Planning and Production Execution for Non-Configurable Products 

Purpose

This process describes the planning process and planning execution for non-configurable products with interchangeable components. You plan the finished product (on the basis of iPPE) and the interchangeable components in SAP APO whereby SAP APO only considers the master data of the product interchangeability (interchangeability groups) you defined in APO.

You do not have to maintain any discontinuation data in the DI System. Only the interchangeability groups in SAP APO are relevant for planning interchangeable products.

Prerequisites

·        You can only use product interchangeability with a DI System from release 4.6B.

·        You have transferred the iPPE data (assembly and routing) to APO.

·        You have transferred the transaction data (requirements and stocks) for the interchangeable components as well as the other components you plan in SAP APO.

·        You have created an interchangeability group of the type supersession chain for a component to be substituted by another product or by several products over time. Here, you can choose the direction of interchangeability forward or fully interchangeable.

·        You have assigned this group to a location and to the active model. This automatically creates a planning package which is copied to the location product masters of the products belonging to this group. The planning package (planning package type 001) contains the heuristic for planning interchangeable products. This heuristic ensures that the products of a supersession chain are planned in the correct sequence.

·        You have checked and completed the product masters of the interchangeable components by entering a suitable product heuristic for procurement planning for interchangeable components. See also: Master Data for Planning with InC in PP/DS

·        You have defined a check mode and an ATP group for the interchangeable components in Customizing. You have also entered the check mode, the ATP group and a display unit of measure in the product masters of the interchangeable components.

Process Flow

       1.      Execute a production planning run using a REM heuristic.

You use a REM Heuristic for planning non-configurable finished products. The system uses the REM heuristic to create planned orders for the existing planned independent requirements and dispatches these orders.

       2.      Individual explosion in the iPPE product structure.

If you have set the indicator for individual explosion of the iPPE in the product master of the finished product, the system explodes the product structure (iPPE assembly) of the finished product and calculates the dependent requirements of the components in the planning run after the REM heuristic. Initially, it is not necessary for planning to have included all the components of an interchangeability group in the product structure as assembly items with change numbers.  To start with, only the assembly item of the component to be discontinued is required. The successor components are then determined in the next step using the interchangeability master data. 

       3.      Execute an MRP run for the components.

For the interchangeable components, you execute a suitable production planning run with an MRP heuristic. See also: MRP Run for a Supersession Chain

Due to the common planning package, the system always plans an interchangeable component in the planning run along with the other products in the interchangeability group. The planning run creates a product substitution order for the dependent requirement of the component determined by the individual explosion after the REM heuristic. In this way, the dependent requirement is redirected to the successor product. Now, a dependent requirement also exists for the successor product. In planning, a product substitution order is also created for this dependent requirement which redirects the dependent requirement to a successor material in the case that this product is also to be substituted by a successor product.

A planned order or a purchase requisition is created in the planning run for the dependent requirement of the valid successor product if this requirement is not covered by available stock. See also: Procurement Planning for a Product in the Supersession Chain

       4.      Evaluate the planning results for the interchangeability group.

In the product planning table, you can display the planning results both for the component to be substituted and for its successor (or successors if the substitute product is to be replaced again in the planning period). See also: Displaying the Interchangeability Group in the Product Planning Table

       5.      Execute the ATP check.

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At the end of the planning phase before the planned orders for the finished product are transferred to production, you should execute an ATP check for these orders. You must have executed an ATP check before you can continue with the other steps in the REM production process – if you have not executed an ATP check, you cannot use automatic supply-to-production nor can you use the backfushing functions. See also: ATP Check for Planned Orders in Repetitive Manufacturing

The system executes product substitution in the order – that is, the system copies the necessary components to the order. The distribution of the requirement quantities is done according to the ATP situation based on the stocks and receipts, according to the scope defined for the ATP check.

       6.      Execute material staging using automatic supply-to-production.

To stage materials in production, you use the automatic supply-to-production component in the DI System. A prerequisite is that you have already executed an ATP check for the planned orders with interchangeable components. You must also have created the component to be discontinued and its successor in an iPPE product structure as assembly items with change numbers and have transferred this data to APO using the CIF.

In addition, you must have created the control cycles for the components to be discontinued and all the possible successor products. If the product is to be discontinued, you must delete the control cycle manually and on time for the product to be discontinued. Otherwise, the system will continue to request replenishment.

When executing automatic supply-to-production, you must select the components to be substituted (as long as they can still be used) and the successor product/products so that the system can also create summarized JIT calls for each product. When creating the summarized JIT call, the system reads the quantities of the components in the planned order and checks the minimum stocks defined in the control cycle. The system calculates the quantity to be requested using the quantity of the component and, if necessary, the minimum stock. This means the system may request more of the component to be substituted than is actually available in stock. See also: Automatic Supply-to-Production

       7.      Execute the production backflush in APO.

In the production backflush in APO, you can use the BAdI /SAPAPO/PPC_BADI with method AFTER_CHECKS or AT_SAVE to check whether you have executed an ATP check for the planned orders as product substitution in the order can only be carried out using the ATP check. If you do not execute an ATP check, the order does not contain the components required for production. Therefore, you must execute this check to avoid postprocessing records in the DI System.

The backflush respects the sequence you defined in the supersession chain of an interchangeability group.  See also: Production Backflush for Interchangeable Products