In an end-to-end process, the final demand plan can be released to supply planning processes in two separate ways:
Release to Consensus Demand Quantity key figure
The Consensus Demand Quantity key figure in SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP) is considered by the supply planning algorithms as an input. Customer Source relationship needs to be maintained as master data. Heuristics and optimizer utilities will resolve demand sourcing for different customers using different logic.
Release to Independent Demand Quantity key figure
In this case, the Independent Demand Quantity key figure in SAP IBP for Supply is at the Week-Product-Location planning level. This means that customer source master data elements are not necessary.
In the standard planning area, there are no key figures that can be used in the Supply planning engine. This is relevant only for an SAP IBP1 planning area, which is used for an end-to-end process.
To release a demand plan in SAP IBP, we can use the functionality of the Advanced Copy Operator:
The new Advanced Copy Operator...
- Covers all features of the old copy and disaggregation operator (and a little more).
- Can be used in a more flexible way.
- Should be competitive regarding performance
- Can be set up in a user-friendly way using the Copy Operator Profiles app.
