How to Design Simulation Planning in Anaplan with Multi-Level User Input and Step-by-Step Logging?

Ashutosh

Hi Anaplan Community,

I'm working on a simulation planning model where users need the flexibility to input pricing adjustments at any level of the product hierarchy, and I’d love your guidance on best practices.

📌 Scenario Overview:
We have a 4-level product hierarchy:

Brand

Category

Sub Category

SKU (lowest level)

The user should be able to input price changes at any of these levels, and the system should apply those changes down to the SKU level based on hierarchy mappings.

🔄 Simulation Steps Must Be Logged and Cumulative:
For example:

Step 1: Increase price by 2000 for all SKUs

Step 2: Increase price by 100 for the ABC Category

Step 3: Decrease price by 100 for ABC Category + XYZ Sub Category

These steps can come in any order, and each step builds on the previous one. We also need to keep a log of each simulation step (who entered it, what was changed, when, etc.).

»>Key Requirements:
User inputs at any level & Any combinations (Brand, Category, Sub Category, SKU)

Step-by-step price simulations at the SKU level

Logs of each step with user and timestamp

Price at SKU should update cumulatively across steps

🔍 Questions:
What’s the best way to structure the hierarchy and modules to allow flexible inputs at different levels?

How would you design a simulation engine to handle these stepwise cumulative changes?

Any advice on setting up the adjustment logic dynamically based on selected hierarchy level?

What’s the best approach to keep a clean simulation log without duplicating data?

Thanks in Advance

NoahJ

Hi there! So based on the initial description, this sounds like a Top-Down Planning sort of scenario; you have some starting point (maybe previous year, or some other forecasted value) and then want to be able to make adjustments at various levels of the hierarchy, from the "All Items" level down to individual SKUs - is that correct?

As a starting point, this article might be helpful:

https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/92861/top-down-allocations

Once you have your list hierarchies set up (L1 Brand through L4 SKU, with each parent list value specified in the list settings area) it guides you through setting up modules at each level of the hierarchy to be used for inputs, with the inputs cascading down to eventually the lowest level.

One potential difference between this and what you described is that this method is not a "set of simulation steps", it is just a collection of input cells for each item at each level of the hierarchy. Those cells can be filled in with adjustments, so you don't have to worry about "duplicate data" - i.e. there is a single cell that represents Category A, and it will have a specific adjustment entered.

In general this method will be easier to set up and more native to Anaplan dimensionality. However the article does not include functionality related to your requirement to "keep a log of each simulation step (who entered it, what was changed, when, etc.)." It is possible for the user dimension to be used to specify who made the changes, and/or use the model history functionality to determine when and who made any changes, but that will add complexity to the build.

Hopefully this helps give you a starting point! Feel free to add any follow up information and I or somebody else in the Community might be able to help!