Creating Scheduling Agreements with Release Documentation

If you use scheduling agreements with release documentation, the delivery schedule lines are not transmitted directly to the supplier. Initially, these lines, which are stored in the system, are for internal information only.

Messages cannot be transmitted until you create a scheduling agreement release. Through this process, you can change the way the schedule lines are represented. With the release documentation, you can display the scheduling agreement releases (delivery schedules) transmitted to a supplier over a certain period at any time. This enables you to trace precisely when you sent which information to the supplier.

For scheduling agreements with release documentation, you can use the LPA document type.

There are two types of scheduling agreement releases for scheduling agreements with release documentation:

• Forecast (FRC) delivery schedules

  Use this to give the supplier a medium-term to long-term overview of your material requirements.

• Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery schedules

  Use this to inform your supplier of your short-term (near future) requirements. This type of schedule shows requirements per day or even per hour.

You can specify that only forecast delivery schedules are possible for the schedule lines of your scheduling agreement with release documentation. You do this by leaving the JIT Indicator field in the item details of the scheduling agreement blank.

A scheduling agreement release can be created either manually or automatically on a regular basis, using a report. When you use the report (online or in the background), scheduling agreement releases can be generated either for all selected items of a scheduling agreement or only for those items for which schedule lines have been newly created or changed.

The release documentation enables the following:

• You can find out when you sent particular information to the supplier.

• The supplier can see which deliveries have already been taken into account. This is done through a cumulative quantity that has been accumulated automatically by the system since the start of the scheduling agreement. If the scheduling agreement runs for a long time, you can – in consultation with the supplier – reset this number occasionally.

Scheduling Agreement with Forecast and JIT Delivery Schedules

If you set the value in the JIT Indicator field in the item details of the scheduling agreement to 1, you can generate and send not only forecast delivery schedules, but also JIT delivery schedules.

To create scheduling agreement releases, on the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Logistics → Materials Management → Purchasing → Outline Agreement → Scheduling Agreement → Delivery Schedule → Create SA Release (ME84). On the SAP Fiori launchpad, you use the corresponding Create Scheduling Agreement Releases app.

Through the menu path (Menu) → Edit → Generate Forc. Schd. or Edit → Generate JIT Sched. on the delivery schedule maintenance screen (transaction/app ME38), you can directly create forecast and JIT delivery schedules.

To set the cumulative quantity, on the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Logistics → Materials Management → Purchasing → Outline Agreement → Scheduling Agreement → Administer → Set Agreed Cumulative Quantity (ME88).

You can archive scheduling agreement releases to improve application performance.

The archiving function is available on the SAP Easy Access screen under Logistics → Materials Management → Purchasing → Outline Agreement → Scheduling Agreement → Administer → Archive Scheduling Agreement Releases (ME83).

You cannot reverse the archiving of scheduling agreement releases. Archived scheduling releases are located in tables EKEKH and EKEKHH.

You can define document types for a scheduling agreement in Customizing for Materials Management under Purchasing → Purchase Scheduling Agreement → Define Document Types for Purchase Scheduling Agreements.

You can generate both forecast and JIT delivery schedules against a scheduling agreement with release documentation only if you have set the JIT delivery schedule indicator in the material master record (Purchasing or MRP 2 view) and in the additional data for the scheduling agreement item. The JIT Indicator field must be set in the material master record before the scheduling agreement is created. The JIT Indicator field cannot be set in the delivery scheduling agreement if it is not set in the material master record.

For an item of a scheduling agreement, you can define the following zones:

• Firm zone (production go-ahead period)

  The firm zone defines the point in time at which the production go-ahead period ends. The production go-ahead period begins with the current date. The schedule lines falling within this zone or period are fixed, and can thus be regarded as equivalent to firm orders. The production go-ahead period should be defined in consultation with the supplier and generally comprises the time that the supplier needs to produce the scheduled quantities.

• Trade-off zone (material go-ahead period)

  The trade-off zone defines the point in time at which the material go-ahead period ends. The material go-ahead period begins with the end of the production go-ahead period and encompasses both. Delivery schedule lines falling within this period can be less binding in nature than those in the firm zone. The material go-ahead period is generally based on the delivery time or production time of the components that the supplier needs to manufacture the ordered materials.

Both the production and the material go-ahead period are printed in the schedule lines and transmitted with them. The firm and trade-off zones are both calculated in calendar days. You enter these zones in the additional data for the relevant scheduling agreement. You also make the settings for the automatic fixing (firming) of schedule lines in MRP there.