C_TS422_2022 SAP Certified Application Associate - SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Questions and Answers

The Advanced Planning flag is a field that indicates whether a data object is relevant for planning with Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) in SAP S/4HANA. PP/DS is a component of Advanced Planning that provides more precise and flexible planning capabilities for critical products and resources. You can set the Advanced Planning flag for the following data objects:

• Work Center: This is a master data object that represents a location where operations are performed. A work center can have different capacities, such as machine, labor, or power, that are used for scheduling and capacity planning. You can set the Advanced Planning flag for a work center to enable it for PP/DS planning. This means that the work center can be used as a resource in PP/DS and its capacity can be optimized by PP/DS heuristics or optimization tools.
• Material: This is a master data object that represents a product or a component that is produced, procured, or consumed in a business process. A material can have different views, such as basic data, MRP, sales, or production, that contain different attributes and parameters for planning and execution. You can set the Advanced Planning flag for a material to enable it for PP/DS planning. This means that the material can be planned with exact times and quantities in PP/DS and its availability can be checked by PP/DS pegging.

The production version (B) and the plant (D) are not data objects that can have the Advanced Planning flag. The production version is a master data object that defines the combination of a bill of material (BOM) and a routing or a production process model (PPM) for a material. The production version does not have a separate flag for PP/DS, but it inherits the flag from the material and the work center. The plant is an organizational unit that represents a physical location where materials are produced or stored. The plant does not have a flag for PP/DS, but it is assigned to a location in PP/DS that represents the geographical or logical grouping of plants for planning purposes. References:https://blogs.sap.com/2018/02/12/ppds-for-sap-s4hana-advanced-planning-a-powerful-planning-and-scheduling-tool/

https://learning.sap.com/learning-journeys/explore-integrated-business-processes-in-sap-s-4hana-/advanced-planning_ae824eb6-4bf8-4720-a48f-ba86929a14de

If the available stock is zero and the discontinuation date is in the past, the material requirements planning (MRP) process will be affected. MRP will not create any planned orders or purchase requisitions for the discontinued component. Instead, it will create a discontinuation indicator in the MRP list and a discontinuation message in the exception message list. This will inform the planner that the component is no longer available and that a follow-up material should be used instead. References: [SAP Help Portal] - Discontinuation of Materials.

 If you have created a new MRP-relevant material that supports both in-house production and external procurement, you need to specify the procurement type for the material in the material master record. The procurement type determines how the material is procured, either in-house, externally, or both. If you do not specify the procurement type, the MRP run does not consider the material, and it has to be planned interactively using the MRP Live app or the MD04 transaction. In interactive planning, you can manually assign a procurement type to the material and create the corresponding order proposals, such as planned orders or purchase requisitions. Alternatively, you can maintain a production version for the material, which defines the procurement type and the BOM and routing to be used for in-house production or external procurement. The production version can be assigned to the material in the material master record or in the MRP Live app or the MD04 transaction. The production version allows the MRP run to plan the material automatically based on the specified procurement type123. References: Procurement Type | SAP Help Portal, Production Version | SAP Help Portal, Material Requirements Planning with SAP S/4HANA, page 79-80.

• One-off events: These are special events that affect the demand for a product, such as promotions, holidays, or product launches. You can use the one-off events function in SAP S/4HANA to create and maintain events and assign them to products. The system considers the events when generating the forecast and adjusts the demand accordingly.
• Past sales order quantities: These are the historical data of the actual sales orders for a product. You can use the past sales order quantities as the basis for forecasting the future demand. The system applies statistical methods and algorithms to analyze the past sales order quantities and identify the trends, patterns, and seasonality of the demand.
• Market intelligence: This is the external information that influences the demand for a product, such as market research, competitor analysis, or customer feedback. You can use the market intelligence function in SAP S/4HANA to import and integrate market data from various sources into the forecast. The system adjusts the demand based on the market intelligence data and the weighting factors that you define. References: Exploring the Steps of Supply Chain Planning; SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing II, Unit 2: Demand Management; [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 76.

The order-type-dependent parameters are configuration settings that control various aspects of production order processing, such as number range, scheduling type, availability check, costing variant, confirmation parameters, and so on. These parameters are assigned to a production order type, which is a key that defines the characteristics and business rules of a production order. The order-type-dependent parameters affect the following business processes:

• Check material availability: The availability check determines whether the required materials and capacities are available for the production order. The availability check is controlled by the checking rule and the checking group, which are defined in the order-type-dependent parameters. The checking rule specifies which stocks, receipts, and issues are considered in the availability check. The checking group determines how the system responds to the availability situation, such as issuing a warning or an error message, or rescheduling the order.
• Schedule production orders: The scheduling of production orders calculates the planned dates and times for the operations and the order. The scheduling is controlled by thescheduling type and the scheduling parameters, which are defined in the order-type-dependent parameters. The scheduling type determines whether the system performs forward or backward scheduling, and whether it considers the basic dates or the production dates. The scheduling parameters determine how the system calculates the operation durations, interoperation times, and floats. References: [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 123; [SAP Help Portal: Order-Type-Dependent Parameters].

The material type is a key attribute that classifies materials according to their characteristics and determines how they are processed in the system. The material type influences the following aspects of material management:

• Which material master screens appear and in which sequence: The material type controls which fields are required, optional, or hidden in the material master record. It also determines the order in which the screens are displayed when creating or changing a material master record. Different material types may have different views and fields depending on the business requirements. For example, a raw material may have a purchasing view, while a finished product may have a sales view.
• Whether the material is produced in-house, procured externally, or both: The material type defines the procurement type of the material, which indicates how the material is procured. The procurement type can be in-house production, external procurement, or both. The procurement type affects the planning and execution of the material requirements. For example, a material with in-house production procurement type will generate planned orders, while a material with external procurement type will generate purchase requisitions or schedule lines.

The material type does not influence the following aspects of material management:

• Which document types and class categories are allowed: The document type is a key attribute that classifies documents according to their business purpose and determines how they are processed in the system. The document type controls the number range, field selection, and status profile of the document. The document type is independent of the material type and can be used for any material type. For example, a purchase order document type can be used for any material type that is procured externally. The class category is a key attribute that classifies classes according to their application area and determines how they are processed in the system. The class category controls the characteristics, object types, and inheritance rules of the class. The class category is independent of the material type and can be used for any material type. For example, a material class category can be used for any material type that has characteristics.
• Which plant-specific and plant-independent statuses are allowed: The status is an attribute that indicates the current condition of an object in the system. The status can be plant-specific or plant-independent, depending on whether it applies to a specific plant or to all plants. The status is independent of the material type and can be used for any material type. For example, a material can have a plant-specific status of blocked for quality reasons, or a plant-independent status of discontinued. References: Material Type | SAP Help Portal, Material Master (LO-MD-MM) | SAP Help Portal, Document Types | SAP Help Portal, [Class Category | SAP Help Portal], [Status Management | SAP Help Portal]

You can achieve planning only for specific resources in Advanced Planning (PP/DS) by using a resource group. A resource group is a collection of resources that share the same characteristics and can be used interchangeably for production. You can assign a resource group to a product or a production version, and then use the resource group as a selection criterion in the planning board or the product view. This way, you can restrict the planning to only those resources that belong to the resource group. References: SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing for Planning & Scheduling - Implementation Guide, page 25; [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 79.

• Run PP/DS heuristic for repetitive manufacturing: PP/DS (Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling) is a component of SAP S/4HANA that provides advanced planning and scheduling functions for complex production scenarios. You can run the PP/DS heuristic for repetitive manufacturing to automatically assign planned orders to production lines based on the available capacity, material, and sequence constraints. The PP/DS heuristic also optimizes the line utilization and minimizes the setup times and costs.
• Assign planned orders manually in the planning table: The planning table is a graphical tool that allows you to view and manipulate the production plan for repetitive manufacturing. You can assign planned orders manually to production lines by dragging and dropping them in the planning table. You can also adjust the start and finish dates, quantities, and sequences of the planned orders. The planning table shows the capacity situation and the material availability for each production line.

You cannot plan both quantities and capacities during line loading in repetitive manufacturing by using the following options:

• Run MRP with quota arrangement: MRP (Material Requirements Planning) is a process that calculates the quantity and timing of material requirements based on the demand and supply situation. You can run MRP with quota arrangement to distribute the total requirements for a material among multiple sources of supply, such as vendors, plants, or production lines. However, MRP does not consider the capacity constraints or the sequence dependencies of the production lines, and therefore cannot plan the capacities during line loading.
• Assign planned orders manually in the planning table: This option is identical to option C and therefore cannot be a correct answer.

References: [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], pages 105-106; [SAP Help Portal: Line Loading in Repetitive Manufacturing].

 To use capacity availability checks for production orders, you need to make the following settings:

• The relevant for finite scheduling indicator must be set for the work centers or resources that you want to check. This indicator determines whether the system considers the capacity of the work center or resource during the capacity availability check and finitescheduling. You can set this indicator in the work center or resource master data, or in the routing or production version of the order12.
• An overall profile must be assigned in the checking control for the order type and plant. The overall profile defines the parameters for the capacity availability check, such as the period profile, the selection profile, the checking horizon, and the reaction. You can assign the overall profile in Customizing for Capacity Planning under Availability Check -> Checking Control34.

References:

• 1: SAP Help Portal: Work Center/Resource
• 2: SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide, Chapter 5: Master Data
• 3: SAP Help Portal: Checking Control
• 4: SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide, Chapter 9: Capacity Planning

 You can change the material type for a material if stocks, reservations, or purchasing documents exist only if the following conditions are met:

• The same base unit of measure is used. This ensures that the material quantity is consistent across different material types.
• The quantity and value updates are the same. This ensures that the material valuation is consistent across different material types.
• The material is not subject to split valuation. This ensures that the material has only one valuation class and price control. References: [SAP Help Portal] - Change Material Type

The consumption of planned independent requirements by other requirements, such as sales orders or stock transport orders, depends on the planning strategy and the requirements type of the materials involved. The planning strategy defines the basic procedure for planning a material and determines whether the consumption is relevant for planning. The requirements type controls the consumption parameters, such as the consumption mode (forward, backward, or bidirectional), the consumption interval (period of time in which the consumption can take place), and the consumption indicator (whetherthe consumption reduces the planned independent requirements or not). References: Consumption of Planned Independent Requirements | SAP Help Portal, Planning Strategy | SAP Help Portal, Requirements Type | SAP Help Portal.

 In make-to-order production, the production planning is initiated only when a sales order is received. The system does not perform a net requirements calculation between individual sales orders or with the make-to-stock warehouse stock1. Therefore, option B is correct. Additionally, production orders are created with sales order reference, which means that the costs and revenues of the sales order are settled at the end of the production process2. Therefore, option E is also correct. The other options are not valid for make-to-order production. Storage location MRP areas are not required for sales-order-specific stock, as the stock is managed at the sales order level3. The reduction of make-to-order stock and requirements does not occur on delivery, but on goods issue to the sales order1. Sales orders do not have to be ATP-confirmed to be saved, as the availability check is optional and can be performed later. References: 1: Strategies for Make-to-Order (MTO) Production | SAP Help Portal(https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_CLOUD/2bba750d1e124e1ea2a039bb1cd9b6c5/3b24bf53d25ab64ce10000000a174cb4.html) 2: Outlining Make-to-Order Production - SAP Learning(https://learning.sap.com/learning-journeys/discovering-the-basics-of-sap-s-4hana-manufacturing/outlining-make-to-order-production_be788c36-6fd4-4f1e-b054-635435247918) 3: Storage Location MRP Areas | SAP Help Portal. : Availability Check and Requirements in Sales and Distribution Processing | SAP Help Portal.

You can create a production order using the following methods:

• Create by order release: You can create a production order by releasing a planned order in the material requirements planning (MRP) run. The system converts the planned order into a production order and assigns a production order number. You can use the Manage Production Orders app or the transaction CO40 to create production orders by order release.
• Create in Kanban process: You can create a production order in the Kanban process, which is a lean manufacturing method that uses pull signals to trigger production. The system creates a production order when a Kanban status changes from EMPTY to WAITING. You can use the Kanban Board app or the transaction PK13N to create production orders in the Kanban process. References: SAP Help Portal, Manage Production Orders in SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing

You can limit the validity of a BOM by plant and by period. The plant determines the organizational area of validity for the BOM, and you can assign the same BOM to different or further plants if the prerequisites are met. The period of validity for a BOM is restricted by the valid-from date and the valid-to date in the BOM header and item, which determine when the BOM becomes effective and when it ends. References: Validity of Bills of Material, BOM Item Validity

 The time element of midpoint scheduled operations that can be reduced by reduction strategy settings while dispatching are teardown time and setup time. Teardown time is the time required to dismantle the production equipment after the operation is completed. Setup time is the time required to prepare the production equipment before the operation is started. Both teardown time and setup time can be influenced by the reduction strategy settings, which define the percentage of reduction and the minimum duration for each time element. The reduction strategy settings can be maintained in the work center or the routing. The system applies the reduction strategy settings when dispatching the operations to the resources in the planning board or the product view. References: SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing for Planning & Scheduling - Implementation Guide, page 32; [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 81.

A scheduling agreement is a long-term agreement with a vendor for the supply of materials or services at predefined dates and quantities. To enable classic MRP to automatically create schedule lines in case of material shortage, you must do the following:

• Add the agreement to the source list and mark it for MRP relevance. The source list is a list of possible sources of supply for a material, such as vendors, contracts, or scheduling agreements. By adding the agreement to the source list and setting the MRP indicator, you specify that the agreement is a valid and preferred source of supply for the material.
• Set the creation indicator for delivery schedule lines on the initial screen of the MRP run. The creation indicator determines whether the MRP run creates procurement proposals, such as purchase requisitions, planned orders, or delivery schedule lines. By setting the creation indicator for delivery schedule lines, you instruct the MRP run to create schedule lines for the scheduling agreement, based on the material requirements and the agreement conditions.

Adding the agreement to the quota arrangement and marking it for MRP relevance is not necessary, as the quota arrangement is used to distribute the total requirements of a material among several sources of supply. Setting the creation indicator for purchase requisition on the initial screen of the MRP run is not correct, as the purchase requisition is a different type of procurement proposal than the delivery schedule line. References: Scheduling Agreement | SAP Help Portal, Source List | SAP Help Portal, MRP Run | SAP Help Portal.

Heuristics are planning functions that execute planning for selected objects, such as products, resources, operations, or line networks, using a specific procedure. Heuristics are used in interactive planning, the SAP S/4HANA Digital Core MRP_live or in the Advanced Planning (PP/DS) production planning run. In the Advanced Planning, you can execute several heuristics, which belong to both production planning and detailed scheduling, for the same products in one planning run. Heuristics can help you to solve planning problems for defined objects, such as creating feasible production plans, scheduling operations, assigning resources, or leveling capacities. Heuristics can also consider various constraints and parameters, such as lead times, lot sizes, setup times, priorities, or alternative modes12.

References:

• 1: SAP Help Portal: Heuristics
• 2: SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide, Chapter 4: Advanced Planning

 Multiple commitments occur when several operations are scheduled to start or finish at the same time on a work center. This can happen for different reasons, depending on the settings of the strategy profile and the work center. Two possible reasons are:

• The Finite Scheduling indicator is NOT set in the strategy profile. This means that the system does not consider the capacity availability of the work center when scheduling the operations. The system only checks the basic dates and the relationships between the operations. Therefore, the system can schedule multiple operations at the same time on the same work center, resulting in multiple commitments.
• The work center has several individual capacities. This means that the work center can perform several operations simultaneously, depending on the number and type of individual capacities. The system assigns the operations to the individual capacities based on the capacity category and the priority. However, if the individual capacities have the same capacity category and priority, the system can assign multiple operations to the same individual capacity, resulting in multiple commitments.

References: Scheduling | SAP Help Portal, Strategy Profile | SAP Help Portal, Individual Capacities | SAP Help Portal.

A material availability check can be triggered automatically for a production order by the following methods:

• By mass processing: You can use the mass processing function to execute material availability checks for multiple production orders at once. You can use the Manage Production Orders app or the transaction COHV to perform mass processing. You can define the selection criteria and the scope of check for the orders to be checked. The system updates the availability status and the committed quantities for the checked orders.
• By order release: You can configure the system to trigger a material availability check automatically when a production order is released. You can use the Customizing activity Define Checking Control to define the checking rule and the scope of check for the order release. The system updates the availability status and the committed quantities for the released order. References: Executing Material Availability Checks; [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 83.

 When you save a confirmation for a finished product in repetitive manufacturing, the system performs the following actions by default12:

• Posting of production costs to the production cost collector: The system calculates the actual costs for the confirmed quantity and posts them to the production cost collector assigned to the product. The production cost collector is a cost object that collects the costs for all confirmations of a product in a plant for a period.
• Posting of goods receipt for the product: The system posts the confirmed quantity as a goods receipt to the warehouse. The product is valuated at the standard price defined in the material master record. The difference between the standard price and the actual costs is posted to a price difference account.
• Reduction of associated capacity requirements: The system reduces the capacity requirements for the work center where the confirmation was made. The capacity requirements are calculated based on the confirmed quantity and the standard values for setup, machine, and labor time in the routing. References: 1: Repetitive Manufacturing Confirmation | SAP Help Portal(https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_ON-PREMISE/ee6ff9b281d8448f96b4fe6c89f2bdc8/66dd7fc2d4ac4a53b51f300a04ae24ac.html)2: Confirming Production in Repetitive Manufacturing | SAP Help Portal(https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_ON-PREMISE/f899ce30af9044299d573ea30b533f1c/9231f9504a62eb5ee10000000a44538d.html).

The subitems of a bill of material (BOM) are the components that make up the product or assembly. You can maintain the following data for each subitem:

• Quantity: This is the number of units of the component that are required for one unit of the product or assembly. You can specify the quantity in different units of measure, such as base unit, order unit, or alternative unit. You can also use variable quantities, such as percentages or formulas, to calculate the quantity dynamically based on the product or assembly characteristics.
• Scrap percentage: This is the percentage of the component that is expected to be wasted or lost during the production or assembly process. You can specify the scrap percentage for each component to adjust the quantity accordingly. For example, if the quantity of a component is 10 and the scrap percentage is 5%, the system will increase the quantity by 0.5 to account for the scrap.

The installation point (A) and the item type (B) are not data that you can maintain in the subitems of a BOM. The installation point is a field in the equipment master record that indicates where the equipment is installed. The item type is a field in the sales document item that determines the processing and pricing of the item. These fields are not relevant for the BOM subitems. References:

https://sapstack.com/pp/bom-in-sap-bill-of-material/

https://skillstek.com/bill-of-material-in-sap/