# Planned Order

> Source: https://netray.co/glossary/planned-order
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Glossary

## Short answer

A planned order is a system-generated supply proposal that MRP creates to cover a net requirement. It has a quantity and dates but is not yet a committed job, production order or purchase order, and MRP can delete or reschedule it on every run.

## Aliases

- MRP planned order
- planned production order
- planned purchase order

## Category

manufacturing

## Full Definition

When MRP finds that projected on-hand inventory will fall below demand or safety stock on a given date, it creates a planned order sized by the item's lot-sizing rule and dated back by lead time. A planned order exists only inside the planning engine. It reserves no material, books no capacity and prints no shop paper until a planner or an automated routine converts it.

Because planned orders are regenerated, they are volatile. In a regenerative run the engine discards all unfirmed planned orders and rebuilds them from current demand and supply. In a net change run it only recalculates items touched by changes. Either way, the planned order you saw yesterday may have a different quantity or date today, which is why buyers and schedulers should not make external commitments from them.

Conversion is where planned orders become real. In Infor SyteLine, planned jobs and planned purchase requirements surface in the planning workbench and can be released into job orders or purchase requisitions. In Infor LN, planned production orders and planned purchase orders are generated by Enterprise Planning and then converted to production or purchase orders. In NetSuite, planned orders from the Supply Planning engine become work orders or purchase orders on approval.

Planned orders also carry the planning view of the future into reports. Capacity requirements planning, cash forecasts and supplier forecasts are usually built from planned orders, so their quality depends on accurate lead times, lot sizes and bills of material.

## Why It Matters

- They are the output planners actually work from each day, so every MRP parameter ultimately shows up as a planned order that is right or wrong.
- Supplier forecasts and capacity plans are built from planned orders, so noisy planned orders create noisy commitments to vendors and the shop floor.
- Converting too early locks in demand that may change, while converting too late shortens lead time and triggers expedites.
- Reviewing planned orders is a high-volume, rules-based task, which makes it a good candidate for AI-assisted triage with human approval.

## In Practice

Example: demand of 500 units is due on the 30th, on-hand is 100 and lot size is fixed at 200. MRP nets 400 required and creates two planned orders of 200 each, offset by a 10-day lead time. A planner converts the first to a job order on the 12th and leaves the second as planned. If the sales order drops to 350 units, MRP shrinks or deletes the remaining planned order but cannot touch the released job.

## Faq

### What is the difference between a planned order and a production order?

**Answer:** A planned order is an MRP proposal that can be changed or deleted by the next planning run. A production order or job is a released commitment that reserves material, schedules capacity and is not altered by MRP, although MRP will suggest changes to it.

### Why do planned orders keep changing between MRP runs?

**Answer:** MRP recalculates them from current demand, supply, lead times and lot-sizing rules. Any change in forecast, sales orders, inventory or BOM can move or resize them. Time fences and firm planned orders are the usual controls.

### Can planned orders be converted in bulk?

**Answer:** Yes. Most ERPs offer mass conversion by item, planner or date range, which should be restricted to items inside the planning time fence where the plan is stable.

## Search terms

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