If you select planning procedure 4 Planning in Planning Run for a product, the system creates a planning file entry for every planning-relevant change that occurs for this product (you can adjust what constitutes a "change"). The product is then planned in the next planning run, using the heuristic entered in the product master, if applicable. If you have not defined any heuristics in the product master, the heuristic defined in Customizing in the planning procedure is used.
Planning file entries are also created for components with planning procedure 4 when new (dependent) requirements are created/occur.
The Planning in Planning Run should be the standard setting for products in PP/DS as it does not unnecessarily impair performance (unlike automatic planning). This setting is particularly useful for planning a large number of products.
In the past, you used planning procedure 3 in the case of products for which production should be triggered immediately from the ATP check if they are not available in the sales order (CTP scenario, which may be multilevel). This planning procedure is not yet supported in SAP S/4HANA.
Executing the Production Planning Run
Production planning can be executed in two ways: either as interactive single-item planning for a product, or as total planning for a group of products that may be freely defined (for example, all products from a plant). Total planning can be executed online or in background processing.
In online planning, the production planning run is executed immediately. This procedure is ideal for low data quantities. To prevent time-consuming online planning (with data quantities that are too large) from adversely affecting the system response time, the time for executing the report is restricted: if a report runs for longer than five minutes in the interactive mode, the system automatically terminates it. For this reason, background processing should generally be used for more extensive planning.
In production planning in background processing, you use variants that contain settings for mass planning. This function allows you to start the job immediately or determine that it is to be started at a later time, so that the system performance is not burdened at the wrong time. This procedure is used when planning mass data.
You can use the heuristic profile (PP/DS Customizing) to define which heuristics can be selected in interactive planning using the variable heuristic. The heuristic profile appears in the overall profile of each planning menu. SAP provides standard heuristic profiles for the three different planning menus:
SAP 001 (standard heuristic profile for detailed scheduling planning board): Contains the detailed scheduling heuristics, which focus on resources and operations. This heuristic profile is predefined in the overall profile for the detailed scheduling planning board.
SAP 002 (standard heuristic profile for the product view): Contains the production planning heuristics. The planning focus of these heuristics is on the products. This heuristic profile is predefined in the overall profile for the order views (for example, the product view).
SAPREM (standard heuristic profile for the product planning table).
The selected products are planned in the production planning run. If the Planning file entry created indicator is not set, all products are planned. This is practical when carrying out the planning run for the first time and in a productive system when, due to technical errors, the consistency of the data cannot be guaranteed.
In a productive system, it is a good idea (especially if you have many materials) to execute a production planning run only for those materials for which MRP-relevant data has been changed, such as new sales orders or changes to the BOM structure. Due to shorter runtimes, net change planning allows you to execute the planning run at short intervals. To execute net change planning, you should set the Planning file entry created indicator. This means, therefore, that only products that have undergone changes that are relevant for planning are planned.
In the former SCM/APO solution, the use of a PP/DS horizon was common due to the need to reduce the volume of planning data. With the new solution based on HANA this is not longer necessary. If a location product has to be planned, the planning is carried out over the whole horizon.
Propagation Range
The propagation range defines the resources and products for which a planner can change planning.
This includes the following functions:
Creating and changing orders for these products
Changing the capacity and the planning parameters of these resources
Rescheduling operations at these resources
The From work area indicator determines that the system copies the resource selection from the work area into the propagation range. You can define propagation areas in the Customizing step, Maintain Propagation Ranges. You use the propagation range to define which resources and products you can plan in Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling. The SAPALL propagation range allows you to plan all resources and products. Products in the propagation range are relevant to product-related planning. You can only change planning for products in the propagation range; that is, only for these products can you create orders, for example. If you create an order for a product in the propagation range that contains components that are not in the propagation range, the system does not create any orders for these components. The system writes a planning file entry for these components.
The resources in the propagation range are relevant to resource-related planning. You can only change planning for resources in the propagation rang. That is, it is only on these resources that you can schedule or reschedule operations.
You can use the work area to define which objects are displayed in the DS planning board (capacity planning). Propagation ranges with the From work area indicator cannot be used in the product planning table.
Using the time profile, you can define the particular period for which planning is to be carried out for a whole range of heuristics. You use the propagation range to specify which resources and products can be changed. You can only schedule resources and products that are within the propagation range.
You can perform a production planning run and save its results in a simulation version. You can then decide at a later time whether or not you want to use the simulation in the operational planning version.
There are two different types of processing steps in the production planning run: functions (for detailed scheduling) and heuristics (for production planning). You cannot change functions. However, you can define heuristics in Customizing for Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling.
All MRP-related products are contained in the planning file.
If the production planning run is started with the Planning file entry indicator, the only products planned are those for which an MRP-relevant change was made. MRP-relevant changes lead to an entry (indicator) in the planning file. MRP-relevant changes could be newly created sales orders, dependent requirements, or stock changes, but might also be changes to the procurement type in the product master or changes to the operation times in the PDS, and so on.
The PDS entry contains the product's low-level code and the planning file entry indicator (blank = No planning file entry, 1 = Use suitable receipts, 2 = Delete non-fixed receipts, 3 = Re-explode plan, 4 = Delete non-fixed receipts, re-explode new fixed receipts).
The system automatically sets the planning file entries using the business application (for example, changes to the product master), but they can also be set manually in the planning file table in individual cases. You can use the Display planning file entries transaction in production planning reporting to analyze the contents of the planning file.
The low-level code is the lowest level where a material occurs in any PDS.
A product always has a higher low-level code than the low-level code of its predecessors. All products on the uppermost level of a PDS, or products that are not assigned to any PDS, acquire the low-level code 0. Low-level codes are assigned on a cross-location basis.
The low-level code controls the planning sequence: first, products with low-level code 0 are planned, then those with low-level code 1, and so on. This allows all products to be planned in the correct sequence in one run.
You can display the low-level code of a product for each planning version in the planning file.
Low-level codes are not automatically recalculated when master data is changed. The SAP_PP_020 heuristic (stage numbering algorithm) can be used to recalculate the low-level codes. Using recursive PDSs ensures that the production planning run is terminated for the effected product.