. The system typically generates these daily, aligning with the need to keep stock within min-max bounds while respecting constraints (like MOQs or lead times). These are initially Purchase Requisitions (planned orders) which you will later confirm or adjust.
- Expiring Stock: If relevant, orange bars may indicate inventory that will expire (e.g., perishable goods hitting shelf-life), highlighting when in time that expiration causes a drop in usable stock.
In the grid below the graph, the Planning module lists numeric values per time bucket (e.g. weeks or months). By default, you will see columns such as:
- Final Forecast: The demand forecast for each period (this is pulled from the Demand module – either Flowlity’s or your overridden forecast). It’s the same final forecast described earlier, now shown in the context of supply planning.
- My Supply: This is the total supply quantity for the period, composed of:
- Firm Orders: any fixed orders due in that period (brought in from ERP).
- Order Recommendations: Flowlity’s planned orders for that period, listed under each supplier name. If a product can be supplied by multiple suppliers, you’ll see separate lines for each supplier’s recommended orders. The recommendations account for constraints like MOQs, batch sizes, supplier calendars, etc.. If a number in this column has a small Flowlity logo icon next to it, it means it’s the original suggestion by Flowlity; if you edit it (see below), it will change to a pencil icon indicating a manual override.
- Stock (projection): The projected inventory level at the end of each period, after accounting for the forecast and the supplies (firm + recommended). This should correspond to the graph’s orange line value for that period.
- Frozen Horizon (if any): The grid may highlight with a blue background or marker the periods that are fixed/frozen. A frozen horizon means you have decided to not let the plan change for those periods (e.g., you’ve committed to a plan for the next 2 weeks). Flowlity will not generate new recommendations in a frozen period – it treats existing orders as untouchable. You can fix or unfix horizons as needed (by right-clicking or using the UI option on the grid for a period to “Fix period”). Fixed periods are indicated by a visual cue (blue line or shading)
Additional fields can be enabled via the settings (the gear icon on top right of the Planning screen lets yo show extra columns)[75]. For example, you might display “Stock min” and “Stock max” as columns to see the numeric min/max values each period, or “Stock coverage (days)” which tells how many days of demand the projected stock covers. These help in analyzing if the plan meets your policy (e.g., stock coverage staying above a certain threshold).
By clicking the info (i) icon near the product name, a sidebar opens with product details. Here you can quickly switch the unit of measure (if an alternate unit is defined) to view the plan in, say, pallets instead of pieces. You can also edit product master data from this panel (if you have rights) – for instance, updating lead time or shelf life.
Simulating and Modifying Plans: One of the powerful features of the Planning module is the ability to simulate changes interactively. If you believe an order recommendation is too high or low, you can click directly on its quantity in the grid and override it with a new value. The moment you edit a planned order quantity or add a new order, the stock projection line updates in real-time on the graph to show the impact. This “what-if” capability lets you test different supply scenarios. For example, you might reduce a recommended order and immediately see that stock will dip closer to the minimum, maybe still acceptable, or conversely see an out-of-stock appear (telling you the cut is too much).
If an edited value has a lock icon, it means it’s now a fixed override. Flowlity’s nightly computation will not overwrite your change for that order – it will keep your number (unless you revert it). You can always revert to Flowlity’s suggestion by clearing your input (making the Flowlity logo reappear).
Other interactive actions include:
- Fixing a Horizon: As mentioned, you can freeze the plan up to a certain period. Use this carefully; it’s useful if you have executed a plan and don’t want new changes (e.g., you’ve issued POs for the next month, so you fix that horizon).
- Optimizing On-Demand: While Flowlity normally updates plans daily through batch computation, you have an Optimize button (for users with that feature) to trigger an immediate re-computation of the supply plan for a product after you make changes. This is handy if, say, you drastically changed forecasts or strategy and want new recommendations now instead of waiting. After hitting Optimize, you can choose to save or discard the new plan suggestions. Note that certain constraints (like combined supplier MOQs across products) might not be fully respected in the current on-demand optimization beta, but it’s continually improving.
How Flowlity’s Recommendations Work: Flowlity’s engine takes into account various replenishment constraints configured for each product and supplier when generating order proposals. For example, if a product has a Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) of 100 units from a supplier, the system will ensure recommended orders are at least 100. If there’s a Full Truck constraint (say a full truck is 50 pallets), the system tries to group orders to meet that before the truck’s departure. If an Order Frequency of 21 days is set, it means Flowlity will only propose an order roughly every 3 weeks for that supplier rather than every week. These constraints are set in the settings (more on that in the Settings section) and the Planning module applies them so that recommendations are realistic and executable. If any constraint is violated by the current plan, the Orders module (next section) will flag it, for instance “Supply not respecting MOQ” or “not respecting order frequency”.
Finally, once you are satisfied with the plan on the Planning page, you will move to the Orders page to actually confirm (validate) the planned orders to turn them into real orders. The Planning tab is your sandbox to balance supply and demand and get inventory to desired levels with an optimal set of orders.