Discontinuation Data (SAP Library - Production Orders (PP-SFC))

Discontinuation Data

Use

In MRP, the discontinuation functionality is used to transfer dependent requirements of a component to one or several follow-up materials, if the requirements are no longer covered by stock. You can also define a follow-up material in the bill of material.

Note

The follow-up item defined in the bill of material overrides any follow-up material maintained in the material master record.

You cannot maintain discontinuation data for text items or class items.

Features

A distinction is made between the following:

Simple discontinuation

You assign a follow-up material to the material that you wish to discontinue. The missing requirement quantity is then automatically assigned to the follow-up material.

You can assign a follow-up material to a material in the material master and in the bill of material.

Parallel discontinuation

A main material (main item in a group of parts to be discontinued) controls the discontinuation of further materials using a group key. The missing quantity of the discontinued material is assigned proportionally to the planned quantity of the follow-up materials.

You can only maintain items of parallel discontinuation in the bill of material.

Requirements for Discontinuation

The following requirements must be met for follow-up materials and parts to be discontinued:

Both materials must be planned using MRP

The base unit of measure of the follow-up material must be the same as the base unit of measure of the discontinued material

In the bill of material, you enter discontinuation data for the discontinued item and follow-up data for the follow-up item

The system checks the following item data:

You can only define a stock item or variable-size item as a discontinued or follow-up item
If a stock item or variable-size item is assigned to an alternative item group, you cannot maintain discontinuation data for it
If you have already maintained discontinuation data for an item, you can no longer assign the item to an alternative items group
Discontinuation functionality is not supported for co-products

Note

The discontinuation functionality does not work over multiple BOM levels. This means that if the discontinuation indicator 1 (single/parallel discontinued part) is set in the material master of a material, this material can no longer be entered as a follow-up material in the bill of material.

Discontinuation Data

You enter the data for discontinuation on the General data tabstrip. You maintain discontinuation data via the function key Discontinuation data.

In a dialog box, you can display or maintain the following data for the item:

Discontinuation group

This freely-definable character string groups together related discontinued items of a bill of material.

You can only enter a discontinuation group for an item if the discontinuation indicator is selected in the material master (MRP view). The discontinued item is replaced by a follow-up item.
A follow-up group is maintained for the follow-up item. The follow-up group should have the same value as the discontinuation group of the discontinued item (see Examples for discontinuation data).
You can implement parallel discontinuation using the discontinuation group. When one item is discontinued (the main item to be discontinued), another item is discontinued with it (subordinate item to be discontinued).
For example, if a nut is discontinued, the bolt that goes with it is also discontinued.

To carry out a parallel discontinuation, you need to identify the main item to be discontinued in the bill of material and the subordinate item to be discontinued using the same discontinuation group (see example below).

Follow-up group

This freely-definable character string groups together related follow-up items in a bill of material. The follow-up group also determines which discontinued items this follow-up item replaces.

you can only enter a follow-up group if the item is kept in stock (for example, a stock item)
You can only maintain an item as a follow-up item when you first enter the item. Once you have saved the item, you can no longer change the value in this field.
the follow-up item replaces the discontinued item that has this value in the Discontinuation group field (see example for the Discontinuation group field).

Discontinuation type

If this indicator is set, the material is defined as ‘to be discontinued’. The material is then discontinued in MRP. MRP transfers dependent requirements that are no longer covered by stock of this material to the follow-up material. The system determines this value from the material master record.

Examples for Discontinuation

The following examples illustrate how discontinued and follow-up items are used:

Example

Simple discontinuation
In this case, Item 0010 (material M-2) replaces Item 0010 (Material M-1). There is no need to define a discontinuation group or a follow-up group.

Item	Material	Discontinuation type	Discontinuation group	Follow-up group
0010	M-1	1
0010	M-2	1

Example

Parallel discontinuation
In this case, the discontinued items 0010 (material M-1) and 0020 (material M-2) are replaced by the follow-up item (material M-3).
Material M-1 is the main material to be discontinued (discont. type 2), material M-2 is the subordinate material to be discontinued (discont. type 3), and material M-3 is the follow-up item (discontinuation indicator 5).

Item	Material	Discontinuation type	Discontinuation group	Follow-up group
0010	M-1	2	A1
0020	M-2	3	A1
0030	M-3	5		A1

Example

Parallel follow-up
In this case, the discontinued item 0010 (material M-1) is replaced by the follow-up items 020 (Material M-2) and 0030 (Material M-3).
Material M1 is to be discontinued (discont. type 2), materials M-2 and M-3 are the follow-up items (discont. type 5).

Item	Material	Discontinuation type	Discontinuation group	Follow-up group
0010	M-1	2	A1
0020	M-2	5		A1
0030	M-3	5		A1

For information on how to maintain discontinuation data, see the document PP Bills of Material.