We have some printed items (raw material components used in production) and when they are revised a new item number is issues so item 100-01 may get a new revision, item 100-02. This may not be the best practice because we will continue to use item 100-01 until its inventory is depleted and then will start using 100-02 instead.
So the problem is that we want the Planning Worksheet to plan and suggest purchases as needed for 100-02 but consider that there is still existing stock of 100-01.
One solution to this problem is to set up an alternate item relationship in the item card in your ERP system. This allows you to associate item 100-01 with item 100-02, indicating that they are interchangeable in production. You can also set up a conversion factor between the two items to reflect any differences in quantity or unit of measure.
Once this relationship is set up, you can configure the Planning Worksheet to consider both items as available for planning purposes. This can be done by adjusting the filter criteria in the Planning Parameters to include both item numbers, or by including both items in the same planning group.
By doing this, the Planning Worksheet will suggest purchases for item 100-02 when inventory falls below the minimum level, but will also consider the existing stock of item 100-01 as available supply. This will ensure that production can continue using the existing stock of 100-01 until it is depleted, without disrupting the overall production plan.
AI answers aren’t always correct. Above is an example. Business Central does not have planning groups to factor in a substitute Item’s availability before making a suggestion on the main Item.
First, you should remove the Reordering Policy from Item 100-01 to avoid any further supply suggestions from BC.
There are two ways to combat the use of the old Item in Business Central.
Option 1: Set Item 100-01 as an Item substitution of 100-02. Since your BOM now has Item 100-02 as the part required, new Production Orders will create demand for 100-02. Your team would need to review the Prod. Order BOM and switch to the Item Substitution of 100-01. This changes the demand to use 100-01. Eventually you will consume the remainder of Item 100-01 and this requirement goes away.
Option 2: Set an effective date in the future on your BOM version that contains Item 100-02. This way new Prod. Orders will continue to list and consume Item 100-01. If you consume all of 100-01 before the effective date, you can simply remove the date from the new BOM version and the system will start using it immediately. If you haven’t full consumed 100-01 by the effective date, you can either push the date further out or try to sell off the remaining amount of 100-01.
Or do Option 2 first, reduce inventory on 100-01 as much as possible, then start using Option 1 until it is fully consumed.
Neither option is super automated, so if you wanted something fancy you would want to customize the system to auto-substitute the old Item until it is consumed.
Hopefully this is helpful and gives you something to explore. Be sure to reach out to your BC partner and get their input on how they may have addressed this issue with their other clients.