Grouping, Pegging, Distribution
Purpose
Grouping, Pegging, Distribution (GPD ) i s an enhancement to the standard functions in the project-based production environment.
You can combine material requirements from different work breakdown structures (WBS) elements (across several projects or plants) into one or more grouping WBS elements for common inventory management and material requirements planning (MRP). Therefore, you can achieve greater efficiency and cost savings when procuring material.
The ability to group and plan material requirements across different projects, however, should not be at the expense of good financial monitoring and allocation. GPD also contains functions that allow you to allocate the individual cost types from grouped stock to the original requirements and also to the WBS elements that caused the requirements. Benefits such as optimized lot sizes and resource-related billing help you control project costs.
Implementation Considerations
Note
Due to the complexity of GPD, you should discuss your relevant business processes with an SAP Aerospace and Defense consultant.
Integration
GPD functions are based on the standard functions for project-based production processes available in the following:
Project System
MRP
Production components of the ERP system
Project-based production processes integrate planning, procurement and production. During theplanning phase, you need to assign the required material components for the goods to be produced to the network activities. For warehouse materials, the system uses this assignment to generate material requirements as planning-relevant network reservations. Planning uses these in the procurement phase.
If there is insufficient material in stock to cover requirements, scheduled planned orders are generated, which must then be converted into production orders or purchase orders. This way the required material component can be procured.
Features
GPD comprises the following functions:
Grouping in Individual Project Planning
In the standard system, you can plan planning-relevant materials at the following levels:
Plant stock (planning collective requirements in warehouse material)
Materials at the subordinate bill of materials (BOM) levels that are required in all projects can be planned and procured in the warehouse, independently of WBS elements. In requirements planning, all the requirements for a material are determined in one plant. This procurement is made jointly, with no reference to a WBS element.
The material is managed in general stock and is not assigned to a project or sales order.
Project stock (individual project planning)
In individual project planning, materials that are required for a WBS element are planned and procured with reference to the WBS element. This procedure is used to plan the finished product and important components. The material stock is assigned to one WBS element in the project and is, from a planning perspective, available only for that WBS element. Stock is managed separately for each WBS element in a project definition.
Unlike general stock, you must specify the relevant WBS element and the plant and storage location in all goods movements that involve project stock.
Requirements grouping as part GPD enhances the standard delivery with an additional planning process in requirements planning. Requirements grouping allows you to plan and procure material requirements that are caused by WBS elements in a project or across different projects. Therefore, you can combine requirements from individual WBS elements in a grouping WBS element and plan them there.
The grouping WBS element is the organizational unit that produces the goods and to which the material belongs. Requirements planning creates the replenishment elements (planned orders and purchase requisitions) that are assigned to the grouping WBS element. A separate planning section is managed for each grouping WBS element in the evaluations in inventory/requirements planning.
This means that the system manages project stock for each grouping WBS element. This stock contains all the materials that have been procured for the WBS elements and have been assigned to the grouping WBS element. The materials in the project stock for the grouping WBS element are available to all the WBS elements that are assigned to the grouping WBS element. If a goods issue follows on a reservation, the material is taken from the stock in the grouping WBS element.
Requirements Grouping in Projects: Real Project Stock
The system includes an automatic requirements grouping tool that you can use to combine the requirements in the single grouping WBS element for the project. This means that you have just one stock, called the “project definition stock” for your project.
Grouping Across Projects
Requirements grouping across projects occurs when you assign the WBS elements from various projects to one or more grouping WBS elements.
So, for example, you can combine all the WBS elements from projects of private ordering parties in one grouping WBS element, and all the WBS elements from public ordering parties in another element.
Pegging
When you group requirements into one grouping WBS element and produce the replenishments, the resulting replenishments are assigned to the combined requirements under the grouping WBS element. The resulting replenishments are not assigned to the original requirements (from the individual WBS elements) that caused them.
Therefore, all the production and procurement costs are assigned to the grouping WBS elements and not the original projects (individual WBS elements) that required them.
Pegging allows you to establish the relationship between the grouped replenishments and the individual WBS elements that hold the original requirements. This relationship is needed to appropriately distribute the costs and additional value types from the grouping WBS elements to the requiring individual WBS elements.
Pegging assigns the replenishment elements (planned orders, purchase requisitions, production orders, and purchase orders) back to the original cause of the requirement (reservations and planned independent requirements).
Cost Distribution (Distribution)
Distribution components incorporate the distribution of the individual costs and other value types from the grouping WBS elements (that hold the grouped replenishments and their costs) back to the individual WBS elements (that hold the original requirements). The distribution results are based on the assignments made during pegging.
Note
For the most current list of GPD-related issues and solutions, see SAP Notes for theprimary component IS-ADEC-GPD.