Configuration & Business Case of SAP S/4HANA Advan...

Mrinal_SAPLABS1 · ‎03-12-2023

***********Updated as per 2308 release ******************

In today's fast-paced and highly competitive business world, efficient and effective management of business processes has become more critical than ever before. The modern supply chain is a complex network of interrelated business processes, from sales to procurement and production to warehousing. As companies strive to meet customer demand while keeping costs low, there is a growing need for advanced technologies that can optimize these processes and improve overall efficiency.

In this blog, we will explore how SAP S/4HANA Advanced ATP (AATP) with Business Process Scheduling (BPS) and Alternative Based Confirmation(ABC) can help businesses to achieve their supply chain goals by improving their increased scheduling precision and optimizing resource utilization.

Let’s understand few basic points –

What is AATP in S/4HANA ?

Advanced ATP is a process in S/4HANA that allows businesses to check product availability in real time. While running, this process takes into account various factors such as existing inventory, planned production, and incoming shipments to determine whether a particular product can be delivered to a customer at a specific time. By providing accurate and timely information about product availability, businesses can improve customer satisfaction and reduce the risk of backorders.

What is called BPS & ABC in S/4HANA?

Business process scheduling (BPS) is a method that allows businesses to schedule and manage their processes more efficiently. By using BPS, businesses can optimize their schedules to ensure that they are using their all available resources in the most efficient way possible. This can help to improve overall productivity.

Finally, Alternative based confirmation (ABC) is a feature that is often used in conjunction with advanced ATP and BPS. It allows businesses to get an alternative option when the desired product is not available. This can help to improve customer loyalty & retention, by providing timely delivery of products, which can have a positive impact on the bottom line.

Now let’s see a business case of how they work together S/4HANA.

Let’s assume we have two plants in the USA ( 1710 and US20 respectively) and another plant in Germany (1010) and stocks are available only in US20 and 1010 for 100 quantities each.

Business Case 1: Customer places an order on the US plant (1710) for 100 quantities. The system initially checks stock in the same plant. If it does not have any stock, the system will go nearest other locations in the US that have stock. In this case, the plant, US20, has sufficient stock to provide. With BPS & ABC in place, the system will automatically search for the nearest location to get material and provide a new confirmation date & time as per the selected plant’s settings. In this case, the system will pick 100 stocks from the US20 plant and confirm the order.

Figure 1: RACR view of Case 1

Figure 2: Schedule line confirmation of Case 1

Figure 3: Detailed view of confirmation

Business Case 2: Customer places order of 200 quantity in same 1710 plant. Now as per the above case, the system gets confirmation of a partial 100 quantity from the US20 plant. For the next 100 quantities, the system will go to Germany (1010) plant where stock is available for customers. With the combined capabilities of BPS and ABC, the system generates new schedule line dates and times for both selections of stock. Even while proposing a newly confirmed schedule line from the German plant, the system will honor the respective plant’s activity timing (shipping, loading, issuing time, etc) and the holiday calendar of that plant's country too.

Figure 4: RACR view of Case 2

Figure 5: Schedule line view of Case 2

Figure 6: Detailed view of Germany plant confirmation

Let’s have a quick check on the configuration part of it :

Configuring Schema: The main objective of BPS is to enhance precision while scheduling and provide flexibility. It helps to decouple business documents from concrete scheduling. Initially, you need to configure the scheduling schema as per your business needs.

Figure 7: Schema node

This schema will have a set of activities that will be part of your business scheduling process and as per the business need you can make custom activities and add them to the schema. Now you have a provision to maintain activity duration in 3 ways calendar, duration, and time zone.

Figure 8: Inside view of Schema

Figure 9: Time granularity of Schema

Figure 10: Selection of Shipping point to modify time

Figure 11: Modification of time inside the shipping point

Configure Activity Attributes: By using the app “Configure Activity Attribute”, the system can define and create each and every activity more precisely at a granular level. Businesses can set up granularity levels either in days or in seconds. In case of maintaining in days, BPS uses a factory calendar and in case of maintaining the same in seconds, BPS uses working time.

Figure 12: Configure Activity attribute app – showing durations

Figure 13: Configure Activity attribute app – Assignment of factory calendar

Figure 14: Configure Activity attribute app- Assignment of working shift

With the Manage Characteristic Combinations app, Duration and scheduling can be modified as per need, and accordingly based on a certain set of characteristic combinations, the system will run the schedule.

Figure 15: Manage Characteristics Combination app

Figure 16: Manage Characteristics Combination app for “Working Time”

Figure 17: Manage Characteristics Combination app for “Working Time” character combination

Figure 18: Manage Characteristics Combination app for “Duration for Scheduling” character combination

In conclusion, S/4HANA advanced ATP with BPS and ABC can provide businesses powerful methodologies to optimize their operations and improve customer satisfaction. By accurately predicting product availability and schedules, businesses can reduce costs, improve productivity, and provide customers with a better experience. With the right systems in place, businesses can thrive in today's competitive marketplace.

For more information on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, check out the following links: