PlanT (SAP Production Planning Assistant) – Use Cases

The use case showcases the advantages of transitioning from using the current SAP Report like MD04/MD4C to the enhanced features offered by the new and improved SAP product, PlanT.

It emphasizes the shortcomings of the existing system and the significant benefits derived from implementing to the latest solution.

Preconditions:

The organization currently uses multiple Transaction codes like MD04(Materials Stock/Requirements List), MD4C (Multilevel order report) for finding the Pegging Relationships for different Order Types.

Stakeholders have identified challenges and limitations with the old method that hinder business operations and productivity.

PlanT has been evaluated and selected as a suitable replacement for SAP Standard Reports.

Basic Flow:

Typical activities in Daily life of a Planner

• Monitor which Receipts are pegged to specific Demands.​
• Review Sales Order delivery schedules and examine Proposed and Probable Delivery Dates. ​
• Verify the current status of scheduled Deliveries. ​
• Assess how Rush Orders will affect existing Production schedules. ​
• Identify Stock or Order shortages and generate reports. ​
• Conduct analysis on cancellations. ​
• Collect data for daily production meetings.​

Identification of Limitations in Daily tasks of a Planner

• Absence of a single Workspace for a Planner to manage daily tasks efficiently
• Daily activities are repetitive in nature and needs to be done manually.
• Significant manual effort is required for consolidated Pegging information.
• Lack of automation in processes
• Time-consuming and prone to errors; relying on expertise to rectify repetitive mistakes.​
• Inability to analyze the impact of executing Rush Orders (lack visibility on existing Supply Commitments).

Limitations of current Standard SAP Reports

• SAP Reports like MD04 & MD4C are used to view Pegging Relations.​
• Supports execution of only one Order at a time ​
• Lacks support at Material / Plant / MRP Controller / Demand Types / Exception Messages Level​
• Users must perform multiple actions on Report output to obtain comprehensive information.​
• Intended Users like Planner, Customer Service team, Shop floor supervisor, needs to browse through various transactions to execute their day-to-day activities​
• Manual Consolidation is required.​

Evaluation and Selection of PlanT:

• Single workspace to execute and automate a planner day-to-day task.
• Multiple types of Demand and its corresponding Supply elements are made available in a single view.
• In a comparative gains study, it is found, by using PlanT, there is a total of 75% of time savings for a Planner and an enhanced efficiency of around 20 actions saved per Order, considering an average of 4 BOM components per Order.
• Helps in Impact analysis for executing Rush Orders.
• Planners can use PlanT to view order shortages.
• To identify the Sales Orders that are impacted due to delay in production / procurement of the sales order material or its components
• Reference in daily production meetings.
• PlanT output helps in Expediating / De-expediating Supplies from Vendors via navigating to Supply Orders and changing dates or Quantities.
• Purchase Requisition & Planned Order conversions are also available in PlanT output.
• The Pegging Relationship Data can be drilled down to the last level and can be downloaded to an Excel format.
• It can also be E-mailed, to pre-configured recipients.

Migration and Implementation of PlanT:

• PlanT will work on SAP ERP, which could be ECC or S/4 HANA.
• It would need SAP Manufacturing modules to be configured.

Postconditions:

1. Successful installation of PlanT in the SAP system will have no impact on business continuity.
2. Users can experience improved efficiency, productivity, and user satisfaction with PlanT.
3. Realization of tangible benefits, such as Productivity Improvements, Risk Mitigation, Time Savings, Quality Enhancements, Increased Efficiency.
4. Enhanced agility and scalability to adapt to changing business requirements and market dynamics.