Running Material Requirements Planning (MRP)

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Outline the material requirements planning process
  • Execute a material requirements planning run

Introduction

In this unit, you will learn how to streamline the procurement process by automating steps.

The following video provides an overview of automation options and introduces the first step in an automated stock procurement process: the planning run.

Material Requirements Planning

The central function of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is to ensure material availability. The quantities needed for production and sales must be procured in a timely manner. To ensure this, the MRP controller performs planning runs in the system.

The graphic shows that MRP can generate purchase requisitions or scheduling agreement schedule lines for externally procured materials. To be planned, a material must have a material master record with specific MRP data.

Planning runs can be scheduled and executed automatically at regular, recurring intervals.

For materials that are procured externally, the procurement elements that can be generated as a result of a planning run are purchase requisitions or scheduling agreement schedule lines. A scheduling agreement is a long-term agreement with a supplier to purchase a specified quantity of material in a given period. The scheduling agreement schedule line specifies when exactly a partial quantity is to be delivered.

For a material to be planned, MRP data must be maintained in the corresponding material master record. This MRP data determines, among other things, which MRP procedure is used to plan a material and which lot-sizing procedure the system uses to calculate the quantity to be procured when MRP detects a shortage.

In addition to determining the requirements for a material, the MRP run can also determine a source of supply for the material. The prerequisite for this automatic source determination is that a valid source of supply for the material exists in the system.

MRP Run

In the following demo, you will learn how to perform a planning run using the Check Material Coverage app. 

DemoStart Demo

Run MRP using the Check Material Coverage App

Note

To perform this exercise, use the S4HANA T41 Fiori Launchpad.

If a value in the exercise contains ##, replace the ## characters with the number assigned to you.

The requirements for many of your materials are already determined automatically by material requirements planning. Now the data required for material requirements planning has also been maintained in the material master record for the material F500-## (Oil drain screw incl. sealing ring ##). In addition, the purchasing department has created a purchasing info record as the source of supply for the material.

Check some of the data for the material and carry out a planning run for the material.

Steps

  1. Display the stock/requirement list and check the availability of the material F500-##. To do so, use the Check Material Coverage app and the following values:

    FieldValue
    MaterialF500-##
    Plant1010
    Shortage DefinitionMRP Standard

    Do not leave the app after checking the Stock/Requirements List.

    1. On the SAP Fiori launchpad, choose the MRP tile group, and start the Check Material Coverage app.

    2. In the Find Material dialog window enter MaterialF500-## and press Enter.

      The Plant and the Shortage Definition are then proposed automatically.

    3. Choose OK.

      The Stock/Requirements List tab page should be displayed and you can see that there is neither an available quantity nor a planned receipt or issue element for the material.

    4. Do not leave the Manage Material Coverage screen.

  2. Display the Material Information tab page in the Manage Material Coverage window. Check which MRP procedure is used for the material.

    Try to answer the following question: What would be the result of a planning run for the material?

    Do not leave the app after this task.

    1. On the Manage Material Coverage window, choose the Material Information tab page.

      In the MRP Data section, you can see that the material is planned according to the reorder point planning procedure: MRP type VB

      In the Stock Availability section, you can see that the Reorder Point is 50 PC.

    2. Based on the Procurement TypeF (External Procurement) and the fact that no quantity and no planned receipt is available for the material, a purchase requisition would be the result of a planning run.

    3. Do not leave the app after this task.

  3. Run MRP for the material and check the result.

    Display the details of the created MRP Element and pay particular attention to the following values: which type of MRP Element was created, what is the requested quantity, and is a vendor assigned to the element?

    1. On the Manage Material Coverage window, choose the Stock/Requirements List tab page.

    2. Choose the Start MRP Run button in the lower right corner.

      The system issues the message MRP run in progress. Wait until the MRP run is completed.

    3. After the MRP run is completed for your material, verify in the Stock/Requirements List that a new purchase requisition has been created. Note the requested quantity is 500 PC.

    4. To open the Quick View for your purchase requisition choose the purchase requisition number.

      Make a note of the fixed vendor Abbott Supplies Inc. (S4515-2##) displayed in the Quick View window.

    5. To leave the app, choose (Navigate to Home).

Learning

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