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Function documentationKit to Stock

 

You can use the kit-to-stock function in distribution requirements planning (DRP) to plan the procurement and manufacture of kits. A kit is a product that comprises several different products. You create a kit in the location product master data of SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO) as a location product that you select as a kit, and define a BOM for this kit in SAP ERP. In this BOM, you specify the products that comprise the kit.

You can decide whether you want to create the kit internally, that is, at one of your BOD locations, or externally, that is, through a subcontractor. As for every other location product, DRP checks whether demand exists for the kit. If this is the case, DRP creates either a manufacturing order for internal kitting or a subcontract order for external kitting depending on your decision. You can also decide whether to allow external procurement of a kit, for example, in periods in which kitting is not possible.

Note Note

You cannot use the kit-to-stock function for the following location products:

  • Location products that are supplied by a separate contract packager.

    If you have selected the kit-to-stock function for these location products, the system uses the standard DRP logic without kitting.

  • Location products for which you use product group procurement.

  • Location products that are part of a virtual location for consolidated ordering.

End of the note.

Integration

  • For external kitting, you have to use a scenario for subcontracting without a source location in order to ensure that subcontracting components are planned effectively in your own plant and not by the supplier, as is the case with subcontracting with a source location. For more information about this kind of scenario, see SAP Library for SAP Supply Chain Management under Start of the navigation path SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO) Next navigation step Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) Next navigation step External Procurement Next navigation step Subcontracting Next navigation step Subcontracting Without Source Location in PP/DS End of the navigation path.

  • Production data structures must be present in PP/DS. In order for this to be the case, you created bills of material and routings in SAP ERP and have assigned them a production version. You transferred the production version together with the assigned bills of material and routings to SAP SCM via the Core Interface (CIF).

Prerequisites

  • For external kitting, you created external procurement relationships in SAP ERP for subcontracting. To do this, you selected Start of the navigation path Logistics Next navigation step Materials Management Next navigation step Purchasing Next navigation step Outline Agreement Next navigation step Contract Next navigation step Create End of the navigation path from the SAP Easy Access screen in SAP ERP and you created a contract of the type Subcontracting (S).

  • You have created kits in the location product master data as location products and made the settings on the SPP DRP tab page in the Kit to Stock/Repair or Buy area.

  • If there are periods when kit to stock is not possible for specific location products, you have defined shutdown profiles for kit to stock in the application-specific master data for service parts planning (SPP) and assigned them to the relevant location products in the location product master data.

  • In Customizing, you have defined a profile for rounding lot sizes.

    For more information, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) under Start of the navigation path SCM Basis Next navigation step Master Data Next navigation step Product Next navigation step Maintain Rounding Profiles End of the navigation path.

  • You have defined the settings you require for rounding lot sizes in the location product master data, on the Lot Sizes tab page. For more information about these settings, see Rounding in Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) in the section Repair or Buy and Kit to Stock.

Features

Internal or External Kitting

If you choose a location product for internal kitting, DRP generates planned orders for this location product. DRP transfers these planned orders to SAP ERP, where manufacturing orders are created from these planned orders and returned to DRP.

If you choose a location product for external kitting, DRP creates subcontracting purchase requisitions for this location product. DRP transfers these subcontracting purchase requisitions to SAP ERP, where subcontract orders are created from these subcontracting purchase requisitions and returned to DRP.

You can specify whether you want to use internal or external kitting in the location product master data on the SPP DRP tab page under Kit to Stock/Repair or Buy. You have the following options:

  • Internal Only

    In this case, DRP only allows internal kitting for a location product and only generates planned orders for this location product. On the External Procurement – Delivery Schedule Maintenance screen, you cannot create any subcontracting purchase requisitions for this location product manually. To access this screen, on the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Start of the navigation path Advanced Planning and Optimization Next navigation step Service Parts Planning (SPP) Next navigation step Planning Next navigation step Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) Next navigation step Scheduling Agreement Releases End of the navigation path.

  • Internal Preferred (Both Allowed)

    In this case, the system favors internal kitting for the location product but does allow external kitting. In other words, DRP generates only planned orders for this location product but you can also create subcontracting purchase requisitions manually for the location product on the External Procurement – Delivery Schedule Maintenance screen.

  • External Preferred (Both Allowed)

    In this case, DRP favors external kitting for the location product but does allow internal kitting. In other words, DRP generates subcontracting purchase requisitions for this location product if you have assigned one or more subcontractors to it. Otherwise, DRP generates planned orders. On the External Procurement – Delivery Schedule Maintenance screen, you can also create subcontracting purchase requisitions and planned orders for this location product manually.

  • External Only

    In this case, the system allows only external kitting for the location product. DRP checks whether the location product has been assigned one or more subcontractors. If subcontractors have been assigned, DRP selects the subcontractor with the highest priority and generates a subcontracting purchase requisition for this subcontractor. If none have been assigned, DRP generates the exception No Source of Supply for External Refurbishment/KtS. On the External Procurement – Delivery Schedule Maintenance screen, you cannot create any planned orders for this location product manually.

Dependent Demands for Kits

If DRP determines a net demand for a kit, it reads the BOM for this kit to determine the demand for dependent demands. The system triggers a new DRP run for these dependent demands, that is, for products that you have specified in the BOM for this kit. In this DRP run, the system checks whether sufficient stock is available for the required dependent demands and, if necessary, plans procurement for these dependent demands. The system also triggers a DRP run for dependent demands if you change manufacturing orders or subcontract orders in SAP ERP.

Kit to Stock or Buy

If you have selected the Kit to Stock or Buy option for a location product in the location product master data on the SPP DRP tab page, the system chooses product procurement rather than kitting in the following cases:

  • The demand lies within the freeze horizon for the product kitting.

  • The kitting order overlaps with a kit-to-stock shutdown (see Periods in Which Kitting Is Not Possible).

Planning Horizon for Kit to Stock

  • You specify the planning horizon for internal kitting in the location product master data on the SPP DRP tab page under Kit to Stock/Repair or Buy.

  • You specify the planning horizon for external kitting in the product-specific transportation lane for the subcontractor in the Planning Horizon field.

Delivery Times for Kits

To determine the delivery time for kits, DRP distinguishes between kits that you create internally and kits that you create externally, that is, through a subcontractor. For more information about how the system calculates the delivery lead times, see Calculation of Lead Times in DRP.

Periods in Which Kitting Is Not Possible

  • DRP determines a horizon from the procurement lead time of the planned order or subcontracting purchase requisition (depending on whether you have selected internal or external kitting) and a location product-specific buffer. Planned orders or subcontracting purchase requisitions for kit to stock must not be generated within this horizon.

    You can define the buffer for this horizon in the location product master data on the SPP DRP tab page under Kit to Stock/Repair or Buy.

    If a net demand for a kit occurs within this horizon, the system proceeds as described below.

  • Planned orders and subcontracting purchase requisitions for kit to stock must not be generated during a kit-to-stock shutdown.

    You can create shutdown profiles for kit-to-stock in the application-specific master data for SPP and assign them to the required location products in the location product master data on the SPP DRP tab page under Kit to Stock/Repair or Buy.

    If a kitting order overlaps with a kit-to-stock shutdown, the system proceeds as described below.

Procedure If Kitting Is Not Possible

  • If you have chosen to allow only kit to stock for a location product, the system distinguishes between the two cases described above:

    • If a net demand for a kit exists within the horizon in which planned orders and subcontracting purchase requisitions must not be generated for kit to stock, DRP does not cover this net demand, but generates alert 7897.

    • If a kitting order overlaps with a kit-to-stock shutdown, the system attempts to bring forward this demand, that is, to cover this demand before the shutdown. For more information, see Bringing Forward Net Demands During Shutdown Times.

  • If you have decided to either create a location product using kit to stock or procure it, the system chooses procurement in this case.

Rounding in Kit-to-Stock Planning

For planned orders or subcontracting purchase requisitions for kitting, the system rounds to lot sizes in the same way as for repair-or-buy planning. For more information about rounding to lot sizes for kit to stock and repair or buy, see Rounding in Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP).

Restrictions

  • On the External Procurement — Delivery Schedule Maintenance screen, the audit trail function for orders and purchase orders that DRP created in kit-to-stock planning is not available.

  • The Business Intelligence system reports that contain the DRP planning results do not display planned orders or manufacturing orders.