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 Materials Management

Purpose

In the Defense Forces & Public Security component, Materials Management (MM) supports you when supplying armed forces, police, and aid organizations with non-consumable, individual consumable, and bulk consumable goods .

Material planners and MRP controllers can plan and carry out initial supplies and other supplies for the domestic base as well as for operations and exercises.

All tasks relating to supplies can be carried out in a distributed system landscape.

Implementation Considerations

You have used SAP Library to familiarize yourself with the MM component (under Start of the navigation path SAP ERP Central Component Next navigation step Logistics End of the navigation path ) and have made the required settings in Customizing.

Integration

The functions in the area of Material Management are integrated with the functions of the Materials Management (MM) component.

The Mobile Defense Solution , which is shipped separately, provides mobile applications for materials management. They provide the system support required to carry out materials management tasks on mobile devices (even if there is a temporary disruption to the permanent communications link with an SAP system).

Features

The goods to be supplied are divided into non-consumable, individual consumable, and bulk consumable goods:

  • Non-consumable goods (NCGs) include capital goods such as vehicles and aircraft, for which evidence of use must be provided.

  • Bulk consumable goods include ammunition and fuel.

  • Individual consumable goods include spare parts.

The following functions are available in the MM area:

  • Supply of NCGs

    • The authorized/actual comparison is the tool for procuring NCGs. The authorized/actual comparison can be used to determine which precise material is to be supplied to the individual force elements.

      The authorized stock is defined on the basis of the material planning object (MPO). The related actual stock is managed in special stock storage areas for the force element.

    • You can use the Material Categories Planning application to supply force elements with NCGs in the event of shortfalls. You can use the Plan function to provide initial supplies, while the Request function is for supplying NCGs on an ongoing basis.

      When a purchase requisition is created, the system automatically determines the supplier, which the user can overwrite.

    • You can use the Central Maintenance Dialog for the Warehouse Structure to edit all the objects required for setting up a warehouse structure for a new warehouse number , without having to navigate directly to Customizing for the Warehouse Management component.

    • You can use a loan to exchange stocks temporarily between units.

    • You can supply infrastructure material separately from other materials.

    • MRP controllers can use the Planning Workbench to edit their requisition worklists and trigger stock transport orders.

      They can check the requisitions, change them if necessary, and decide whether to release them.

      When an exercise or operation ends, MRP controllers can assign all the stocks of a force element that is to be deleted to a receiving force element (using a return delivery report).

    • MRP controllers can forward purchase requisitions to a different supplier if they know that the material is available there. In such cases, the system automatically creates a follow-on requisition for the original purchase requisition.

  • Initial Supply of Individual and Bulk Consumable Goods

    The initial supply quantity for individual and bulk consumable goods is defined in provisions packages (PPAs) that are assigned to the force elements.

    In the domestic base, the supplier is determined on the basis of the initial supplier of material. During an operation or exercise, the supplier is determined on the basis of the force provider of the force element awaiting supplies.

  • You can equip a person with material.

  • Relocation of Material

    You can relocate stock or provisions material for a defined operation or exercise to the area of operation. The force elements to be relocated are assigned along with their material categories to individual relocation steps.

    You set up decentralized systems on the basis of the structures and master data defined in the central system and then transport them to the area of operation.

  • Creation of Material Master Data

    If a new force element is created or the materials for a force element are changed, you must create material master data so that the logistics processes (procurement, inventory management, material requirements planning, and so on) for this force element can be supported.

  • Adjustment of Reorder Points for Organizational Changes

    If the supply relationships change for a force element that holds its provisions stocks at the supplier, you have to adjust the reorder points for the materials concerned.

    This means that when a supply relationship expires, the reorder point is reduced, and when a new supply relationship starts, the reorder point is increased.

  • Processing of Open Documents When Supply Relationships Change

    If supply relationships are changed, any documents open at this time have to be processed. The person responsible is notified by means of a workflow and must decide which documents are to be executed.

  • Support of Cross-Plant Reorganization

    If a force element or its higher-level force element is assigned to a new plant, the force element to which organizational changes have been made can either keep its old plant or change to the new plant. The change can be defined differently for stock and provisions. The system supports plant changes internally.

  • Additional functions are available for prioritizing requirements .

  • Support for the Return Delivery Process for Material

    When deliveries are made to force elements, the system can create requisitions for return deliveries automatically.

  • Codes for Supporting and Controlling Transactions

    The condition code categorizes material stocks so that the availability and usability can be controlled. The advice code is used in the stock transport requisition, stock transport order, and reservation in order to provide the user with additional information about a logistics operation. The status code provides the user with additional information about a logistics operation (for requisitions and return deliveries, for instance).

  • External Batch Management

    You can use external batch management to monitor and track materials with regard to their composition and origin.

  • You can use SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM) for planning processes relating to materials management. The system provides you with support for the required transfer of DFPS-specific master data to SAP SCM .

  • Material Management processes must also be available beyond system boundaries. This also applies for the distributed supply of individual/bulk consumable goods as well as for the distributed supply of non-consumable goods .