> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bizaxl.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Production Plan

> How to use Production Plans in Bizaxl to schedule manufacturing, calculate raw material requirements, and create Work Orders from Sales Orders or forecasts.

A Production Plan is the bridge between customer demand and your production floor. It pulls in open Sales Orders (or Material Requests), calculates what needs to be manufactured, checks your raw material stock, and generates Work Orders and purchase requests in one coordinated action. Instead of manually tracking every order and estimating what you need to buy, the Production Plan does the calculation for you.

***

## Who Uses This Feature

| Role                   | What They Do                                                        |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Production Manager** | Creates and manages production plans to schedule manufacturing runs |
| **Planning Team**      | Reviews material requirements and adjusts production quantities     |
| **Purchase Manager**   | Acts on material shortfall alerts generated by the plan             |
| **Store Keeper**       | Refers to the plan to prepare material transfers                    |

***

## Before You Start

Before creating a Production Plan, make sure:

* Active Sales Orders exist for items you manufacture (if planning from Sales Orders)
* Active, approved BOMs exist for every finished item to be produced
* Warehouse records are set up for your raw materials and WIP stores

***

## Creating a Production Plan

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Production Plan">
    Go to the **Manufacturing** workspace and click **Production Plan** in the Production card, or use the **Production Plan** shortcut.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a new Production Plan">
    Click **New**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the Get Items From field">
    Choose what drives this production plan:

    * **Sales Order:** Pulls items from confirmed Sales Orders
    * **Material Request:** Pulls items from internal Material Requests raised for production
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the date range">
    Enter **From Date** and **To Date** to filter which Sales Orders or Material Requests to include. Use the **From Delivery Date** and **To Delivery Date** fields to filter by the expected delivery date on the Sales Order.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Filter by customer or item (optional)">
    Use the **Customer** and **Item Code** fields to narrow the plan to specific customers or items.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Get Sales Orders">
    Click the **Get Sales Orders** button. The system pulls all open Sales Orders matching your filters into the Sales Orders table. Review and remove any orders you do not want to include in this plan.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Get Finished Goods for Manufacture">
    Click the **Get Finished Goods for Manufacture** button. This populates the **Assembly Items** table with the items that need to be manufactured, along with their planned quantities.

    Review the list and adjust quantities if needed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get sub-assembly items (if applicable)">
    If any finished items contain sub-assemblies that also need to be manufactured, click **Get Sub Assembly Items**. The system adds those sub-assembly items to the plan.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check material requirements">
    Click **Get Raw Materials for Purchase**. This calculates the total raw material requirements based on the BOMs for all items in the plan, then checks current stock. Items with a shortfall appear in the **Raw Materials** table.

    You can download the full materials list using **Download Required Materials**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Material Requests for shortfalls">
    If materials need to be purchased, the system can generate **Material Requests** for the shortfall quantities. These Material Requests can then be converted to Purchase Orders by the Procurement team.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Submit the Production Plan">
    Click **Save** then **Submit** to approve the plan.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Work Orders">
    After submitting, click **Create Work Orders**. Bizaxl creates one Work Order for each assembly item in the plan. You can review the Work Orders from the Work Order list.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/bizaxloptimizationsllp/images/placeholder-production-plan-form.png" alt="Production Plan form showing Sales Orders table, Assembly Items, and Raw Materials sections" />
</Frame>

***

## Field Guide

| Field                                     | Description                                                                            |
| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Company**                               | The company this plan is for (mandatory)                                               |
| **Posting Date**                          | Date the plan is created (mandatory)                                                   |
| **Get Items From**                        | Source of planned items: Sales Order or Material Request                               |
| **Item Code**                             | Filter to plan for a specific item only                                                |
| **Customer**                              | Filter to plan for a specific customer only                                            |
| **Warehouse**                             | Filter by warehouse for stock availability checks                                      |
| **Project**                               | Link to a project if this plan is project-driven                                       |
| **From Date / To Date**                   | Date range to filter Sales Orders or Material Requests                                 |
| **From Delivery Date / To Delivery Date** | Filter Sales Orders by their delivery date                                             |
| **Sales Orders table**                    | Sales Orders pulled into this plan                                                     |
| **Material Requests table**               | Material Requests pulled into this plan (when Get Items From = Material Request)       |
| **Assembly Items table**                  | Finished items and quantities to be manufactured (mandatory)                           |
| **Raw Materials table**                   | Raw material requirements and shortfall quantities                                     |
| **Total Planned Qty**                     | Sum of all planned production quantities                                               |
| **Total Produced Qty**                    | Quantities manufactured against this plan                                              |
| **Status**                                | Draft, Submitted, Completed, or Cancelled                                              |
| **Raw Materials Warehouse**               | Warehouse to check for raw material availability                                       |
| **Ignore Available Stock**                | If ticked, calculates the full material requirement without deducting current stock    |
| **Include Safety Stock**                  | If ticked, adds safety stock levels to the required quantity calculation               |
| **Consolidate Sales Order Items**         | If ticked, combines the same item from multiple Sales Orders into one planned quantity |
| **Skip Available Sub Assembly Items**     | If ticked, does not plan production for sub-assemblies that are already in stock       |
| **Sub Assembly Warehouse**                | Warehouse to check for available sub-assemblies                                        |

***

## Workflow Journey

```
Sales Orders (open, within date range)
  ↓ (Get Sales Orders button)
Production Plan — Draft
  ↓ (Get Finished Goods for Manufacture)
Assembly Items populated
  ↓ (Get Raw Materials for Purchase)
Material shortfalls identified
  ↓ (Submit)
Production Plan — Submitted
  ↓ (Create Work Orders)
Work Orders created (one per assembly item)
  ↓ (as Work Orders progress)
Production Plan status → Completed
```

***

## Monitoring and Reports

| Report                         | What It Shows                                                         |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Production Plan Summary**    | Progress of each production plan — planned vs produced quantities     |
| **Production Planning Report** | Raw material requirements vs available stock for all open work orders |
| **BOM Stock Report**           | Material availability check for a specific BOM and quantity           |

### Dashboard Charts

The **Pending Work Order** chart shows how many work orders have been created but not yet started, giving the Production Manager a view of the production queue.

***

## Best Practices

**Run a Production Plan before every production cycle.** Rather than creating Work Orders individually, always start with a Production Plan to ensure material requirements are calculated and shortfalls are flagged before production begins.

**Set sensible date ranges.** A Production Plan with too wide a date range may bring in stale Sales Orders. A range that is too narrow may miss orders that need to be produced together for efficiency.

**Use the consolidation option for similar items.** If multiple Sales Orders include the same item, tick **Consolidate Sales Order Items** to combine them into one production run rather than creating multiple small Work Orders.

**Review raw material availability before submitting.** If the Raw Materials table shows shortfalls, raise the Material Requests and allow time for procurement before creating Work Orders. Starting a Work Order without materials leads to production stoppages.

**Skip sub-assemblies already in stock.** If you keep a buffer of sub-assemblies, tick **Skip Available Sub Assembly Items** to avoid unnecessarily manufacturing sub-assemblies you already have.

**Do not use Ignore Available Stock unless forecasting.** This option overrides current stock levels and creates requirements for the full planned quantity regardless of what is in the warehouse. It is useful for forecast planning but not for normal production scheduling.

***

## Troubleshooting

**No items appear after clicking Get Sales Orders:** Check that the date range covers the Sales Orders you want to include, and that those Sales Orders are in Submitted (not Draft) status.

**The Assembly Items table is empty after clicking Get Finished Goods:** Confirm that the items on the Sales Order are set as manufactured items and have active, approved BOMs.

**Raw material shortfalls appear for items you know are in stock:** Check the **Raw Materials Warehouse** field. If it points to the wrong warehouse, the stock check will not find the materials.

**Work Orders are not being created:** Ensure the Production Plan is in Submitted status before clicking Create Work Orders.

***

## Related Features

* [Bill of Materials](/manufacturing/bill-of-materials/bill-of-materials) — the BOM for each item defines what materials the plan requires
* [Work Order](/manufacturing/work-orders/work-order) — Work Orders are created from this Production Plan
* [Sales Order](/manufacturing/sales/sales-order) — the demand that drives the production plan
* [Material Request](/manufacturing/inventory/material-request) — created by the plan for raw material shortfalls
* [Purchase Order](/manufacturing/procurement/purchase-order) — converts Material Requests into supplier orders