Firm Planned Order — Manufacturing Glossary

A firm planned order is a planned order in MRP that has been manually frozen by the planner so that Material Requirements Planning will not automatically change its quantity, date, or sourcing during subsequent planning runs. It gives the planner direct control over specific orders while allowing MRP to continue managing everything else.

At User Solutions we advise manufacturers to use firm planned orders strategically — they are one of the most powerful tools a planner has for stabilizing the near-term schedule without disabling MRP entirely.

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How Firm Planned Orders Work

During each MRP run, the system recalculates net requirements and adjusts planned orders accordingly. This is normally beneficial — plans stay current with changing demand. But sometimes MRP's automatic adjustments create problems:

• A supplier has already committed to a specific delivery date
• A production batch is sized to match a tooling constraint MRP does not model
• The planner has coordinated a sequence with the shop floor supervisor
• Constant date-shifting causes "nervousness" that confuses purchasing and production

Firming a planned order tells MRP: "Leave this one alone. I am managing it."

What MRP Does and Does Not Do

Critically, firm planned orders still generate dependent demand for their components. MRP continues to plan materials for firm planned orders — it just does not move the order itself.

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Firm Planned Order Example

A planner at an aerospace parts manufacturer runs MRP on Monday. MRP generates a planned order for 50 titanium brackets, scheduled to start production in Week 14.

By Wednesday, a customer delays their delivery by one week. When MRP runs again, it tries to push the bracket order to Week 15. But the planner knows:

• The titanium bar stock has already been cut and allocated
• The CNC setup for brackets is scheduled for Week 14 alongside a similar part (saving 2 hours of setup time)
• The shop floor supervisor has staffed accordingly

The planner firms the planned order at 50 units in Week 14. MRP now skips this order during replanning. The brackets are produced on schedule, the setup time savings are preserved, and the finished parts wait one extra week in stock — a minor carrying cost far outweighed by the operational stability.

If demand changes significantly, MRP will flag an exception message (e.g., "Consider deferring FPO to Week 16"), but the planner decides whether to act.

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Why Firm Planned Orders Matter for Scheduling

Stabilize the near-term schedule. Without firm planned orders, MRP's constant replanning creates chaos on the shop floor. Firming the next 1-2 weeks of orders gives production a stable target.

Preserve planner intelligence. MRP cannot model every real-world constraint — tooling combinations, crew preferences, supplier negotiations. Firm planned orders let the planner inject knowledge that the system lacks.

Enable better scheduling. When scheduling software like Resource Manager DB receives a mix of firm and non-firm orders, it knows which orders are locked and which can be moved. This produces more realistic schedules.

Reduce nervousness. MRP nervousness — the constant rescheduling of orders due to minor demand changes — is a top complaint among planners. Strategic use of firm planned orders dampens this noise.

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Related Terms

• Planned Order — An MRP-generated order that is automatically adjusted each planning cycle, unlike a firm planned order.
• Net Change MRP — An MRP method that replans only affected items, reducing the frequency of changes that firm planned orders must guard against.
• Planning Horizon — The time span over which MRP generates planned orders, with firm planned orders typically concentrated in the near term.

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FAQ

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This term is part of the Manufacturing Glossary. For a deep dive into material planning, see our MRP Guide.