Guide · Materials
Raw material planning: turning the production plan into what to buy, and by when.
Most rush purchases happen because procurement learns what the plan needs after it is published. Raw material planning closes that gap.
Raw material planning works out how much of each input the production plan will consume, subtracts what is already in stock or on the way, and turns the shortfall into purchase orders timed to the supplier’s lead time.
The basic calculation
- Gross need = planned production × quantity of the material per unit (from the recipe or bill of materials).
- Net need = gross need − stock on hand − quantity in transit.
- Order-by date = the day stock runs out − supplier lead time − a safety margin.
- Order quantity = net need over the period you want to cover, rounded to the supplier’s pack or truck size.
A bakery example
| Material | Driven by | Typical check |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | Bread, cake and cookie recipes | Silo level against daily use |
| Fat and sugar | Recipe quantity per batch | Days of cover against lead time |
| Wrappers and pouches | Packaging BOM per SKU | Print lead time is often the longest |
| Cartons | Packs per carton per SKU | Pack size and minimum order |
Which shortage to fix first
Rank materials by what would stop a line first, not by value. A missing carton stops packing as surely as missing flour stops mixing.
Pitfalls
- Planning flour but not packaging, which has longer lead times.
- Counting in-transit stock that will arrive after the bin is empty.
- Using a lead time from the contract instead of the one suppliers actually deliver in.
How Production & Procurement does it
Production & Procurement rebuilds the plant’s planning workbook as one live system. Firm orders, read from the plant’s own records, become a suggested plan: each working day, due SKUs take line capacity in priority order and pull-ahead fills the hours left. Planners can override any cell and freeze days already committed. The plan flows into a three-month projection, a raw-material plan net of stock and in-transit, a packaging plan from the packaging BOM, and a procurement list with what to order, how much and by when. Machine load and manpower are checked against the plan, red above 100% and amber above 85%. A digital twin of the site shows bins, lines and gates live, through the past month and seven days ahead, and says “not recorded” where data is missing. Every screen downloads to Excel, and plant systems are read, never written.
Questions
How do you calculate raw material requirement?
Multiply planned production by the quantity of each material per unit from the recipe or bill of materials, then subtract stock on hand and in transit to get net need.
How do I know when to order raw material?
Work out the day stock runs out at planned use, then subtract the real supplier lead time and a safety margin. That is the order-by date.
Should packaging be planned like raw material?
Yes. Wrappers, pouches and cartons come from the packaging BOM and often have longer lead times than the main ingredients.
See it on your own data. Production & Procurement — Plan the line, buy on time. Book a 30-minute working session with an engineer.