Consideration of Alternative Resources 

Use

With capacity leveling in Supply Network Planning (SNP) you can not only level the resource load by moving orders to preceding or subsequent periods, but also transfer the orders to alternative resources. The system moves the orders to production process models (PPMs) or production data structures (PDS) that have been defined for the same location product but use different resources.

The system uses only the free capacity of the alternative resources and does not generate any new capacity overloads. It does not execute capacity leveling for the alternative resources and does not change any orders that already exist for these resources.

The sequence in which the system uses the PPMs or PDS with alternative resources is based on the procurement priority of the PPMs or PDS.

The system only considers alternative production resources, that is, it does not consider transportation resources.

Features

All three capacity leveling methods, that is, the heuristic, optimization, and the BAdI-based methods, consider alternative resources. The heuristic- and optimization-based methods have the following special features:

·        Heuristic-Based Capacity Leveling

If the system finds that a resource to be leveled is overloaded, it first partially or completely moves the orders causing the capacity overload to alternative PPMs or PDS in the same period. If the free capacity of the alternative resources is used up and yet there is still a capacity overload, the system moves the orders for the remaining quantities back to the original PPM/PDS. Then the system moves the orders to a previous or later period, depending on the selected scheduling. If there is another capacity overload, the system again determines alternative PPMs/PDS in this period.

The system moves remaining quantities that still exist after processing all periods of the planning horizon to the first or last period of the planning horizon. There they cause a capacity overload of the original resource. Whether the remaining quantities are moved to the first or to the last period depends on the scheduling direction selected.

·        Optimization-Based Capacity Leveling

The system considers the alternative resources according to the procurement priority of the PPMs or PDS. The system automatically converts this priority into costs, so that PPMs or PDS with higher priorities are considered first. The costs of the original resource are defined by the system as lower than the costs of the alternative resources, so that this resource always has the highest priority for the optimizer and so that the system uses it completely first.

Consideration of a Resource Hierarchy

If you use a resource hierarchy, you can set the level of this hierarchy at which the system considers alternative resources. For example, you can specify that the system considers only header resources or only subresources as follows:

·        Sublevel: You execute capacity leveling for subresources, for example, and specify a header resource during the selection of alternative resources. The system then only selects the subresources of this header resource as alternative resources. This allows you to restrict the consideration of alternative resources to a specific group of resources.

·        Header level: You execute capacity leveling for header resources, for example, and specify subresources during the selection of alternative resources. The system then only selects the header resources belonging to the subresources as alternative resources.

Note that the system does not consider any subresources of the resource to be leveled as alternative resources. If you define a header resource and its subresource as alternative resources at the same time, the system does not consider the header resource as an alternative resource.

You must have created the resource hierarchy based on a hierarchy structure that you have assigned to your planning area. There is already a standard resource hierarchy structure assigned to the standard planning area 9ASNP02. You must also have assigned the hierarchy to your supply chain model. For more information, see the SAP APO master data documentation under Hierarchy.

Activities

If you want capacity leveling to consider alternative resources, enter these resources on the screen for running capacity leveling in the background or in the dialog box for interactively running capacity leveling. First, set the Alternative Resources indicator. Then you will see the following options:

·        All Relevant Resources: The system automatically determines the resources that can be used.

·        Resource: Enter specific resources.

·        Selection Profile: Enter a selection profile you have created for resources.

·        Level of Source Determination: Select a source determination level if you want the system to consider a resource hierarchy.

If you select more than one resource for capacity leveling, the system considers the alternative resources for each resource to be leveled. The system automatically filters out the resources that are not related to the resource the system is leveling at the time. You can therefore select a resource as a resource to be leveled and as an alternative resource.

Note that the alternative PPMs or PDS cannot use the resources of the original PPMs or PDS. In this case, there is the danger that the system could generate cyclical capacity overloads of the original or alternative resources.

The alternative resources you have entered are displayed with the other parameters in the application log of capacity leveling. In addition, all the orders created by the system are listed for the alternative resources. The utilization of the alternative resources is displayed just like that of the original resources.