<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ManualTopic ID="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000324" xml:lang="en">
	<Header>
		<Title xmlns:ssa="http://www.ssaglobal.com" xmlns:HTML="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">Product families in Enterprise Planning</Title>
		<Keyword><Level1>Product families</Level1>
			<Level2>Enterprise Planning</Level2>
		</Keyword>
		<Keyword><Level1>Families</Level1>
			<Level2>Enterprise Planning</Level2>
		</Keyword>
	</Header>
	<GeneralSection><Paragraph>In the short term, SSA ERP normally plans in a detailed way, on the level of individual items.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>For the longer term, however, details are often less relevant, and a more general type of planning can be more appropriate.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>In <GUIRef href="/baanerp/cp" role="package">Enterprise Planning</GUIRef>, you can perform this type of planning by grouping plan items into <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#ProducFamily.ti" role="glossary">families</Link>. To a large extent, you can carry out planning for a product family in the same way as you do for individual items.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>You can use <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#PlanLevel.ti" role="glossary">plan levels</Link> to represent the various levels of aggregation in a product-family structure.</Paragraph>
		<Paragraph>The following examples demonstrate how you use families and plan levels.</Paragraph>
		<List><ListItem>Similar items</ListItem>
			<ListItem>Multiple containers</ListItem>
		</List>
		<ExampleSection><SectionTitle>Similar items</SectionTitle>
			<Paragraph>The A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-4 items are products that are almost identical, and that can be planned together as a group. A family A-FAM is defined, which consists of these four items.</Paragraph>
			<Figure><HTML:IMG SRC="../images/nt_graph_000324a.gif" height="324" width="432" xmlns:ssa="http://www.ssaglobal.com" xmlns:HTML="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/><FigLegend><LegendEntry><Symbol>L1</Symbol>
						<Desc>Plan level 1</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
					<LegendEntry><Symbol>B</Symbol>
						<Desc>Planning percentage</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
					<LegendEntry><Symbol>L2</Symbol>
						<Desc>Plan level 2</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
				</FigLegend>
			</Figure>
			<Paragraph>Plan item A-FAM is planned at level 1 of the logistic plan (demand forecast, production plan, and so on).</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>In a certain period, a production volume of 500 pieces is planned.</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>The master plan for each item (plan level 2) can be determined by disaggregation of the plan at level 1 in accordance with the planning percentages.</Paragraph>
		</ExampleSection>
		<ExampleSection><SectionTitle>Multiple containers Example</SectionTitle>
			<Paragraph>Paint is packaged in two-liter and five-liter cans. The following family structure is defined:</Paragraph>
			<Figure><HTML:IMG SRC="../images/nt_graph_000324b.gif" height="288" width="432" xmlns:ssa="http://www.ssaglobal.com" xmlns:HTML="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/><FigLegend><LegendEntry><Symbol>L1</Symbol>
						<Desc>Plan level 1</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
					<LegendEntry><Symbol>L2</Symbol>
						<Desc>Plan level 2</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
					<LegendEntry><Symbol>P</Symbol>
						<Desc>Paint</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
					<LegendEntry><Symbol>P-2l</Symbol>
						<Desc>Paint (two-liter cans)</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
					<LegendEntry><Symbol>P-5l</Symbol>
						<Desc>Paint (five-liter cans)</Desc>
					</LegendEntry>
				</FigLegend>
			</Figure>
			<Paragraph>The <Link href="/baanerp/cp/glossary/glossary#000033" role="glossary">family CTP horizon</Link> of plan items PAINT-2L and PAINT-5L starts after twenty workdays.</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>If a customer order is received for 1000 cans of PAINT in five-liter cans, to be delivered in two months, SSA ERP checks the quantity of PAINT that is capable-to-promise on that date. It will not check the CTP at container level.</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>If an order is received for 600 cans of PAINT in five-liter cans, to be delivered in fifteen workdays, SSA ERP checks the available quantity of PAINT in five-liter cans.</Paragraph>
		</ExampleSection>
		<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>How to define a product family</SectionTitle>
			<ProcedureList><ListItem>Define a plan item in the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/cp/rpd/cprpd1100m000" role="session">Items - Planning (cprpd1100m000)</GUIRef> session.</ListItem>
				<ListItem>Set the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/cp/rpd/cprpd1100m000#cprpd100.plit" role="formfield">Plan Item Type</GUIRef> field to <GUIRef href="/baanerp/cp/domains/rpd.plit#productfamily" role="enum">Family</GUIRef>.</ListItem>
				<ListItem>Define the <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#PlanniBillOf.ti" role="glossary">aggregation relationships</Link> between the family and its constituents (subitems) by using the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/cp/rpd/cprpd3110m000" role="session">Aggregation Relationships (cprpd3110m000)</GUIRef> session.</ListItem>
			</ProcedureList>
			<Paragraph>You can define various relationships for <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#Aggregate.ti" role="glossary">aggregation</Link> or <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#Dissagregate.ti" role="glossary">disaggregation</Link> of various plans, such as the production plan and the demand plan.</Paragraph>
		</GeneralSection>
		<Note><SectionTitle>Note</SectionTitle>
			<Paragraph>Typically, the aggregation relationships for families are defined between different plan levels, but you can also define a product family and its child items on the same plan level.</Paragraph>
		</Note>
		<GeneralSection><SectionTitle>Functionality of families</SectionTitle>
			<Paragraph>A family is defined as a normal item in the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/tc/ibd/tcibd0501m000" role="session">Items - General (tcibd0501m000)</GUIRef> session. A family has practically the same functionality as other plan items. You can generate planned orders for families just as you would do for other items. However, normally you do not define <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#BillOfMateri.ti" role="glossary">BOMs</Link> and <Link href="/baanerp/ti/glossary/glossary#Routing.ti" role="glossary">routings</Link> for families.</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>By generating planned production orders for families, you can carry out the planning and reserve resources. At the very last moment, you can decide which of the subitems you will actually produce.</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>You can apply a <Link href="/baanerp/cp/glossary/glossary#000032" role="glossary">family CTP check</Link> to see how much of an item you can promise to a customer. See: <Link href="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000120" role="manual">Family CTP</Link>.</Paragraph>
			<Paragraph>The only major difference between a plan item and a family concerns the way in which <Link href="/baanerp/cp/glossary/glossary#000044" role="glossary">goods flow</Link> data is retrieved from the <Link href="/baanerp/cp/glossary/glossary#000027" role="glossary">execution level</Link>. For a family, the goods-flow data is obtained by aggregating the goods-flow data of the subitems involved, according to the aggregation relationships. (This type of goods-flow aggregation only takes place if you run the <GUIRef href="/baanerp/cp/rpd/cprpd4200m000" role="session">Initialize, Roll, and Update Scenario (cprpd4200m000)</GUIRef> session.)</Paragraph>
		</GeneralSection>
	</GeneralSection>
	<RelatedTopics><SectionTitle>Related topics</SectionTitle>
		<RelTopic><Link href="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000300" role="manual">Enterprise Planning, an Overview</Link>
		</RelTopic>
		<RelTopic><Link href="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000149" role="manual">Plan levels and product families</Link>
		</RelTopic>
		<RelTopic><Link href="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000105" role="manual">Aggregated planning</Link>
		</RelTopic>
		<RelTopic><Link href="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000120" role="manual">Family CTP</Link>
		</RelTopic>
		<RelTopic><Link href="/baanerp/cp/onlinemanual/000050" role="manual">To update goods-flow data</Link>
		</RelTopic>
	</RelatedTopics>
</ManualTopic>
