Configuring Material Availability Checks for Process Orders

You perform material availability checks for your process orders to ensure that the material components are available in the required quantity at the scheduled time.

When a process order is created, the system determines requirement quantities and requirement dates for the material components in the order: The requirement quantities are determined based on the selected bill of material and the planned production quantity of the order. The requirement dates result from the start dates of the phases to which the material components are assigned. Let's consider the following scenario as an example: We create a process order for the production of 1000-L paint. According to the bill of material, 100 KG of pigments are required. The pigments must be added in the phase Adding Pigments. Scheduling has determined that this phase starts on April 12 at 2:30 pm. The 100 KG of pigments are therefore to be picked on this date.

You can use the material availability check to ensure that the required component quantities are available at the scheduled time. A material availability check is usually automatically triggered at order creation and/or at order release. This is defined in the configuration activity, Define Checking Control. However, a production controller can also trigger an availability check manually at any time. A manual check can be triggered for an individual order (for example, in the Change Order application) or for several orders simultaneously using mass processing. The latter can be executed in the foreground (for example, in the Manage Process Orders app) or in the background.

When the material availability check is triggered, a scope of check is determined for each material component. The scope of the check is set in the configuration activity, Define Scope of Check. It defines, for example, the stocks and the receipts and issues to be considered by the availability check. You can define different scopes of checks to be executed at order creation and order release. For example, when a process order is created, the planned goods receipts of purchase orders and the on-stock quantity of a material component are to be considered, but when an order is released, only the on-stock quantity is to be considered. Alternatively, when a process order is created, you could also take the material in quality inspection stock into account, but at order release, you require that the components must be available in unrestricted-use stock.

As a result of a material availability check, committed quantities are recorded for the checked components and the order status is updated. If all components are completely available at the required time, the Material committed order status is set. If one or more components cannot be confirmed as requested, the Material shortage status is set, and the material shortage is recorded in a missing parts list and in the missing parts information system. Using the configuration activity, Define Checking Control, you can define whether orders cannot be opened and/or released if there is a material shortage.

The following elements control the material availability check:

• You assign a checking group to each material in the material master. It groups materials that are checked according to the same criteria.

• There are defined checking rules for your various applications, for example, for process order management, material requirements planning, or sales and distribution.

• In the checking control, you define for each order type and plant and per created status and released status, whether the material availability is to be checked automatically and which checking rule is to be used.

• The checking rule and checking group together define the scope of the availability check. The scope of check defines, for example, which MRP elements and stock categories are considered.

The checking control for material availability checks is created and maintained for the key fields plant, order type, and the business functions, order creation and order release, in the configuration activity, Define Checking Control.

When you open the configuration activity, you first find an overview of all the entries that have already been created, as shown in the previous figure. You can create new entries or display or change the details of already existing entries.

In the detail view of an entry, you find the following information and control settings:

• Availability Check:

  This key identifies the business function Order creation or Order release.

• Material availability:

  • No check:

    This indicator specifies that no automatic material availability check is to be executed at order creation or order release. The option of calling up a material availability check manually and also of executing a collective availability check is not affected by setting this indicator.

  • Status check:

    This indicator specifies that a material availability check before an order release only checks whether the system status Missing Part is active.

  • Check when saving:

    This indicator defines whether an automatic material availability check is to take place when an order is saved.

  • Checking Rule:

    This rule defines the checking procedure to be used. Along with the checking group, the checking rule specifies the scope of check for a material availability check.

  • Component Check Type:

    This indicator specifies the type of availability check to be used for checking the availability of each component. Usually, the ATP check is used for process orders.

    Note

    Refer to course code S4C40, which is a prerequisite course for this course, if you want to learn more about the ATP check for the components of process orders.

  • Collective Conversion:

    This indicator controls whether a planned order can be converted to a process order if one or more material components are not available. This key only relates to the collective conversion and partial conversion planned orders.

  • Release material:

    This key specifies whether an order is to be released if one or more of its components are not available.

• PRT availability:

  As PRTs are not supported in process orders, these settings are not relevant here.

  No check:

  This indicator specifies that no automatic PRT availability check is to be executed at order creation or order release.

  Note

  Recommendation: Set this indicator for process order types.
• Batch assignment:

  Release material:

  This indicator specifies whether an order to be released when the assigned batch quantity for one or more components that are handled in batches is smaller than the requirements quantity of the component. This key is evaluated when the value 1 or 3 is entered in the Batch entry field on the MRP view in the component's material master.

You assign a checking group to each material in the material master. It groups materials that are checked according to the same criteria.

Checking groups are created in the configuration activity, Define Availability Checking Group.

The checking rule and checking group together define the scope of the availability check.

When you open the configuration activity, you see all the checking groups that have already been created, as shown in the previous figure. You can create new checking groups if necessary.

The scopes of check for material availability checks are created and maintained for the key fields checking rule and checking group in the configuration activity, Configure Scope of Availability Check.

When you open the configuration activity, you first find an overview of all the entries that have already been created, as shown in the previous figure. You can create new entries or display or change the details of already existing entries.

In the detail view of an entry, you find the following information and control settings:

• Stocks:

  Here you can define which stocks are considered when you run an availability check, for example safety stocks and quality inspection stocks.

• Requirements:

  Here you can define which requirements are considered when you run an availability check, for example deliveries and reservations.

• Future Supply:

  Here you can define which future supplies are considered when you run an availability check, for example purchase requisitions and planned orders.

• Delayed Supply:

  Here you can exclude receipts in the past from the availability check.

• Check Horizon:

  Here you can define if and how the check horizon is considered during the availability check.

• Special Scenarios:

  Here you can, among other things, switch off the check at storage location level.