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.