Refine, Rebuild, or Start Fresh? Making the Right Move with Your FrePPLe Plan

Should You Troubleshoot Your Current Setup, Reload with Clean Data, or Build a New Model from Scratch? Let’s Map Out the Best Route for Smarter Production Planning.

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Any supply chain professional or production planner dreads staring at a screen filled with overdue orders, missed delivery dates, or incomplete BOMs. With rising customer expectations and shrinking margins, having your production plan fall apart can be just as stressful as a shattered iPhone screen. At this point, you might be wondering—should you fix the broken supply chain logic, start fresh, or maybe try a streamlined tool like FrePPLe?

This article breaks down the options and walks you through how to make the most of FrePPLe for production planning, ensuring you get the best out of its planning capabilities without second-guessing your steps.

Starting from Scratch: Setting Up FrePPLe

Should I repair my broken Excel plan or move on to a smarter tool? If this question sounds familiar, you’re not alone. FrePPLe offers a powerful open-source alternative to legacy planning methods, but only if configured correctly. Here's how to get started:

1. Go to the Dashboard

Begin by launching the FrePPLe dashboard by clicking on the FrePPLe logo. This is your mission control center.

2. Download the Required Files

Head over to this Google Drive folder and download the Excel files necessary for master data.

Repairing the Foundation: Loading Master Data

Before any plan runs, the system needs to understand your business structure.

3. Load Master Data

• Items: Go to Sales > Items, upload item.mfg.xlsx.

• Locations: Go to Sales > Locations, upload location.xlsx.

• Customers: Go to Sales > Customers, upload customer.xlsx.

Once these are in, FrePPLe understands what you sell, where you sell it, and to whom.

Getting the Orders In: Sales and Manufacturing Data

4. Back to Dashboard

Click the FrePPLe logo to return.

5. Load Sales Orders

Upload salesorder.mfg.xlsx to Sales > Items. These orders will drive the demand in your plan.

6. Define Operations and BOM

• Upload operation.xlsx to Manufacturing > Operations.

• Upload operationmaterial.xlsx to Manufacturing > Operation Materials.

This tells FrePPLe how your items are built and what materials are needed.

Replacing Old Gaps: Defining Supply Sources

If the previous process was missing suppliers and lead times, now’s your chance to fix it.

7. Add Procurement Data

• Upload supplier.mfg.xlsx to Purchasing > Suppliers.

• Upload itemsupplier.mfg.xlsx to Purchasing > Item Suppliers.

This allows the system to procure items realistically.

Seeing the Bigger Picture: Reviewing the Supply Network

8. Review the Supply Network

You should now see a logical flow from suppliers to finished goods.

9. Trace the Supply Path for Sales Orders

Inspect if paths are complete. If not, revisit operations or supplier data to fix broken links.

Generating a Plan: MRP, But Smarter

10. Generate Unconstrained Plan

• Navigate to Admin > Execute, select both generate supply plan and unconstrained plan, then launch.

• Once done, check Task Status.

• Review Manufacturing > Manufacturing Orders and Purchasing > Purchase Orders.

If purchase orders are missing, something is broken—trace it back.

Restoring Context: Load Existing Inventories

11. Load Live Supply Chain Context

• Upload buffer.mfg.xlsx to Inventory > Buffers.

• Upload purchaseorder.mfg.xlsx to Purchasing > Purchase Orders. (Set status as "confirmed")

• Upload manufacturingorder.xlsx to Manufacturing > Manufacturing Orders. (Set status as "confirmed")

This lets FrePPLe understand what's already in motion.

Final Touch: Add Capacity and Resource Constraints

12. Define Resources

• Upload resource.xlsx to Capacity > Resources.

• Upload operationresource.xlsx to Manufacturing > Operation Resources.

This lets you model shop-floor limitations.

Let’s Talk Constraints: Realistic MRP

13. Generate Constrained Plan

• Go to Admin > Execute, this time select constrained plan.

• Check Task Status after launching.

Plan in Action: Reviewing the Results

14. Visualizing Reports

• Capacity > Resources Report: Adjust time buckets and visualize utilization.

• Inventory > Inventory Report: See forecasted stock levels.

• Sales > Sales Orders: Sort by delay, and inspect the “plan” and “why short or late” tabs for diagnostics.

These insights help you understand bottlenecks, shortages, and late deliveries.

Which Is Better?

If you’re asking, “Should I keep using spreadsheets or trust a tool like FrePPLe?”, it depends on how much visibility and control you want. FrePPLe is not just a repair—it’s an upgrade. Like choosing between fixing a cracked iPhone screen and getting a newer model, sometimes a fresh, structured system provides better long-term results.

And if you’re still hesitating, remember: unlike most tools, FrePPLe is open-source, flexible, and entirely within your control.

- Andy Tjandra -

TAGS AND SOURCES

Source: https://frepple.com/