The quick answer
MRP only plans from an item demand plan when two things are true. The supply plan definition's Scope subtab has Demand Source Type set to Demand Plans, or Sales Orders and Demand Plans, for that location. And the Planning Repository has been refreshed since the demand plan changed, because MRP calculates from the repository snapshot, not from live records. Recalculate the demand plan, check the scope row, then run Refresh Planning Repository with the supply plan definition selected so the plan launches when the refresh finishes. In Planning Workbench, the pegging icon on a planned order shows which demand plan week it covers.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
The Demand Planning and Supply Planning menus under Transactions appear only when those features are enabled and your role has access to them. The item has to be planned by MRP at the location: Replenishment Method set to Material Requirements Planning, and the item included in the supply plan's planning item group. The planning item group decides which items MRP plans. It doesn't add forecast demand.
In this example LTN-240 Trail Lantern is a purchased item at Reno Warehouse with preferred vendor Brightline Supply, a 7-day lead time, 20 Ea on hand, lot-for-lot sizing, no safety stock, and no open orders. An earlier demand plan for the item already exists. The supply plan definition is Reno replenishment MRP. Dates follow your date format preference, and weekly buckets start on the company's First Day of Week preference, which is Sunday here.
01. Recalculate the item demand plan
Go to Transactions > Demand Planning > Calculate Item Demand Plan. On the Calculate Item Demand Plans page, set Subsidiary to Juniper Trail US and Location to Reno Warehouse. Set Projection Method to Moving Average and Projection Interval to Weekly. Projection Start Date shows 10/04/2026. Enter Projection Duration 8 and Historical Analysis Duration 20, both in weeks. In the item list, check LTN-240 Trail Lantern only. Its Last Plan Modified and Last Projection Method (09/21/2026, Linear Regression) show that an older plan exists.
Click Submit. Because a plan already exists for those dates, the Demand Plans Already Exist dialog opens. Choose Overwrite Current Quantities and click Submit. Do Not Overwrite Current Quantities updates only the calculated values and keeps any quantities a planner adjusted.
The calculation runs in the background. When it finishes, open Transactions > Demand Planning > Item Demand Plans. The LTN-240 Trail Lantern row at Reno Warehouse now shows Last Plan Modified 10/04/2026 9:14 am and Last Projection Method Moving Average.
02. Review the forecast MRP will use
Click View on the row to open Item Demand Plan #612. Under Last Calculated Information, check Moving Average, Weekly, start date 10/04/2026, duration 8, and historical analysis 20. On the Demand subtab, set View to Weekly.
Scroll to the eight weeks from 10/04/2026 to 11/22/2026. Weekly Calculated and Quantity both show 14 Ea per week, 112 Ea in total. Weekly Calculated is the system forecast. Quantity is the demand the planner accepts, and it's the value planning uses. If you change a Quantity cell and save, MRP plans from your number. This example keeps the calculated values.
03. Confirm the supply plan reads demand plans
Go to Transactions > Supply Planning > Supply Plan Definitions and click View on Reno replenishment MRP. Horizon (In Days) is 120, which covers all eight forecast weeks. MRP only sees demand inside the horizon. Generate Pegging is checked, and step 07 depends on it: without it, the plan still calculates but has no pegging to show. On the Scope subtab, the Reno Warehouse row has Demand Source Type Demand Plans and Consume Forecast cleared. Change nothing here.
This row decides whether MRP uses the forecast at that location. If it read Sales Orders, MRP would plan Reno Warehouse from sales orders alone and ignore the demand plan. With Sales Orders and Demand Plans, Consume Forecast lets sales orders reduce overlapping forecast so the same demand isn't counted twice. When it's cleared, both sources can count as separate demand.
04. Refresh the Planning Repository
Go to Transactions > Supply Planning > Refresh Planning Repository. Keep Transfer Type as Complete Refresh. The TRANSACTIONS line includes Demand Plans. Keep Global Refresh and the default date range, 10/04/2026 to 10/04/2027, which covers the forecast weeks and the plan horizon. Under Supply Plan Definitions, select Reno replenishment MRP, then click Refresh data.
The selected plan launches automatically after the refresh succeeds. A refresh with no definition selected updates the repository but leaves the old MRP results in place.
05. Wait for the run and open the results
The Supply Planning Event Log opens. Click Refresh until the Planning Repository Refresh, MRP Initialization, Material Requirements Planning, and MRP Pegging rows for Reno replenishment MRP show Complete with 0 Errors.
Scroll right. On the Material Requirements Planning row, click View Results in the Planning Workbench column.
06. Read the planned purchase orders
In the Planning Workbench header, Supply Plan Definition is Reno replenishment MRP and Planning Horizon is 10/04/2026 - 02/01/2027, 120 days from the run. Repository Refreshed and Results Generated show today's run. With the filters left at their defaults, Results Summary shows LTN-240 Trail Lantern with On-Hand 20. Under Message / Order Counts, Demand is 8, one entry for each forecast week, and Supply is 8. These are entry counts, not quantities: one on-hand entry plus seven planned orders.
Click the Supply count. The Supply tab lists the On-Hand Quantity row of 20 Ea and seven Planned Purchase Order rows with Source Brightline Supply. #7301 is 8 Ea with End Date 10/11/2026. #7302 to #7307 are 14 Ea each, with end dates from 10/18/2026 to 11/22/2026. Each Start Date is seven days earlier, matching the item's 7-day lead time.
Check the arithmetic. 112 Ea of forecast minus 20 Ea on hand leaves 92 Ea, which is 8 plus six orders of 14. In this example, with lot-for-lot sizing and no safety stock or open orders, each planned order covers one week's shortfall. Other lot sizing, safety stock, or existing supply would change the quantities and dates.
07. Trace the pegging back to the demand plan
On the Planned Purchase Order #7301 row, click the pegging icon. Expand the row in the dialog. It shows Item Demand Plan #612 for LTN-240 Trail Lantern at Reno Warehouse, dated 10/11/2026, with Pegged 8 and Total 14. The planned order covers 8 of that week's 14.
Close the dialog and click the pegging icon on the On-Hand Quantity row. Item Demand Plan #612 appears twice: dated 10/04/2026 with Pegged 14, and dated 10/11/2026 with Pegged 6. On hand covers week one and 6 Ea of week two, and #7301 covers the other 8 Ea.
Check the result
- The Scope row for Reno Warehouse reads Demand Plans.
- The event log shows all four processes Complete with 0 Errors for today's run.
- The Supply tab lists seven planned purchase orders totaling 92 Ea: 8 due 10/11/2026, then 14 a week through 11/22/2026.
- Pegging on #7301 shows Item Demand Plan #612, Pegged 8 of 14 on 10/11/2026.
- Pegging on On-Hand Quantity shows 14 on 10/04/2026 and 6 on 10/11/2026.
Close the dialog. The planned purchase orders are recommendations only. Releasing them and creating purchase orders through Order Items is a separate step, and the workbench won't pick up later changes to the demand plan until you refresh the repository and run the plan again.
Common questions
Why doesn't my demand plan show up in MRP?
Usually one of three things. The supply plan definition's Scope row for that location has Demand Source Type set to Sales Orders, the Planning Repository wasn't refreshed after the demand plan changed, or the forecast weeks fall outside the plan's horizon. Also check that the item is in the plan's planning item group and set to Material Requirements Planning at that location. If all of that is right, refresh the repository with the definition selected and look at the new run's results.
Where do I choose demand plans, sales orders, or both?
On the supply plan definition's Scope subtab, one row per location. Demand Source Type offers Demand Plans, Sales Orders, or Sales Orders and Demand Plans. In this example, Reno Warehouse uses Demand Plans, so MRP planned from Item Demand Plan #612 alone.
What does Consume Forecast do?
It applies when a location uses Sales Orders and Demand Plans. With it checked, sales orders reduce the overlapping forecast so the same demand isn't counted twice. With it cleared, sales orders and the forecast can both count as demand.
Do I have to refresh the Planning Repository after changing a demand plan?
Yes. MRP calculates from the repository snapshot, not from the live demand plan, so a changed plan is invisible to MRP until the next refresh. Select the supply plan definition on Refresh Planning Repository and the plan runs once the refresh succeeds. The workbench keeps showing the old results until then.
What's the difference between Weekly Calculated and Quantity?
Weekly Calculated is the forecast NetSuite projected from history. Quantity is the demand the planner accepts, and it's the number planning uses. Edit Quantity when you know better than the projection. Recalculating with Overwrite Current Quantities replaces those edits, while Do Not Overwrite Current Quantities keeps them.
How can I tell which forecast a planned purchase order covers?
Check Generate Pegging on the supply plan definition, then click the pegging icon on the planned order in Planning Workbench. In this example, Planned Purchase Order #7301 pegs to Item Demand Plan #612 for 10/11/2026, covering 8 of that week's 14 Ea. The on-hand quantity covers the other 6.