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Function documentationHeuristic for Propagation of Descriptive Characteristics Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

This heuristic, SAP_PP_023, allows you to propagate the descriptive characteristic values associated with a demand element to the dependent demand or stock transfer requirement of the receipt element (planned order or stock transfer order) pegged to it.

Prerequisites

For the products, you have enabled the propagation of descriptive characteristics in the Demand tab of the Product Master. The component products have the same descriptive characteristics used in the consumption group for the finished product. It is not necessary to have the same consumption group for the finished product and component. The values of the common descriptive characteristics in the consumption group are propagated.

Features

You can enable the propagation of descriptive characteristic values associated with a demand element to the dependent demand or stock transfer requirement of the receipt element (planned order or stock transfer order) pegged to it. For example, descriptive characteristic values associated with a forecast requirement or sales order are propagated to the dependent demand of a planned order created to cover the requirement.

The propagation occurs during the execution of the PP heuristics or Capable-to-Promise (CTP). It is carried out only for products for which the Descriptive Characteristic Value Propagation indicator is set in the Demand tab of the Product Master. The propagation is useful for scenarios involving:

  • Forecast consumption at component level based on descriptive characteristic values

  • Use of capacity reservations on resources for components at lower BOM levels

The planning run or CTP ensures that the newly created planned orders or stock transfer orders have descriptive characteristic values based on the requirement that they cover. However, the dynamic pegging does not consider the descriptive characteristic values. Therefore, a change in dynamic pegging (either due to manual intervention or applications that do not handle the propagation) can invalidate the descriptive characteristic values for the planned orders. For example, a sales order has a value CUST1 for the descriptive characteristic KUNNR (Sold-to-Party), and the dependent demand for the covering planned order inherits this value. Due to a change in the planning scenario, such as a change in the date for planned order, the dynamic pegging between the sales order and the planned order is lost and the latter is now dynamically pegged to a new sales order with value CUST2. The descriptive characteristic value for the planned order is not changed in this case.

In such scenarios, the heuristic for propagation of descriptive characteristic values can be used to realign the descriptive characteristic values for the planned orders based on the pegging. It will ensure that dependent demands or stock transfer requisitions have the same descriptive characteristic values of the demand element to which the order is pegged.

If the order is not pegged to any requirement, the descriptive characteristic values are reset. If the order is pegged to multiple demands, the descriptive characteristics of the earlier demand are propagated. You can change this behavior by implementing a BAdI.

The heuristic settings provide options for the following:

  • Choosing the pegging relationships to be considered for propagation: Dynamic pegging, fixed pegging, or both

  • ATP categories for requirements or receipts to be considered for propagation

Activities

To set the pegging relationship for propagation, choose the /SAPAPO/HEU_DCHARVAL_PROPAGATE algorithm. In the Pegging Types field, choose the type of pegging relationship to be considered. If required, you can also choose the filters for requirements and receipts. Save the settings.