Assembly Processing with SAP PS

Assembly Processing
 This process is used throughout SAP R/3 logistics applications to automatically generate the following order types:

• Planned order
• Production order
• Process order
• Service order
• Network (project)

The order type used in the Project System is the network.
Assembly Processing in the Project System:
Business Scenario
Assembly processing is relevant for businesses using the Project System to plan products or services that are produced or carried out several times in a similar constellation. Although the projects, for example, for different customers, they consist of similar activities, but the structure of the project remains the same. Details, such as quantities or the amount of work involved, can differ.
Prerequisites
1-To use assembly processing in the Project System, you have to have created a standard network in the system. The system uses this standard network to create the executable network during assembly processing
2-You need to have set up a material master that supports assembly processing.
3-You should maintain a link between the material master and the standard network. This is done in the Project System and is described in Linking Materials and Standard Networks.
 Process Flow

1. You start assembly processing by creating a sales document for a material. This sales
   document can be

• An inquiry
• quotation
• A sales order

The system then:

1. Configures the material, if necessary
2. Creates a network using the standard network as a template
3. Configures the network, if necessary
4. Schedules the network backwards from the required delivery date
5. check material availability
6. Costs the network and transfers these costs to the sales document.

When you save the sales document, the system saves the network together with the sales document.

If applicable, it also generates a project definition and work breakdown structure. The project number is derived from the sales document number.
Advantages of Assembly Processing
 Assembly processing creates a link between the sales document and the project. This means that the same information is available to the employees in the sales department and to project management. The system automatically updates changes to the sales document in the network and vice-versa.
Since the system schedules the network and checks material availability when you create a sales document, you can immediately inform the customer whether you can complete the project on the date he/she requested. If not, the system proposes a date on which it is possible to complete the project.
As of Release 4.6 it is possible to use assembly processing with project stock. There is now a logical connection between the sales order number and the stock segment. This means that you can create deliveries in the Sales and Distribution component for a project that has been generated using assembly processing. Subsequently you can use the standard delivery functions in this component.
Test in IDES System: All Testing has been done in IDES System.
As per prerequisite we need to create following:
1-       Standard WBS
2-       Standard Network
3-       Material
4-       Link between the Network, Material and Standard WBS
5-       Create Sale Order
 Create Standard WBS
TC : CJ91
Path:  Choose Logistics ® Project management ® Basic data and then Standard structures ® Standard WBS® Create
In this case we are using Std. Project Definition E-1004 as template and we will create new standard WBS No. E-9802
After enter the above data press enter.
Now select icon  to display the WBS element.
You can add / delete the WBS element here.
Here Release the WBS Element.
 Now Release The WBS Element. (Remember without Release Status system will not allow to post any actual cost to new created project)
2- Remember that For All WBS Element, Operative indicator Account Assigned & Planning Element should be ticked.
Create Standard Network
TC: CN01   Path: Choose Logistics ® Project management ® Basic data and then Standard structures ® Standard networkà Create
Select the icon  to copy from Template.
Now enter standard Network ( Which one you want to copy ) .
Here you will link WBS to Network .( it is very important to create a new operative project from sale order )
Select the  for choose activities:
You can create activity here as per requirement .
You can maintain the relationship among the activities. Now Press the Total Tab :
Now here you can decide that under which WBS element , Which activity will assigned .
Here you can say that 1030 activity should assign to WBS element  E-9802-01 .
Save the network
Create Material
TC: MM01
Path: Logistics ® Production ® Master data ® Material master or Logistics ® Material management ® Material master and then Material and create (special or general)
Create material with using already exist material E-1004.
Maintain the necessary setting in Material Master. (It is necessary for Assembly processing).
Select Sale ORG 1
Press the conditions :
The amount which enters here will be the sale value of material. During creation of sale order system take the sale order value from here.
Select the relevant Item Category Group.
Maintain Strategy in MRP3 View and save then Exit.
Assignment of Material to Network :
TC: CN08
Path: Logistics ® Project management ® Basic data and then Standard structures ® Network parameters from sales order ® Edit.
Press  to enter new line .
Here we will link material to Standard Network & Standard WBS .
Assembly Processing
Create Sale Order:
TC: VA01
Path: SAP Menu àLogistic àSales and DistributionàSalesàOrderàCreate
Select the Order Type / Sale organization and Distribution Channel
Enter
Enter the Required field like Ship to party, PO No. ,Required Delivery Date ,Material No. and Quantity .Then Press Enter .
 Save the Sale Order and note down the Sale Order Number .
Last Four Digit of sale order number will use the project number with prefix E .
For our case : Sale document No. is 8170 so Project number will be E-8170.
Check in Project Builder.( CJ20N)
Now we can see that System has created new operative project in background.
And it has assigned activities to WBS accordingly.

Assembly Processing in SD and PS

INTRODUCTION

 

Assembly processing is one of the rarely used but extremely robust process used in various industries. This process encompasses the functionalities of receiving the order and planning all the requirements of the order by passing the requirements to various other related modules. Once all the components are received they are assembled and handed over to customer.

Based on the business requirement, a sales order can lead to any of the orders including  production order, planned order, a network or a process order. Based on this linkage configurations are to be done in the respective modules along with configurations in sales and distribution.

This chapter explains about the creation of a network in project systems while creating a sales order in SD. The functionality of assembly request can also be linked with various other functionalities like milestone billing in SD, milestone management in PS, Schedule and cost management in PS etc. However this document concentrates only on the configuration required for creating a network automatically when a sales order is created. During the course of the document, some of the obvious configurations are assumed to be known to the basic consultant and hence not dealt in much detail.

PROCESS FLOW

 

The process starts with the creation a sales order using a material code. The material codes in this case are very limited and are specific to every variation.

The sales order item will trigger a requirement transfer. As a result the requirement class triggers a network considering the requested delivery date of the sales order as the finished date of the network. At the same time, a project is created for the entire sales order and WBS element will be created for each of the line item.

If the network is enabled with milestones for activities, then milestone billing can be automatically triggered in sales order if the item category is also accordingly configured.

Now we have a sales order, a project for it, various line items each item having a WBS element and a network. Now it is possible to manage each of these line items in PS using schedule and milestone management. Accordingly when milestones are confirmed in PS, milestone billing can be triggered in sales orders.

At the end when all the items are delivered the project can be settled and closed. This document doesn’t deal about deliveries for project as my knowledge level in this area is minimal.

CONFIGURATION TRANSACTION CODES

 

Though I have the system with me, I don’t want to put the screen shots because of customer confidentiality. Hence I am trying to explain as much as information through text. In case of any doubt the same can be discussed in the comment on this content.

VOV8

VOV7

VOV6

Configuration Paths in Transfer of Requirements

CN91

CN08

CL24N

CN01

STEPS IN CONFIGURATION

The first of the configuration is the sales order type. This is the basic configuration in SD and hence I skip this configuration.

The header configuration is followed by the item category configuration. If milestone billing functionality is to be used, then the Billing plan type in the item category should have a value indicating the Milestone billing. A copy of billing plan type can be made by copying the billing plan type 01. Similarly the billing relevance can be maintained as I for billing based on billing plan and order related billing. Except this all the other settings for item category is same for assembly processing as for any other processes. Also it should be remembered that variant configuration is a robust functionality used in assembly processing to dynamically determine various project and sales parameters and hence the item category should also consider the use of variant configuration if needed.

Schedule line configuration is same as the normal schedule line configuration and hence I am not dealing much about it.

These are followed by the configuration for transfer of requirements. This is where the SD module is integrated with the PS module. It involves the following steps to determine the strategy group or the strategy type. It can be based on the normal rules for TOR. The strategy group can be determined from any one of the following methods viz…the combination of item category and MRP type,from  material master and so on.  Using this configuration either the requirement class is determined using the strategy group (if the strategy group is maintained in material master) or using the requirement type (if the MRP type is maintained in material master). The requirement class is the one which dictates the integration between SD and PS and the desired requirement class can be seen from the transaction code OVZG. The configuration at the requirement class should have the following fields filled.

The availability button should be switched off as the material availability is not enabled in assembly processing.

The field Requirements transfer should be ticked on in the requirement class

The assembly type should be 2. This will ensure that a network is created automatically if the relevant configurations are done.

The field Order type should be filled with the network type which is to be created while creating sales order.

The field Capacity check can have the value as 1 or 2 based on requirement of capacity

The fields related to costing and configuration can be left empty here as they can also be handled in other places which will take precedence over this configuration.

The field special stock can have the value as E to make sure that stock is reserved against the sales order.

The field Account Assignment Category should be enabled with the value D. This will ensure that the project or its subordinate levels can be used as account assignment objects. Based on the configuration in PS either the network and activity number or the WBS elements can be used as the account assignment objects.

The field Consumption should be configured with the value P to ensure project based consumption.

These fields are the mandatory fields to be updated. The remaining fields are optional and can be configured based on need. The fields related to costing, settlement, and valuations are best left empty here and configured in the respective modules.

Once these configurations are done in SD the process will work as follows.

When a sales order item is put, based on its item category, schedule line category configuration, the transfer of requirements is triggered and the correct requirement class is determined. Using the requirement class the system will try to create a network. However to create a network system will need another set of data from PS module. The set of data needed after doing the basic set of PS configuration are explained here.

At first a standard project should be created in PS using the transaction code CJ91.  In order to do this the project definition, the project profile etc are needed and the PS consultant will be in the best position to configure the project profile for this activity.

A standard project should also include a standard WBS element with all the necessary set up like planning element, account assignment element, billing element and other organisational elements. The creation of standard project and standard WBS element should follow the coding mask and the coding mask should take care of the number of characters for the sales order. Because any operative project or the WBS element will have the sales order number in the project as a standard functionality in assembly processing. For example if the coding mask is enabled as A/xxxxxxxxxx/ _____ then the characters xxxxxxxxx represent the sales order and the code with 10 characters will be used to fill up the sales order number while creating the project.

This is followed by the creation of standard network in CN01. The network can have the standard WBS element at the header and item level for all the activities if necessary.

Also in parallel the material master should also be set up by the MM consultant to be used in Sales order. The material master should have all the four MRP views and the MRP type should be kept as ND or the relevant MRP type to trigger the correct requirement type and hence the correct requirement class. If the MRP type is maintained as ND, then the strategy group should be maintained as the correct group which directs to the desired requirement class for the customer requirement.

Once these set up are completed, the final set up will be in the transaction code CN08 where the material code will be linked to a standard network.  This data should have the correct network order type as maintained in the requirement class. Also the standard WBS element maintained in this transaction code should be the one which is used in the network. Generally in standard network we use only one standard network. If multiple standard WBS elements are used in standard network activities, then in CN08, this field can be maintained with empty values.  The values MRP controller and the network profile are mandatory and should be maintained by the PS consultant.

If this is done in PS the transfer of requirements while trying to search for the network will have the necessary set up in CN08 and it will create an operative network.

It is also possible to have variant configuration enabled in assembly processing. Using this for example based on the complexity of the configuration and the activities required, different standard networks can be mapped to the same material using CL24N. 

Assembly Process in Project Systems With Screenshots

Assembly Process
Assembly Process is used to plan products or services that are produced or carried out repetitively.
Advantage being changes made in the sale document automatically updated in the network and vice versa. Helps keeping project team and sales team on same page.
Assembly process omits MRP planning and generates an operative order directly.
Assembly Process Flow: Example
Create sales order, quotation, RFQ  with Requested delivery date, quantiy - requirement qty and date copied from sales order to the network, backward scheduling is carried out for the network and availablility check is done for Material. system proposed date if we cannot meet the given date.
Material with Network is populated
Planned cost, confirmed delivery date provided by the system - Based on the quantities the network is adjusted accordings with respect to Execution factor.
Save the Sales order
Operative structure will get generated up on saving of Sales order.
1. SD / PS Process
i) Network - Header assigned network without a project will be generated, sales doc is the cost object.
ii)WBS and Network - Generate a network through sales order and when you save system create WBS and assigns the sales order item to a WBS element. Project is controlling object.
iii)WBS - we can assign a saled document item to WBS element, Project is controlling object.
iv)WBS and Production Order - production orede is manually assigned to the project.
2. Project number from Sales Document
TCode - CJ91
 


If there are two line items (refering to two networkss) in a sales order no: 1563
with No SD/PS assignment - Project number generated will be T-1563
with SD/PS assignment ticked - there will two numbers generated T-1563-10, T-1563-20 for two line items( refering to two networks).
Only one root indicator is not set in the project profile to avoid any errors.
3. Prerequisites for Assembly Processing.

• Standard network as template (and possibly standard WBS).
• Material with sales views ( and possibly MRP views).
• Material is assigned to Standard network.
• Requirements class that enables assembly in the sales order.

Material views
Item category group is important for selecting the item category in the sales order.




 


Material is assigned to Standard network
TCode - CN08

   


Requirements class that enables assembly in the sales order
TCode - OVZG
 
 

4. Determining the Requirement Class  - Configuration Settings  
 a)Main Strategy  - Determining Requirement Class by Main Strategy
Planning strategy is linked to requirement type
Requirment type is linked to requirment class.
i) TCode - OPPT
 


ii) TCode - OPPT
 
iii) TCode - OPPS
 
iv) TCode - OVZH
 


v) TCode - OVZG
 


Comparision between Strategy and Requirement Classes  - illustrates the data is same in both plannig strategy and requirement class. This is the reason this method is main strategy as if we have planning strategy in material master directly we are giving requirement class to the system.
   


b)Cofiguration Settings - MRP Group
If System not able to find the Requirement class based on the above stragegy it will tries to find out based on MRP Group.
If planning strategy is not maintained in the material master, system picks the same from MRP group, in the MRP group we have planning strategy and the above cycle is repeated to get the requirement class.
TCode - OPPU
   
   


c) Cofiguration Settings - Item Category 
If System not able to find the Requirement class based on the above two stragies it will tries to find out based on Item Category.
From Item category group maintained in the material master and sales document type entered in the sales order system determines item category.
 
Item category linked with requirement type
 
Requirement type is linked to requirement class.
i)   TCode - VOV7
     

 ii)  TCode - SPRO

    

iii)  TCode - VOV4

    

 iv)  TCode - OZVI

    

 v) TCode - OVZH

   

5. Typical Example
Create a sales order - Input order type, sales org, distribution channel, division.


Sales order overview - provide sold to party, ship to party and req. deliv date.



      

 Sales order overview - Enter the material



     

Sales order oveiw- Enter order quantity


     

Sales order oview - At this point of time there is no WBS reflecting against the material. once we save the sales order, network is scheduled and proposes the delivery date and generates the operative structure.

      

 Sales order overview - once the sales order is saved , open the same sales order and we can see the project is created and sales order is assigned to this project.


     

Project - We can open the project in CJ20N, look at the assignment details and Req.dlv dt.


      


Project  - illustrates the execution factor. Network is adjusted accordingly ,for the activities dependent on the quantity of the material. execution factor is equal to the quantiy based on which the multiplication happens and nework is adjusted to suit the production of required quantity.