ARun Substitution 

Use

It is occasionally necessary to allow substitution of one material for another within a sales order. This is due to inventory shortages resulting from higher than usual consumer demand, delays in the supply chain, phasing out of an old style or color, or other considerations. The ability to identify and substitute acceptable products in such situations helps to avoid lost sales and increases customer satisfaction with timely deliveries.

To define which materials may be substituted:

       1.      On the SAP Easy Access Screen, choose Logistics ® Sales and Distribution ® Master Data ® Products ® Material Determination.

       2.      Go to the Create Material Determination initial screen (transactions VB11/VB12 in the standard SAP system) and select a material determination type.

       3.      In the Material Entered column, enter the material number for which you want to allow substitutions (original SKU). Then in the Material column, enter the material number of the substitute (substitute SKU).

       4.      Save your entries.

During order pricing, the system recognizes whether a substitution has been made. It checks the substitution control rule in Customizing to see whether the customer should given the price for the original material, the substitute material, or the lower of the two prices.

A contract call-off order can also trigger substitution. The substituted quantity is subtracted from the quantity of the originally ordered material item.

Substitution with different allocation logic:

●      FIFO: The main material is allocated in FIFO logic. When this is exhausted then the allocation continues with the substitute materials.

●      Even Spread: The system spreads the original and substitute materials evenly across the group. The original and substitute material are considered together for the spread.

You can use the material substitution either interactively or have it run automatically in the background:

●      Interactive: The system displays the substitute material as determined by the substitution rules in Customizing. Both the original and substitute material are shown side by side on the screen, allowing you to compare them. You can choose whether or now you want to accept the proposed substitute.

●      Background Processing: The system can automatically substitute materials based on the substitution rules in Customizing. There is no user interaction. You can run mass document change with substitution turned on or off for all selected orders.

You can have temporary locking of substitute materials during ATP processing. If you are in the ATP screen and are displaying substitute materials, all the materials shown are locked for other users. As soon as you select a material, the lock is turned off and other users can then access those materials.

Prerequisites

You must have maintained Customizing for Substitution.

Restrictions

Substitution is not supported for the following:

●      Stock transport orders (STO)

●      Special order types such as make-to-order (MTO), purchase-to-order (PTO), third-party order (TPO) and consignment

●      Contracts, inquiries and quotations

●      Substitution is not supported for materials with different base units of measure (UOM)

●      Requirement category substitution is not supported.

●      Plant substitution is not supported.