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Discontinued Materials Management

rvarulselvan
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
‎2025 Mar 14 5:43 PM
0 Kudos
602

Introduction to Discontinued Materials

Discontinuation in SAP S/4HANA refers to the process of replacing obsolete components with follow-up materials in Material Requirements Planning (MRP). Once a material is marked as discontinued, dependent requirements are transferred to the follow-up material when stock is depleted or no longer available in sufficient quantities.

You can define discontinuation data in both the Material Master Record (MRP4 View) and the Bill of Materials (BOM). However, any follow-up item specified in the BOM takes priority over the follow-up material maintained in the material master.

Key Considerations for Discontinued Materials

System Behavior & Constraints

  • Multiple levels of discontinuation are not supported.

  • Once a material is assigned as a follow-up material, it cannot be discontinued further.

  • Discontinuation is not supported for co-products.

  • Once discontinuation data is maintained for an item, it cannot be assigned to an alternative item group.

Data Maintenance for Discontinued Material

Material Master – MRP4 View

  • Discontinuation Indicator: Marks the material as discontinued and enables MRP to transfer dependent requirements to a follow-up material.

  • Discontinuation Type:

    • Simple Discontinuation: A discontinued component is replaced with a follow-up material from a specific date.

    • Dependent Parallel Discontinuation: If one material (main component) is discontinued, a related subordinate component is also discontinued.

  • Follow-Up Material: The replacement material used in MRP once the original material is depleted.

BOM Discontinuation Data

  • The follow-up material in BOM takes precedence over the material master.

  • Discontinuation data must be explicitly maintained in BOM for proper material replacement during MRP.

Use of Discontinuation Data

Discontinuation data is displayed and entered in a dedicated dialog box. The following key elements are involved:

Discontinuation Indicator for Discontinued Material

  • If this indicator is set, the material is defined as 'to be discontinued', meaning MRP will transfer dependent requirements to the follow-up material when stock is depleted.

  • This indicator is maintained in the MRP data of the material master record and is displayed in BOM maintenance.

Discontinuation Groups

  • A freely-definable character string that groups together related discontinued items in a BOM.

  • The discontinued item is replaced by a follow-up item.

  • If implementing parallel discontinuation, you must define:

    • Material Master Record (MRP4 View):

      • Main material to be discontinued → Set Discontinuation Indicator = 1.

      • Subordinate material to be discontinued → Set Discontinuation Indicator = 3.

    • Bill of Material (BOM):

      • Assign the same discontinuation group to the main and subordinate items.

Follow-Up Groups

  • Another freely-definable character string that:

    • Groups together related follow-up items in a BOM.

    • Determines which discontinued items the follow-up item replaces.

    • The follow-up item replaces the discontinued item with the same discontinuation group value.

  • Entering a Follow-Up Group:

    • The follow-up group can only be entered if the item is kept in stock (e.g., stock item).

    • The follow-up item must be designated upon initial item entry and cannot be changed later.

  • Changing a Follow-Up Group:

    • If follow-up item data (such as quantity) is modified, SAP creates a new item record.

Prerequisites for Discontinuation

To ensure the correct functionality of discontinued materials, the following conditions must be met:

  1. Both discontinued material and follow-up material must be planned using MRP.

  2. The base unit of measure for the follow-up material must be the same as the discontinued material.

  3. The item category should be either a stock item or a variable-size item.

  4. Discontinuation is not supported for:

    • Document items

    • Text items

    • Class items

    • Intra materials

    • Alternative item groups

Steps to Maintain Discontinued Materials

Step 1: Update Material Master (MM02)

  • In the MRP4 View, for the discontinued material:

    • Set Discontinuation Indicator = 1.

    • Specify an Effective-Out Date.

    • Assign a Follow-Up Material.

Step 2: Update BOM (CS02)

  • Include the Follow-Up Material in the BOM to ensure replacement occurs correctly during planning.

Effect on MRP and Order Creation

Planning:

  • Dependent requirements are automatically assigned to the follow-up material once the effective-out date is reached and the original material stock is depleted.

Order Creation:

  • If the stock of the discontinued material is zero, the system will assign requirements directly to the follow-up material.

  • If discontinuation is set in the material master but not in BOM, MRP will not plan correctly, but the order will still show requirements for both materials based on BOM quantities.

  •  

Conclusion

By properly configuring discontinuation data in SAP S/4HANA, businesses can ensure a seamless transition from obsolete materials to follow-up components, maintaining efficiency in Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and production processes.

Reference

Discontinued Parts 

 

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