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  Planning and Production Execution for Configurable Products

Purpose

This process describes the planning process and planning execution for configurable products with interchangeable components. You plan the configurable finished product (based on iPPE), the interchangeable components and other important components in SAP APO.

When planning interchangeable components, SAP APO only considers the master data for product interchangeability (interchangeability groups) you defined in SAP APO.

Note Note

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.

End of the note.

Prerequisites

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

  • You have defined an MRP type in the material master records of the interchangeable components that excludes these materials from the MRP run in the DI System. This ensures that the components are included in planning in SAP APO.

    Note Note

    When planning with the planning matrix, usually only the finished product and very few important components are planned in APO. The other components are then included in the planning run in the DI System. Their requirements are read from APO via Remote Function Call (RFC). These components have an MRP type that allows planning in the DI System – MRP type A2, for example. In addition, planning method 2 (import dependent requirements from an external system) is defined for the MRP type. This results in the setting P for external procurement in the APO product master. This setting excludes a product from planning in APO. Therefore, you must check that interchangeable components are included in planning in APO and, if necessary, change the MRP type in the DI System.

    End of the note.
  • You have transferred the iPPE data to APO in an integration model.

  • 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 diection 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 in 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.

  • Before you can execute the ATP check for planned orders for products planned in the planning matrix, you have to set the indicator Fixing of Components Reqmts Allowed in Customizing for the Rapid Planning Matrix in the activity Maintain Global Settings .

Process Flow

  1. Execute the model mix planning run.

    You execute model mix planning for the finished product to be planned. In model mix planning, the system creates planned orders for the existing independent requirements (planned independent requirements and customer requirements) and dispatches these orders to the production line.

  2. Execute a planning run with the planning matrix.

    If you have specified the indicator 4 for Matrix Explosion in the product master of the finished product, the system executes another planning run with the planning matrix directly after the model mix planning run. The planning matrix explodes the product variant structure (PVS) of the finished product and calculates the requirement quantities and times for the required components for all the planned orders. It is not necessary for planning to have defined all the components of an interchangeability group as component variants with a change number in the product variant structure – initially you only require a component variant for the component to be discontinued. During the explosion, the matrix calculates the requirements of the component to be discontinued. The successor components are then determined in the next step using the interchangeability master data.

    However, at some point, you must update the PVS. That is, you have to create the successors with change numbers and a suitable valid-from date. Then the matrix determines each valid component variant.

  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 matrix. 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.

    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.

    Example Example

    If, for example, the planning matrix calculated a requirement of 10 pieces for component A which is to be substituted by component B and only 3 pieces of component A are available in stock which are to be used up, the system creates a product substitution order for component A for 7 pieces to redirect the requirement to component B. Therefore, a requirement of 7 pieces exists for component B. To cover this requirement for B, the system creates a procurement proposal for 7 pieces of B.

    Now, in the ATP check, components A and B are copied to the planned order of the finished product with 3 and 7 pieces respectively.

    End of the example.
  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. And you have already created the component to be discontinued and its successor in the product variant structure as component variants with change numbers and transferred this data to APO using the Core Interface in an integration model. You must also 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 of the RPM product and checks the minimum stocks defined in the control cycle. The system uses the component quantity and, if necessary, the minimum stock to calculate the quantity to be requested. 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