Planning Physics Encyclopedia

Planning is not a guess with a dashboard.

Supply planning is governed by repeatable laws — inventory, flow, lead time, capacity, constraint, and commitment. This is the operator's reference to the concepts that make a plan run straight.

The core equation · try it
future demandusable future supply=required action300
300 short — buy, make, move, expedite, allocate, or escalate.
item × location × time × constraint × priority × commitment state

The required action is the gap — and usable future supply is the term most plans get wrong.

Planning physics map

The plan is a connected system.

The concepts relate — supply becomes promiseable, promises become commitments, commitments become a governed record. Trace the connections.

Hover a concept to trace its connections, or click to read it.

Supply & inventory state
Planning fundamentals
Lead time & timing
Risk, buffers & service
AI agents & authority
Traceability & governance
Planning architecture

Reader paths

Start with the problem you have.

Four short sequences through the concepts, by the job you're doing.

Term explorer

Twelve concepts that make a plan governable.

The Tier-1 entries. Search or filter — every definition is sourced and labelled by confidence.

Category

12 of 12 terms

EstablishedATP · CTP · Promising
Available-to-promiseATP

The eligible, uncommitted supply you can still promise to a new order, by date.

Read the entry →
EstablishedATP · CTP · Promising
Capable-to-promiseCTP

Whether the network can create the missing supply — make, buy, move — in time.

Read the entry →
Vista interpretationSupply & inventory state
Usable future supply

Supply that can truly cover a demand once state, timing, quality, and eligibility are applied.

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Proposed conceptPlanning fundamentals
Planning invariant

Every official plan stays attached to the context, method, and authority that produced it.

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EstablishedCommitments & allocation
Deterministic allocation

Scarce supply assigned by declared, versioned rules — same context, same governed result.

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EstablishedCommitments & allocation
Pegging

The trace linking a demand to the supply intended to cover it — and back again.

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EstablishedLead time & timing
Time fence

A governed boundary that changes which actions are allowed as the need date approaches.

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EstablishedRisk, buffers & service
Safety stock

A governed buffer sized to absorb uncertainty at a defined service objective.

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Proposed conceptCommitments & allocation
Commitment ledger

Every event by which future supply is reserved, promised, released, consumed, or superseded.

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Vista interpretationAI agents & authority
Governed agent

An agent whose evidence, permissions, and escalation are explicit and bounded by consequence.

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EstablishedTraceability & governance
Audit trail

A secure, time-ordered record of who or what changed planning data, decisions, and commitments.

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EstablishedPlanning architecture
Plan run

A named execution of a planning method against a declared snapshot and engine version.

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Ventoux AI

Vista

The verifiable planning system for high-consequence supply chains.

Vista turns operational data into repeatable planning workflows, verifiable outputs, and review-ready briefs your team can trust, defend, and share every cycle.

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