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Planners

Planners turn project needs into structured demand. Their work happens before procurement starts: they prepare Bill of Materials data, keep project context usable, and make sure the planned materials and services are ready for review.

The planner's output is not a supplier-facing request. It is the demand record that later lets a Buyer create a project Purchase Requisition without rebuilding the project plan from scratch.

Project purchase setupProject purchase setupProject PurchaseLine ItemsDelivery DetailsDocumentsRecord detailAction stateProjectIssue numberBudget ownerAdd Line ItemUpdate DeliverySubmit PR
Project purchases start from project and BOM context, then move into a PR workspace.

Basic Concepts​

Planners work closest to Project Profiles and Bill of Materials. A Project Profile gives the BOM its context: location, budget ownership, project team, and issue number. The BOM describes the materials and services the project expects to need.

An active BOM is the handoff point. Before that, the record is planning work. After that, eligible BOM lines can become procurement work.

BOM Work​

Project Purchase workspaceProject Purchase workspaceDraftLine ItemsDelivery DetailsApproval FlowMaterial lineService lineDelivery schedule rowSave DraftSubmit PR
A project PR page combines selected BOM lines, delivery rows, documents, and the submit action.

The planner prepares the BOM line items, quantities, units, specifications, and supporting details. If the project uses imported source data, the planner checks that the imported lines make sense before the BOM is treated as ready.

The important part is clarity. Buyers and approvers need to understand what is being requested later, but they should not have to reconstruct the planning decision from loose notes or incomplete item data.

When the BOM is ready, it moves through review. Approved or active BOM lines become available for project purchasing.

Handoff To Procurement​

Status-driven actionsStatus-driven actionsApprovedDetailsApproval FlowDeliveryRecord detailAction stateCurrent ownerNext actionLast updateCreate RFQReturnCancel
Actions appear in the page header or alerts only when the record status allows them.

The planner's work ends before supplier sourcing begins. Buyers create the project PR from eligible BOM lines, then confirm the purchasing and delivery plan inside Purchase Requisition.

This boundary matters because a BOM line and a PR line are not the same thing. The BOM describes planned need. The PR turns selected planned need into a request to buy. Changes needed for purchasing should happen in the PR when they belong to procurement rather than planning.

Boundaries​

Planners do not select suppliers, publish RFQs, compare quotations, or send POs. They also do not replace approval decisions.

Their role is to make project demand accurate enough that the next user can trust it. When procurement work becomes blocked because the original plan is unclear, the planner is usually the person who can correct the demand source.