MRP Planning Issue

[t_hemant]

Hi all,

There is a unique business requirement where the finished material should not be planned (MRP Type – ND), but its dependent materials should still be planned (MRP Type – PD).

Here’s the scenario:

• When a sales order is created for the finished material, the requirement should appear in MD04.
• The system should plan the dependent materials accordingly.

However, when we maintain MRP Type as ND for the finished material and create a sales order, the schedule line category defaults to CN (No planning), which makes sense — but in this case, the sales order is not visible in MD04.

Now, in transaction VOV5, there’s an option to maintain the schedule line category.
If we manually assign schedule line category CP, will the demand be visible in MD04?
And if it is visible, will the dependent materials (with MRP Type PD) be planned accordingly?

If not, I’m looking for a workaround that can meet this requirement — where the finished material itself isn’t planned, but its components are.

Appreciate any inputs or experiences from the community.

Thanks & Regards,
T. Hemant Kumar

[Caetano · Accepted solution]

Hello

As mentioned by @Dominik_Tylczynski, the sales BOM would be a better solution, a it sees that this is the scenario that we typically call Sales Kit. The following best practice provides details about the sales kit process:

https://me.sap.com/processnavigator/SolS/EARL_SolS-055/2023-FPS02/SolP/31Q?region=DE

Best regards,
Caetano 

[t_hemant · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dominik_Tylczynski and @Caetano, Thank you both for your time and for the detailed explanation regarding the sales kit process. From the Sales and Distribution perspective, we are now very close to meeting the business requirement — the item category LUMF setup is finalized, where the components are priced and delivered, and the main header is not. However, from the Production Planning side, I would like to understand how we can plan the main header material, as it is neither produced nor stocked in inventory in this scenario. Could you please guide me on the best approach or configuration to handle the planning for the header material in this case? Best regards, T. Hemant Kumar

[Caetano]

Hello

Why do you need to have MRP type ND your finished product? Components will only be planned if you have dependent requirements and dependent requirements will only be created if you have a planned order for the finished product, so it does not really make sense to use ND.

Regards,
Caetano 

[t_hemant]

Hi Caetano, In our business scenario, the header material is considered as a dummy material. It is not a physically manufactured or stocked item — its main purpose is to act as a structural element for BOM explosion so that the dependent components can be planned and procured as required. That’s why we have maintained MRP type “ND” (No Planning) for the header material — we don’t want the system to create any planned orders for it. However, we still want the dependent materials to be planned and generate planned orders (for in-house, procurement type “E”) or purchase requisitions (for external procurement, procurement type “F”). For this reason, all dependent components are maintained with MRP type “PD”, allowing the system to plan them automatically once the BOM is exploded. Essentially, the header material is only a technical structure to drive component planning — not a production or inventory-controlled item.

[Dominik_Tylczynski]

Why don't you use sales BOM for your header material?