Planbestellungen

Planbestellungen, often translated as planned orders, are planning documents used in production planning and materials management to indicate the need to procure or manufacture a quantity of material within a specific time frame. They are generated by the material requirements planning (MRP) run and do not yet represent a firm commitment or an actual purchase or production order.

A planbestellung contains key data such as material, plant, quantity, dates (start and end), procurement type (in-house production vs external procurement), and often links to the bill of materials, routing, and capacity requirements. The responsible planner can release the planbestellung to firm status or convert it directly to a production order or a purchase requisition/order. When released or converted, capacity planning and scheduling are applied, and the planbestellung becomes an actual object in the system: a production order if produced in-house, or a purchase order if procured externally.

They serve to align demand with supply by providing a preview of requirements, enabling short-term adjustments to material quantities and delivery dates. They differ from purchase requisitions or purchase orders in that they originate from MRP planning and normally require user review and release before becoming binding commitments. They may be firmed to prevent automatic changes and can be rescheduled, deleted, or converted as plans change.

In ERP systems, planbestellungen are common in SAP PP (Production Planning) and related modules, though naming conventions may vary; in some contexts the term Planauftrag is used.