Scheduling in the Planning Table (SAP Library

Scheduling in the Planning Table

Use

If you use the planning table in conjunction with capacity planning, the system carries out a lead time scheduling for the planned orders.

In scheduling, the system calculates the production start and finish dates of the orders. The finish date determines the period to which the production quantities are assigned in the planning table.
The system also calculates the dates of the planning operation (that is, the operation with the work center used for scheduling - usually the production line) which are displayed separately.
If you access the planning table and capacity planning is active, the system carries out scheduling automatically.

Prerequisites

In Customizing for Repetitive Manufacturing, under Maintain Entry Parameters, you must define whether production or basic dates are to be relevant for the display in the planning table and which scheduling strategy is to be used to calculate these dates. However, these settings can also be changed and saved per user in the initial screen of the planning table as well as in the planning table.

You must enter the line to be used for production in the production version. This production line must also be used in an operation in the routing. The system then uses the operation with the production line for scheduling.

If you want to use a lower-level element of a production line (for example, a certain processing station) for planning instead of the complete production line, you must create a line hierarchy for the production line.
In this line hierarchy, you must define one work center as a planning segment. If you do not define a planning segment, the system automatically uses the header of the line hierarchy as the planning segment. The work center defined as the planning segment must also be used in the routing. The operation with the planning segment is then used for scheduling.

If you want the system to carry out scheduling in the planning table, you must select either rate-based planning or detailed planning on the initial screen of the planning table, depending on the settings made for the order type in Customizing.

Features

Determining production dates / basic dates

In the planning table, you can instruct the system to calculate and display either the production dates or the basic dates.

Basic dates
To calculate the basic dates, the system uses the factory calendar.
The order finish date is the day on which the produced materials are available - however this date does not take the goods receipt processing time into account.
Production dates
To calculate the production dates, the system uses the factory calendar or the number of workdays defined at the work center and the shift program for the calculation .
Here, the production finish date is the date on which the production of the material is finished. The material is not necessarily available on this date as it may be necessary to add a float after production to this date.
The production dates are calculated to the minute. If you have defined available capacity for a shift, the times of the capacity category relevant to scheduling are taken into account when splitting the period of examination into periods. That is, the system takes the beginning of the first shift and the end of the last shift into account.

If a planned order finishes at 02.00 am on day X, but this time falls in the third shift of the previous day then the order is assigned to the previous day.

If you access the planning table with production dates, you can convert to basic dates by selecting View ® Reference dates ® Basic dates.

Scheduling strategy

The following scheduling strategies are available:

Forward scheduling

In forward scheduling, the system uses the beginning of the period in which the production quantities were entered as the start date. From this start date, the system calculates in a forward direction to determine the finish date. The system displays the order quantities on the production start date.

Backward scheduling

In backward scheduling, the system uses the end of the period in which the production quantities were entered as the finish date. From this finish date, the system calculates in a backward direction to determine the start date.

Backward / forward scheduling

In backward / forward scheduling, the system works in two steps:

In the first step, the system uses the end of the period in which the production quantities were entered as the finish date. From this finish date, the system calculates in a backward direction to determine the start date.

In the second step, the system uses the beginning of the period calculated in step one and then schedules forwards.

Order processing commences at the beginning of the start period calculated by the system and ends in the period specified by the planner.

Changing the planning segment

In the planning table, you can access the line hierarchy where you can change the planning segment.

Activities

To determine the production dates, the system proceeds as follows:

The system uses the Production Line as the basis for scheduling (if no line hierarchy has been created for the production line) or the planning segment (if a line hierarchy has been created for the production line and you defined a planning segment).

The system searches the routing for the operation with the production line or with the planning segment.

The system calculates the capacity requirements using the standard values maintained in the operation and calculates the production start and finish dates according to the scheduling strategy you selected without taking the already existing capacity load into account.