Overview

A strong coordination (i. e. the configuration of data flows and the division of planning tasks to modules) of APS modules is a prerequisite to achieve consistent plans for the different planning levels and for each entity of the supply chain. The same data should be used for each de-centralized planning task and decision. APS can be seen as "add-ons" to existing ERP systems with the focus on planning tasks and not on transactional tasks. In most cases an ERP system will be a kind of "leading system" where the main transactional data are kept and maintained. The data basis of APS is incrementally updated and major changes on master data are made in the ERP system. This task will be called integration of APS with ERP systems.

The coordination between the different planning modules described in Part II of this book is very important to derive dovetailed detailed plans for each supply chain entity. Section 13.1 will show which guidelines are given, which data are shared and how feedback is organized. Furthermore, one can see which modules are normally used centrally and de-centrally, respectively.

As we have already seen in Chap. 5, some decisions and tasks are left to the ERP system. These tasks and data which are used by APS but are kept in ERP systems are described in Sect. 13.2. The definition of the interface between...