--- title: "Order planning" slug: "bc-order-planning" description: "Explore the differences between planning systems and order tracking in Microsoft Dynamics 365, focusing on supply-demand links and project planning." updated: 2026-06-25T09:59:10Z published: 2026-06-25T09:59:10Z canonical: "docs.staedean.com/bc-order-planning" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.staedean.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Order planning ## Planning system versus order tracking and action messaging From the [Design details: Reservation, order tracking, and action messaging topic](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/design-details-reservation-order-tracking-and-action-messaging#order-tracking-and-planning) (Microsoft): *“The following comparison shows the differences between the methods used by the* ***planning system*** *to create planning line suggestions, and the methods used by the* ***order tracking system*** *to create order tracking records and action messages.* - *The planning system deals with the entire supply and demand pattern of a particular item, whereas order tracking deals with the order that activated it.* - *The planning system deals with all levels of the BOM hierarchy, whereas order tracking deals with one BOM level at a time.* - *The planning system establishes links between demand and supply according to the prioritized due date. Order tracking establishes links between demand and supply according to the order entry sequence.* - *The planning system takes planning parameters into account, whereas order tracking does not.* - *The planning system creates links in a user-activated batch mode when it balances demand and supply, whereas order tracking creates the links automatically and dynamically as the user enters orders.”* ## Industrial Equipment Manufacturing implementation Industrial Equipment Manufacturing follows the standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central functionality for material planning in projects and no longer uses the "project specific flag" in the entries. The planning system of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central recognizes project planning lines as demand. The **planning system** shows action messages based on these project planning lines. The **order tracking system** also calculates material demand for projects. In both systems, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central creates reservation entries of the type **Tracking** so the planning system can update these entries as required. However, in the to-order style of manufacturing, demand is infrequent and cannot rely on history-based inventory parameters. For that reason, supply orders must be reserved for the project planning lines rather than just tracked. Industrial Equipment Manufacturing therefore creates a supply order with a reservation entry of the type **Reservation** with the **Binding** option set to **Order-to-Order**. The [Design details: central concepts of the planning system topic](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/design-details-central-concepts-of-the-planning-system#order-to-order-links) (Microsoft), describes **Order-to-Order** links as follows: *“Order-to-order procurement means that an item is purchased, assembled, or produced to exclusively cover a specific demand. Typically, it relates to A-items and the motivation for choosing this policy can be that the demand is infrequent, the lead-time is insignificant, or the required attributes vary.* ***Order-to-Order*** *links are applied between demand and supply in four ways:* - *When the planned item uses the reordering policy* ***Order****.* - *When using the manufacturing policy* ***Make-to-Order*** *to create multi-level or project-type production orders (producing needed components on the same production order).* - *When creating production orders for sales orders with the* ***Sales Order Planning*** *feature.* - *When assembling an item to a sales order (****Assembly Policy*** *is set to* ***Assemble-to-Order****).* *In these instances, the planning system only suggests ordering the required quantity. Once created, the purchase, production, or assembly order continues to match the corresponding demand. For example, if a sales order changes in time or quantity, the planning system suggests that the corresponding supply order changes accordingly.* *When* ***Order-to-Order*** *links exist, the planning system does not involve linked supply or inventory in the balancing procedure. It is up to the user to evaluate if the linked supply should be used to cover other or new demand and, in that case, delete the supply order or reserve the linked supply manually.* *Reservations and order tracking links break if a situation becomes impossible, such as moving the demand to a date earlier than the supply. However, the* ***Order-to-Order*** *link adapts to Anywhere Mobility Solutions changes in the respective demand or supply, so the link is never broken.”* ## Related - [Design details](/bc-design-details-pcs.md) - [Project Control Suite](/bc-project-control-suite.md) - [Project logistics](/bc-project-logistics.md)