Create and manage buyer-owned buying plans

Purchase Plans give buyers a workspace for deciding which Purchase Demand recommendations they intend to cover, in what quantity, from which supplier, and around which dates.

A Purchase Plan is not a purchase order. It lets a buyer review and adjust purchasing intent before locking plan lines and creating POs.

Who can use Purchase Plans?

• Your company must have Purchase Demand and Purchase Planning available.
• You need access to purchasing planning or PO Planner features.
• You must be working in the correct company and entity.

Where to find Purchase Plans

• To create a plan directly from demand, go to Ops Engine > Insights > Purchase Demand and click Planning Mode.
• To review existing plans, go to Ops Engine > Planning > Purchase Plans.
• If your company uses Purchase Plan Advisor, open Ops Engine > Insights > Purchase Plan Advisor to review Agent-prepared proposals.

Two ways to start a Purchase Plan

Create one directly from Purchase Demand

Use this option when the buyer wants to choose the exact demand rows and quantities. The buyer controls the selection from the beginning.

Create one from a Purchase Plan Advisor proposal

Use this option when Purchase Plan Advisor has already organized current Purchase Demand into a proposal. The buyer reviews the proposed lines, chooses quantities, and creates one or more draft plans.

Both methods create the same buyer-owned draft Purchase Plan. The same edit, lock, demand-change review, and PO creation controls apply after the plan is created.

Create a plan directly from Purchase Demand

1. Open Ops Engine > Insights > Purchase Demand.
2. Choose the completed Purchase Demand run you want to review.
3. Use Needed By and other filters to focus the demand.
4. Click Planning Mode.
5. Select individual demand rows, or use Select all for a group.
6. Review each Qty To Add.
7. Enter a Plan name.
8. Leave Or add to draft plan set to Create new plan.
9. Click Add selected to plan.

The plan is created as a draft and opens as a buyer planning workspace. Its planning window is based on the selected demand dates unless different dates are supplied.

Add demand to an existing draft plan

You can add more Purchase Demand to a plan that is still in draft:

1. Open Purchase Demand and enter Planning Mode.
2. Select the additional demand and review Qty To Add.
3. Under Or add to draft plan, select the existing plan.
4. Click Add selected to plan.

You can also open a draft Purchase Plan and use Unplanned Demand In This Window to add demand from the latest completed Purchase Demand run.

Review a Purchase Plan

Open Ops Engine > Planning > Purchase Plans, then click the plan name or Open. The plan shows:

• The plan status and planning window.
• The buyer who created it.
• Planned parts, facilities, suppliers, quantities, and units.
• Planned order and expected receipt dates.
• Estimated values when purchase cost information is available.
• Demand sources behind each line.
• PO and receipt progress after purchasing begins.

If a plan came from Purchase Plan Advisor, a message at the top links back to the source proposal.

Edit draft plan lines

Click Edit on a draft line to update:

• Supplier
• Planned Qty
• Planned Order
• Expected Receipt
• Notes

Other draft actions include:

• Split divides one planned quantity into separate plan lines so dates or suppliers can be managed separately.
• Lock confirms one line as purchasing intent.
• Remove removes a draft line from the plan without changing its original Purchase Demand source.
• Show sources displays the orders, builds, work orders, or other demand records covered by the line.

Use Edit planning window to change the start and end dates for an active plan. The start date must be on or before the end date.

Choose and verify suppliers

A line marked Supplier needed does not yet have a supplier. Select a supplier before creating a purchase order.

Supplier and buying-unit information can affect estimated value and whether a line is ready for PO creation. Review these fields before locking the line.

Lock plan lines

Locking confirms that the buyer intends to purchase the planned quantity. You can lock one line from its actions or click Lock All Draft Lines.

Locked lines can be used to create purchase orders. They are also treated as active planned coverage when Purchase Demand and Purchase Plan Advisor check whether demand is already planned.

If a locked plan must be changed before PO activity begins, click Unlock Plan, revise the draft, and review it again.

Create purchase orders

1. Open the Purchase Plan.
2. Confirm that the lines have suppliers and valid quantities.
3. Lock the lines you are ready to purchase.
4. Select the locked lines.
5. Click Create POs From Selected.

The system creates purchase orders by supplier and planned order date. The plan then shows the related POs and a Plan vs PO comparison.

Use Plan vs PO

Plan vs PO shows whether purchasing execution still matches the plan. A difference may appear when:

• A PO quantity was changed.
• A PO line was cancelled.
• A supplier changed.
• Only part of the planned quantity has been ordered or received.

The plan does not automatically reverse user changes made on a purchase order.

Review demand changes

Purchase Demand can change after a plan is created. A plan line may show Demand changed when its source quantity, date, or status no longer matches the latest Purchase Demand run.

Click Review and choose the appropriate response:

• Keep leaves the plan line unchanged and records that the change was reviewed.
• Unlock and revise returns a locked line to draft so the buyer can change it.
• Skip un-ordered qty removes only the quantity that has not already been placed on a PO.

Demand-change review does not automatically change an existing purchase order.

How manual plans and Purchase Plan Advisor work together

• A plan created directly from Purchase Demand remains buyer-owned and is never overwritten by the Advisor.
• When a plan is linked to the same demand, the Advisor shows it as Existing Purchase Plan coverage and reduces the quantity still available to plan.
• A draft plan created from an Advisor proposal can be edited and expanded manually like any other draft plan.
• If a manually entered line cannot be matched to a specific demand source, the Advisor does not guess from the part number alone. Review existing plans before creating overlapping coverage.

If you cannot create or update a plan

• Confirm that you selected at least one demand row and entered a quantity greater than zero.
• Confirm that the correct entity is selected and that you have purchasing planning access.
• Only draft lines can be freely edited or removed.
• A line must have a supplier before it can create a purchase order.
• A plan with purchase order activity cannot be deleted.

Tips for buyers

• Name plans for a clear buying cycle, facility, production need, or date range.
• Review demand sources before changing a recommended quantity.
• Keep plans in draft while quantities, suppliers, or dates are still being decided.
• Lock only the lines that represent current buying intent.
• Review Demand changed and Plan vs PO before placing additional orders.

Related topics

• Purchase Demand Review playbook: prepare buyer recommendations
• Purchase Plan Advisor: prepare draft buying plans from purchase demand
• Purchase Demand and Purchase Plans: plan what to buy and when
• PO Planner: plan what to purchase