Demand to Replenishment: review and approve supply decisions

Demand to Replenishment turns a material need into a reviewed decision to buy, make, transfer, or manage an exception. A planning suggestion is a starting point. The workflow is complete when someone has checked the demand and supply facts, approved a response, and handed that response to the team that will carry it out.

When to use this workflow

Use it when forecasts, sales orders, production demand, inventory levels, or a changed supplier date require a supply decision. It suits distributors, retailers, and manufacturers that replenish stock or components. The result may be a purchase, a production build, a transfer, a changed customer commitment, or a documented decision to wait.

Featured capabilities

• Demand Brain and Purchase Demand bring demand and expected supply into the planner's review.
• Purchase Readiness, Purchase Plans, and P/O Planner help the planner turn reviewed quantities and timing into a proposed purchase.
• RFQ Workbench supports supplier comparison when price, availability, or substitutions need a decision before ordering.
• Purchase orders, builds, and transfers record the approved action that another team will execute.

People and preparation

Planning owns the supply decision. Purchasing confirms supplier options, production confirms whether a build is feasible, warehouse teams confirm stock and transfer facts, and sales owns a changed customer commitment. Before acting on a recommendation, identify the product and facility, required quantity and date, current demand, on-hand stock, expected receipts, and any existing purchase or production commitment. Your organization decides who may approve a plan or change an existing commitment.

Review the need and the available options

Planning starts with the demand signal. Review the affected product, facility, timing, open customer and production requirements, on-hand inventory, and expected receipts. Check whether the signal is based on current product data, supplier lead time, and a real demand change. A recommendation should not be committed while an incorrect quantity, duplicate order, or outdated date remains unresolved.

Decide whether the material should be purchased, made internally, moved from another facility, substituted with approval, or handled through a customer-facing exception. Consider the promised date and the cost of each feasible path. Planning owns the decision; purchasing, production, warehouse, and sales may need to confirm what they can actually deliver.

Approve and hand off the response

For a purchase, group reviewed quantities by supplier and required timing. Use Purchase Plans and the Purchase Plan Advisor or P/O Planner to prepare the plan. Keep deliberately approved plan lines fixed while refreshing other planning information. Use RFQ Workbench if supplier price, availability, or a substitute needs comparison. Obtain the approval required by your organization, then create the purchase order and hand it to purchasing for supplier confirmation and delivery follow-up.

For a build or transfer, pass the product, quantity, facility, needed date, and reason to production or the inventory team. They must confirm material availability and execute the approved work. If no route can meet the customer date, sales or customer service should agree on the changed commitment and record it on the affected order.

Recheck changed demand

Revisit the plan after a large order, cancellation, receipt, forecast update, or supplier delay. Change or cancel an earlier action through the responsible team so there is one current decision. A new signal does not automatically invalidate an approved purchase or build; check what has already been committed before planning another response.

Decisions and handoffs at each stage

1. Identify the need

   Owner: Planner. Input: sales, production, forecast, or inventory signal.

   Work and decision: Check the product, facility, quantity, timing, on-hand stock, and expected supply. Correct stale or duplicate inputs before accepting the recommendation.

   Evidence: Demand Brain, Purchase Demand, and readiness review.

   Handoff: A real material need is ready for a supply choice.

2. Choose the supply path

   Owner: Planner with purchasing, production, or warehouse. Input: reviewed need and available options.

   Work and decision: Decide whether to buy, build, transfer, substitute with approval, wait, or change the customer commitment. Resolve an infeasible date before promising it.

   Evidence: Reviewed demand and documented decision.

   Handoff: The team that can carry out the chosen response receives the need.

3. Prepare the purchase path

   Owner: Planner and purchasing. Input: approved buying choice.

   Work and decision: Group quantities by supplier and date; compare alternatives where price or availability is uncertain. Keep approved lines fixed while refreshing other plan information.

   Evidence: Purchase Plan, Purchase Plan Advisor, P/O Planner, or RFQ comparison where used.

   Handoff: Purchasing receives an approved quantity and supplier decision.

4. Commit the response

   Owner: Purchasing, production, or inventory team. Input: approved buy, build, or transfer decision.

   Work and decision: Create the purchase order or production work, or start the controlled transfer. Confirm the receiving team has product, quantity, facility, and needed date.

   Evidence: Purchase order, production plan, transfer, or explicit exception.

   Handoff: Source to Pay, Plan to Produce, or Inventory Control and Transfer executes the decision.

5. Replan a change

   Owner: Planner and affected owner. Input: new order, cancellation, receipt, forecast change, or supplier delay.

   Work and decision: Check what is already committed before revising the plan. Decide whether to change, cancel, or retain the prior response; communicate a changed customer date.

   Evidence: Current plan and affected commitment or order.

   Handoff: All teams work from one current supply and customer decision.

Variations and exceptions

A build or transfer decision leaves this planning workflow and enters the production or inventory-movement workflow. A supplier comparison remains a planning input until a purchase is approved; an RFQ is not a purchase order. If the chosen path cannot meet a customer commitment, sales must agree on the changed date or other response with the customer. After a new demand signal, check existing orders and builds before revising the plan so the same need is not covered twice.

Completion check

Each material need has a reviewed decision represented by an approved purchase order, production plan, transfer, or explicit exception. The responsible team has the quantity, facility, timing, and reason it needs to act. Any remaining shortage or customer commitment has an owner and next action.

Related workflows

Approved purchasing work continues through Source to Pay. Approved production work continues through Plan to Produce. Inventory movements follow Inventory Control and Transfer. These handoffs execute the decision; they do not replace the planning review.