Detailed Scheduling and Planning Terminology Action message | An output of a system that identifies the need for, and the type of action to be taken to correct, a current or potential problem. Examples of action message in an MRP system include release order, reschedule in, reschedule out, and cancel. Syn: exception message, action report. | Activation | Putting a resource to work | Aggregate planning | A process to develop tactical plans to support the organization’s business plan. Aggregate planning usually includes the development, analysis, and maintenance of plans for total sales, total production, targeted inventory, and targeted customer backlog for families of products. The production plan is the result of the aggregate planning process. Two approaches to aggregate planning exist:1) production planning and 2) sales and operations planning, sales plan. | Advanced planning and scheduling (APS) | Techniques that deal with analysis and planning of logistics and manufacturing during short, intermediate, and long-term time periods. APS describes any computer program that uses advanced mathematical algorithms or logic to perform optimization or simulation on finite capacity scheduling, sourcing, capital planning, resource planning, forecasting, demand management, and others. These techniques simultaneously consider a range of constraints and business rules to provide real-time planning and scheduling, decision support, available-to-promise, and capable-to-promise capabilities. APS often generates and evaluates multiple scenarios. Management then selects one scenario to use as the “official plan”. The five main components of APS systems are (1) demand planning, (2) production planning, (3) production scheduling, (4) distribution planning, and (5) transportation planning. | Allocation | 1) The classification of quantities of items that have been assigned to