Show Some Profile!

As we have seen with the yearly planning in Strategic Planning, there is a repeating capacity pattern. We call it a capacity profile. It is similar from year to year, even if its amplitude may change (increase or drop).

Weekly and Daily Profiles

The same is true for weekly and daily profiles: In many fulfillment centers, there is a “typical Monday”, a “typical Tuesday”, and so on.
And within those days, there are “typical hours”: A typical “hour 8:00 to 9:00” on a “typical Monday” requires a particular capacity.

Thinking in Planning Periods Instead of Months and Weeks

In Strategic Planning, we used the “classic” planning procedure: Start with the yearly planning and break it down to months and weeks.

We change that by introducing the simple yet flexible concept of planning periods. A planning period is a sequence of calendar weeks.

What does that mean? We defined a planning period of four weeks. The capacity required each week for “Goods Receipt” is 23 FTEs, for “High Bay” 15, and so on.

A Perfect Match: Planning Periods and Profiles

Combined with periods, profiles become a brilliant planning tool: The weekly profile repeats itself within a planning period, and the daily profile repeats within the weekly profile.

The weekly profile named "Weekly Profile 1-4” repeats itself. The planning period can be easily adjusted, e.g., to quarterly periods (= 12 CWs), depending on your business needs.

The capacity could be equally distributed across the four weeks, i.e., every week, we need 23 FTEs at “Goods Receipt”, 15 at “High Bay,” etc. or it could change every week.