Rounding
The rounding function rounds demand quantities to pack sizes. Rounding demand quantities avoids having to split up packaging materials. Packaging materials that are complete make storage and transportation easier.
The following rounding methods are available for rounding:
pack-size-orientated rounding method
You have the following possibilities for rounding:
Rounding on the basis of a rounding tolerance interval
You can define a rounding tolerance interval by specifying a round-up limit and a round-down limit (as a percentage of the pack size).
Rounding on the basis of rounding directions
You can choose between the following rounding directions:
Round up
Round down
Round to the nearest whole number
demand-quantity-orientated rounding method
For this rounding method, it is only possible to define a rounding tolerance level (as a percentage of the demand quantity) and not choose between the above rounding directions as in pack-size-orientated rounding. However, you can still control the rounding direction, for example by specifying the lower rounding limit of the rounding tolerance interval as zero. If you do so, the system always rounds up. If you specify the upper rounding limit as zero, the system always rounds down. If you specify both the upper and the lower rounding limits as zero, the system rounds to the next multiple of the smallest permissible pack size. This is the case even if the multiple of the smallest permissible pack size falls outside of the rounding tolerance interval.
The core rounding algorithm forms the basis of the rounding function. This core rounding algorithm executes demand-quantity-orientated rounding, and forms the basis for rounding in Global
Available-to-Promise (ATP)
, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)
, and the planning services in Service Parts Planning (SPP)
.
The core rounding algorithm is surrounded by a rounding shell. The rounding shell converts the parameters that you defined for the packaging specification. For more information about packaging specification, see SAP Library for SAP Supply Chain Management on SAP Help Portal at . In a packaging specification you can, for example, specify that the system is to perform pack-size-orientated rounding. The rounding shell then converts the rounding parameters of the packaging specification into parameters for the core rounding algorithm that is demand-quantity-orientated.
The following graphic shows the applications that use the core rounding algorithm as a basis via the rounding shell:
