Monitoring Deadlines Using Progress Tracking

The table, Progress Tracking Objects, shows that Progress Tracking can be executed for various objects. The respective object is called a Progress Tracking object.

The different Progress Tracking objects each have the following options:

• Transactions for calling

• Customizing settings

• Selection screens

• Field selections within Progress Tracking

In addition to the Project System, Progress Tracking can be used in Materials Management to monitor the progress of purchase orders.

• Prerequisite

  • Decide which progress tracking object is to be analyzed

  • Create a progress tracking profile

  • Create standard events

  • Create an events scenario

• Procedure

  • Call up the relevant transaction

  • Fill out the selection screen

  • Select components or purchase orders

  • Assign events or a scenario

  • Process or schedule manual dates

  • Evaluation

Progress Tracking evaluates the dates of events that are assigned to network components. This assignment can be carried out in different ways, as follows:

1. Direct assignment of a standard event (see the preceding figure)

2. Generation and assignment of a new event (not a standard event!)

3. Assignment of an event scenario that contains standard events and event relationships

4. Automatically by assigning a scenario to a material group (otherwise, as in 3)

5. Using a BAdI

Progress Tracking allows you to schedule the standard events of a scenario. This can either be triggered manually or automatically when Progress Tracking is executed.

A prerequisite for scheduling is the use of standard events, a scenario, and the definition of event relationships within the scenario. All three tables must be set up in Customizing beforehand.

Manual scheduling: Select one individual standard event. Start scheduling. A dialog box appears (see the preceding figure) where you can define or temporarily modify the scheduling settings. After confirming the dialog box, scheduling is carried out.

Automatically scheduling: If the Automatic scheduling indicator in the Event Relationships table is set for an event in a scenario, scheduling is carried out automatically according to the setting in the Progress Tracking profile when Progress Tracking is called up.

Caution: Status information has nothing to do with status management in general.

Status information is used to provide information about individual components in a network (or purchase orders). This information is assigned to the component as text. You can assign as many status notes to a component as required. Each one is assigned to a status information category. This enables you to control who has access to the information.

In the component overview, you can tell by way of an icon whether status information exists for a component.

• Mass change

  • Scenarios

  • Dates

• Copying Dates

  • Copying all dates of all events

  • Copying dates of particular events

• Subitems

• Hotspots

  • Branch to the master data display for underlined fields

Progress Tracking provides the following range of additional functions that simplify data entry and analysis:

• Mass change of scenarios:

  You can assign a scenario to one or more Progress Tracking objects using mass change. When you do this, the new scenario overwrites all events that are not contained in the scenario itself.

• Copying dates:

  You can copy all dates for all events belonging to one Progress Tracking object to another Progress Tracking object.

• Subitems:

  You can add several subitems to a single Progress Tracking object (for example, a component). In turn, each individual subitem can have events.

• Hotspots:

  You can go to the master data display for objects that are underlined. These include, for example, material masters or networks.

Customizing for Progress Tracking includes the following settings:

• Progress Tracking profile (required!)

• Standard events

• Event scenarios

• Event relationships within a scenario

• Priorities for events

• Assignment of default scenario to a material group

• Status info types

• Number ranges for status info

• Customer-specific evaluations

In addition to the usual configuration, you have the option to use a BAdI to display customer-specific requirements. This is of particular use if you want the system to automatically assign dates to standard events to reduce the maintenance effort of the end users.

For customer enhancements, you can use the methods of the BAdI definition EXPD_UPDATE described in the table "BAdIs for Progress Tracking". Use transaction SE18 to look at the methods and interfaces. Use transaction SE19 to implement them.