SAP SAP PP Syllabus

What is Material Requirements Planning (MRP) in SAP?

MRP (run via MD01 total / MD02 single-item multi-level / MD03 single-item single-level) calculates net requirements, determines procurement quantities and dates, and generates planned orders or purchase requisitions to ensure material availability while minimizing stock.

State the basic net requirements calculation logic used by MRP.

MRP computes available quantity as: $\text{Available} = \text{Plant stock} + \text{Firmed receipts} - \text{Requirements}$. When available stock falls below the reorder point / safety stock, a shortage exists and MRP creates a procurement proposal to cover it.

What are the main MRP procedures configured in the Material Master MRP 1 view?

MRP types include PD (MRP / deterministic planning), VB (manual reorder point), VM (automatic reorder point), VV (forecast-based planning), and ND (no planning).

What is the difference between reorder-point planning and consumption-based (forecast-based) planning?

Reorder-point planning (VB/VM) triggers procurement when stock drops below a defined reorder level. Forecast-based planning (VV) uses historical consumption and a forecast model to project future requirements. Both are consumption-based, not requirements-based like PD.

What procurement proposals can an MRP run generate?

For in-house production: Planned Orders. For external procurement: Purchase Requisitions (or schedule lines for scheduling agreements). Planned orders can later be converted to production/process orders or purchase requisitions.

What are the common Lot-Sizing procedures in MRP?

Static (e.g., EX exact/lot-for-lot, FX fixed lot, HB replenish to maximum), Periodic (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly grouping of requirements), and Optimizing (e.g., part-period balancing, least-unit cost).

What is the meaning of MRP processing key NETCH vs NETPL vs NEUPL?

NEUPL = regenerative planning (plans all materials). NETCH = net change planning (plans only materials changed since the last run). NETPL = net change planning within the planning horizon only (short-term focus).

In an MRP run, what do the create indicators (Purchase requisition, Delivery schedule, MRP list) control?

They control the run's outputs: whether MRP creates purchase requisitions vs planned orders (indicator 1/2/3), whether it generates schedule lines for scheduling agreements, and whether it writes MRP lists for later evaluation.

What is Long-Term Planning (LTP) in SAP PP?

LTP is a simulative planning tool that runs MRP in a separate planning scenario (using a simulative version of PIRs) to test future demand situations — checking capacity, materials, and vendor requirements — without affecting the operative plan.

How does the LTP process work at a high level?

Create a planning scenario (MS31) with simulative PIRs and a planning period, release it, run the LTP MRP (MS01/MS02), then evaluate the simulative results (stock/requirements list MS04, capacity, purchasing info) to support decisions before adopting them operatively.

What is a key difference between operative MRP and LTP?

Operative MRP updates real planning data and creates real procurement proposals; LTP works in an isolated simulative scenario with an inactive planning version, producing simulative planned orders/requirements that do not affect operations or stock.

What is a Planned Order in SAP PP?

A planned order (MD11 create) is a procurement proposal generated by MRP (or manually) that requests production of a material in a given quantity by a given date. It is not yet firm and is later converted into a production order, process order, or purchase requisition.

How is a planned order converted, and what transaction is used for collective conversion to production orders?

A single planned order is converted via MD11/MD04 (or CO40); collective conversion of planned orders to production orders uses CO41. Conversion to purchase requisitions uses MD14 (single) / MD15 (collective).

What is a Production Order in SAP PP?

A production order (CO01 create, CO02 change, CO03 display) is a firm shop-floor document (used in discrete manufacturing) that specifies what material to produce, in what quantity, by when, which operations/work centers to use, and which components to consume; it also collects actual costs.

List the main life-cycle steps of a production order.

Create → Release (CO02, enables printing/goods issue) → Print shop papers → Goods issue of components → Confirmation of operations (CO11N) → Goods receipt of finished product → Settlement (CO88/KO88) → Technical completion/Close.

What is the purpose of releasing a production order?

Release (status REL) makes the order executable: it allows printing of shop-floor papers, goods issues, confirmations, and goods receipts. Before release the order is only created (CRTD) and cannot post actual movements.

What is order confirmation (CO11N) in production order processing?

Confirmation records the actual progress of operations — actual quantities produced, scrap, and activity times (setup/machine/labor). It updates costs, capacity load, and can trigger automatic goods issue (backflush) and goods receipt via milestone/final confirmation.

What is backflushing in SAP PP?

Backflushing is the automatic posting of component goods issues at the time of confirmation (rather than manually), based on the BOM quantities. It is set via an indicator in the Material Master/work center and is standard in repetitive manufacturing.

What is a Process Order and how does it differ from a Production Order?

A Process Order (COR1 create, COR2 change, COR3 display) is used in process industries (chemicals, pharma, food) and uses a Master Recipe instead of a routing, supports phases/process instructions, control recipes, and batch management — whereas a production order uses a routing and suits discrete manufacturing.

In process industries, what master data replaces the BOM+Routing combination?

A Master Recipe (C201/C202/C203) — it combines the operation/phase structure (like a routing) with material assignments, and works together with the BOM; production is driven by the master recipe within a production version.

What is Repetitive Manufacturing (REM) in SAP PP?

REM is a production type for high-volume, continuous flow of the same/similar products over production lines, planned by period and quantity (rate) rather than by individual lot-based orders. It uses run schedule quantities and backflushing instead of production orders.

Name key differences between Repetitive Manufacturing and Discrete (order-based) Manufacturing.

REM: period/rate-based planning, no individual production orders (uses planned orders/run schedules), cost collector for period costing, backflush confirmation, stable production lines. Discrete: lot/order-based, individual production orders per lot, order-based costing, suited to changing products and complex routings.

What is a Product Cost Collector in Repetitive Manufacturing?

A Product Cost Collector (KKF6N) is the cost object that collects production costs by material/production version over a period in REM (and can be used in order-related production), rather than collecting costs on individual orders.

What is SAP APO (Advanced Planning and Optimization)?

APO is the advanced planning component of SAP SCM that provides tools for demand planning, supply network planning, production planning & detailed scheduling (PP/DS), and global available-to-promise, using a real-time in-memory liveCache and constraint-based optimization beyond standard ECC MRP.

What are the main application modules within SAP APO?

Demand Planning (DP), Supply Network Planning (SNP), Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS), Global Available-to-Promise (gATP), and Transportation Planning/Vehicle Scheduling (TP/VS).

What is Detailed Scheduling in the context of production planning?

Detailed Scheduling is finite, resource-level sequencing of operations that assigns exact start/end times on constrained resources, resolves conflicts, minimizes setup and lead time, and optimizes the sequence — going beyond MRP's infinite scheduling to respect real capacity limits.

What is the difference between infinite and finite scheduling?

Infinite scheduling (standard ECC MRP) schedules operations assuming unlimited capacity, ignoring overloads. Finite scheduling (PP/DS, detailed scheduling) respects each resource's available capacity, so it never overloads a resource and produces a realistic, executable sequence.

What is PP/DS (Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling) in APO / S/4HANA?

PP/DS is the APO/S4 component for short-term, constraint-based production planning and finite detailed scheduling of critical products and bottleneck resources. It creates and sequences planned/production orders using the liveCache and optimizer, and integrates tightly with ECC/S4 via CIF.

What is the CIF (Core Interface) in APO?

The Core Interface (CIF) is the real-time integration link that transfers master and transactional data between the ERP/ECC system and APO (SCM), using integration models to select which objects (materials, work centers, BOMs, orders) are shared and kept in sync.

In PP/DS, what is a PPM or PDS?

A PPM (Production Process Model) or PDS (Production Data Structure) is the APO/PP-DS master data that represents the sources of supply — the combination of BOM, routing/recipe, and resources used to produce a product — analogous to a production version in ECC. PDS is the newer, CIF-transferred form; PPM the older maintainable form.

What are the main components of an APO PP/DS heuristic-based planning run?

Heuristics (algorithmic planning procedures, e.g., product heuristic for net requirements), the Optimizer (cost-based finite sequencing), and Detailed Scheduling board (DS planning board) for interactive manual sequencing on resources.

What is the Stock/Requirements List and what transaction displays it?

The Stock/Requirements List (MD04) is a dynamic, real-time report showing current stock plus all planned and firmed receipts/requirements (orders, PIRs, reservations) for a material, used to analyze the supply/demand situation. MD05 shows the static MRP list from the last MRP run.

What is the difference between MD04 (Stock/Requirements List) and MD05 (MRP List)?

MD04 is dynamic — it always reflects the current situation in real time. MD05 (MRP List) is static — it shows the situation as of the last MRP run and does not change until MRP runs again. MD05 is useful to see what the MRP run actually did.

Which standard report shows documented goods movements for a production order or material?

MB51 (Material Document List) displays goods movements; for a production order, the Order Information System / documented goods movements can also be viewed via CO03 and COOIS. MMBE shows the current stock overview by plant/storage location/batch.

What is COOIS used for in SAP PP?

COOIS (Production Order Information System) is the central reporting tool for production/process orders, allowing selection and analysis of orders, operations, components, confirmations, documented goods movements, and capacities with flexible filters and list types.

What standard report/tool is used for capacity evaluation and leveling in PP?

CM01 (Capacity Load / Work Center view) and related CM05/CM07 for capacity evaluation, and CM21/CM25 (planning table / graphical leveling) for capacity leveling — used to compare available vs required capacity and dispatch operations.

How is capacity utilization (load) of a work center calculated?

Capacity load percentage is $\text{Utilization} = \frac{\text{Capacity requirement}}{\text{Available capacity}} \times 100\%$, where available capacity = operating time per shift × number of individual capacities × utilization rate, over the shift schedule.

How is the available capacity of a work center per day computed in SAP?

$\text{Available capacity} = (\text{end} - \text{start} - \text{break}) \times \dfrac{\text{utilization}\%}{100} \times (\text{no. of individual capacities})$. For example an 8-hour shift at 90% utilization with 2 machines gives $8 \times 0.9 \times 2 = 14.4$ hours.

What are the standard scheduling types available when scheduling a production order?

Forward scheduling (from basic start date forward), Backward scheduling (from basic finish date backward — the default), Today scheduling (forward from current date), and Only capacity requirements (no dates). Backward is most common so the order finishes on the required date.

What is total lead time (throughput time) composed of for an operation?

Throughput time = queue time + setup time + processing (machine) time + wait time + move (transport) time. In SAP the operation's processing time is often computed as $\text{Machine time} = \dfrac{\text{Base quantity related time} \times \text{Order quantity}}{\text{Base quantity}}$.

What is a Reservation in SAP PP and when is it created?

A reservation is a request to the warehouse to keep components available for a future goods issue. For production/process orders, dependent reservations for BOM components are generated automatically when the order is created, ensuring material is earmarked for that order.

What is Order Settlement in production order processing and which transaction performs it?

Settlement (CO88 collective / KO88 individual) transfers the actual costs collected on the production order to the settlement receiver (typically the material stock or a cost object), clearing the order balance and calculating variances between actual and target/standard costs.

What are production order variances and how are they conceptually derived?

Variances are differences between actual costs charged to the order and the target (planned/standard) costs for the delivered quantity, $\text{Variance} = \text{Actual cost} - \text{Target cost}$. Categories include input price, quantity, resource-usage, lot-size, output price, and scrap variances, calculated before settlement.

What is a Master Recipe's relationship to phases and the control recipe in process manufacturing?

A master recipe defines operations that are subdivided into phases (the actual self-contained work steps). During process order execution, process instructions in the phases generate a control recipe/PI sheet sent to the process control system (or operator) to run and record the batch.

What is the standard SAP strategy group vs strategy in planning, and where is it assigned?

A planning strategy defines a single planning method (e.g., 40); a strategy group bundles a main strategy plus permitted alternatives. The strategy group is assigned in the Material Master MRP 3 view and governs how PIRs and sales orders are planned and consumed.