- SAP Managed Tags
Introduction
As manufacturers look for agility and responsiveness, the ability to adapt production schedules in real-time becomes critical.
SAP Digital Manufacturing’s 'SFC-Based Dispatching' capability in Resource Orchestration (REO) is a step forward in enabling manufacturers to dynamically control production at the most granular level, the Shop Floor Control (SFC) unit.
It is also the first step on enabling proper Process Industries support in REO (MVP, Limited Release Feature), and handling its complexities, see details further down below.
What is SFC-Based Dispatching?
So far, Resource Orchestration (REO) scheduling has been done at the operation/phase level, where individual operations or phases are dispatched to Resources or Work Centers (Production Lines). While effective, this less granular approach can have limitations—especially when considering resource capacities, handling exceptions, or responding to urgent production changes.
SFC-Based Dispatching shifts the focus from scheduling operations or phases to scheduling more granular production units: SFCs or Charges. This enables more refined scheduling and resource allocation, enhancing overall operational flexibility.
In simple terms, this means each part or batch in an order gets its own path through the factory. Instead of treating 100 'quantities' as one large batch for a given operation, the system can create separate schedules for each SFC or Charge and dispatch each one to the appropriate resource or work center at the right time.
See a visual example below:
Business Benefits
Here are some of the main businesses benefits:
Enhanced Production Flexibility
With SFC-level scheduling, you can dispatch specific units based on real-time conditions, such as resource capacity, material availability, machine uptime, or priority shifts. This is ideal for:
- Make-to-Order or highly customized products
- Frequent design or routing changes
- Dynamic environments with variable capacities and workloads
Improved Resource Utilization
By aligning individual SFCs with optimal resources, manufacturers can maximize throughput without overloading any specific work center.
Visibility and Control
In Dispatching and Monitoring app, planners and supervisors can see a clear differentiation between order-based and SFC-based schedules, helping teams focus on execution rather than coordination.
Tight Execution / POD Integration
Production Operator Dashboard (POD) execution is in sync with REO, as SFC scheduled can only show up and be executed in the planned resource, if the system configured that way.
How to Get Started
Enabling SFC-based scheduling requires minimal configuration, see SFC-Based Dispatching in Resource Orchestration for more details.
Process Industry Use Case
With SFC-Based Dispatching, Resource Orchestration (REO) support for Process Orders is officially introduced as a minimum viable product (MVP), and will keep evolving in the next couple of releases, so stay tuned in the next couple of releases!
- Partial Order Release
Once process orders are received from ERP, they can be partially released, creating individual SFCs (Charges) for specific batches with different quantities.
- SFC Schedules
Then, individual SFC/Charge schedules can be created, so these SFCs can then be scheduled independently to different resources.
- SFC-Based Scheduling
Schedule individual SFCs (Charges) to Resources using existing scheduling capabilities and logic, which will ideally dispatch individual SFCs (Charges) to the optimum resources based on capacity, load and other constraints.
In Dispatching and Monitoring app, planners and supervisors can see a clear differentiation between order-based and SFC-based schedules, which are clearly marked by the green borders.
- In Sync with Execution
Production Operator Dashboard (POD) execution is tightly integrated and in sync with REO, as SFC scheduled can only show up and be executed in the planned resource, if the system configured that way.
Conclusion
SFC-Based Dispatching is not just a technical enhancement it’s a strategic tool. It allows manufacturers to shift from rigid planning cycles to agile execution, and is the very first step of enabling REO for Process Industries and its complexities. For production planners and supervisors, this feature offers a clear path to smarter, more adaptive manufacturing.
Do you like this post? Please let me know in the comments section what you think. Any feedback is highly appreciated.
Or, if you have any questions, please check SAP Community Q&A Area, or comment down below.
Thanks,
Manoel Costa
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 6 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 1 |
