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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / Planning In Business C...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

Planning In Business Central

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Posted on by CU26031055-0 30

Hello Community,

I’m working in a distribution company as a Planning Specialist.

I have configured all replenishment and planning parameters on the Item Card (Reorder Point, Reorder Quantity, etc.), and I am not using SKU-level planning.

Additionally, the “Location Mandatory” setting is enabled, as we are working with multiple locations.

However, when I run the Planning Worksheet, the system does not generate any planning lines.

My requirement is to run planning based on the overall company stock level (global inventory), rather than planning per location or SKU.

Is there a way to make the planning worksheet consider Item Card parameters only (without using SKUs) while still keeping Location Mandatory enabled?

I would appreciate your guidance and best practice recommendations.

Thank you.

Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
I have the same question (0)
  • Suggested answer
    Ben Baxter Profile Picture
    Ben Baxter 6,918 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    While it is sort-of possible, I would strongly advise against it.
     
    You can set your parameters on your Item Card (not SKU), then whatever your main Location is, set it as the "Components at Location" within Manufacturing Setup > Planning (even if you aren't doing Manufacturing).  This will force the system to use the Item Card's parameters as the criteria for planning for your main Location.  However, it is still only planning for the demand at the main Location, and the other Location demand isn't accounted for.
     
    When you have multiple Locations, you need to tell the system how to replenish those Locations.  You can still buy everything to the Main Location AND have the other Location demand accounted for.  I strongly suggest a SKU per Location, assuming the Item will go to that Location.
     
    If you set the SKU to "Transfer" from Main Location, it means the other Location's demand is accounted for at the Main Location.  Alternatively, you can purchase/produce directly to the other Locations by using any of the other Replenishment Systems on the SKU records.
     
    I would also encourage you to attend the DCI National UG meeting (webinar) on April 16th, where I will be reviewing the MRP capabilities within Business Central:
     
    P.S. "Location Mandatory" should be on whenever you have multiple Locations, and there is an argument it should always be on even if you are a single Location.
     
    Best Regards,
    Ben Baxter
    Accent Software Inc
  • Suggested answer
    Teagen Boll Profile Picture
    Teagen Boll 1,440 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    As Ben mentioned, you should be using Stockkeeping Units for the inventory planning. This is the best approach for managing planning settings.
     
    What I would recommend is set your planning settings on the item card and then you can run the Create Stockkeeping Unit process and that will copy all the settings to your SKUs.
     
    In BC just search for Create Stockkeeping Unit:
    Fill in the settings appropriately and that will copy your item card settings to your SKUs. Then you can run any planning worksheets or requisition worksheets without issue.
     
    Best,
    Teagen
    Catapult ERP
     
  • Suggested answer
    PRao Profile Picture
    PRao 447 on at
    Could you please check "Reordering Policy" on item Card ? Also According to Reordering policy you may define the other parameters. 
     Make sure Reordering Policy should not be blank. 
     
     
     
    Thanks, 
    PRao
  • Verified answer
    OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture
    OussamaSabbouh 12,973 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hello,
    No — once Location Mandatory is enabled and you work with multiple locations, Business Central planning becomes location-based, so it won’t reliably plan from Item Card parameters only as one global company stock pool; Microsoft’s docs basically recommend SKUs per location for stable results, and without SKUs the system may fall back to a very minimal planning logic instead of using your full reorder settings. So if you want proper planning with multiple locations, the best practice is use SKUs, or redesign around a main planning location + transfers rather than expecting one global inventory plan while Location Mandatory stays on.
     
    Regards,
    Oussama Sabbouh
  • Verified answer
    Aziz Skhiri Profile Picture
    Aziz Skhiri 368 on at

    Hey, No, there's no built-in way to make the Planning Worksheet run true global/company-wide planning (total stock across all locations) using only your Item Card parameters while Location Mandatory stays enabled and without SKUs. BC forces location-aware logic in that setup, which is why you're getting zero planning lines.

    The closest workaround (and what Microsoft recommends when you skip SKUs) is this:

    Go to Manufacturing Setup → set Components at Location to your main warehouse code.
    Then rerun the Planning Worksheet. It will now use your full Item Card replenishment parameters (Reorder Point, Quantity, etc.) — but only for demand at that main location. Demand from other locations still gets ignored or minimal treatment.

    Most planners in distribution just bite the bullet and use SKUs (super quick: run Create Stockkeeping Unit batch job to copy everything from the Item Card). You can even set the other-location SKUs to Replenishment System = Transfer from your main warehouse — that way the system still plans purchases centrally based on total demand.
  • Verified answer
    Gregory Mavrogeorgis Profile Picture
    Gregory Mavrogeorgis 992 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi,

    With Location Mandatory ON and no SKU, Planning Worksheet never use global stock from item card. It always plan per location.

    Even you set Reorder Point on item, system look demand per location so if stock ok in one place - no lines.

    To have overall company inventory planning, you must create SKU for each location (with same parameters) or turn off Location Mandatory.

    Many distribution companies here use SKU for this.

    This is standard in BC.

     

    Please mark it as verified if you have found this as helpful.

  • CU26031055-0 Profile Picture
    CU26031055-0 30 on at

    Thank you all for your support.

    Your suggestions are very helpful, and I will test the proposed solutions and share my feedback.

    I appreciate your assistance.

  • Verified answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 99,090 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    You can discuss specific needs with your partners, which should be achievable through customization.
     
    Thanks.
    ZHU

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