Executing a Large Integration Scenario 5 – Project System

The previous process flow began with the sales order in Sales and Distribution.

The project manufacturing process also generally starts with a configuration in the sales order. For this purpose, the sales order is created for a configurable material. The sales order can generally generate corresponding planned orders via MRP.

You can also use the sales order in Sales and Distribution to generate the procurement elements directly. The planning strategy and the requirements type would be used to trigger assembly processing. This is to be outlined here with regard to the project system. Here, the sales order will directly create a project. However, monthly processing isn't specific to the Project System, but can also be used for other types of procurement.

In our example, the sales order will create a new project using a standard WBS (standard work breakdown structure) and a configurable standard network using the configuration from the sales order.

Besides to this example, you can also create a new project directly using a standard standard work breakdown structure (WBS) and a configurable standard network, that is, without a sales order. If you create the project using a template for a configurable standard network, you're prompted to configure it according to the variant class and the configuration profile of the standard network.

• From the sales order, the requirement quantity (independent requirement), the delivery date, and specifications for the configuration are transferred to MRP as individual customer requirements. You use the MRP run to generate a planned order from it. A BOM explosion takes place and the dependent requirements of the assemblies/components are generated. When production can start, you create a production order from the planned order. The confirmed quantity and delivery date are confirmed from the production order to the sales order.
• In make-to-order production with assembly processing, you've already preproduced the individual components of the finished product. According to the customer's requirements, you then only need to assemble the components. You can generate a production order directly from the sales order. The confirmed quantity and the confirmed delivery date are confirmed from the production order to the schedule lines of the sales order. Changes with regard to confirmed schedule lines or the delivery date are immediately visible in the sales order or production order.
• Assembly processing in the Project System is useful for implementing customer projects that always have a similar structure. You trigger assembly processing by creating a sales document (for example: Sales Order) for a material. Depending on the sales document type and the material, the system automatically creates an operative network for the sales document item during assembly processing. When you save the sales document, the system may also create a corresponding work breakdown structure, which can be identified by the number of the sales document. Standard structures are used as copy templates. The direct link between the sales document and the project automatically generates data such as: quantity, date, cost, and revenue information between the documents. You can also use Variant Configuration together with assembly processing.

• The item category assigned in the sales document is determined by the sales document type and the item category group of the material. When you create an order, the system proposes an item category. You can accept or overwrite this default value. In Customizing, it's defined which item categories are allowed.

• During requirements type determination, the source of the requirements type is defined. In the standard system, the requirements types are defined using a specific search strategy starting with the strategy group in the material master.

  The requirements type is defined as follows:

  1. First, the system tries to find a requirements type using the strategy group in the material master. This strategy group defines the main planning strategy, which in turn determines the customer demand. The requirements type that is copied for the sales order item is derived from the customer requirement.

  2. If no strategy group is maintained in the material master, the system determines the strategy group using the MRP group defined in the material master. If this is also missing, this can also be determined using the material type.

  3. Next, the system tries to determine the requirements type using the item category and the MRP type.

  4. If this fails, the system makes a final attempt to find a requirements type based only on the item category.

  5. If this last attempt also fails, the program terminates.

• You can overwrite the predefined strategy in Customizing in the step Check Control of Requirements Type Determination. If the Source field contains the values 1 or 2, the requirements type is taken from the item category derived from the sales document type and the item category group.

A planning strategy group 25 has been assigned in the material master of the configurable material. This planning strategy group has been enhanced by further strategies of the eighties series, for example, strategy 85. This strategy is linked to requirements type KMPN. In the standard system, this requirements type is set in such a way that the sales order plans material requirements.

If necessary, change the strategy so that the requirement is displayed but not planned.

The upper representations come from Customizing. The strategy group is set up in such a way that the F4 help offers the displayed input options in the sales order in the field of the requirements type (defaulted with KEK in this case). At this point, the requirements type KMPN was selected manually.

In the Project System, you can use Variant Configuration with configurable networks if you want to produce a complex product in different variants. The networks and work breakdown structures are essentially identical for the different variants, but they have specific characteristics, such as alternative or additional activities or different quantities (number of material components, work, duration).

If you use Variant Configuration, you usually use a maximum standard structure as a copy template. This means that the standard network and the standard work breakdown structure contain all objects (WBS elements, activities, materials, and so on) that are required for each conceivable variant of the product. When you create an operative network using a template of a configurable standard network, the variant to be produced is specified (characteristic value assignment). Using object dependencies, you can use this specification to control which activities and material components are copied from the standard network to the operative network. From the standard work breakdown structure, only those elements that have been assigned to the activities selected by the variant configuration, as well as the hierarchically superior WBS elements, are copied.

The sales order has directly created a project for its production using the manually assigned requirements type KMPN on the detail screen of the item. Variant Configuration can be used to determine the required elements of the project (work breakdown structure element, activities, and material components). The tool for this is a configurable standard network. The integration can go so far here that the project is automatically generated from the sales order in accordance with the requirements of the configuration of the configurable material. This case was used in this example. The project created automatically from the sales order is represented by the Project Builder. On the left, you can see the project structure. The network header was highlighted in the background. At this level, you can find the configuration from the sales order in the Menu → Extras → Configuration → Characteristic Value Assignment The configuration is only displayed here as a reference.

However, you can also create a new project directly, that is, without a sales order, by copying a standard WBS and a configurable standard network. This is also possible for the example described here. For example, if you create a new project using a template of the configurable standard WBS used here, you're prompted to configure according to the variant class and the configuration profile of the standard network.

By defining standard structures, you have the option of standardizing project management to the extent that you can access existing experience values for new projects. Standard work breakdown structures therefore serve as copy templates to reduce the effort required for data entry and maintenance. Another advantage of standardizing project structures is that the execution of projects is made transparent and comparable, and thus effective project controlling is also possible.

When you create an operative work breakdown structure, you can use a complete standard work breakdown structure as a template or copy only parts of the standard work breakdown structure. Standard work breakdown structures are used as a template for operative work breakdown structures.

You can use them to plan the structure, that is, the hierarchy of the work breakdown structure, the organizational assignment, control data, and the project documentation (long texts, PS texts). Operational data can't be planned in advance (cost planning, scheduling, maintenance of settlement rules, user status – but user status profile can be assigned). In the status SERO = opened and SFRE = released, standard work breakdown structures can be used as a template.

The structure of a standard network is similar to that of the network. However, a standard network internally has the structure of a task list (comparable to the structure of a logistics task list), whereas an operative network is realized in the form of an order. This results in small differences between the standard network and the network:

• A standard network can have several alternatives. Alternatives can indicate different usages or validities, for example.
• The header of a standard network contains different data than the header of an operative network.
• There's a separate person responsible for a standard network (planner group).
• Standard networks have their own profiles and statuses, which you can define in Customizing for the Project System (PS).
• The material is assigned using material BOMs and standard BOMs.

Material can't be assigned directly to the standard network, but only indirectly via BOMs. This BOM can be either a normal material BOM or a standard BOM. A standard BOM doesn't have a "header component". It's a tool that is used only to assign material components to a standard network. The individual material items of the BOM can then be assigned to the activities of the standard network. Phantom assemblies are exploded on multiple levels so that the individual materials can be assigned to the network activities.

If you work with mutually assigned copy templates (that is, with standard networks that are assigned to standard WBS), you have two options for using the templates.

• You either start by creating an operative network (with template) (1a) and, if necessary, obtain an assigned work breakdown structure (1b) when you save. This is particularly used here, that is, in assembly processing and Variant Configuration with networks.
• Or you start by creating an operative work breakdown structure (with reference and assigned activities) (2) so that the activities are immediately included. In the second case, you can use the Project Builder, the project planning board, or structure planning. The assignment between the standard network and the standard work breakdown structures is made in the header and the activities of the standard network.

The configuration in the sales order controls the explosion of the project. When comparing projects and templates, you can see that only three elements of the four elements of the standard work breakdown structure (WBS) have been transferred to the project. You can also see that of the six activities from the standard network, only five activities have been transferred.

When creating the standard work breakdown structure, you do not need to take any special features from the point of view of Variant Configuration into account. Standard work breakdown structures can be "not configurable" and can't be linked to object dependencies.

Elements from the standard work breakdown structure are only automatically transferred to the project to be created if activities are assigned to these elements after the object dependencies have been evaluated with regard to the standard network. Elements without an assignment to operations aren't transferred. You must therefore create the standard work breakdown structure as the maximum structure.

The same applies to the standard network. However, you can assign object dependencies to the activities in the standard network. You can use both selection conditions and procedures. According to the selection conditions, either operation 201 or operation 202 is used – depending on the evaluation of the frame height in the configuration. Operation 300 is only transferred and used if a color has been selected in the configuration. In the procedures, you can change in the same way as for the routing using reference characteristics with reference to the database table PLPO. Here you change the duration of the sawing operation and the short text of the painting operation. You can assign the elements of the standard work breakdown structure and components of the configurable BOM of the material from the sales order to the activities.

You can also assign the configurable material to the standard network using the corresponding transaction (CN08: Assign material -> standard network).

A configuration profile is created for the standard network. This uses the same variant class as the configurable material.

You can create a new project directly, without a sales order, by copying a standard WBS and a configurable standard network. This is one way for this example.