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Author's profile photo Caetano Almeida

MRP: Simplifications in S/4HANA

SAP strategy for the digital economy is based on the concept of simplification. The SAP strategy is to accelerate business innovation through radical simplification.

This concept was also used when SAP release SAP S/4HANA, and several application scenarios available on the ECC were simplified. The idea is to make the S/4 HANA implementation faster and easier, in order to accelerate the return on investment and also make the life of the consultants easier.

SAP created a document called Simplification List, containing a list of all the simplified scenarios, and this document is updated whenever a new SAP S/4HANA release. The simplification list for SAP S/4HANA 2021 can be found in the following link:

Simplification List for SAP S/4HANA 2021 Initial Shipment, Feature Pack Stack 1 & 2

Between those simplified scenarios, some are specific to Material Requirements Planning and functionalities that were part of the standard system for a long time were changed.

Here are the most relevant simplifications that will affect MRP during a conversion to SAP S/4HANA:

 

1 – Simplified sourcing

The source determination carried out by MRP was completely redesigned for internal and external procurement.

For internal procurement, a BOM selection method is no longer available for selection. Now, the BOM is always selected according to the production version, therefore, it is mandatory to have a production version.

For external procurement, the source list is no longer mandatory to MRP and it is enough to have a valid info record, in order to have a vendor selected for a planned order or purchase requisition by MRP.

With these changes, the source determination on MRP is similar to the source determination on APO and, according to SAP, unified source of supply model is the basis for future innovations in sourcing.

SAP note 2268069 explains the simplified sourcing logic in detail.

 

2 – Storage location planning

The default option to plan a storage location separately is the storage location MRP area. It means that the option to define on the material master that a storage location will be planned separately or excluded from MRP is no longer available.

With the storage location MRP area, there is a separate planning file entry, which means that the MRP area is planned independently. This is a good thing from a performance point of view, since we don’t need to plan the entire material just because a change happened on the storage location planned separately.

Besides that, the storage location planned separately runs a very simple reorder point MRP type, while the MRP are offers almost the same settings available on the material master.

See SAP note 2268045 for more details about this simplification.

 

3 – Subcontracting

Planning of components provided to the vendor must be now carried out with MRP areas. A separate stock segment for the vendor is not available anymore and the main reason is the performance. It is also now easier to use subcontracting MRP areas, since we simply need to create them on customizing and they will be available for all the materials.

SAP note 2268044 provides more details about this simplification.

 

4 – Planning file

The old planning file entry tables were replaced by the new table PPH_DBVM, with simplified update logic, consistency and for update performance.

There is also a new report and transactions to create and check the consistency of the planning file.

Details about this simplification and those reports can be found in SAP Note 2268088.

 

5 – Planning Horizon

Planning inside the planning horizon is no longer supported by MRP in S/4HANA. If old variants still contain the processing key NETPL, they won’t work any more. See details in SAP note 2270241.

 

6 – Graphics in MRP evaluations

MD04 provided a graphical display of available quantity, which was bases in the old SAP GUI graphical library. The option to show this chart is no longer available in the Stock and Requirements List (MD04) and the new MRP Cockpit Fiori apps can be used for a graphical evaluation of the stock and requirements.

SAP note 2267246 provides more details about this simplification.

 

7 – MRP fields in Material Master

Some MRP related fields are no longer available in the Material Master, due to the simplifications implemented in SAP S/4HANA. Fields like the BOM Selection Method or the Quota arrangement  usage are no longer relevant, therefore, they were removed from the Material Master MRP views.

SAP note 2267246 provides a complete list of the affected fields.

 

8 – Classic MRP

Classic MRP is being replaced by MRP live which is much faster and offers more functionalities compared to classical MRP. Classic MRP is still available in SAP S/4HANA, but some features are part of the compatibility scope.

Check SAP note 2268085 for more details about MRP Live.

 

9 – Total Dependent Requirements

In S/4HANA, MRP reads individual dependent requirements rather than total dependent requirements. Instructions to clean up total requirements can be found in the following link

Clean Up Total Requirements

Additional details can be found in SAP note 2229126.

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      14 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Siddheshwar Rajguru
      Siddheshwar Rajguru

      Can we trigger MRP Live MD01N with third party tool WCC (Work load center) Autosys , this tool is used for triggering batch jobs in SAP.     

      Author's profile photo Caetano Almeida
      Caetano Almeida
      Blog Post Author

      Hello

      Yes, MRP Live can be triggered by means of report PPH_MRP_DISPATCHER.

      BR
      Caetano

      Author's profile photo Siddheshwar Rajguru
      Siddheshwar Rajguru

      Hello,

      I think PPH_MRP_START is the program for MRP live , I could not find PPH_MRP_DISPATCHER , so this is having interface compatibility with third party tool Autosys..

      Thanks

      Sid

      Author's profile photo Caetano Almeida
      Caetano Almeida
      Blog Post Author

      Hello

      You are right, PPH_MRP_DISPATCHER is the correct report for the ERP releases (EHP7, EHP8). For S/4 HANA you should use PPH_MRP_START.

      Regards
      Caetano

      Author's profile photo Siddheshwar Rajguru
      Siddheshwar Rajguru

      Thanks

      Sid

      Author's profile photo Velmurugan S
      Velmurugan S

      Really helpful document.

      Author's profile photo Nancy Guo
      Nancy Guo

      Congratulations on your book!

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Can we run LTP on S/4 HANA like MD01N ? Is there an equivalent "simplified" LTP tcode ?

      Author's profile photo Caetano Almeida
      Caetano Almeida
      Blog Post Author

      Not yet, but I believe that it will be available on future releases.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      ok thx.

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      I see the MD01N tcode does not generate MRP lists.....if thats true then how will a planner review the exception messages ? Will MD04 become the replacement ? if yes then there are some exception message which dont show in MD04. How will MRP live in the current state address that ?

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

       

      1 – Simplified sourcing

      I have noticed that source list not work as ECC, once Purchasing Info Record be created(manually or by System), then MRP can pick the Schedule Agreement item.

       

      But my question is that:

      if for material M1 and vendor V1, I have add the combination(M1 and V1) into SA item 10 for price 1000USD, item 20 for pirce 2000USD, item 30 for price 3000USD;

      I have 3 Requirements(different period) and want MRP(becasue of different price for different period):

      to pick SA item 10 when date from 2017/11/01 to 2017/11/30;

      to pick SA item 20 when date from 2017/12/01 to 2017/12/31;

      to pick SA item 30 when date from 2018/01/01 to 2018/12/31;

      if I not block Soure List, then MRP will pick all 3 requirements from SA item 10;

      if I only block Source List item 10(from 2017/11/01 to 2017/11/30), then MRP pick SA item 20 for Req.1, pick SA item 10 for Req.2, pick SA item 10 for Req.3;

      So how to relize that allow MRP pick different SA item for different period(becauese of prices are different)?

       

      Author's profile photo Caetano Almeida
      Caetano Almeida
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Evin

       

      Blog comments should not be used for troubleshooting. Can you please open a new question with this issue?

      Regards,

      Caetano

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hello Caetano,

      Nice Blog, Sorry for that.

      and I have opened question at https://answers.sap.com/questions/360115/issues-about-mrp-sourcing-on-sap-s4-hana.html

      Regards,

      Evin