You can fix key figure values of certain periods on detailed or aggregated level to protect them from unintentional changes by disaggregation.
Planning data in SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) for demand and SAP IBP for sales and operations is typically the result of automated planning functions plus manual planning activities. Manual planning often requires collaboration between planners in different roles and locations.
It is important for all parties involved in the planning process to be aware of special information concerning the planning data or the process itself. For example, if you, as a planner have some special knowledge about the reliability of certain planning data, such as, a special agreement with a customer on a planned order or event, this information should be considered in the planning process. In such situations, you can fix key figure values in certain periods to protect them against changes by disaggregation.
Before you can fix key figure values in the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel, your organization's administrator or configuration expert must enable fixing for the key figures by selecting the Enable Fixing checkbox on the Key Figures tab in the Planning Areas Model Configuration app.
You can fix a key figure value for a certain period including all its child values in the hierarchy.
If you, as a planner have reliable information that for a certain product group in your market your planning value is better than the statistical forecast and also the values that other planners estimate, you may want to fix this value including its associated child values in the hierarchy.
When fixing key figure values, please keep in mind the following:
- Fixing is only possible for manually editable key figures.
- Before you, as a planner can fix key figure values, your administrator must enable fixing in configuration for each key figure whose values you want to be able to fix.
- It is possible to enable fixing for a maximum of 20 key figures for each planning area.
- A key figure value can only be fixed or unfixed completely. It is not possible to manually fix a certain quantity of a key figure value.
- You can only fix single or multiple key figure values (up to 50 cells), but not all values of a planning object in one go. You can fix entire rows and ranges of cells in the planning view.
- Negative values are not allowed for fixing enabled key figures. As a planner you cannot disaggregate negative values and the system will not create negative values during disaggregation due to fixed key figure values.
- When you fix a key figure value, you fix its associated child values in the hierarchy.
You can fix and unfix cells in the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel. You can also see cells that have already been fixed either completely or partially, and, in the case of partially fixed cells, you can see the partially fixed quantities. The cells that have been fixed are indicated by a padlock symbol in the cell, partially fixed cells have a padlock symbol next to a half black half white circle. For partially fixed values, the fixed quantity is displayed as an Excel comment.
You can fix and unfix values of key figures at any level, as long as fixing for the key figure has been enabled in configuration, and the cell is editable. No special authorization for fixing and unfixing of values is needed; if you have the authorization to change the cell in the planning view, you can fix and unfix the cell's value.
The fixing and unfixing settings you make take effect once you save or simulate your planning view. If you change the value of a fixed cell without unfixing it first, the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel discards your changes when you save or simulate your planning view.
If you make invalid changes that the system detects during simulation of the data, it displays a dialog to notify you of the invalid changes. You have the following options:
- Display details of the cells where you made the invalid changes
- Highlight the cells that contain the invalid changes
- Resend the changes without the invalid cells
If you choose this option, the system reverts key figure changes that are invalid due to fixing and simulates or saves the remaining valid changes.
- Abort simulation
You can fix and unfix the following:
- Individual cells
- Ranges of up to 50 cells
- Individual rows