In some cases, it may be necessary to send a kanban as an EDI message. This kanban does not then represent a separate purchase order or a schedule line (which can already be sent via EDI). Instead, this kanban represents a manual release order for a quantity of a purchase order or a schedule line that may already have been sent to the vendor as a preview. At present, no standards exist for such a procedure. Instead, the customer and the vendor must agree between themselves on the type of EDI message to be sent and how this is to be organized. The processing of these messages by the vendor must also be solved on an individual basis.

However, to support such procedures, a solution does exist that is based on a user-exit and a customer modification.

The enhancement MPKD0001 contains two function modules. With one of the function modules, the control record is created for an EDI message which also defines which type of EDI message is to be sent. The contents of the EDI message is defined in the second function module. A program modification determines if, and under what circumstances, an EDI message is to be sent. To do this, you must replace the line, CHECK 1 = 2 in the program include LMPKBEDI, in the form routine FORM SEND_EDI with coding that controls whether an EDI message is to be sent. For example, you can define a special replenishment strategy for control cycles for which an EDI message is to be sent and refer to this strategy here.