MRP Live: Business Consulting Approach

[ShekharDamale]

SAP S/4 HANA is powered with some of the brand new functionalities which have changed the business consulting approach. e.g. MRP Live, Simplified sourcing, Business partner etc. In this blog, we are going to consider the functional changes in the MRP planning procedure from ECC to S/4 HANA. In the current blog, ECC means ECC 6.0 and S/4 means S/4 HANA 1909.

Brief about MRP Live

As I have described in my previous blog, In S/4, MRP runs at the database level rather than the application server level. The logic is implemented in SQL script which runs on the database server (AMDP). On the contrary in ECC, the MRP logic is written at the application server level (ABAP coding) which needs the data transfer between database server to the application server which limits the performance of MRP run. Technically the MRP is more Live in S/4.

SAP is adopting an umbrella approach for MRP live development. In the mentioned S/4 release, MRP Live takes care of most of the MRP procedures by selecting appropriate planning procedures based on the material parameters. The materials with suitable settings are planned by MRP live and the rest of the materials are forwarded to the classic MRP procedure within the planning run. No separate transactions are required to run classical MRP planning.

Consulting Approach

S/4 is powered with the MRP Live which is the latest planning engine along with classic MRP engines in the same instance. Classic MRP engines will be there in the system until MRP live takes full control of the material planning processes. So it is recommended to consider the below discussed points before suggesting / recommending / implementing / migrating the business process to the MRP Live.

 

Description of Change	Type	Reason	Upgrade Considerations
MRP list MRP live do not create MRP List	Discontinued Function	For performance reason	The stock requirement list has similar data interpretation. Keep an eye on these changes as business may have customized reporting based on classic MRP output. No special consideration is required.
Fresh Number for planned Elements MRP live deletes the Planned order and Purchase Requisitions and creates new with a fresh number	Change in behavior	For performance reason	Keep an eye on these changes as business may have customized reporting based on classic MRP output. e.g. same Purchase requisition number is referred in the process even after multiple MRP runs
Planning Horizon The planning horizon was only a performance measure which is no longer necessary now.	Discontinued Function	For performance reason	Keep an eye on these changes as business may see excess planned elements in standard / customized reporting.
Creation Indicator for Purchase Requisitions The creation indicator for purchase requisitions is not available in MRP Live. MRP Live always creates purchase requisitions for external procurement.	Change in behavior	Simplified sourcing approach	Businesses having a clear Make or Buy strategy will get benefit from this change. No special consideration is required
Creation Indicator for Delivery Schedule Lines The creation indicator for delivery schedule lines is not available in MRP Live. MRP Live always creates delivery schedule lines if the material’s source list entry tells MRP to do so.	Change in behavior	Simplified sourcing approach	Businesses having a clear understanding of Purchase Requisitions and Schedule line functionality will get benefit from this change. No special consideration is required
Special MRP considerations with BADI MRP Live (transaction MD01N) does not process BADI	Discontinued Function	BADIs are not supported in MRP Live	For such materials, you have to force the MRP Live run to call classic MRP by setting the Plan in classic MRP Indicator in transaction MD_MRP_FORCE_CLASSIC.
Planning Sequence Plant sequence in planning Table T439C has been discontinued	Discontinued Function	Table T439C allows you to define the planning sequence of the plants. This functionality is not needed for MRP Live	The MRP logic determines the planning sequence of plants automatically. There is no need to define a planning sequence in a table. No special activities are necessary.
Change in Planning file design Only planning file entries in table DBVM are supported. Planning file entries in table MDVM are no longer supported.	Change in Functionality	The performance of reading DBVM is much better because it has a proper key.	For planning file conversion. If not already done, run report RMDBVM00.
Multi-Level, Make-to-Order Planning Multi-level, make-to-order planning (transaction MD50) is not optimized for MRP Live.	Change in Functionality	Multi-level, make-to-order planning was only a performance measure which is no longer necessary.	Use transaction MD50 or Use MRP Live for the top-level material and include the BOM components in planning.
Individual Project Planning Individual project planning(transaction MD51) is not optimized for MRP Live.	Change in Functionality	Individual project planning was only a performance measure which is no longer necessary.	Use transaction MD51 or Use MRP Live for the top-level material and include the BOM components in planning.

 

The MRP Live is still assisted by Classic MRP

Material / Procedure with following planning features is automatically detected during an MRP Live run and planned using the classic MRP (ABAP planning) logic. In order to have the maximum performance, you should try to avoid assigning these special planning features to your materials if possible. An alternative approach is mentioned below if available.

Using the MRP Fiori App 'MRP Master Data Issues' or transaction MD_MRP_MATERIAL_INFO or transaction MD_MRP_FORCE_CLASSIC you can see for which materials MRP Live has detected a restriction.

 

1. MRP Live on HANA does not support the MRP types Time-phased Planning or Seasonal MRP. MRP Live calls the classic MRP procedures to plan materials with MRP types other than Material Requirements Planning, Demand-Driven Planning, Reorder Point Planning and Master Production Scheduling.

 

2. Lot-sizing procedures are not supported:
   
   
   
   1. Reorder point planning with period or cost-based lot-sizing procedures
   
   
   2. Cost-based lot-sizing procedures such as the Groff reorder procedure or part-period balancing
   
   
   3. Overlapping in lot-sizing procedures
   
   
   4. Optimum lot-sizing procedures
   
   
   5. Split quotas specified for lot-sizing procedures are supported from S/41909 onwards
   
   
   
   

 

3. Scheduling agreements:
   
   
   
   1. Only Scheduling agreements with the document type release documentation are supported.
   
   
   2. If you currently work with scheduling agreements without release documentation, you should close these and create new ones with release documentation.
   
   
   
   

 

4. Forecast demands cannot be planned in MRP Live on HANA
   If you use forecast-based planning (MRP type "VV") check whether you can copy the forecast demands to planned independent requirements (strategy group 10 make-to-stock) which can be considered in the demand-driven MRP types in MRP Live on HANA.

 

5. Coverage profile
   As an alternative, you can use the safety time or the goods receipts processing time instead which allows planning in MRP Live on HANA.

 

6. The system plans a material using classic MRP if it has partially available safety stock. Partially available safety stock is specified in the MRP group. (Field T438M-SBDIS > 0). The purpose of partially available safety stock is to avoid procurement if the shortage quantity is very small. The material is only procured if the part of the safety stock that is not available (A) is needed to cover a requirement. The receipt quantity is calculated to replenish the full safety stock quantity (B).

 

(A = B * (1 # Available Percentage / 100)

          Alternative: You can achieve a similar behavior by setting the safety stock to A and defining a              minimum order quantity C = B # A.

Conclusion

S/4 HANA MRP Live is an emerging solution and still assisted by classic MRP engines to complete the planning process. With every new release, SAP is incorporating the classical and new dimensional planning procedures to the MRP Live. Based on the business process requirement, the consultant needs to decide on the deployment of the MRP solution.

References

More details can be obtained with the latest version of the SAP note 1914010 - MD01N: Restrictions for Planning in MRP Live on HANA