Configuring Process Order Types

A process order goes through many different steps in its lifecycle. The main steps in order processing are order creation, order release, goods issues, confirmations, and goods receipts.

In between the main steps, the system offers various supporting functions, for example, batch number assignment, availability checks, batch determination, capacity evaluation and leveling, download to process control, order printing, material staging, and upload from process control.

Many of these activities can run automatically or in the background so that manual processing of orders is minimized. Various specific Configuration settings in SAP Central Business Configuration enable the successful execution of each individual step in order processing.

Process orders can be created in various ways via different apps and activities. In all cases, an order type must always be assigned manually or automatically.

With reference to order types, various business processes, for example, scheduling, availability checks and confirmations, are controlled via corresponding configuration activities, which are explained in this course. Therefore, it can be reasonable to use different order types for different business processes. For example, different order types can be used for MTS production and MTO production.

The figure shows as an example the creation of an process order via the Create Process Order app.

Process order types are created and maintained in the configuration activity, Define Process Order Types.

When you open the configuration activity, you first find an overview of all the order types that are already created, as shown in the previous figure. Order types are preset in the standard system. You can create new order types by copying and adjusting an existing order type or display or change the details of an order type that is already created.

You find the following information and control settings in the detailed view of an order type:

• Order Category:

  The order category (= 40, process order) is a fixed setting and cannot be changed. The order categories are predefined in the SAP System and characterize the technical properties of the orders. The order category defines, for example, the apps you can use to process an order.

• Residence times:

  Residence times define how long completed orders remain in the SAP system before they are archived.

• Functional Area:

  In cost-of-sales accounting, overhead costs are grouped into the functional areas in which they were incurred. All CO objects must be assigned to a functional area. Orders are assigned through the order type.

• Status Profile:

  The business processes of an order are controlled via system statuses. You can also define your own user statuses at header using status profiles.

• Number range:

  You must assign a number range to every order type. If you create a new order type by copying an existing one, you can either keep the number range assignment or choose a different one.

Process orders are always created with reference to an order type and a production plant.

The figure shows again as an example the creation of a process order via the Create Process Order app. By referring to the plant, many configuration parameters are determined that are necessary for the successful processing of a process order.

In the configuration activity, Define Order-Type-Dependent Parameters for Process Orders, fundamental parameters on plant level are defined.

When you open the configuration activity, you first see an overview of all the combinations of order types with plants 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, in the Master Data tab, you find the following information and control settings:

• Production Version:

  You can define if the production version is selected automatically or manually when creating an order.

• Recipe:
  • Component Detail Verification:

    This check box specifies that all the detail screens of a component are to be checked when a bill of material (BOM) is exploded and the component is transferred into the order.

  • Approval Required:

    This check box specifies that an order of this order type requires approval. If you have set this check box, the entire order or parts of it can only be released if the order has status approval granted.

  • Operation details verification:

    This indicator specifies that all the data contained in the operation detail screens is to be checked when transferring operations from the routing into the order.

  • Relationship View:

    This key determines the perspective from which the relationships in the phases display.

  • Selection ID:

    This key that specifies the priorities according to which task lists are to be selected.

  • Task list type:

    The master recipe is predefined as task list type.

• Operation:
  • Entry Tool:

    If the entry tool is on the system automatically branches to the operation's detail screen after you create an operation or a phase in the process order.

  • Operation Increment:

    This increment is used when operations or phases are automatically numbered in the process order.

  • Reduction Strategy:

    This key that specifies the strategy for reducing the lead time of a phase.

In the Planning tab, you find the following information and control settings:

• General:
  • Substitute MRP controller/substitute production supervisor:

    The substitute MRP controller/substitute production supervisor are proposed when you create process orders if an MRP controller or production supervisor are not specified in the material master, or if there is no reference to a material.

  • Reservation/purchase requisition:

    This setting specifies when reservations for stock material components are relevant to MRP and when purchase requisitions are generated for non-stock material components and external operations.

  • Collective requisition:

    This indicator enables collective purchase requisition per order for externally processed operations or non-stock items.

  • Scrap:

    This flag indicates that scrap is planned for the order, and that scrap can be confirmed. If this flag is set for an order type, you can specify a scrap quantity in the header of the process order and/or during confirmation. The confirmed scrap quantity is displayed in the respective operation of the process order.

• Bill of Material:
  • Application:

    The BOM application defines how the BOM alternatives are to be automatically selected.

  • BOM Explosion:

    You can use this check box to control whether and how you want the BOM to be read when a planned order is converted.

• Batch Determination:
  • Search Procedure:

    The search procedure defines how batch determination is to take place.

  • Check: Specific Batch Active:

    This check box controls that batches that are entered manually during in the process order, are checked against the selection criteria stored for batch determination. To run the check, you must have allocated a search procedure to the order type.

• Planned Order:

  The Planned Order Text check box defines that the header long text is copied into the process order.

• Quality Inspection:

  The Inspection Type defines how a quality inspection is to be carried out.

In the Implementation tab, you find the following information and control settings:

• Status Change Documents:

  You define whether you want change documents to be written if a status change occurs. You also define independently from each other the levels at which the change documents are to be written: Header level, operations level and/or material component level.

• Documentation of Goods Movements:

  You can specify that goods movements are to be documented with reference to an order. Then you can display goods movements, for example, using the order information system.

In the Cost Accounting tab, you find the following information and control settings:

• Cost Accounting:

  You define the parameters relevant to controlling, such as costing variants for planned and actual costs and a results analysis key.

• Distribution Rule:

  The default (distribution) rule defines an automatically generated distribution rule for CO settlement.