Technical Articles
iPPE- implementation considerations in S/4 HANA
iPPE is a specialized master data, but less explored unlike other master data in SAP. iPPE functionality was available in ECC and its integration with APO. iPPE functionality is also available in S/4 HANA and can be used with PPDS in S/4 HANA.
iPPE in S/4HANA is available as standard solution and does not require any additional activation or license. However if iPPE is used with PPDS then activation of PPDS requires separate license in S/4 HANA.
Even though certain transactions in iPPE has been removed (Refer SAP note 2226431) as a part of simplifications in S/4 HANA, almost all functionality of iPPE (in both ECC and APO) is still available in S/4 HANA.
Application of iPPE:
iPPE(integrated Product and Process Engineering) is meant for highly variable products.
iPPE is mostly used in automotive industries, where from product design concept, till production execution process can be integrated using iPPE data. In case of model-mix planning & Rapid Planning Matrix(RPM) in APO-PPDS or S/4HANA PPDS, iPPE is mandatory.
Overview
iPPE supports both Configurable(KMAT) material and Material Variant. Hence Variant Configuration data is required to setup iPPE. iPPE also supports change management. In case of complex configuration especially in automotive sectors, iPPE is recommended.
Components of iPPE
iPPE typically consists of below objects.
Product Structure:
Typical product structure consists of Access node, Structure node & Assembly.
iPPE also supports other nodes such as color node and PVS. Refer SAP help for more details
Process Structure:
Typical product structure consists of Routing Header & Activity.
iPPE also supports other nodes such as grouping activities or operations. Refer SAP help for more details
Factory Layout:
Typical product structure consists of Line Network, Line and Line Segments.
iPPE also supports other nodes such as Line Area, Work Area and Buffers. Refer SAP help for more details
Components of iPPE (product structure, Process Structure and Factory Layout) is integrated by line balance, which helps in calculating the Takt time at each stage of production in an assembly line.
Refer SAP help for more details on line balance and Takt based scheduling.
Integration of iPPE with Warehouse management data.
iPPE supports IM/WM or EWM location to be used as receiving location in production version. However if S2L(Automatic Supply-to-production) process is used with integration of PPDS, then limitations of EWM & PPDS does apply for JIT. Refer SAP note 2492542.
Integration of iPPE with PPDS(in S/4 HANA)
iPPE master data created in S/4 HANA has to be transferred to PPDS as PDS in order to be used in PPDS planning such as model-mix planning.
However before transferring data, certain prerequisites needs to be ensured such as
- CIF Change pointer for message type “CIF_PPE_PRM” is activated using BD50.
- Supply areas used need to be integrated to PPDS.
- All material master which needs to be planned using PPDS, needs to be set with ‘Advanced Planning’ flag. However it is also possible plan higher level material masters in PPDS, and keeping lower assembly planning with MRP in S/4 HANA.
- In S/4 PPDS the iPPE integration model is not needed any longer. Hence CFM1 & CFM2 is not required.
Once iPPE production version is created in S/4 HANA, iPPE data has to be transferred to PPDS using the transaction PPEAPO. This will create iPPE data in PPDS in S/4 HANA and necessary line resource as mentioned in iPPE line.
It is necessary to run consistency check report to evaluate and fix the errors in iPPE before creating the PDS.
Further PDS in PPDS is can be created using transaction code /SAPAPO/GEN_PDS. This PDS is used for planning in PPDS using model-mix planning applications.
Advantages of iPPE:
In general, iPPE can be used for both MTS and MTO scenarios. Even though iPPE+PPDS is more generally used for REM, since PPDS supports REM execution. Which gives complete end-to-end functionality for Automotive OEMs.
iPPE is a better solution comparing with typical Variant Configuration BOM in S/4HANA(or ECC) especially in case of highly configurable products with high volumes.
References:
So I read this a couple of times, it's interesting to me.
I need to know why is iPPE better than a BOM / routing configuration. I'm thinking about it. In my mind they are just so close to the same thing. PPDS - we don't have that. I'm not sure that we would ever need it. Not knowing anything about PPDS, perhaps that's the reason?
Functionally they are similar. However, iPPE can be used from conceptual level of logical product structure even without having material master created.
It easily allows change configuration with validity with object dependency. This is especially helpful where there are frequent changes in product components. Result can be easily observed with filter functionality.
In case of high volumes, iPPE is better for handling master data, since new model/product can be easily added which follows similar product and process structure. Indeed, with good integration of PPDS makes it more useful.
Thank you for the extra explanation. I'm trying to navigate all these "newer" technologies. (New to me) It helps me a lot to understand exactly what they were used for. And sort through in my mind what is my next thing to study. I'm trying to learn just enough to be able to determine what they can do, and then maybe how I would use them. Then actually do a deeper dive.
Blogs like this one are a huge help,
Michelle
Guys,
Another BIG advantage of iPPE is its integration aspect with IS Auto. For example, the Rapid Planning Matrix functionality really helps you to do a demand explosion at an aggregate level (well aligned with the PVS structure) and execute the logistics, especially in a MTO / planned order driven scenario.
Loved the post.
Regards,
Hi! Thank you for the article.
I have a question regarding integration of iPPE with PPDS (S/4 Hana) - when we trying to generate PDS we have an issue "Fertigungsversion enthält inkonsistente PVS Daten" - Production version contains inconsistent PVS data (Produkt-Varianten-Strukturen). We check PV and it is consistent.
Could you please advise what we should check step by step to be able to generate PDS?
Thank in advance!
Hi,
After creating production version, right click and go to menu report -> Consistency check. This will show any errors in the structure in detail.
Regards,
Krishna Rao
Hi Krishna,
Nice Article to go through Thank you
Regards,
Ravikiran
Hello Krishna,
Nice article on iPPE. I have a question regarding the Product structure. I assigned a material to the variant structure. This material is Advanced planning relevant and it is available in PPDS. As soon as I save the assignment it throws an error message "Material <GUID of the material> not found".
What is interesting here is, the GUID is the PPDS product master GUID. Am I missing any prerequisite before doing the material variant assignment?
Thanks | Chandra
Hi Krishna,
Thank you so much for this post. I have one question, once we create the corresponding nodes I've tried to execute PPECS in order to create super-BOM but it seems that it has been blacklisted (as per note 2476734), so on SAP Help it says that I have to use "Product Structure Management " from PLM Web UI. Does it mean that I need to set up this portal? Does it require an extra license?
Best regards.
Hello Krishna PrasadKarkala,
Thank you for this wonderfull post. It had helped me a lot.
I have one question on transferring to PPDS using the transaction PPEAPO,
I will be waiting for your response.
Thank you again.