Rapid Planning Matrix (RPM)
Definition
A product-related database object that is stored in the liveCache for the SAP APO system.
The following matrices are available for planning:
Component variant matrix for calculating the required components.
Activity matrix for calculating the required activities.
The rows of a planning matrix contain all the components of a product, which the system determines from the component variants in the product variant structure (PVS) for the product, or all the activities, which the system determines by exploding the process structure. The columns contain the lined-up APO planned orders for the product. The use of a component or an activity in an APO order is indicated by an X in the appropriate row of the planning matrix.
The structure of a matrix for calculating components is made clear in the following graphic:
Use
The RPM is the basis of the new form of production planning in the SAP APO. It is used for products with many variants and large numbers of orders to determine the requirement quantities and dates quickly for the components of a product. You can also state whether the system is to generate an activity matrix during the planning run.
Structure
The RPM for determining components consists of the following matrices:
Characteristic value matrix
The characteristic value matrix is a way of storing the object dependencies for the individual orders in the liveCache. The rows of this matrix contain all the possible characteristics.The columns contain the configurations from the orders.
Component variant matrix
The component variant matrix contains all the components for the product (corresponds to the super BOM) and the order data.
The RPM consists of the data from both matrices. The components/characteristic values required for each order are indicated by an X .
When activities are also to be determined, the system generates an activity matrix .
Integration
You can use the data provided by the RPM in any system and any transaction. Any changes made to master data, for instance to the product variant structure or the line resource, or changes in the order sequence, are automatically transferred to the RPM.
The planning matrix is filled with the following data:
Data from Integrated Product and Process Engineering ( product variant structure , line structure , process structure )
Data for the line resource , such as takt time, shift sequence
Data from the APO planned orders for the product, such as the start and end date for the order
Which components are needed for which order (= setting the crosses), determined by exploding the product variant structure, taking into account object dependencies in iPPE and the validity data maintained in Engineering Change Management .
The following functions use data from the RPM:
Determination of the component requirements for each order and each defined period for further planning in the SAP APO and MRP in the R/3 system
Generation of order BOMs for planned order management .
Generation of order BOMs for backflush at reporting points.
Transfer of the characteristic value matrices as the basis for sequencing in Sequencing.
Forecast delivery schedule/JIT delivery schedule/Sequenced JIT call.