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 Kanban Enhancements for Lean Manufacturing

 

Technical Data

Technical name of business function

LOG_PP_LMAN_02

Type of business function

Enterprise Business Function

Available as of

SAP Enhancement Package 5 for SAP ERP 6.0

Technical usage

Central Applications

Application component

Kanban (PP-KAB)

Directly dependent business function that you must additionally activate

Not relevant

This business function enables you to use the new Kanban enhancements for lean manufacturing.

In keeping with the principles of Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing, production processes are subject to constant change and continual improvement. To accommodate these changes in the Manufacturing area, the following areas of the Kanban component have been enhanced as of Enhancement Package 5:

  • Control cycle maintenance

  • Automatic kanban calculation

  • Capacity-based kanban calculation (in case of in-house production)

  • Release process for newly added kanban containers

Prerequisites

You have installed the following components as of the named version:

Type of component

Component

Needed for the following functions only

Software component

SAP_APPL 605

Technical component or business content, e.g. Portal Content

Name of the component version, e.g. Business Package for Talent Management Specialist 1.40

To be able to use the new functions, you must check the following IMG activities in Customizing for the Kanban component and make the necessary settings there:

  • To se the new parameters for the calculation, choose:

    Start of the navigation path Kanban Next navigation step Automatic Kanban Calculation and Scheduling Next navigation step Define Calculation Profiles End of the navigation path

  • To activate the function for consideration of capacities in the kanban calculation, choose Start of the navigation path Kanban Next navigation step Replenishment Strategies Next navigation step In-House Production Strategies End of the navigation path

  • To set up the locking function for new kanban containers, choose Start of the navigation path Kanban Next navigation step Automatic Kanban Calculation and Scheduling Next navigation step Define Strategies for Adopting Calculation Proposals End of the navigation path

Features

The following functions are available:

Automatic Kanban Calculation

To obtain more exact calculation results, new calculation parameters have been introduced and the calculation formula extended accordingly. As a result, you can now calculate your material requirement exactly and optimize the size of the control cycles. The goal of the kanban calculation is to guarantee adequate material replenishment and simultaneously reduce stocks of materials.

Checking the Results of the Calculation

To facilitate the checking and possible adoption of the kanban calculation results, a new checking transaction has been introduced. In addition to the existing result columns, this contains columns for the calculation results for the individual calculation parameters you used.

In addition, a new three-dimensional graphic is integrated, which enables you to visualize the requirement quantities and calculation results.

Capacity-Based Kanban Calculation (in Case of In-House Production)

This new function enables you to carry out a capacity-based kanban calculation for a group of materials that are all manufactured at the same work center. The consideration of capacities is available for the following scheduling types:

  • Takt-based scheduling

  • Lead time scheduling

Release Process for New Kanban Containers

This new process facilitates the controlled release of kanban containers after adjustments to a control cycle. You can unlock your containers exactly at the time you have prepared them for use in production.

Mass-Processing for Control Cycles

The mass-processing function enables you to work on your control cycles more quickly and efficiently. You can now make use of key functions with which you are familiar from individual processing in mass processing too. The fact that the transaction for control cycle maintenance is now based on the Advanced List Viewer (ALV) means that you can process several control cycles centrally and thus quickly gain an overview of the consistency of the control cycle data.

Lifecycle for Control Cycles

The lifecycle for control cycles enables you to plan and monitor the different phases of the control cycle in more detail. Lifecycle data is now supported in addition to the already existing control cycle parameters. You can use four new statuses to represent the state of your control cycles.

The change documents for control cycles enable you to trace all changes in the control cycle data without any gaps in the information.

Authorization Concept for Status Changes

This function enables you to grant authorization for status changes on a targeted basis. You can restrict the steps in the Kanban process to certain user groups or individuals and thus control which employee is allowed to set which status for Kanban containers.