How phase-in works

The phase-in calculation is the core of Redline. It determines the date at which a change should become effective in production — based on real ERP data, not estimates.

What Redline uses to calculate

Input	What it tells Redline
Stock on hand	How many units of the old part are currently in inventory
Open purchase orders	Additional old-part stock arriving in the future, with exact delivery dates
Open production orders	Active production runs consuming the old part, with planned end dates
New part lead time	How long it takes to receive the new part after ordering
Buffer days	Safety margin added to the calculated date (default: 5 days, configurable)

Explainability — why you can trust the date

Every phase-in date comes with two transparency features:

Plain-language explanation — a 1–3 sentence summary in operational language. Example: “Phase-in date is 18 March because 47 units on hand will be consumed by that date at current usage rate, plus 5 buffer days.”

Input snapshot — click View Inputs to see every ERP data point used: exact stock quantities, each open PO with line number and delivery date, each production order with planned end date. Nothing is hidden.

The calculation is deterministic

The phase-in date is always produced by a rule-based engine — not AI. The same ERP inputs always produce the same date. AI is used only to write the plain-language explanation. This means the result is reproducible, auditable, and defensible.

Multi-item ECOs and synchronisation

When a change affects multiple items, Redline calculates independently per item. Each item gets its own phase-in date based on its stock, POs, production orders, and lead times.

After individual calculation, Redline synchronises all items to a single date — the latest individual date across all non-phantom items. This synchronised date becomes the governing phase-in date for the ECO. The item that determined this date is identified as the “driver item” in the UI.

Synchronisation ensures that all items transition together. Without it, procurement might order the new part for Item A before the old part for Item B has been consumed.

Financial exposure

For each affected item, Redline calculates the financial risk of the change:

Metric	What it measures
Stock at risk	Old-revision units that cannot be consumed before phase-in, valued at standard cost
PO exposure	Value of open purchase orders arriving after the phase-in date
MOQ saving opportunities	Potential savings from reducing PO quantities to minimum order quantities instead of cancelling entirely
Data confidence	A 0–100 score based on data completeness — missing lead times, stale stock data, and unresolved items all reduce confidence

These values are aggregated across all items and shown in the financial exposure strip at the top of the Phase-In tab.

What-if simulation

Before committing to a date, coordinators can simulate alternative scenarios. Enter a target date and Redline calculates the impact: which POs become stranded, which production orders are affected, and the net financial difference compared to the calculated date. Scenarios can be saved for comparison and committed when ready.

Warehouse location filtering

Not all stock is available for consumption. Redline filters stock by warehouse location type — standard warehouse locations count as available, while quarantine, returns, and scrap locations are excluded. Configure which location types count as available in Settings → Warehouse Locations.