How to Set a Planning Horizon in EDGEBIC

Setting a planning horizon in EDGEBIC is choosing how many buckets the grid shows: set the bucket count on the inventory calendar or MPS grid and refresh. In EDGEBIC by User Solutions the horizon is the bucket size times the count, so fourteen week buckets is a fourteen-week window. The horizon has to cover the product's longest lead time plus enough slack to act, or you see shortfalls you can no longer prevent. This guide covers setting the count and choosing it well.

For the concept behind a planning window, see the planning horizon glossary. For the grid this control lives on, read how to work the MPS grid. This is documented behavior of EDGEBIC; the full task set is in the how-to hub.

Before You Start

• You need a product loaded on the inventory calendar or MPS grid.
• Know the product's longest lead time, because it sets the floor for the horizon.
• Have chosen a bucket size, since the horizon is bucket size times count.

Step 1: Open the Grid for the Product

Open the inventory calendar or the MPS tab and select the product. The grid loads with its current bucket size and count.

Step 2: Choose the Bucket Size First

Because the horizon is bucket size times count, decide the granularity before the count. Day buckets suit fast movers, week buckets suit most items, and period (monthly) buckets suit slow, high-value items. For that choice, see how to change the MPS bucket size.

Step 3: Set the Bucket Count

Set the Buckets count to the number of periods you want to see. The default is fourteen. The resulting horizon is:

Choose the count so the horizon reaches at least one full planning cycle beyond the product's longest lead time.

Step 4: Refresh

Click Refresh. The grid redraws with the new number of rows. Each row is one bucket, so a larger count means more rows and a longer window.

Lead Time Sets the Floor

The horizon is not a free choice; the product's lead time sets a hard floor under it. Consider a casting with a 60-day lead time. If you view it in week buckets with the default count of 14, the horizon is about 14 weeks, comfortably past the lead time, so a shortfall shows with runway to firm and schedule a build. But view that same casting across a 14-day horizon and every visible bucket sits inside the lead time, meaning any shortfall you can see is one you can no longer prevent, because a new build cannot arrive before the window ends.

That is the failure mode behind "the grid looked fine but we still got caught short." The grid was fine; it just was not looking far enough. The fix is to extend the count until the horizon reaches at least one full planning cycle beyond the longest lead time, so there is always a stretch of visible future where a build ordered today can still land in time.

What Changes When You Set It

The grid's window changes. A longer horizon reveals shortfalls that sit further out, which is essential for long-lead items where a stockout has to be seen weeks ahead to be prevented. A shorter horizon focuses on the near term but hides anything beyond it. The horizon is a view control, not a stored product attribute, so you set it per product each time you load the grid.

Extending the horizon past the lead time is what gives you runway to firm and schedule a build. For firming, see how to firm an MPS quantity into a job.

One caveat travels with a long horizon: the further out you look, the softer the inputs. Distant demand leans more on forecast than on confirmed orders, and the schedule beyond the near term is less settled, so the arithmetic in the far buckets is only as firm as the assumptions feeding it. The arithmetic itself is identical at every bucket, but treat the far end as an early-warning signal rather than a commitment. Act firmly on the near buckets inside your lead-time-plus-decision window, and watch the far ones for the long-lead shortfalls that only a generous horizon reveals in time.

The Default, and Why to Change It

The bucket count defaults to 14, which is a sensible starting point but rarely the right answer for every product. Fourteen day buckets is a two-week window that suits a fast mover with a short lead time; fourteen week buckets is a quarter that suits most items; fourteen period buckets is well over a year, usually more than you need. Because the horizon is a per-product view choice rather than a stored attribute, you set it fresh each time you load the grid, so nothing forces you to keep the default. Adjust the count to the product in front of you: enough to clear its lead time and give a planning cycle of runway, and no more, so the far end does not fill with soft buckets you cannot act on anyway.

How to Check It Worked

Count the rows: the grid should show the number of buckets you set, and the last bucket's date should reach past the product's lead time by at least one planning cycle. If a known long-lead shortfall is still not visible, the horizon is too short; increase the count and refresh.

Common Mistakes

• Matching the horizon to the lead time instead of exceeding it. A horizon equal to the lead time shows only shortfalls you can no longer prevent. Add at least one planning cycle beyond it.
• Setting the count before the bucket size. The horizon is bucket size times count. Pick the granularity first, then the count that produces the window you need.
• Treating far buckets as firm. Distant demand leans on forecast and an unsettled schedule. Use the far buckets as early warning, and act firmly on the near ones.
• Forgetting to refresh. The count takes effect on refresh. Change it and the grid stays put until you refresh.

What Comes Next

Horizon and bucket size are the two view controls that decide what the grid shows, so pair this with how to change the MPS bucket size, and to protect the near term set a time fence. The how-to hub links the rest.