Abstract: This research presents a heuristic system to solve the problem of materials and operations planning in supply chains with alternative product structures. The objective is minimizing the costs associated to stock levels, setup and operations, considering products with alternative bill of materials. The heuristic system can be used as a framework to embed one-level rules into a multi-level problem with alternative bill of materials. With this in mind, this framework can be used to apply planning rules as simple as Wager-Whitin, Silver-Meal, FOQ and L×L, among others.