Creating Follow-On Orders
You can use this function to create maintenance orders as follow-on orders for an order or order operation. When you create a follow-on order, you create a relationship to the reference order or operation and you can display this relationship in the document flow. You can create follow-on orders directly (transaction iw31
), when changing or displaying an order (transactions iw32
and iw33
), or when creating a confirmation (transaction iw41
). You can display the relationship between the preceding order and the follow-on order in a hierarchical structure.
Prerequisites
You have activated business function Enterprise Asset Management Part 7 (LOG_EAM_CI_7
).
You can only display this relationship between preceding and follow-on orders if you are using the enhanced document flow functions in the maintenance order. The enhanced document flow has been integrated into this business function, but is also part of the business function Enterprise Asset Management Part 6 (LOG_EAM_CI_6
).
Features
Creating a New Order as a Follow-On Order
In transaction Create Order
(iw31
), you can create an order as a follow-on order for an existing order or operation. To do so, enter an order number in the Reference
group box. This specifies that you want the system to copy some of the header data to the new order. You can also specify that you want the system to copy other data by selecting the appropriate checkboxes.
To create a relationship between the reference order and the new order, select the Create Follow-On Order
checkbox. Instead of being independent of one another, the reference order then becomes the preceding order and the new order becomes the follow-on order. You can also create follow-on orders for individual order operations by entering the operation number in the field next to the order number. The system then creates a relationship between the new order and the preceding order, but it only copies the operation data to the new order if you also select the Operations
checkbox. You can also select the checkboxes Components
, Relationships
, Settlement Rules
, and Document Links
to specify which detail data of the reference order you want to be copied to the follow-on order.
Note
You can only create follow-on orders for orders that have been released.
You can also create follow-on orders with the BAPI BAPI_ALM_ORDER_MAINTAIN
.
If you have defined view profiles and assigned them to the appropriate order types in Customizing, you can display and edit maintenance orders in the simple order view. You cannot, however, create follow-on orders from the simple order view and the system does not display whether the respective order already has preceding or follow-on orders.
Creating a Follow-On Order in an Order or Confirmation
You can also create follow-on orders for an order or operation you are currently changing or confirming. The Create Follow-On Order
pushbutton is available when you change or display an order (transactions iw32
and iw33
) as well as in the confirmation (transaction iw41
). If you choose this pushbutton in the order on the Operations
tab page, you go to the screen for creating follow-on orders. In the confirmation, this pushbutton is in the operation details, which you access by double-clicking an operation.
To create a follow-on order, the system navigates to the transaction for creating orders (iw31
). The system selects the Create Follow-On Order
checkbox and copies the order number of the preceding order to the Order
field. If you selected an operation in the order or if you were originally creating a confirmation, the system automatically copies the selected operation number to the field next to the order number.
Displaying Preceding and Follow-On Orders in the Document Flow
In the Document Flow
, you can display preceding orders and follow-on orders for an order or confirmation you select. You can access the document flow directly or from an order or confirmation. You then select the order or confirmation in the document flow and choose the Follow-On Orders
pushbutton. The system displays the relationship between the preceding order and the follow-on order in a hierarchical list. This list displays at most one level above and one level below the selected order. In other words, only the orders directly preceding and directly following the order that you selected are displayed. If you have created follow-on orders for more than one order operation, the system displays all the follow-on orders that have been created for the selected order or its operations.
When you display or change an order, the pushbuttons with the tooltips A preceding order exists for this order
and A follow-on order exists for this order
indicate whether the order has preceding or follow-on orders. In addition to this information, these pushbuttons also take you directly to the hierarchical list with the relevant preceding and follow-on orders.
More Information
For more information about creating orders using a template, see Creating an Order by Copying a Reference Order.