Time Fence Rule

This field applies to APS.

On the Planning Detail APS form, this field is read-only.

The Time Fence Rule field controls when demands for this item can use available supplies or inventory. All items should have a time fence specified, in order to provide the best APS Planning results. The Time Fence protects inventory and near-term supplies for safety stock use, but it will not cause a demand to be late, if that demand needs to use the inventory or near-term supplies to meet its due date. This allows you to preserve a quantity for use by shorter-term demands. Demands due later than the time fence cannot consume available inventory and supplies to the point where the on-hand and supply quantities drop below a certain preservation level, which is based on the item's Safety Stock level.

The time fence time you define should represent the amount of time that is typically needed to replenish this item's quantity up to the Safety Stock value.

For more information about the time fence rules, see Preserving Inventory and Supplies for Short-term Demands.

Available rules are:

  • No time fence: The time fence function is disabled.
  • Lead Time (default): The length of the time fence is defined by the end item's lead time (Fixed Lead Time + (Variable Lead Time * order quantity)). If a PCAL shift is defined, the system calculates lead time according to that shift. Otherwise, it calculates lead time using 24 hours x 7 days a week. Select this option if the time to replenish this item's quantity should be represented only by the end item lead time.
  • Accumulated Lead Time: The length of the time fence is defined by the accumulated lead time for the end item + the lead times for all of its component items. If a PCAL shift is defined, the system calculates lead time according to that shift. Otherwise, it calculates lead time using 24 hours x 7 days a week. Select this option if the time to replenish this item's quantity should include the lead times of all the components (that is, the components may not typically be available).
  • Specific Value: The length of the time fence is defined by the value in the Time Fence Value field (in days).
  • Protected Lead Time: This rule functions the same as the Lead Time rule, except that, in cases where the Safety Stock is zero, the entire quantity of inventory and supplies is preserved inside the time fence. That is, demands due later than the time fence cannot consume any inventory or supplies inside the time fence.
  • Protected Accumulated Lead Time: This rule functions the same as the Accumulated Lead Time rule, except that, in cases where the Safety Stock is zero, the entire quantity of inventory and supplies is preserved inside the time fence. That is, demands due later than the time fence cannot consume any inventory or supplies inside the time fence.
  • Protected Specific Value: This rule functions the same as the Specific Value rule, except that, in cases where the Safety Stock is zero, the entire quantity of inventory and supplies is preserved inside the time fence.
Note: Protected Lead Time, Protected Accumulated Lead Time, and Protected Specific Value are available only to provide backward compatibility. We do not recommend using these rules.

See Preserving Inventory and Supplies for Short-Term Demands for more information about time fences.