Production Planning Run

Use

You use the production planning run to execute planning online or in the background for selected objects. In this case, online planning is only suitable for small data quantities (for example, for test purposes), while you implement background planning for mass planning. Depending on the planning problem being solved, you use heuristics , PP/DS optimization , or detailed scheduling (DS) functions in the production planning run. In the production planning run, you can execute various planning tasks in several consecutive processing steps using different heuristics or functions. For example, you could first execute procurement planning for products with uncovered product requirements using a product heuristic, and then execute sequence optimization on the relevant bottleneck resources.

In production planning, you use the production planning run primarily to execute procurement planning for products, in other words, to create procurement proposals to cover uncovered product requirements. Special procurement planning heuristics are available for this purpose. The production planning run is of particular relevance to products for which you have set a planning procedure that allows procurement planning in the planning run (for example, the SAP standard planning procedure 4, Planning in Planning Run ). In this planning procedure, the system does not trigger planning immediately for planning-relevant changes, but generates planning file entries.

The advantage of the planning procedure Planning in Planning Run or – more generally – the production planning run, is that you can control when and how often products are planned. You can execute the planning runs at times in which your system is not too busy and thus improve system performance. However, the production planning run is also suitable for procurement planning for products for which you have set other planning procedures.

Example Example

For products for which you have set SAP standard planning procedure 3 ( Cover Dependent Requirements Immediately ), the system tries to cover a new dependent requirement for the product immediately and, if necessary, to create corresponding receipts. This is only possible with lot-for-lot order quantities or fixed lot sizes. You can then use the production planning run to plan products with the period lot size procedure.

End of the example.

Prerequisites

In Customizing for Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS), you have maintained the profiles required for controlling the production planning run, the heuristics, or functions.

Profiles for the Production Planning Run

Profile	Description
Time profile	You use the time profile to specify the planning period for planning with detailed scheduling functions, DS heuristics, REM heuristics, and selected service heuristics from production planning (SAP_PP_…). For more information on using the time profile for PP heuristics, see the SAP note 457723.
Propagation range	You use the propagation range to specify the resources and products for which the system may change planning.
Strategy profile	You use the strategy profile to specify for specific functions and heuristics the detailed scheduling strategies with which the system executes the detailed scheduling of orders and operations. For more information, see Defining Detailed Scheduling Strategies .
Optimization profile	You use the optimization profile to specify how the system should execute the optimization.

Features

Definition of the processing steps

You specify the following data for each processing step:

The heuristic or function you want the system to execute in this processing step
The profile for controlling the heuristic or function, such as the optimization profile for optimization
The objects for which you want the system to execute the heuristic or function

The objects must be compatible with the selected heuristic or function. For example, you plan products with procurement planning heuristics. You plan resources with optimization, DS functions, or with DS heuristics.

Saving the planning results

Depending on the functions and heuristics used, the system saves the planning data either at the end of the planning run or during the planning run. There are heuristics that save planning data during or at the end of a processing step in the specified planning version (for example, the standard heuristic SAP_MRP_001). On saving, the system merges the planning data into the current status of the planning version. Whether or not a heuristic itself saves the data depends on if the basic function module contains save logic, and if you have specified in table /SAPAPO/HEURFUNC that the heuristic should save the data. If no processing steps in the production planning run have such a heuristic, the system only saves the data at the end of the planning run either in the planning version or as a simulation version, depending on your settings. It is possible to save as a simulation version if you are only using optimization, DS functions, or DS heuristics in the production planning run.

Activities

To call the production planning run, from the SAP Easy Access screen for mySAP Supply Chain Management choose Start of the navigation path Advanced Planning and Optimization Next navigation step Production Planning Automated Production Planning and Optimization. End of the navigation path