Delivery Control Monitor
Use
The Delivery Control Monitor (DCM) is a function of supplier collaboration and is available on the Web user interface (Web UI) of SAP Supply Network Collaboration (SAP SNC). In supplier collaboration, a supplier can use the DCM to monitor the current stock on hand of the customer on a daily basis, and immediately initiate deliveries if required. The DCM displays how high the current stock on hand of the customer is, and the quantity that is already in transit from the supplier to the customer. The DCM generates alerts for critical stock situations. These include alerts for falling below the minimum stock level or for exceeding the maximum stock level. As in the SMI scenario, the supplier must adhere to these stock limits that a supplier has agreed upon. A special alert informs the supplier if the stock falls to or below the signal stock level that lies between the minimum and maximum stock levels. If this occurs, the supplier should immediately initiate a delivery to refill the stock. In the DCM, the supplier can call ASN processing and create advanced shipping notifications to inform the customer about the pending deliveries.
The customer can use the DCM to see information about the delivery quantities that will arrive from the supplier on the current day or will be late, for example.
We recommend that you use the DCM in the following scenario:
● For a product that the supplier delivers several times a day, the customer only wants to keep a very low stock on hand that lies between the minimum and maximum stock levels agreed upon with the supplier. The supplier is responsible for ensuring that the stock on hand does not fall below the minimum stock level nor exceed the maximum stock level.
● The supplier must react to the current status of the customer stock on hand at very short notice. The supplier should initiate deliveries as soon as the stock has fallen to or below the signal stock level at the very latest (several times a day if required) so as to refill the stock and to prevent the stock level from falling below the minimum.
When to Use the SMI Monitor and When to Use the DCM?
The DCM enables deliveries to be triggered at short notice for acute demand, in other words when the stock on hand sinks to or below the signal stock level. The important control parameter is the stock on hand that must not fall below the minimum stock level nor rise above the maximum stock level. The supplier does not use the DCM for planning purposes. The supplier uses the SMI Monitor for planning in an SMI scenario: The SMI Monitor provides an overview of how the stock situation at the customer will develop in the future. The controlling key figure here is the projected stock. The supplier can use the SMI Monitor to plan which deliveries are necessary in the future so that the remaining stock remains between the minimum stock level and the maximum stock level. The SMI Monitor also frees the customer from planning responsibilities and optimizes production and transportation on the supplier side.
You can use both monitors at the same time in an SMI scenario: The SMI Monitor for the planning side and the DCM for the daily monitoring of the stock on hand and to initiate deliveries at short notice.
Prerequisites
● For the DCM to display a situation that is as up-to-date as possible, which enables the supplier to plan realistically, the customer must make regular and timely transfers of his or her demand and stock data to SAP SNC.
● You need to have set up the master data and settings for the DCM. For more information, see Master Data and Settings for the DCM.
Integration
●
If you
work with alert notification, you can, as supplier or customer, specifically
call the DCM if an alert has occurred. For more information, see
Alert Notification.
●
The
customer can analyze the DCM alerts using alert-based rating and thereby rate
the supplier. For more information, see
Alert-Based Rating.
Features
Data Transfer
The customer uses XML messages of type ProductActivityNotification to transfer demand and stock data for the DCM to SAP SNC. If the customer uses an SAP back-end system, he or she can use a special report to transfer the data. For more information, see Example: Message Transfer for the DCM Process and Transfer of Demands and Stocks to SAP SNC (SMI, RP, DR).
Partner-Specific Web Screens
On the Web user interface (Web UI) of SAP SNC, there is a customer-specific and a supplier-specific Web screen for the DCM. Both Web screens provide an overview of the stock situation of the chosen products on the supplier, customer location, and product level. The stock-on-hand status is represented by a corresponding color. In the supplier view, the supplier can navigate to ASN processing and create an ASN. The customer view only displays the data.
In the standard system, the Partner-Dependent Location Product Filter (PDNF_NEW) selection mode controls the locations and products that can be seen by the customer and supplier in the DCM. For more information about selection modes, see the Customizing documentation for Supply Network Collaboration under Visibility ®Create Selection Modes.
Multisourcing in the DCM
The DCM supports multisourcing for the customer location product. Multisourcing means that the customer procures a product for his or her customer location from different ship-from locations. The ship-from locations can belong to different suppliers. For the different suppliers, different planning parameters, such as minimum or maximum stock levels, may be necessary for the customer location product. On the SAP SNC Web UI, you can set up the DCM parameters dependent on the supplier at supplier-customer location-product level.
Downloading DCM Data
You can use the Download function in the DCM to download the DCM data in table format (CSV format). You can use the /SCF/CSV_SETTINGS Business Add-In to define which column separators the system uses.
Activities
To call the DCM, you choose the required view (customer view or supplier view) on the Web application menu of SAP SNC under Replenishment ® Delivery Control Monitor.