Product Allocation Configuration in SAP
Nikita Chavan
Declaration:
I hereby declare that this document is based on my personal experiences. To the best of my knowledge, this document does not contain any material that infringes the copyrights of any other individual or organization including the customers of Infosys.
CHAVAN NIKITA
Executive Summary:
A precise planning and controlling mechanism is of the utmost importance for the execution of competitive order processing with guaranteed efficient and timely delivery to the customer of the required order quantity. Unforeseen problems, such as production deficits or increased demand can have critical consequences for order processing and must be brought under control as soon as possible.
Product allocation is a function provided by the R/3 system for carrying out these control options intended to help your company to avoid critical requirement and procurement situations. This should enable you to keep production to a minimum at the same time as allowing you to react quickly to bottlenecks and changing market situations.
The screenshots provided in the document for illustration are taken from a SAP ECC 6.0 system. These illustrations may vary in part or full in other version of SAP.
Table of Contents:
Product allocation functionality allows one to manage the supply of products which do not follow a fixed pattern of supply. The system can perform availability checks together with product allocation checks. In Production allocation, you can allocate quantity for specific materials at various hierarchical combinations and in turn reserve these quantities for these characteristics. These characteristics or hierarchical combinations can be either the sales area data or this can go even up to customer groups or customer level.
Another way to explain the business functions that product allocation functionality can meet is as follows:
As per the client requirement, we had configured the product allocation on monthly basis.
Path: IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Data Basis -> Field Catalogs -> Maintain Self-Defined Field Catalogs
Path: IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Data Basis -> Information Structures ->Maintain Self-Defined Information Structures
Step 3: Setting Parameters for Information structures and Key figures (MC7F)
We maintain the planning method in this step by specifying the planning periods for e.g. it can be either Weekly or Monthly.
Path: IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Planning -> Master data -> Set Parameters for Info structures and Key figures
Step 4: Maintain Update Groups –
It is the update rule to process the order data to the table.
Plan: IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Updating -> Update Definition -> General Definition Using Update Rules -> Maintain Update Groups
Step 5: Maintain Update Rules – (MC24)
Update rules consist, for example, of the source field, the event which triggers the update, requirements and formulas. Once we have defined the update rules, the corresponding update programs are automatically generated.
The maintenance screen lists all of the key figures in the information structure for which you can define update rules. If no update rules have been defined by the time that updating is created, then all available information from the information structure definition will be proposed.
Path – IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Updating -> Updating Definition -> Specific Definition Using Update Rules -> Maintain Update Rules
Characteristics for Incoming orders qty
Characteristics for Orders qty
Characteristics for Delivery quantity
Charateristics for Delivery quantity
Step 6: Activate Update – (OMO1)
This is required as to update the table with order details, material information and to cross check if the order placement is possible or the limit for each customer is reached. Here we must specify the allocation period and type of updating for each update parameters.
Path: IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Updating Control -> Activate Update
Step 8: Assignupdate group at item level – (OVRP)
Path – IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Updating Control -> Settings: Sales -> Update Group -> Assign Update Group at Item Level
Step 9: Assign Update group at header level – (OVRO)
Path – IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Logistics Data Warehouse -> Updating Control -> Settings: Sales -> Update Group -> Assign Update Group at Header Level
Step 10: Create product allocation procedure – (OV1Z)
This procedure must be mentioned in the material master. Procedure must be assigned to the Info structure in the product allocation hierarchy. A criterion for planning hierarchy is determined by info structure. The product allocation is stored in the planning hierarchy. Several objects with different validity periods can be assigned to the procedure.
Path - IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Maintain Procedure
Step 11: Define Allocation Object –
Path – IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Define Object
Step 12: Specify Hierarchy – (OV3Z)
Path – IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Specify Hierarchy
Step 13: Define consumption period for product allocation –
We have to define (past and future) consumption periods for product allocation quantities. If we want to restrict allocation for current month or week, we keep backward and forward consumption data (as seen in the below screenshot) as blank so that it checks only for current month/week.
Path - IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Define Consumption Periods
Step 14: Setting Validity period – (OV4Z)
Path - IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Control Product Allocation
Step 15: Define Transfer of Requirements – (OVZ0)
In this it is determined whether availability check should be run for product allocations or not. It can be determined in each requirements class
Path – IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Define Flow According to Requirement Category
Step 16: Define Schedule line categroy for Product allocation – (VOV6)
Path – IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Sales -> Sales Documents -> Schedule Lines -> Define Schedule Line Categories
Step 17: Define process flow for Schedule line category -
Path – IMG -> Sales and Distribution -> Basic Functions -> Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements -> Availability Check -> Availability Check against Product Allocation -> Process Flow for Each Schedule Line Category
Step 18: Create Planning Type – (MC8A)
Path – IMG -> Logistics-General -> Logistics Information System (LIS) -> Planning -> Tools -> Maintain Planning Types
Step 19: Planning Hierarchy – (MC62)
To enable product allocation, you need to add a member in LIS via Tcod MC62. Selected Planning hierarchy on menu path and click Revise. Specify the info structure S750 and set radio button “Add member”.
Here we have maintained the proportion as 100%, which can be modified as per the requirement.
The total for a product group should always be 100% hence the masking character percentage is mentioned as 0.
Now, we go to tcod MC63 in display mode and specify the Product allocation object and Sales district.
We can see the Sold-to-party were listed here since we added just now.
As of now, the Sold-to-party already added to Info structure. We need to maintain a quota to this Sold-to-party for product allocation limitation.
We can do this in MC94. Specified the Product allocation object, Sales district, Sold-to-party same as before, and select Inactive Version.
For below instance, we put quota 20 units in Month of august and save this change.
MASKING –
In certain cases, the same product can be used for multiple customer and cutomer tier combination. For this instead of maintaining the same sales area and material combination for multiple ship to party, we mask the fields for ship to party and customer tier.
This is done as per the below screenshot:
Thus the above allocation will be valid for all the customers allowed in the above mentioned sales area and material combination.
System Run Through –
Material VRCLTESTB is assigned 20 quantities for particular sales area combination.
Creating an order –
The “On Order quantity” chagned from 46 to 47 –
After Delivery creation, change in Delivery quantity seen –
MC94:
This transaction gives the details of the allocation quantity, cofirmed, order and delivery quantity for a particular sales area and material com
Creating an order after the allocation quantity and confirmed quantity are equal:
The Confirmed quantity is seen as zero as the quantity is exceeding the allocated quantity.
As mentioned earlier, client requirement for monthly product allocation and delivery quantity updation were carried out after making changes in the routines.
Routine changes were made to meet client requirements.
Note: For screenshots please refer to the attached document. I have updated the screenshots as per the steps.
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