1/19/2021

Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP)

Generated on: 2021-01-19 18:09:57 GMT+0000

SAP S/4HANA | 2020

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Product Allocation (CA-ATP-PAL)

Use
Being able to deliver the required quantity of a material to the customer at the requested time demands precise planning and
control mechanisms. Unpredictable problems, such as breakdowns in production or increased demand, can lead to critical
situations in order processing and must be avoided wherever possible. In advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) in SAP S/4HANA,
you can use Product Allocation (PAL) to avoid critical situations in demand and procurement by allocating materials in short
supply to, for example, speci c regions and customers for a speci c time period. This can help avoid the situation whereby, for
example, the entire available quantity of a material in short supply is allocated to a single customer, thereby making it impossible
for you to con rm subsequent order requirements for the same material from other customers.

Features
aATP in SAP S/4HANA supports the following key features for setting up, con guring and monitoring availability checks against
product allocation for the business document types sales order and stock transport order:

Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Con gure Product Allocation Con guring and Executing a Check Against
Create and edit product allocation
Product Allocation
objects.

De ne the period types for product

allocation objects.

De ne and order the characteristics

for product allocation objects.

Deactivate and delete product

allocation objects and their
characteristics.

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Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Maintain characteristic value
combinations and planned
allocation quantities for their time
periods.

Use spreadsheets (in .xlsx format)

or comma separated values les (in
.csv format) to maintain
characteristic value combinations
and their time series.

Reuse assignments and quantities

from deleted/deactivated
characteristic value combinations to
those active characteristic value
combinations that are using
collectives.

Change the activation and

constraint status of product
allocation objects.

Display the availability situation

(planned, available and consumed
quantity) for the materials in
product allocation objects.

Release product allocation objects

and their planning data for
productive usage.

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Create, display and edit product
allocation sequences.

Combine product allocation objects

as constraints for product allocation.

De ne alternative sources of
product allocation by creating
product allocation sequence groups
and assigning product allocation
objects to a product allocation
constraint.

Maintain the consumption strategy

(number of backward and forward
consumption periods, consumption
unit and allocation factor) for
availability checks against product
allocation.

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Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Assign materials or material-plant
combinations to product allocation
sequences.

Use spreadsheets (in .xlsx format)

or comma separated values les (in
.csv format) to maintain product
location to product allocation
assignment data for a product
allocation sequence.

De ne validity periods for any

assignments.

Product Allocation Overview

De ne and store lters for displaying
product allocation data.

On the basis of lters, display the

product allocation situation for a
speci c product allocation object,
product allocation period or
characteristic value combination.

Display product allocation periods

during which product allocation
objects are experiencing low, high or
overloaded consumption.

Display product allocation data for

characteristic value combinations.

Display product allocation order

items according to their availability
status, both graphically and as a list
report.

List order documents that have been

checked against product allocation
during an availability check.

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

Display product allocation data for
product allocation periods which are
experiencing low, high or overloaded
consumption.

Drill down to detailed information

about the order items consuming
quantity during the product
allocation periods maintained for the
product allocation object.

Navigate to the Con gure Product

Allocation and Manage Product
Allocation Planning Data apps to
check and, if required, edit product
allocation data.

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Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic

Display and analyze quantity and
Value Combinations
consumption data for the product
allocation periods maintained for
characteristic value combinations
and product allocation objects.

Drill down to the product allocation

period details for characteristic
value combinations and to the order
items consuming quantity from the
product allocation periods.

Navigate to the Con gure Product

Allocation and Manage Product
Allocation Planning Data apps to
check and, if required, edit product
allocation data.

Navigate to apps for the supported

business document types.

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

Display a list of selected order items
and relevant key gures, both
graphically and as a list report.

Display the consumed quantity for

each order item in the
corresponding product allocation
period.

Display the number of product

allocation order items graphically
and in accordance with their
availability check con rmation
status.

Navigate to the Con gure Product

Allocation and Manage Product
Allocation Planning Data apps to
check and, if required, edit product
allocation data.

Navigate to apps for the supported

business document types.

For more information, see Apps for Product Allocation (PAL).

Prerequisites
You have made the required Customizing settings as detailed in Customizing for Product Allocation.

Key Concepts in Product Allocation

The following concepts are of key importance for Product Allocation (PAL) in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP):

Concept: De nition:

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Alias A user-speci c description for a characteristic. The alias overrides
the characteristic description when the characteristic is used in
product allocation objects. An alias is de ned in the Manage
Characteristic Catalogs app.

Allocation quantity unit When a product allocation object is created or maintained, an

allocation quantity unit is de ned and represents the unit of
Consumption unit of measure measure for all planned allocation quantities. When the product
allocation object sequence is subsequently de ned, a consumption
Allocation rate
unit of measure is entered. The consumption unit corresponds to
(or has to be convertible to) the unit of measure maintained in the
material master for the material assigned to the product allocation
object. To calculate the planned allocation quantity (in allocation
quantity units), an allocation rate is maintained in the product
allocation sequence constraint.

The unit of measure of the requested order quantity is converted

into a quantity in the consumption unit of measure (based on the
conversion rule in the material master). The quantity of
consumption units is then multiplied by the allocation rate to
calculate the planned quantity (in allocation quantity units).

Authorizations based on characteristics Authorizations Based on Based on characteristic catalogs, you can restrict reading and
Characteristics editing of characteristic value combinations using authorizations
(for example, restricting editing the planning data for a sales
organization). You de ne authorizations in the Manage
Characteristic Catalogs app.

Characteristic catalog The characteristic catalog represents a selection of elds which are
part of the data model for sales and stock transport orders. The
characteristic catalog provides the characteristics that can be
chosen when you con gure a product allocation object (for
example, sales organization, division, sold-to party). Characteristic
catalogs for sales orders, stock transport orders or sales and stock
transport orders can be adapted and mixed to create characteristic
value groups that suit your business needs in the Manage
Characteristic Catalogs app.

Check date time type Speci es the requested date type used for an availability check
against product allocation. If, for example, the check date type
Material Availability Date is speci ed, the check will rst determine
the requested material availability check date by executing
scheduling for the requested delivery date. The requested material
availability date will then be used to determine the consumption
range for the availability check against product allocation. When
con guring a product allocation object, one of the following check
date types can be speci ed:

Requested Delivery Date

Goods Issue Date

Material Availability Date

Collective Allocations Collective allocation refers to CVCs for collective allocation and their
time series. A collective allocation allows you to allocate collective
quantities to a set of characteristic values to which allocation
quantities need not be assigned explicitly. For example, all
customers with a yearly purchase volume of less than 1000 EA need
not have their own allocations. Consequently, a collective allocation
CVC is setup, against which all orders from customers with a
purchase volume less than 1000 EA are checked. Collective
allocation CVCs can be maintained automatically by the system or

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manually by the user. If collective allocation CVCs are maintained by
the system, the collective allocation CVCs could be quite large,
depending on the number of characteristics and related CVCs.

Consumption Direction Backward and forward consumption periods can be maintained per
sequence constraint and de ne the time periods in which the
system searches for available allocation quantity when a product
availability check against product allocation is executed.

De ning Validity An availability check against product allocation is executed if the

requested delivery date of a requirement item for a material or
material-plant combination in a sales or stock transport order falls
within the validity start and validity end data for the material or
material-plant combination.

Factory calendar De nes the start date for a planning period according to the local
calendar. If no speci c factory calendar is de ned, the start date for
all planning periods is calculated based on the Gregorian calendar,
meaning that the planning period starts on a Monday for seven
days.

Folder column Displays the description of the node under which a characteristic is
positioned in the characteristic tree structure, as displayed in the
Select Characteristics dialog. Note that the displayed description is
not necessarily the description for the direct parent node for the
characteristic - it may be a node description higher up in the tree
structure. The Folder column is available in the Manage
Characteristic Catalogs app.

Period time zone De nes the local time zone for the planning periods for the product
allocation object and for which allocation quantities are maintained.

Product allocation object The product allocation object is the main business object in the
product allocation functionality and describes the business reason
(for example, fair share, prioritized share or ranked share of a
resource in limited supply, such as stock) for using product
allocation. The product allocation object is used to specify the
product allocation schema and contains data relating to:

Periodicity

Characteristic combinations and their hierarchy

Unit of measure of the planned allocation quantity

Requested date type used for availability checks against the

product allocation object

Can a collective allocation be set up manually or

automatically if it is not required to explicitly maintain
characteristic values during the maintenance of the
planning data

The product allocation object also contains planning data consisting

of the following:

The characteristic value combinations (CVCs), which are

either made up of explicitly speci ed characteristic values
or, if collective CVCs are being used, a combination of
explicit characteristic values and collective values
represented by #.

The time series which is made up of time periods with

planned allocation quantity. Each time series is assigned to
a CVC.

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Product allocation sequence You can use product allocation sequences and sequence groups for
sales and capacity to con gure alternative sources of supply during
Product allocation sequence group for sales and capacity an availability check against product allocation:

Product allocation sequence constraint

A product allocation sequence comprises one or more
product allocation sequence groups, each of which
represents alternative product allocations that can be
checked for available quantity to ful ll a requirement. If the
allocation quantity for a sequence group is consumed but is
insufficient to ful ll a requirement, the quantity in the next
group can be consumed also, and in the order de ned by the
group’s priority. The resulting availability check result
comprises quantity from multiple sequence groups.

A product allocation sequence group comprises one or

more sequence constraints, each of which represents the
allocation quantity for the product allocation objects
assigned to the sequence constraint. If the sequence group
consists of multiple constraints, then all the constraints are
checked for availability and a common con rmation is
determined: the common con rmation is valid for all
constraints of the sequence group.

Sequence groups for capacity can only be used to check

availability after a product availability check as the
con rmation from the availability check is used as the
requirement for the check against capacity. For more
information, see Checking Availabilty Against Capacity
Allocations.

Product allocation sequences, sequence groups and sequence

constraints are created in the Manage Product Allocation
Sequences app, in which you can also de ne the priority in which
sequence groups are checked for available quantity as well as the
consumption strategy to be applied to the sequence constraint.

For more information about options for alternative consumption,

see Multiple Sequence Constraints in a Sequence Group and
Alternative Consumption Strategies in Product Allocation
Sequences.

Value Existence Check Type De nes if and how you are noti ed when a characteristic contains
incorrect data. The Value Existence Check Type is con gured in the
Manage Characteristic Catalogs app.

Characteristics

Use
Characteristics correspond to the elds in the data model for sales and stock transport orders and are populated by values from
the corresponding elds in the relevant business document. They are used to determine the matching characteristic value
combination and its time series when an availability check against product allocation is run, against which the requirement item is
then checked.

When you create a new product allocation object, you select the characteristics for the product allocation object on the Select
Characteristics dialog and maintain the hierarchy of the characteristics by de ning an ordinal number for each characteristic. The
resulting combination of characteristics, their values and sequence, as well as the use of collective allocation, enable the system
to identify the characteristic value combination which is used to check availability for a sales or stock transport order against
product allocation. After having de ned a characteristic value combination for a product allocation object, you save the object,
thus making it available for productive use.

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Classi cation Characteristics

Classi cation characteristics can be added to sales order catalogs for Product Allocation. They may in uence quantities relevant
for Product Allocation, for example, the capacity to produce or transport the corresponding product. By adding them to the
catalog you can de ne corresponding allocations. For example, in a sales order, a car shall be equipped with a sunroof and you
want to know if the capacity of sunroofs allows to con rm the sales order. You add the corresponding classi cation characteristics
for sunroofs to the characteristic catalog, so you can create product allocation objects for planning the capacity to produce
sunroofs. Thus, the product allocation check can ensure that sales orders for cars with sunroofs within a certain period do not
exceed the capacity.

Classi cation characteristics can be combined as required with characteristics of the sales order data model in product allocation
objects to model your product allocation use cases accordingly. You create corresponding product allocation objects in the
Con gure Product Allocation app using the classi cation characteristics you have added to the catalog. Then you are able to
maintain planning data for the corresponding product allocation objects.

De ne New Characteristics via Value Groups

You may be required to de ne a new characteristic which is based on the values of an existing characteristic for a speci c business
requirement, a so-called characteristic value group. You can use the Manage Characteristic Catalogs app to do this, as well as to
extend or restrict the content of the base and mixed characteristic catalogs (for sales orders and stock transport orders), rename
existing characteristics, and add mixed characteristics.

When you add new characteristics to a characteristic catalog for Product Allocation, they appear for subsequent selection in the
Select Characteristics dialog in the Con gure Product Allocation app when you create a new product allocation object for the
applicable business document. For an example of the de nition of a characteristic value group, see Example: De ning
Characteristic Value Groups for Product Allocation.

Example: Characteristics in Product Allocation

In your company, you have a sales organization for Europe that consists of two distribution channels Northern Europe and
Southern Europe, the former comprising high-priority Customer 1 and Customer 2, the latter Customer 3. You decide to structure
your product allocation objects by creating a characteristic combination on the basis of the sales order data Sales Organization ,
Distribution Channel and Sold-to party - Customer Number (or Ship-to party - Customer Number in the case of the document
type stock transport order). As collective allocations are managed by your system, your characteristic value combination data is
as follows:

Characteristics: Allocation Quantity:

Sales Organization: Distribution Sold-to party - Period 1 Period 2 ...

Channel: Customer Number:

# # # 40 EA ...

Europe # # 60 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe # 80 EA ...

Europe Southern Europe # 80 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 1 100 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 2 50 EA ...

Europe Southern Europe Customer 3 40 EA ...

The ordinal number de nes the sequence in which characteristics are checked to identify the correct product allocation object to
be checked for available quantity: the higher the ordinal number, the higher the level of granularity for the check. In the example

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above, the characteristic values used have the following ordinal numbers:

Characteristic Value: Ordinal Number:

Sales Organization 1

Distribution Channel 2

Sold-to party - Customer Number 3

This means that if you receive a sales order for forty items of a material from your Northern European customer Customer 4, your
system identi es the following product allocation object as containing available quantity:

Characteristics: Allocation Quantity

Sales Organization: Distribution Channel: Sold-to party - Customer Period 1

Number:

Europe Northern Europe # 80 EA

De ning Consumption Direction and Periods

Use
Backward and forward consumption periods can be maintained per material-plant assignment and de ne the time periods in
which the system searches for available allocation quantity when a product availability check against product allocation is
executed. Note:

If no value is entered for Backward Consumption or Forward Consumption, an availability check against product allocation
will only be executed in the time period containing the check date for the requirement, as de ned in the Check Date Time
Type eld for the product allocation object.

If a value for both Backward Consumption and Forward Consumption is entered, an availability check against product
allocation will be executed as follows:

1. The system searches for the available allocation quantity in the time period containing the check date for the
requirement.

2. If the available allocation quantity in the time period containing the check date is insufficient to ful ll the
requirement, the system continues to search for available allocation quantity in previous time periods starting with
the time period left to the time period in which the check date falls as de ned by the Backward Consumption eld
in the consumption strategy for the product allocation sequence.

3. If the earliest possible time period does not provide sufficient available allocation quantity to ful ll the requirement,
the system continues to search for available allocation quantity in subsequent time periods up to the last possible
time period as de ned in the Forward Consumption eld.

Consumptions from all time periods maintained for backward consumption and the time period containing the check date
will result in a single con rmation schedule line for the requested delivery date.

Consumptions from the time periods maintained for forward consumption will result in the creation of a con rmation
schedule line for each time period, out of which quantity is consumed, with the con rmation date being the start of the
time period.

Example

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Two backward consumption periods and one forward consumption period are entered for a material-plant assignment. This
results in the following check sequence when an availability check against product allocation is executed:

June July August September

(Time period containing

the check date)

Searched third Searched second Searched rst Searched last

Past Periods
In addition to maintaining backward and forward consumption periods, you can also choose to include past periods by selecting
the Past Period Allowed indicator in the consumption strategy for the product allocation sequence. If this indicator is agged, all
time series in the past and the time series bisected by the current date will be considered during the availability check against
product allocation.

Consume Overlapping Quantities Only

You can ag the Consume Overlapping Quantity Only checkbox to ensure that only quantity from overlapping periods can be
used to con rm a requirement. For more information, see Using Overlapping Quantities.

Related Information
Alternative Consumption Strategies in Product Allocation Sequences

De ning Validity

Use
If the validity time period for a material or material-plant combination is to be restricted, values can be de ned in the Validity Start
and Validity End elds. If the requested delivery date of an order requirement item for a material or material-plant combination
falls within the validity time period of the assignment, the system will execute an availability check against product allocation.

 Note
A material or material-plant combination can be assigned to more than one product allocation object. There should, however,
only be one valid assignment for a material or material-plant combination at any given time, meaning that any validity time
periods de ned must not overlap.

Number Ranges

Use
Number ranges are an optional method for controlling how identi ers for product allocation objects are de ned. De ning number
range intervals is not a prerequisite to using the product allocation function: you can always use freely-de nable combinations of
alphanumerical characters for product allocation object identi ers, even if you decide to use number ranges. If you do not de ne
an identi er when creating a product allocation object, your system will assign an identi er from the number range.

If you choose to use number ranges, the following three options are available:

1. You can create an internal number range with a From number and a To number. Doing this means that if, for example, you
are working in the Con gure Product Allocation app and you do not enter an identi er for a product allocation object

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manually, the next possible number up to a maximum of twenty characters in your internal number range internal is
determined automatically by the system when you save the product allocation object.

 Note
If you choose to use an internal number range interval but want to override the internal number range and de ne an
identi er for a product allocation object manually, you can do so and use any combination of alphanumeric characters,
also in excess of twenty characters.

2. You can create an external number range with a From number and a To number. Doing this means that if, for example, you
are working in the Con gure Product Allocation app and you enter an identi er for a product allocation object manually,
your system checks if the identi er entered manually is inside the external number range interval. If the identi er is outside
the external number range interval, your system issues a warning message.

 Note
If you choose to use an external number range interval but want to override the external number range and de ne an
identi er for a product allocation object manually, you can do so and use any combination of alphanumeric characters,
also in excess of twenty characters.

3. You can create internal and external number ranges, for which the scenarios described for option 1 and option 2 are also
valid.

For more information on number ranges in product allocation, go to Customizing activity Cross-Application Components
Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) Product Allocation (PAL) De ne Number Ranges for Product Allocation .

Converting Units of Measure

Use
When product allocation objects are created or maintained, an allocation quantity unit is entered and represents the unit of
measure for all planned allocation quantities. When the product allocation object sequence is subsequently de ned, a
consumption unit of measure is entered. The consumption unit of measure corresponds to, or has to be convertible to, the unit of
measure maintained in the material master for the material assigned to the product allocation sequence. To calculate the planned
allocation quantity (in allocation quantity units), an allocation rate is maintained in the product allocation sequence constraint.

The unit of measure of the requested order quantity is converted into a quantity of consumption units (based on the conversion
rule in the material master). The quantity of consumption units is then multiplied by the allocation rate to calculate the planned
allocation quantity (in allocation quantity units).

The following examples show how the units of measure are used to calculate the required allocation quantity:

Example
You sell dairy products and have created a product allocation object for fresh milk. Your customer uses a different unit of measure
in sales orders (box). The conversion rule in the material master for 1 box is 6 bottles. This results in the following:

Allocation Quantity Unit for milk in the Consumption Unit in the product allocation Allocation Rate in the corresponding
product allocation object: sequence (and sales order): sequence constraint:

LTR bottles 2,000000

For an order of 1 box, 12 LTR of the product allocation object's allocation quantity will be consumed.

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Example
You produce windshields for an automobile manufacturer. You produce the windshields on a machine that runs twenty-four hours
per day and you have created a product allocation object based on machine capacity: it takes two hours to produce each
windshield. Your customer orders windshields in a different unit of measure in sales and stock transport orders. This results in the
following:

Allocation Quantity Unit for windscreens in Consumption Unit in the product allocation Allocation Rate in the corresponding
the product allocation object: sequence (and sales order): sequence constraint:

HOUR EA 2,000000

For an order of 1 EA windshields, 2 HOUR are consumed of the product allocation object's allocation quantity.

Example
As an automobile manufacturer you produce two models, a compact vehicle and a larger sports utility vehicle. Each model
requires different quantities of the same, very valuable paint: thirty liters for the compact vehicle, forty- ve liters for the sports
utility vehicle. As a result, your customer creates sales and stock transport orders for the different models which require different
paint quantities:

Allocation Quantity Unit for Consumption Unit in the Allocation Rate for the compact Allocation Rate for the sports
paint in the product allocation product allocation sequence vehicle in the corresponding utility vehicle in the
object: (and sales order): sequence constraint: corresponding sequence
constraint:

LTR EA 30,000000 45,000000

For an order of a compact vehicle, 30 LTR will be consumed of the product allocation object’s allocation quantity. For an order of a
sports utility vehicle 45 LTR will be consumed of the product allocation object’s allocation quantity.

Using Collective Allocations

Use
Collective allocations can be used to check the availability of requirements with characteristic values that are not already part of a
characteristic value combination. If, for example, you have de ned characteristic value combinations for the sales order-related
characteristics Sales organization, Distribution Channel and Sold-to party - Customer Number and sold-to parties who are not
covered by the de ned characteristic value combinations have requirements, the allocation quantity from a collective allocation
can be used to con rm those requirements. This enables you to distribute limited availability (of, for example, materials) across
sales orders with speci c characteristic value combinations for their characteristics and all those without.

When you create a product allocation object, you can choose to use collective allocations and de ne if they are to be created
manually or automatically:

Option: De nition:

Collective Allocation Managed Manually You create the required collective allocations manually for each
characteristic value combination.

Collective Allocation Managed by System Your system generates all collective allocations automatically for
each characteristic value combination. Note that if you choose to
use this option and decide at a later date that you no longer want to
use collective allocations or want to manage allocations manually,
all automatically created collective allocations are deleted.

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No Collective Allocation Collective allocations are not created.

Example
In your company, you have a sales organization for Europe that consists of two distribution channels, Northern Europe and
Southern Europe, the former comprising high-priority Customer 1 and Customer 2, the latter Customer 3. To distribute limited
supply among these high-priority sold-to parties, you have to create speci c characteristic value combinations as follows:

Characteristics: Allocation Quantity:

Sales Organization: Distribution Sold-to party - Period 1 Period 2 ...

Channel: Customer Number:

Europe Northern Europe Customer 1 100 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 2 50 EA ...

Europe Southern Europe Customer 3 40 EA ...

You want to reserve part of the limited material availability in period 1 for all low-priority sold-to parties in distribution channel
Northern Europe as well. To do this, you use the Collective Allocation Managed Manually option and create a new characteristic
value combination where all potential low-priority sold-to parties are represented by the placeholder # in the characteristic Sold-to
party - Customer Number. This results in the following change:

Characteristics: Allocation Quantity:

Sales Organization: Distribution Sold-to party - Period 1 Period 2 ...

Channel: Customer Number:

Europe Northern Europe # 80 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 1 100 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 2 50 EA ...

Europe Southern Europe Customer 3 40 EA ...

If, however, you use the Collective Allocation Managed Manually option to create collective allocations for all characteristics, this
results in the following:

Characteristics: Allocation Quantity:

Sales Organization: Distribution Sold-to party - Period 1 Period 2 ...

Channel: Customer Number:

# # # 40 EA ...

Europe # # 60 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe # 80 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 1 100 EA ...

Europe Northern Europe Customer 2 50 EA ...

Europe Southern Europe Customer 3 40 EA ...

To create characteristic value combinations for all characteristics simultaneously and efficiently, choose Collective Allocation
Managed by System.

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Reusing Allocation Quantities and Assignments

If you delete, deactivate or reactive a characteristic value combination to which planned allocation quantities are assigned, any
quantities and assignments can be re-used by other active characteristic value combinations for which collective allocation is
active:

Example
Deletion of Characteristic Value Combinations

Prerequisites: no quantity is assigned to the CVC and no temporary quantity assignments exist.

If the user agrees to transfer the data, the planned allocation quantity of the CVC to be deleted will be added to the
next level collective CVC.

Before Deletion

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Active

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 100 100 100 100 100 Active

After Deletion

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 105 115 110 105 Active

Example
Deactivation of Characteristic Value Combinations

Prerequisites: no quantity is assigned to the CVC and no temporary quantity assignments exist.

If the user agrees to transfer the data, the planned allocation quantity of the CVC to be deactivated will be added to
the next level collective CVC.

Before Deactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Active

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 100 100 100 100 100 Active

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After Deactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Inactive

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 105 115 110 105 Active

Example
Reactivation of Characteristic Value Combinations

Prerequisites: no quantity is assigned and no temporary quantity assignments exist for the CVC and next level CVC
for which collective allocation is active.

If the user agrees to transfer the data, the planned allocation quantity of the CVC to be deactivated will be added to
the next level collective CVC.

Before Reactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Inactive

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 105 115 110 105 Active

After Reactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Active

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 - 10 105 - 5 115 - 15 110 - 10 105 - 5 Active

Creating Planning Data

Use
The Manage Product Allocation Planning Data app in aATP offers download and upload functionality to enable mass data
creation and maintenance for product allocation objects. The functions support spreadsheets (.xlsx format) and comma
separated values les (.csv format) and can handle the following data for product allocation objects during a de ned time period
selection range:

Characteristic value combinations, including collective allocation characteristic value combinations

Descriptions for characteristic value combinations

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Time periods

Planned allocation quantities

You can use the Download and Upload buttons to maintain product allocation data efficiently. To do this, proceed as follows:

Use the Download function to create a .xlsx or .csv le containing all existing product allocation planning data for a product
allocation object and time period.

In the downloaded le:

Create new characteristic value combinations (including, if required, collective allocation characteristic value
combinations).

Change or enhance the downloaded product allocation planning data (characteristic values, allocation quantities)
as required.

Upload the le and, if necessary, make any required adjustments to the uploaded data in the Product Allocation Planning
Data table.

 Note
When the Download function in the Manage Product Allocation Planning Data app is used to download planning data for
product allocation objects to .csv le format, the downloaded data may be preceded by additional zeros and spaces or look
corrupted when the resulting .csv le is opened directly in Microsoft Excel. For more information, see SAP Note 2578972 .

Related Information
How to Maintain Planning Data for Product Allocation

Creating Material-Plant Assignment Data

Use
The Assign Product to Product Allocation app in aATP offers download and upload functionality to enable mass data creation and
maintenance of material-plant assignments in product allocation sequences. The functions support spreadsheets (.xlsx format)
and comma separated values les (.csv format).

To maintain material-plant assignments for a product allocation sequence efficiently, proceed as follows:

Use the Download function to create an .xlsx or .csv le containing all existing assignment data including, if required,
descriptions.

In the downloaded le:

Create new material-plant assignment data.

Change or enhance the downloaded material-plant assignment data as required.

In Edit mode, upload the updated le and, if necessary, make any required adjustments to the uploaded data in the
Material-Plant Assignments table.

 Note
All validity period data in the downloaded le is displayed in Coordinated Universal Time (in short, UTC).

Related Information
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Assign Product to Product Allocation

Reusing Allocation Quantities and Assignments

Use
If you delete, deactivate or reactivate a characteristic value combination to which planned allocation quantities are assigned in the
Manage Product Allocation Planning Data app, any quantities and assignments can be re-used by other active characteristic value
combinations for which collective allocation is active:

Example
Deletion of Characteristic Value Combinations

Prerequisites: no quantity is assigned to the CVC and no temporary quantity assignments exist.

If the user agrees to transfer the data, the planned allocation quantity of the CVC to be deleted will be added to the
next level collective CVC.

Before Deletion

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Active

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 100 100 100 100 100 Active

After Deletion

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 105 115 110 105 Active

Example
Deactivation of Characteristic Value Combinations

Prerequisites: no quantity is assigned to the CVC and no temporary quantity assignments exist.

If the user agrees to transfer the data, the planned allocation quantity of the CVC to be deactivated will be added to
the next level collective CVC.

Before Deactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Active

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Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 100 100 100 100 100 Active

After Deactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Inactive

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 105 115 110 105 Active

Example
Reactivation of Characteristic Value Combinations

Prerequisites: no quantity is assigned and no temporary quantity assignments exist for the CVC and next level CVC
for which collective allocation is active.

If the user agrees to transfer the data, the planned allocation quantity of the CVC to be deactivated will be added to
the next level collective CVC.

Before Reactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Inactive

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 105 115 110 105 Active

After Reactivation

Sales Distribution Sold-to or Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Status

Organization Channel Ship-to
Party

0001 01 CUS_01 10 5 15 10 5 Active

0001 01 # 20 10 30 10 20 Inactive

0001 # # 110 - 10 105 - 5 115 - 15 110 - 10 105 - 5 Active

Related Information
How to Assign Products to Product Allocations

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Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Multiple Sequence Constraints in a Sequence Group

Use
Multiple sequence constraints in a sequence group can be used simultaneously as sources of supply to ensure that a minimum
con rmation is possible for all of the constraints in the sequence group when the required quantity in an order document is
checked against the sequence group during an availability check. If a sequence group contains more than one valid constraint, the
constraints are all checked and automatically considered to be equal. From the check results of all constraints, a common
con rmation valid for all constraints is calculated (minimum possible for all constraints). This means the availability check against
product allocation con rms the latest date on which quantity can be con rmed by all constraints in the sequence group. Before
availability is checked for an order document, the group validity for the requirement is determined by the system: all validities and
the consumption ranges de ned for each constraint are aligned into a common validity range for the whole group. Each constraint
is then checked by considering this group validity, meaning that available quantities of a constraint which lie outside the group
validity will not be consumed and cannot be used to con rm required quantity.

Example:
In the Manage Product Allocation Sequences app you con gure a sequence with a sequence group. The sequence group contains
two constraints:

Sequence Description Allocation Quantity Allocation Constraint Validity Validity Backward Forward
Constraint Object Unit Rate Status Start End Consumption Consumption

1 Constraint PAO_1 EA 1,000000 Restricted 10.09., 31.12., 0 0

1 Availability 00:00:00 23:59:59

2 Constraint PAO_2 EA 1,000000 Restricted 10.09., 31.12., 1 4

2 Availability 00:00:00 23:59:59

In the Con gure Product Allocation app, you have maintained the product allocation objects as follows:

Allocation Object Period Type Check Date Time Type

PAO_1 Month Requested Delivery Date

PAO_2 Week

In the Manage Product Allocation Planning Data app, you have maintained quantity for the required material in the product
allocation objects in the respective time periods, as follows:

Allocation Object 01.09. 01.10. 01.11. 01.12. ...

PAO_1 300 300 300 300 ...

Allocation Object 10.09. 17.09. 24.09. 01.10. ...

PAO_2 50 50 50 50 ...

When you check availability for an order of 300 PC of the required material with a requested delivery date of 21.09., the system
con rms the following:

Con rmed delivery date Delivery date: 21.09. Con rmed quantity: 100 PC

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Delivery proposal Delivery date: 24.09. Con rmed quantity: 50 PC

The Product Allocation: Con rmation Calculation screen indicates that 100 PC of the required material can be ful lled on the
required delivery date as 100 PC is the maximum quantity that can be con rmed by both constraints in the sequence group for
that date. Another 50 PC are con rmed on 24.09.: pressing Allocation situation will display the constraint time periods in which
quantity is available and consumed. In this example, 150 PC are consumed from PAO_1 in the time period beginning 01.09. and 50
PC are consumed from PAO_2 in the time periods beginning 10.09., 17.09. and 24.09.

Temporary quantity assignments are created for the required, con rmed amount.

Related Information
How to Con gure Product Allocation
How to Maintain Planning Data for Product Allocation
How to Maintain Product Allocation Sequences
Using Overlapping Quantities

Using Overlapping Quantities

Use
You can also combine the quantity consumptions of several constraints to enable a common con rmation for a requirement. To do
so, you can select the Consume Overlapping Quantities Only indicator in the consumption strategy for a sequence group, in the
Manage Product Allocation Sequences app. This ensures that quantity will only be consumed for a requirement from those
constraints in a group whose quantities overlap - the maximum possible quantity for all involved constraints is used. This, in turn,
ensures that the consumption periods for all constraints are within a closer time period.

Example 1
In the Manage Product Allocation Sequence app, you have con gured an allocation sequence containing a group with two
constraints. The time periods for the two constraints show the following quantity:

Constraint Allocation Time Periods

22.10. 29.10. 05.11. 12.11.

1 10 PC 15 PC 20 PC 10 PC

2 0 PC 0 PC 30 PC 10 PC

Checking availability for 30 PC against the allocation sequence above will result in a con rmation of 20 PC on 05.11. and 10 PC on
12.11. as the maximum quantity that both constraints can ful ll on 05.11. is 20PC. Although the allocation periods for constraint 1
offer quantity to enable a con rmation consisting of two schedule lines with different availability dates, these quantities cannot be
used because the allocation periods for constraint 2 do not offer quantity:

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Example 2
In the Manage Product Allocation Sequence app, you have con gured an allocation sequence containing a group with two
constraints. The time periods for the two constraints show the following quantity:

Constraint Allocation Time Periods

22.10. 29.10. 05.11. 12.11.

1 0 PC 20 PC 0 PC 0 PC

2 0 PC 0 PC 0 PC 50 PC

Checking availability for 20 PC against a product allocation sequence containing a group with two constraints will not result in a
con rmation as neither constraint has a time period with available quantity that overlaps with a time period offering equal
quantity in the other constraint:

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Related Information
Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Alternative Consumption Strategies in Product Allocation Sequences

Use
By maintaining different consumption parameters for the product allocation objects used in sequence constraints and by using
the same product allocation object several times in different sequence constraints/groups, you can con gure a sequence in which
the same allocation object is checked multiple times with a different consumption strategy for available quantity. This gives a lot of
exibility in de ning how the allocation check consumes the product allocation objects. Doing so may increase the possibility of
generating an on-time con rmation for an order requirement.

Example
The following simple example serves to give you an indication of possible alternative consumption strategies that you can
con gure:

1. In the Manage Product Allocation Sequences app, you de ne a sequence which, in order to increase the possibility of
generating an on-time con rmation, rst searches periods which lie before the requested delivery date. Only if insufficient
quantity is available in earlier time periods will the system continue to search in later time periods. The sequence contains
four sequence groups as alternative sources of supply:

Two of the sequence groups use one product allocation object, PAO_1.

Two of the sequence groups use another product allocation object, PAO_2.

You de ne differing backward and forward consumption for each of the sequence groups as follows:

Priority Sequence Group Backward Forward Consumption Allocation Object

Consumption

1 10 2 0 PAO_1

2 20 2 0 PAO_2

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Priority Sequence Group Backward Forward Consumption Allocation Object

Consumption

3 30 0 2 PAO_1

4 40 0 2 PAO_2

 Note
The Sequence Group identi er is assigned automatically.

This results in the following pattern being applied to identify available quantity when the availability check for the
requirement quantity is executed:

2. Restricting the parameters for backward and forward consumption to one period each results in the following pattern being
applied when the system searches for available quantity:

Priority Sequence Group Backward Forward Consumption Allocation Object

Consumption

1 10 1 0 PAO_1

2 20 1 0 PAO_2

3 30 0 1 PAO_1

4 40 0 1 PAO_2

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3. You want to maximize the on-time con rmation of 45 PC in an order document. You de ne one backward and one forward
consumption period for the sequence groups used (as in example 2, above), 10 PC of quantity is available for each
allocation object time period. This results in the following pattern being applied:

Priority Sequence Group Backward Forward Consumption Allocation Object

Consumption

1 10 1 0 PAO_1

2 20 1 0 PAO_2

3 30 0 1 PAO_1

4 40 0 1 PAO_2

This results in the following con rmation:

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Requested quantity: 45 PC

Quantity con rmed on time 40 PC

Quantity con rmed late 5 PC

Related Information
Manage Product Allocation Sequences
Using Overlapping Quantities

Checking Availabilty Against Capacity Allocations

Use
You can maintain capacity sequence groups in the Manage Product Allocation Sequences app that enable you to execute an
availability check against product allocation after a product availability check has taken place.

The check against capacity is executed on the basis of the results of the preceding product availability check: the con rmation
from the preceding product availability check is used as the request (date and quantity) for the product allocation check against
capacity. This enables you to react to changes (for example, the requested date is pushed back by one week) as a result of the
product availability check which could render any previous allocation results invalid.

This enables you to combine both product allocation checks within one availability check:

Check product allocation based on sales constraints.

Check product availability.

Check product allocation based on capacity constraints.

The Product Allocation: Con rmation Calculation screen now clearly differentiates between allocations for sales and allocations
for capacity: (Sales) or (Capacity) is clearly stated after the description of the sequence group.

Con guring and Executing a Check Against Product Allocation

Use the following example procedures to con gure product allocation for product availability checks:

Customizing for Product Allocation

How to Con gure Product Allocation

How to Maintain Planning Data for Product Allocation

How to Maintain Product Allocation Sequences

How to Assign Products to Product Allocations

Customizing for Product Allocation

Use
Before you can use product allocation to run an availability check for a sales or stock transport order in advanced Available-to-
Promise (aATP), you must activate product allocation in Customizing at Cross-Application Components Advanced Available-to-
Promise (aATP) Product Allocation (PAL) Activate Product Allocation .

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Before activating product allocation, note that:

The availability check against product allocation is activated per client in your system.

Product allocation is available for sales orders and stock transport orders and can only be used if the aATP functions are
active.

If you activate the product allocation function, no existing allocation data or con rmations are transferred automatically.

After activation, every availability check will be executed with product allocation in aATP. If you activate the product
allocation function in aATP, you cannot revert to the previously used product allocation function in Sales and Distribution.

The following Customizing settings must be con gured before you can run an availability check against product allocation for
sales or stock transport orders:

In the Customizing activity Cross-Application Components Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) Product Availability
Check (PAC) De ne Availability Check Group , set Advanced ATP for the required checking group to Active.

In the Customizing activity Cross-Application Components Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) Product Allocation
(PAL) Activate Product Allocation , set Activate to Yes.

In the Customizing activity Sales and Distribution Basic Functions Availability Check and Transfer of Requirements
Transfer of Requirements Con gure Requirements Classes , set checkbox PdA for the required requirement class.

In the Customizing activity Cross-Application Components Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) Con guration
Activities for Speci c Document Types Sales Orders and Deliveries De ne Availability Check Procedure for each
Schedule Line Category , set checkbox All. for the required schedule line category.

 Note
You can also use transaction ATP_IMG to reach the Customizing activities relevant for advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP).

How to Con gure Product Allocation

Context
Use this example procedure to de ne a schema for a product allocation object. The schema of a product allocation object
comprises, among others, the ID and description of the product allocation object, its periodicity, characteristics structure and
their hierarchy, the unit of measure for the planned allocation quantity and the date time type (material availability date, good
issue date or requested delivery date) used for the check against product allocation.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log onto SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the Internal displays.
Sales Representative role.

2 Access the list report for product Open the Con gure Product The list report for product
allocation objects. Allocation tile. allocation objects in the
Con gure Product Allocation
app displays.

3 Create a new product allocation Press the + (Create Object) The object page displays and
object. button. contains some default values.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

4 Enter product allocation object On the New Object screen make

data. the following entries (leave other
elds with their default values):

Allocation Object:
Product allocation
object name

Object Description:
Product allocation
object description

Allocation Quantity
Unit: UoM (for example,
EA or PC)

Period Type: Week

Purpose:Sales Order
or Stock Transport
or both.

5 Add characteristics. Press the Add button above the The selected characteristics
Characteristics table. Select the appear in the Characteristics
characteristics you would like to table.
use and select OK. For example:

Sales Order Sales

Organization Sales
Organization

Sales
Order Distribution
Channel

Sales Order Sales

Order Item Business
partners Ship-To
Party Customer
Number

6 Place characteristics into a Use the Move Up and Move The selected characteristics are
hierarchical order that suits the Down buttons to place the in the required order.
business requirement. characteristics you chose into
the required order. For example:

Sales Organization

Distribution Channel

Ship-To Party –
Customer Number

7 Save product allocation object. Press the Save button. The product allocation object
you just created is now in
display mode and contains the
characteristics you chose. To
make more changes, select Edit.

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Note that you can also use the Manage Characteristic Catalogs app to adapt characteristic catalogs to suit your business needs
when you run availability checks against product allocation.

Related Information
Con gure Product Allocation
Manage Characteristic Catalogs

How to Maintain Planning Data for Product Allocation

Context
Use this example procedure to maintain characteristic value combinations and planned allocation quantities for the time periods
of the characteristic value combinations. Characteristic value combinations and the corresponding time series can be maintained
by uploading data in spreadsheets (in .xlsx format) or comma separated values les (in .csv format). The Manage Product
Allocation Planning Data app also enables you to change the activation status, the constraint status of the characteristic value
combinations of the product allocation object.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log onto SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the Internal displays.
Sales Representative role.

2 Access the list report for product Open the Manage Product The list report for product
allocation objects. Allocation Planning Data tile. allocation objects in the Manage
Product Allocation Planning
Data app displays.

3 Search product allocation Enter the name of the product The product allocation object
object. allocation object you created in appears in the table of the list
the previous step in the report.
Allocation Object search eld
and select Go.

4 Select product allocation object. Select the entry for the product The Product Allocation Object
allocation object created in the object page appears in display
previous step. mode. The Product Allocation
Planning Data table is empty.

5 Edit product allocation object Press the Edit button. The Add, Change Status
planning data. Change Constraint Status,
Delete Download and Upload
buttons appear above the
Product Allocation Planning
Data table.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

6 Maintain characteristic values Characteristic values can be

and allocation quantities. maintained manually by
pressing the Add button or by
rst downloading the product
allocation planning data
schema, maintaining the
planning data in a .xlsx or .csv
le and uploading the le again.

Ensure you maintain at least one

characteristic value combination
for the characteristics you have
chosen and based on your
selected master data for which
you can create sales or stock
transport orders.

Ensure that the allocation

quantity you maintain per period
is not too large. If you do not, the
restricting effect of product
allocation on the overall ATP
result will not be visible.

7 Save product allocation object. Press the Save button. The planning data you just
created appears in display
mode. To make more changes,
select Edit.

8 Display product allocation Select one of the product A bar chart appears: the
consumption situation. allocation data records you displayed periods show Planned
created and press the Show and Available Quantity entries
Consumption button. equal to the quantities you
maintained previously. There are
no quantity entries for
Consumed Quantity.

Related Information
Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

How to Maintain Product Allocation Sequences

Context
Use this example procedure to de ne product allocation sequences with which to organize the consumption strategy of product
allocations. The product allocation sequence comprises, among others, the ID and description of the product allocation sequence,
the settings for backward and forward consumption, sequence groups which allow you to efficiently combine product allocation
objects as constraints or alternative allocations and set a lead time duration at sequence group constraint level.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log onto SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the Internal displays.
Sales Representative role.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

2 Access the list report for product Open the Manage Product The list report for product
allocation sequences. Allocation Sequences tile. allocation sequences in the
Manage Product Allocation
Sequences app displays.

3 Create a new product allocation Press the + Create Object The object page displays an
sequence. button. entry for a sales sequence group
as a default.

4 Maintain header data for a On the New Object screen make

product allocation sequence. the following entries:

Allocation Sequence:
<product
allocation
sequence name>

Description: <product
allocation
sequence
description>

Backward Consumption
and Forward
Consumption: at least 1
for both elds: otherwise
only the allocation
quantity of the period
within which the
requested delivery date
falls will be considered
for the availability check
again product allocation.

Past Period Allowed:

agged as default, this
indicator ensures that all
time series in the past
and the time series
bisected by the current
date will be considered
during the availability
check against product
allocation

Consumption Unit: the

base unit of measure of
the material you chose
or any other unit of
measure that is
convertible into the base
unit of measure of that
material.

5 Select product allocation Press the entry for Sequence The details of the sales
sequence group. Group <10> in the Sales sequence group are displayed,
Sequence Groups section. an entry for a constraint is
defaulted.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

6 Maintain product allocation On the General Information for

sequence group. Group screen, make the
following entry

Description: <product
allocation
sequence group
description>

7 Select product allocation Press the entry in the The details of the sales
sequence group constraint. Constraints table. sequence group constraint are
displayed. Some elds from the
product allocation sequence
group are displayed.

8 Maintain product allocation On the General Information for The value for Check Data Time
sequence group constraint. Constraint screen, make the Type is taken over from the
following entries: allocation object.

Description: <product
allocation
sequence group
constraint
description>

Allocation Object:
Select the allocation
object you created in
step Con gure Product
Allocation from the
dropdown list.

9 Save product allocation Press the Apply button for the The product allocation
sequence product allocation sequence sequence data you just created
group constraint. appears in display mode. To
make further changes, press the
Press the Apply button for the Edit button.
product allocation sequence
group.

Press the Save button for the

product allocation sequence.

Related Information
Manage Product Allocation Sequences
Alternative Consumption Strategies in Product Allocation Sequences

How to Assign Products to Product Allocations

Context
Use this example procedure to assign materials and material-plant combinations to the product allocation sequence you created
in procedure How to Maintain Product Allocation Sequences. The assignment activates availability checks against product
allocation for requirements (from sales orders and stock transport orders) for the assigned materials and material-plant
combinations. The assignment of materials and material-plant combinations is time-dependent and enables you, for example, to
react easily to temporary or seasonal uctuations of supply and demand.

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Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log onto SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the Internal displays.
Sales Representative role.

2 Access the list report for product Open the Assign Product to The list report for product
allocation objects. Product Allocation tile. allocation objects in the Assign
Product to Product Allocation
app displays.

3 Search for a product allocation Enter the name of the product The product allocation
sequence. allocation sequence you created sequences appears in the table
in process step Manage Product of the list report.
Allocation Sequences in the
Allocation Sequence search
eld and select Go.

4 Select a product allocation Select the entry for the product The Product Allocation
object. allocation sequence you created Sequence object page appears
in process step Manage Product in display mode. The Material-
Allocation Sequence. Plant Assignments table is
empty.

5 Edit material-plant assignment Press the Edit button. The Add and Delete buttons
data for a product allocation appear above the Material-Plant
sequence. Assignments table.

6 Maintain material-plant Press the Add button and create

assignments for the product an assignment by maintaining
allocation sequence. the following entries:

Material

Plant

Validity Start and Validity End

7 Save the material-plant Press the Save button. The material-plant assignment
assignment for the product you just created is now in
allocation sequence. display mode. To make more
changes, select Edit.

Related Information
Assign Product to Product Allocation

Apps for Product Allocation (PAL)

Use
Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) in SAP S/4HANA offers multiple SAP Fiori apps for con guring, executing and monitoring
availability checks against product allocation. All apps support the business document types sales order and stock transport
order.

Business Roles
You require the following business role to use the following SAP Fiori apps in the SAP Fiori launchpad:

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Business Role Role ID SAP Fiori App

Internal Sales Representative R0080

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Planning

Data

Manage Product Allocation

Sequences

Assign Product to Product

Allocation

Product Allocation Overview

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

Monitor Product Allocation

Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order

Items

User Assistance
SAP Fiori apps contain Web Assistant documentation for key elds and concepts. To display the documentation, con gure the
settings as detailed in the User Assistance Settings section of the Installation Guide. The Installation Guide is available in the
Product Documentation section of the https://help.sap.com and is speci c to the SAP S/4HANA product and version you are
using. After the user assistance settings have been con gured, pressing F1 or clicking the question mark symbol displayed in the
app header will display the Web Assistant documentation.

Con gure Product Allocation

With this app, you can create, nd, display and change the schema for a product allocation object. The schema of a product
allocation object comprises, among others, the ID and description of the product allocation object, periodicity, characteristics
structure and their hierarchy, the unit of measure for the planned allocation quantity and the date time type (material availability
date, goods issue date and requested delivery date) used for the product allocation check. You can use this app if the business role
Internal Sales Representative (R0080) is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create product allocation objects for the business document types sales order and stock transport order.

Search for, display and edit product allocation objects.

De ne the period types for product allocation objects.

De ne and order the characteristics for product allocation objects.

Deactivate and delete product allocation objects and their characteristics.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

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Tablet

Extensibility
App Extensibility: Con gure Product Allocation

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to manage availability checks against product allocation in advanced Available-
to-Promise (aATP). For more information on related apps, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Product Allocation Overview

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

App Extensibility: Con gure Product Allocation

You can extend the Con gure Product Allocation app according to your business needs.

Features
Key users can extend the app in the Custom Fields and Logic app using the business context Product Allocation Object.

You can add elds to the following UI elements using UI adaptation at runtime:

UI Element Business Context

Select a product allocation object and go to the General Product Allocation Object
Information UI tab:

General Information (Group)

Date/Time (Group)

Purpose (Group)

For more information about how to adapt an SAP Fiori UI at runtime, see Making UI Changes.

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

With this app, you can maintain characteristic value combinations and planned allocation quantities for the time periods of the
characteristic value combinations. Characteristic value combinations and the corresponding time series can be created manually
or by uploading a spreadsheet (in .xlsx format) or comma separated values le (in .csv) format. This app also enables you to
change the activation status, the constraint status of the characteristic value combinations as well as the lifecycle status of the

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product allocation object. You can use this app if the business role Internal Sales Representative (R0080) is assigned to your
user.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Maintain characteristic value combinations and planned allocation quantities for their time periods.

Use spreadsheets (in .xlsx format) or comma separated values les (in .csv format) to maintain characteristic value
combinations and their time series.

Reuse assignments and quantities from deleted/deactivated characteristic value combinations to those active
characteristic value combinations that are using collectives.

Change the activation and constraint status of product allocation objects.

Display the availability situation (planned, available and consumed quantity) for the materials in product allocation objects.

Release product allocation objects and their planning data for productive usage.

Prerequisite
You have already created product allocation objects in the Con gure Product Allocation app.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to manage availability checks against product allocation in advanced Available-
to-Promise (aATP). For more information on related apps, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Product Allocation Overview

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

With this app, you can combine product allocation objects as constraints or alternative sources of product allocation which can be
used to con rm requested quantities during availability checks against product allocation. You can use this app if the business role
Internal Sales Representative (R0080) is assigned to your user.

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Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create, display and edit product allocation sequences.

Combine product allocation objects as constraints for product allocation.

De ne alternative sources of product allocation by creating product allocation sequence groups for sales and capacity and
assigning product allocation objects to a product allocation constraint.

Maintain the consumption strategy (number of backward and forward consumption periods, consumption unit, allocation
factor) for availability checks against product allocation.

Maintain sequences so that multiple constraints can be checked simultaneously and multiple times.

Con gure sequence groups to consume overlapping quantities only when a sequence group contains more than one
sequence constraint.

Prerequisites
You have already created product allocation objects in the Con gure Product Allocation app.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Extensibility
App Extensibility: Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to manage availability checks against product allocation in advanced Available-
to-Promise (ATP). For more information on related apps, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Product Allocation Overview

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

App Extensibility: Manage Product Allocation Sequences

You can extend the Manage Product Allocation Sequences app according to your business needs.

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Features
Key users can extend the app in the Custom Fields and Logic app using the business context Product Allocation Sequence.

You can add elds to the following UI elements using UI adaptation at runtime:

UI Element Business Context

Select a product allocation sequence and go to the UI tab General Product Allocation Sequence
Information:

General Information (Group)

Consumption Strategy for Sequence (Group)

For more information about how to adapt an SAP Fiori UI at runtime, see Making UI Changes.

Assign Product to Product Allocation

With this app, you can assign materials and material-plant combinations to product allocation sequences which you have created
in the Manage Product Allocation Sequences app and which contain product allocation objects created in the Con gure Product
Allocation app. The assignment activates availability checks against product allocation for sales and stock transport order
requirements for the assigned materials and material-plant combinations. The assignment of materials and material-plant
combinations is time-dependent and enables you, for example, to react easily to temporary or seasonal uctuations of supply and
demand. You can use this app if the business role Internal Sales Representative (R0080) is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Assign materials or material-plant combinations to product allocation sequences.

Use spreadsheets (in .xlsx format) or comma separated values les (in .csv format) to maintain product location to product
allocation assignment data for a product allocation sequence.

De ne validity periods for any assignments.

Prerequisites
You have already created product allocation objects in the Con gure Product Allocation app, de ned planning data in the Manage
Product Allocation Planning Data app and de ned product allocation sequences in the Manage Product Allocation Sequences app.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to manage availability checks against product allocation in advanced Available-
to-Promise (aATP). For more information on related apps, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

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Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Product Allocation Overview

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

Product Allocation Overview

With this overview page, you can display data relating to the product allocation situation for product allocation objects, product
allocation periods and characteristic value combinations during a de ned time period. Using the displayed data, you can take
action to optimize the overall product allocation situation. You can use this overview page if the business role Internal Sales
Representative (R0080) is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this overview page and related cards to:

De ne and store lters for displaying product allocation data.

On the basis of lters, display the product allocation situation for a speci c product allocation object, product allocation
period or characteristic value combination.

Display product allocation periods during which product allocation objects are experiencing low consumption (up to 20%
of assigned quantity), high consumption (80-100% of assigned quantity) or overloaded consumption (more than 100% of
assigned quantity).

Display product allocation data for characteristic value combinations.

Display product allocation data for aged product allocation objects.

Display product allocation order items according to their availability status, both graphically and as a list report.

List sales orders and stock transport orders that have been checked against product allocation during an availability check.

Re-size the cards to display the required number of table columns.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Cards and Apps

The Product Allocation Overview overview page comprises the following for monitoring the product allocation situation:

Monitor Product Allocation Periods, including the Aged Product Allocation Data card.

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

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You can use the Manage Cards function in the Me Area to show or hide the above cards on the Product Allocation Overview
overview page in the SAP Fiori launchpad. Note that the Aged Product Allocation Data card is not displayed by default.

The Product Allocation Overview overview page is one of multiple apps that you can use to con gure availability checks against
product allocation in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). For more information, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

With this app, you can display and analyze product allocation data for a selected product allocation object or characteristic value
combination or those product allocation periods whose start dates intersect the period range de ned on the Product Allocation
Overview overview page. The app is a starting point for solving product allocation-related issues. You can use this app if the
business role Internal Sales Representative (R0080) is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Display product allocation data for product allocation periods which are experiencing low consumption (up to 20% of
assigned quantity), high consumption (80-100% of assigned quantity) or overloaded consumption (more than 100% of
assigned quantity).

Display product allocation data for aged product allocation objects.

Drill down to detailed information about the order items consuming quantity during the product allocation periods
maintained for the product allocation object.

Navigate to the Con gure Product Allocation and Manage Product Allocation Planning Data apps to check and, if
required, edit product allocation data.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to con gure availability checks against product allocation and monitor product
allocation-related data in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). In addition to this app, the Product Allocation Overview overview
page comprises the following for monitoring the product allocation situation:

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

You can use the Manage Cards function in the Me Area to show or hide cards on the Product Allocation Overview overview page
in the SAP Fiori Launchpad.

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For more information on apps for con guring product allocation, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

With this app, you can display and analyze quantity and consumption data for the product allocation characteristic value
combinations belonging to a product allocation object or those which contain allocation periods whose start dates intersect the
period range de ned on the Product Allocation Overview overview page. The app is a starting point for solving product allocation-
related issues. You can use this app if the business role Internal Sales Representative (R0080) is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Display and analyze quantity and consumption data for the product allocation periods maintained for characteristic value
combinations and product allocation objects.

Drill down to the product allocation period details for characteristic value combinations and to the order items consuming
quantity from the product allocation periods.

Navigate to the Con gure Product Allocation and Manage Product Allocation Planning Data apps to check and, if
required, edit product allocation data.

Navigate to apps for the business document types sales order and stock transport order.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to con gure availability checks against product allocation and monitor product
allocation-related data in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). In addition to this app, the Product Allocation Overview overview
page comprises the following for monitoring the product allocation situation:

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

You can use the Manage Cards function in the Me Area to show or hide the above cards on the Product Allocation Overview
overview page in the SAP Fiori Launchpad.

For more information on apps for con guring product allocation, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

Con gure Product Allocation

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Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Monitor Product Allocation Order Items

With this app, you can display and analyze sales and stock transport order items, both in a list report sorted by requested delivery
date as well as in a graphic displaying the order items according to their availability check con rmation status. Depending on the
lter criteria de ned in the Product Allocation Overview page, this app will display order items with con rmation quantity
assigned to characteristic value combinations belonging to a selected product allocation object, order items whose earliest
requested delivery date intersects the de ned period range or order items with con rmation quantity assigned to a characteristics
value combination containing the selected characteristics. The app is a starting point for solving product allocation-related issues
for the order items in product allocation objects. For performance reasons, your key user may decide to display product allocation
order item data only as a list report or graphically. You can use this app if the business role Internal Sales Representative (R0080)
is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Display a list of selected sales or stock transport order items and relevant key gures, both graphically and as a list report.

Display the consumed quantity for each order item in the corresponding product allocation period.

Display the number of product allocation order items graphically and in accordance with their availability check
con rmation status.

Navigate to the Con gure Product Allocation and Manage Product Allocation Planning Data apps to check and, if
required, edit product allocation data.

Navigate to apps for the business document types sales order and stock transport order.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of multiple apps that you can use to con gure availability checks against product allocation and monitor product
allocation-related data in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). In addition to this app, the Product Allocation Overview overview
page comprises the following for monitoring the product allocation situation:

Monitor Product Allocation Periods

Monitor Product Allocation Characteristic Value Combinations

You can use the Manage Cards function in the Me Area to show or hide the above cards on the Product Allocation Overview
overview page in the SAP Fiori Launchpad.

For more information on apps for con guring product allocation, see:

Manage Characteristic Catalogs

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Con gure Product Allocation

Manage Product Allocation Planning Data

Manage Product Allocation Sequences

Assign Product to Product Allocation

Supply Protection (CA-ATP-SUP)

Supply protection (SUP) is used to protect a group against the demands of other groups.

Use
In many cases, companies do not want to sell their articles according to the sequence of the incoming sales orders. Rather, they
want to reserve certain quantities for special groups and perhaps they also want to assign priorities to these groups.

The aim of supply protection (SUP) is to protect quantities of a material and to prioritize the demand.

A typical example is the fashion industry. Here, sales orders from wholesale customers will come very early in the season while
sales orders from the fashion company's own e-commerce channel will only come later. However, margins are typically higher for
e-commerce and for strategic reasons it might be important to always have at least a minimum quantity available for every
channel. At the end of the season, it is no longer relevant to protect demand. Therefore, at the end of the season, a “ rst-come,
rst-served principle” is common practice.

Supply protection can be in the form of core (horizontal) protection where complete groups are protected against each other or in
the form of prioritized (vertical) protection where every group is only protected against the demand of a group with a lower
priority. Core and prioritized protection can be combined.

A protected quantity is always de ned for the combination between a material and a plant as well as one or more characteristics.
The characteristics are typically attributes of the sales order or of the customer and can be assigned via a characteristics catalog.

Features
For more information about the features, see Manage Supply Protection.

Restrictions
For more information about the restrictions, see SAP Note 2885961 .

Apps for Supply Protection (SUP)

Use
Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) in SAP S/4HANA offers a single SAP Fiori app with which you can protect quantities of a
material of a speci c plant against other demands. Active supply protection supports the business document types sales order
and stock transport order. This means that you can maintain protected quantities for these document types. Passive supply
protection means that the demand element has to respect the protection of other groups as a restriction.

Business Roles
You require the following business role to use the following SAP Fiori app:

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Business Role Role ID SAP Fiori App

Order Ful llment Manager R0226 Manage Supply Protection

User Assistance
SAP Fiori apps contain Web Assistant documentation for key elds and concepts. To display the documentation, press F1 or click
the question mark icon displayed in the app header.

Manage Supply Protection

With this app you can protect quantities of a material of a speci c plant against other demands. Supply protection can be in the
form of core (horizontal) protection where complete groups are protected against each other or in the form of prioritized (vertical)
protection where every group is only protected against the demand of a group with a lower priority. Core and prioritized protection
can be combined. A protected quantity is always de ned for the combination between a material and a plant as well as one or
more characteristics. The characteristics are typically attributes of the sales order or of the customer and can be assigned via a
characteristics catalog. You can use this app if the business role Order Ful llment Manager (R0226) is assigned to your user.

Key Features
You can use this app to do the following:

De ne core protection

Specify prioritized protection within a supply protection object

Create active protection for sales orders and stock transport orders

De ne supply protection objects for sales orders, stock transport orders, and a mixed scenario

Support active protection for fashion contracts with call-off logic

De ne protection with time buckets

Integrate with complementary solutions such as backorder processing (BOP) or product allocation (PAL)

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Key Concepts in Supply Protection

Key concepts explain the most important terms used in supply protection (SUP).

The following concepts are of key importance for supply protection (SUP) in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP):

Concept De nition

Supply protection A means of protecting quantities of a material of a speci c plant

against other demands. Protection groups are de ned via speci c
criteria (for example, the sales order or the customer) and can be
prioritized.

The protected quantities can be time-dependent.

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Concept De nition

SUP Abbreviated form of supply protection.

Active supply protection With active supply protection, it is possible to maintain protected
quantities for document types, such as sales order (SO) and stock
transport order (STO).

Passive supply protection With passive supply protection, the demand has to respect the
protection of other groups as a restriction.

Core (horizontal) protection A variant of supply protection that assumes that customers want to
protect complete groups against each other. For example: The goal
could be to protect markets such as Germany or the UK. If a sales
order is created for the German market, the planned protected
quantity for the UK is not available for Germany or for any other
group.

Prioritized (vertical) protection A variant of supply protection that is used for planning quantities
that depend on several characteristics and belong to different
priorities.

Demands from a lower priority group must respect protected

quantities of higher or equal priority groups. Demands from a higher
priority group do not need to consider protected quantities of lower
priority groups.

Supply protection object The main entity of supply protection. A supply protection object is
de ned for exactly one material-plant combination. Several supply
protection objects can be maintained for identical material-plant
combinations.

Related supply protection object A related supply protection object has the same material-plant
combination as a supply protection object but other characteristics.

Supply protection group In the supply protection object, supply protection groups can be
built by using combinations of characteristics and their values.
Supply protection quantities and priorities can be assigned to these
groups.

Protected quantity The amount of a material planned for a speci c group that must be
respected by demands of equal or lower priority groups.

Supply protection always uses the base unit of measure from the
material master record. This base unit of measure is used to
describe protected quantities and consumed quantities. It is also
used in the ATP check.

Restricted quantity The amount of a material that is not available because it is

protected by relevant groups.

Consumed protection The reduction of the protected quantity by con rmed sales orders
or stock transport orders.

Planning period The time period for which protection data is maintained. Dependent
on the planning period and the time intervals (weekly, monthly, and
so on) the time buckets will be generated.

Core Supply Protection

Core supply protection is a supply protection variant.

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With supply protection, you can completely protect one group against the demand of another group. Every supply protection
object represents such a core supply protection. If every group is protected, this means that a demand has to consider the
protection of these groups. If there is, for example, a protection of different markets such as Germany, France, and the UK, for a
sales order from Germany, the system rst has to check if there is a protection for other groups (France or the UK). This protected
quantity is restricted for a demand from Germany. Only if there is enough stock left, can the sales order be con rmed.

When a supply protection object is created, you can de ne a maximum of two characteristics as core characteristics. These
characteristics and their values are also visible on the search page of the Manage Supply Protection app and help to identify
supply protection objects.

The calculation of restrictions is the central element of supply protection. In addition, sales orders, stock transport orders, and so
on that do not match a protected group have to take the protection of other groups into account. We do not recommend
protecting too high an amount of the available supply, otherwise the risk of a deadlock exists.

Within a supply protection object you can also de ne prioritized protection groups.

Calculation of Restricted Quantity

For all supply protection objects with the same material-plant combination, the restriction works both ways. This means that a
demand element matching a protection group of a supply protection object must automatically respect the protection for all other
activated supply protection objects of the same material-plant combination. For the calculation of the restriction only time
buckets with an end date in the future are relevant. Time buckets in the past are expired and thus no longer relevant. The
consumption of protection also reduces the restriction.

Please note that there is no “self-protection” regarding the time buckets. A sales order matching a protection group does not have
to respect the protected quantities of the other time buckets of the same protection group.

In addition to the restriction between different supply protection objects, the restriction within a single supply protection object
has to be considered. For more information, see the section Calculation of Restricted Quantity in Prioritized Supply Protection.

Prioritized Supply Protection

Prioritized supply protection is a variant of supply protection.

Core (horizontal) protection is quite strict as there is no prioritization and every protection restricts other demands equally.
Prioritized (vertical) supply protection, on the other hand, is more of a relative protection. In a prioritized (vertical) supply
protection, protection subgroups with different priorities are de ned. An order matching such a group has to take the protection
of all de ned subgroups into account that have the same or a higher priority. Lower priorities are not taken into account.

In case of a shortage of supply, a demand with a higher priority can order even more than the quantity protected for this priority,
although there will be no quantity left for any other protected demand that has a lower priority.

During the de nition of characteristics for the prioritized supply protection, the assigned core characteristics are no longer
available for assignment.

Calculation of Restricted Quantity

In addition to the two-way restriction between different supply protection objects of the same material-plant combination, the
restriction within a prioritized (vertical) supply protection object must also be considered. Here, the protection groups with equal
or higher priority must be considered as a restriction. Only the remaining (unconsumed) protection is relevant and time buckets in
the past are not be considered either.

Please note that there is no “self-protection” regarding the time buckets. A sales order matching a protection group does not have
to respect the protected quantities of any other time buckets of the same protection group.

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For more information about the calculation of the restriction between different supply protection objects of the same material-
plant combination, see Core Supply Protection.

Using Wildcards
Wildcards can only be used in prioritized supply protection.

Wildcards can be used for the values in prioritized supply protection. A wildcard represents all other values that have not been
speci ed for other protection groups of a speci c supply protection object. Wildcards can help to reduce the number of de ned
protection groups. A wildcard is represented by the number sign (#).

The following rules apply:

1. The number sign (#) can be used as wildcard with the meaning “Any other value that is not speci ed in another protection
group of the supply protection object”.

2. Only wildcards can follow wildcards.

3. All attributes of a protection group must be lled. They must contain either a value or the number sign (#).

4. Wildcards are only allowed for prioritized characteristics, not for core characteristics.

Example
There are two prioritized characteristics, Sales Organization and Distribution Channel, and there is already a protection group with
Sales Organization = 0001 and Distribution Channel = e-commerce.

Now, there is a second protection group with Sales Organization = 0001 and Distribution Channel = # (wildcard). This means that
this protection group represents the combination of the Sales Organization = 0001 with all distribution channels except e-
commerce.

Supply Protection Object

The main entity of supply protection.

The supply protection object is the central element for de ning supply protection. It is unique and applies to a speci c material-
plant combination. It has a planning horizon that de nes the period of time during which the de ned quantities are protected. It
also has a planning context that de nes whether the protection applies to sales orders or to stock transport orders. There are
multiple supply protection objects possible for the same material-plant combination, but the assigned characteristic value
combinations (CVCs) make the supply protection object unique.

A supply protection object consists of one or more supply protection groups. In principle, every supply protection object with only
one protection group represents a core (horizontal) protection. If there are more protection groups (prioritized CVCs) assigned to
the supply protection object, there is also a prioritized (vertical) protection within the supply protection object. Only if the supply
protection object is active, will it be considered in the logic of the product availability check (PAC).

Activation
Whenever quantities of a material are protected by means of a supply protection object, this protection has a special time horizon
during which the protection is valid. It is also possible to distribute protected quantities for de ned periods (time buckets).
However, the supply protection object will only be taken into account if it has the status Activated. This affects both, the
protection as such, but also the restriction. Only if the supply protection object is active, will it be considered in the logic of the
product availability check (PAC).

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The supply protection object can have the status In Planning, Activated, or Deactivated. You cannot switch the status from
Activated to In Planning or from Deactivated to Activated again.

 Note
Once a supply protection object has the status Activated, only the protected quantities can be changed. Changes regarding
characteristics, planning horizon, or planning context are not possible. It is only possible to change the status from Activated
to Deactivated.

In addition to activating a supply protection object, you also need to activate supply protection in the scope of the availability
check. Only if supply protection is activated in the scope of the availability check for the related checking rule, will the PAC logic
consider supply protection at all. For more information, see Scope of Availability Check.

Related Supply Protection Objects

In the detailed view of a single supply protection object, related supply protection objects are also displayed with basic
information. Related supply protection objects have the same material-plant combination but other characteristics. This helps you
to get an overview of the complete protection for this material-plant combination and also of the consumption of the protection
for these supply protection objects.

Because all entries in the list of related supply protection objects have the same material-plant combination, the columns for
material and plant are not displayed. The name of the supply protection object is displayed and helps to distinguish between the
different objects.

Supply Protection Group

Supply protection groups can be built by using combinations of characteristics and their values (CVCs).

The supply protection group is also known as characteristic value combination (CVC). It is the element for which the protected
quantity is de ned. A supply protection group belongs to exactly one supply protection object. In principle, a sales order can only
be a match for one supply protection group of the related supply protection object. The protected quantity de ned for this supply
protection group can be consumed by this sales order. The protection of all other supply protection groups consists of restricted
quantities from the perspective of this sales order.

The supply protection group can be divided into periods and can have a priority. If the supply protection object only consists of
one protection group, this is a core protection (also known as horizontal protection). If there are more protection groups, these
protection groups can also have different priorities. If this is the case, this is a vertical protection within the supply protection
object.

De ning Time Buckets

Supply protection is used to protect quantities of materials for certain time periods.

The aim of supply protection is to protect quantities of materials for certain time periods. It might be useful to protect quantities
for important groups (customers, regions, channels, and so on) at the beginning of the season. At the end of the season,
protection is less important and a “ rst-come, rst-served principle” is common practice to avoid non-sellers.

The consumption of the protection always takes place based on the time bucket that corresponds to the requested delivery date
of the sales order. If the protection of a time bucket is not completely consumed, it will expire once it is in the past.

Every supply protection object has a de ned planning horizon with a start and an end date. This planning horizon is the time range
for which a protection should be maintained. You can also decide if you want to maintain protection only for one period or if you
want to have daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly time buckets.

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A validation for the time buckets checks whether each time bucket has the correct start and end date (there must not be any gaps
between the time buckets) and whether the protected quantity of the time bucket has a positive value. Furthermore, the validation
checks that the number of time buckets does not exceed the maximum number of allowed time buckets.

On the Protection Group screen, there are two buttons: With the Generate Time Buckets pushbutton, you can create all time
buckets for the current protection group based on the data of the supply protection object. With the Delete All Time Buckets
pushbutton, you can delete all time buckets for this protection group.

Consuming Supply Protection

Reduction of the protected quantity by con rmed sales orders or stock transport orders.

If a demand element such as a sales order or a stock transport order is a match for a supply protection quantity via its
combination of material, plant, and other characteristics, this quantity will be reduced by the quantity that has been con rmed for
the demand element. Technically, the consumption of the supply protection quantity is stored independently from the protected
quantity. The consumption in a time bucket can exceed the protected quantity. Consumption is the aggregation of all demand
elements matching via their criteria with a certain time bucket of a protection group. The remaining protection of a time bucket is
the result of the maintained protection minus the consumed protection. Only positive values are taken into account. Negative
values are not considered.

For the calculation of the restriction, only the reduced protected quantity is considered. A con rmed sales order reduces the
remaining stock, but also the remaining supply protection. The consuming objects with their IDs and object types (sales order,
stock transport order, and contract) are visible in the details of the single time bucket.

If sales order items are canceled, rejected, or deleted, the consumption will be deleted and that the remaining protection quantity
will be adapted accordingly.

Supported and Affected Document Types

Supply protection supports sales orders, stock transport orders, and contracts.

The following document types are supported by the active supply protection:

Sales orders (SO)

Stock transport orders (STO)

Contracts

Active supply protection means that it is possible to maintain protected quantities for these document types. Passive supply
protection means that the demand element has to respect the protection of other groups as a restriction.

Sales Orders
Supply protection usually protects the demand of customers. This can be done directly by the protection of a single sold-to party
or by the protection of countries/regions to which the sold-to party belongs. It is also possible to protect a channel, and usually
also here the demand elements are sales orders. Therefore, the support of sales orders is the default use case. The con rmed
quantities of the sales order will consume the protected quantities in the matching time bucket of the requested delivery date.

Stock Transport Orders

In addition to the protection of sales orders, the active protection of stock transport orders is also relevant as, for example, also
retail stores should be protected. Stock transport orders are the typical demand elements of retail stores. It is important to de ne
supply protection objects that allow the protection of sales orders and stock transport orders together. If a customer wants to

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protect quantities for his or her channels e-commerce, retail, and wholesale, sales orders are the corresponding demand elements
for e-commerce and wholesale, whereas stock transport orders are the corresponding demand element for retail.

Contracts
Although contracts cannot be selected as planning objects for the supply protection object, there is also an active protection for
quantity contracts. Quantity contracts are treated like sales orders. They correspond to and consume the supply protection object
de ned for sales orders.

Call-offs from a contract are also like ordinary sales orders, but these sales orders are not restricted by supply protection as long
as the call-offs do not exceed the quantity of the contract. However, there is a transfer of the consumption from the contract
towards the call-offs.

Using Characteristic Catalogs

Characteristics can be assigned to supply protection groups.

The characteristics that can be assigned to protection groups are bundled in characteristic catalogs. These catalogs contain all
valid characteristics that can be used for active supply protection. Active supply protection supports sales orders (SO) and stock
transport orders (STO). For both document types, a dedicated characteristic catalog is available. A combined catalog is also
available to protect both – sales orders and stock transport orders – in one supply protection object.

Attributes and the availability of catalog attributes can be managed in the Manage Characteristic Catalogs app. For supply
protection, the following attributes are available in this app:

Supply Protection – Base (Sales Order)

Supply Protection – Base (Stock Transport Order)

Supply Protection – Mixed

For more information about the key features of the app, see Manage Characteristic Catalogs.

In the Planning Context of the supply protection object, you can de ne which catalog is used. You can select either or both of the
following:

Sales Order

Stock Transport Order

If you select Sales Order, the corresponding catalog for sales orders will be available for the selection of characteristics. If you
select Stock Transport Order, the corresponding catalog for stock transport orders will be used. If you select both options, the
mixed catalog will be used. This is not a separate catalog, but the intersecting set of characteristics from sales order and stock
transport order catalogs.

Integration into Other Processes

Supply protection is integrated into other processes in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP).

In the following document, you nd a description of how supply protection (SUP) is integrated into the following processes in
advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP):

Product availability check (PAC)

Product allocation (PAL)

Backorder processing (BOP)

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Supply assignment (ARun)

Alternative-based con rmation (ABC)

Product Availability Check (PAC)

The planned supply protection is relevant for the product availability check (PAC) that determines whether a demand (for
example, from a sales order) can be con rmed. The product availability check compares the request of the sales order with the
available stock for the related material. Within this logic, there is also a check whether there is supply protection available for this
material-plant combination. If this is the case, the system calculates the restricted quantities and reduces the available stock for
the sales order. If this reduced quantity is not sufficient to meet the request, the sales order will not be (fully) con rmed for the
requested delivery date. For more information, see Advanced Product Availability Check.

Whether supply protection is considered in the product availability check, depends on the settings of the scope of the availability
check. Only if supply protection is activated in the scope of the availability check for the related checking rule, will PAC consider
supply protection. For more information, see Scope of Availability Check.

Product Allocation (PAL)

Supply protection and product allocation (PAL) are complementary solutions. While with PAL an upper limit is de ned, the logic of
supply protection de nes minimum quantities. For more information, see Avoiding Matches with Multiple Protection Groups.

Backorder Processing (BOP)

During a BOP run, the supply protection acts in the same way as in dialog mode. The supply protection always has the higher
priority, except in the case of losers. The following rules apply:

Con rmation Strategy Supply Protection

Win, Gain, Redistribute, and Fill Assigned requirements react in the same way as described in the
BOP con rmation strategy, except for the quantities protected for
other supply protection objects and for supply protection objects in
the future. They are not available for BOP and remain protected.

Lose Assigned requirements lose their current con rmation and are not
con rmed, independent of whether there are protected quantities
for them. However, protected quantities are not released for other
SUP objects, even if there is a loser matching (there is no 1:1
matching between SUP and BOP rules, so quantities protected by
SUP could potentially be consumed by others that are not in the
loser segment of BOP).

Supply Assignment (ARun)

It is possible to receive the aggregated protected quantity and the aggregated consumed protection per supply protection object,
per supply protection group, and per supply protection time bucket via the following API views:

API view for supply protection (A_SUPPLYPROTECTION)

API view for supply protection group (A_SUPPLYPROTECTIONGROUP)

API view for supply protection time bucket (A_SUPPLYPROTECTIONTIMEBUCKET)

Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC)

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Alternative-based con rmation (ABC) changes the sales order and replaces the plant by another plant. These changes in the sales
order are handled by supply protection (SUP) as deletion and creation of a sales order. The following applies:

The consumed protection of the original order items (if available) is removed.

The changed order items then have a changed material-plant combination and follow the same rules as newly created
order items.

If there are any restrictions of supply protection (SUP) for the new material-plant combination, these restrictions
are taken into account in the product availability check (PAC) logic.

If the characteristics of the changed order items then correspond to a protected time bucket, the con rmed
quantity will consume protection from this time bucket.

Related Information
Product Availability Check (CA-ATP-PAC)
Product Allocation (CA-ATP-PAL)
Backorder Processing (CA-ATP-BOP)
Supply Protection in Supply Assignment
Alternative-Based Con rmation (CA-ATP-ABC)

Best Practices for Supply Protection

Find some tips and tricks on how to use supply protection.

In the following documents, you can nd best practices for working with supply protection.

Avoiding Bypassing Supply Protection

Avoid bypassing supply protection.

Protection can only work, if there are no other demand elements that can bypass supply protection. Delivery documents do not
have to respect the restrictions de ned by supply protection because they have a predecessor document (usually a sales order)
that has already been considered by supply protection. However, if the delivery has no sales order as a predecessor document, the
ATP check will not check the restricted quantities of supply protection again. Therefore, we do not recommend allowing deliveries
without a relation to a predecessor document because this is a bypass to the de ned supply protection.

There is a second option for bypassing supply protection: If supply protection is not activated for the relevant checking rule in the
scope of the availability check, objects with this checking rule will not consider supply protection at all.

To protect de ned groups consistently and to ensure transparency, supply protection should be set up in such a way that it cannot
be bypassed at all or only in exceptional cases. For more information, see the section Product Availability Check (PAC) in
Integration into Other Processes.

Avoiding Matches with Multiple Protection Groups

Find a recommendation on how to avoid matches with multiple protection groups.

A demand element (for example, a sales order or a stock transport order) can match multiple protection groups across different
supply protection objects. In this case, the protection of all affected protection groups will be reduced. This has a negative impact
on the transparency because the maintained protection will be quickly reduced. With such a setup the risk of overprotection
(protecting a huge portion of the supply) is also high. For more information, see Avoiding Overprotection.

Example

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There are two active supply protection objects maintained for the same material-plant combination. The attribute for one
protection group in one of the supply protection objects is customer classi cation = “A” customer. In the other supply protection
object, there is another protection group maintained with attribute country of sold-to-party = France. In this case, a sales order of
a French “A” customer will be a match for both groups. If the sales order is for a quantity of 1,000 EA, the protection of both
protection groups will be reduced by 1,000 EA (in total 2,000 EA).

To avoid matches with multiple protection groups, we recommend choosing the same attributes but different values for the
different supply protection groups of the same material-plant combination.

Within a single supply protection object, identical protection groups cannot be set up. So multiple matches are very unlikely.

Using Supply Protection and Product Allocation

Find a way to make sure that supply protection and product allocation do not block each other.

Supply protection and product allocation (PAL) are complementary solutions. While with PAL an upper limit is de ned, the logic of
supply protection de nes minimum quantities. If groups for product allocation and for supply protection are de ned with the
same set of characteristics, it is possible to exactly support the logic that a speci c group (for example, a channel or a region)
could not order more than the de ned PAL limit. At the same time, at least the minimum quantities de ned by supply protection
are protected for this group.

If only some of the characteristic of both groups are identical, there is a risk that they might block each other. For example, if there
are sales orders for a protected material matching a PAL group but not a supply protection object, these orders will consume the
PAL limit, but not the supply protection. Other orders will be rejected as the PAL limit cannot be exceeded. In this case, these
orders will not consume the protected quantities for supply protection either, but restrict the con rmed quantities for other
demand elements.

Activating the Existence Check

Find a description of when the existence check is necessary.

To de ne protection groups, supply protection uses characteristics that are organized in catalogs. There are speci c catalogs for
supply protection, but in general other applications also use catalogs for characteristics (for example, backorder processing or
product allocation).

Within the catalog, you can de ne for every characteristic whether an existence check has to be carried out. If this is the case, you
can only use values that exist. For some characteristics, the existence check is always active. For all other characteristics, the
existence check is not active by default. To create a consistent supply protection object, we recommend activating the existence
check for all characteristics of the related catalog. If the existence check raises an error, the supply protection object cannot be
saved as long as the characteristic value does not exist.

There are two options for the activated existence check: warning and error. Because you cannot change the values of a supply
protection object, once it has been activated, we recommend using the option error for the existence check.

Related Information
Using the Manage Characteristic Catalogs App for aATP

Handling Mass Data

Use the API to import data.

With the SAP Fiori app Manage Supply Protection, you can only create single supply protection objects or change the protected
quantities for existing supply protection objects. For creating and updating mass data, we recommend using the API

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(API_SUPAVAILYPROTPLAN_G4BA). With this API, you can import complete supply protection objects with all protection
groups, time buckets, and quantities. Several validations have been implemented to ensure the consistency of the created data.

Related Information
Supply Availability Protection Plan

Assigning Characteristic-Based Authorizations

De ne characteristic-based authorizations in supply protection.

In addition to the role-based authorization to de ning the general availability of supply protection in SAP Fiori, the access to
supply protection Customizing can be restricted based on the combination of characteristics and their values.

The concept is similar to the CVC-based authorization in PAL, but with the following difference:

Supply protection has characteristics on header level (core characteristics) and on item level (prioritized characteristics). An
authorization group can be assigned to both types of characteristics because both can exist without each other or together. In
supply protection, the following applies:

The authorization group of the core characteristics is determined by the two core characteristics only.

The authorization group of the prioritized characteristics uses both (core and the prioritized characteristics together) to
determine the authorization group.

To make both authorization groups work together, the following rules apply:

Changing a characteristic value group or a prioritized characteristic always results in a change of the supply protection
object because changing a lower-level object always changes the higher-level object as well. Therefore, you need change
authorizations for the supply protection object to modify, create, or delete a prioritized characteristic or a value group.

A supply protection object without a core characteristic always has an empty (' ') authorization group. So you have to
assign authorizations to the group ' ' (empty) in PFCG to allow the user to change the supply protection object.

If you assign a higher authorization on top level explicitly (for example, create on Sales Organization 0001), you must
specify all objects with lower priority on the lower level that you want to protect (for example, read-only on Distribution
Channel) because they inherit the authorizations from the higher level if not speci ed differently on lower levels.

Example 1: Authorization Check for Prioritized Characteristics Only

Object User Description

Supply protection object The supply protection object has no core

characteristics, two prioritized
characteristics, and different authorizations
of the characteristic value combinations
(CVCs).

Authorization groups There is a default group, a group for Sales

Organization 0001 only, and one for each
combination of Sales Organization 01,
Distribution Channel 01, Distribution
Channel 10, and Distribution Channel 50.

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Object User Description

Planned authorizations and authorization User 1 User 1 should be able to see and to change
roles (PFCG) the complete supply protection data for
Sales Organization = 0001. Therefore, full
authorizations for the following groups are
assigned to them:

GROUP_0001

GROUP_0001_01

GROUP_0001_10

GROUP_0001_50

Group ' ' (empty) to allow them to

see and change the header of
objects to which no characteristics
are assigned. Otherwise, they are
not able to create a supply
protection object without core
characteristics.

No authorizations for
GROUP_DEFAULT to prevent them
from seeing any other supply
protection objects apart from Sales
Organization = 0001

User 2 User 2 should see GROUP_0001_01 and

GROUP_0001_10 and should be able to
change GROUP_0001_10. Therefore, full
authorizations for the following groups are
assigned to them:

GROUP_0001_10

Group ' ' (empty)

For the following groups, they have read-

only authorization:

GROUP_0001

GROUP_0001_01

No authorizations for
GROUP_DEFAULT and
GROUP_0001_50

The result in the SAP Fiori app Manage Supply Protection looks as follows:

User Result

User with all authorizations A user with all authorizations for all sales organizations and all
distribution channels will see protection groups for Sales
Organization 0001 and Sales Organization 0002. They will also see
protection groups for Distribution Channel 01, Distribution
Channel 10, and Distribution Channel 50.

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User Result

User 1 User 1 will see all characteristics of Sales Organization 0001, but
not of Sales Organization 0002.

 Note
The sum of the protected quantity on header level always shows
the complete protection. This allows the user to keep an eye on
the protected quantity independent of the fact that they can only
see subsets of the full protection.

User 2 User 2 will only see protection groups for Sales Organization 0001,
Distribution Channel 01, and Distribution Channel 10. They can
only change values in Distribution Channel 10.

Example 2: Authorization Check for Core and Prioritized Characteristics

Object Description

Supply protection object The supply protection object has Sales Organization 0001 as core
characteristic, Distribution Channel as prioritized characteristic,
and different authorizations of the characteristic value
combinations (CVCs).

Authorization groups See example 1.

Planned authorizations and authorization roles (PFCG) See example 1.

The result in the SAP Fiori app Manage Supply Protection is very similar to example 1. The hierarchy of the authorization-relevant
characteristics (Distribution Channel has a higher priority than Sales Organization) is responsible for the following behavior:

User 1 can create a core characteristic with Sales Organization = 0001, but user 2 has no rights to do so (only the
authorization for Sales Organization is relevant here).

With the authorizations create and modify, both users can create groups to which Distribution Channel is assigned.

With read-only authorization, both users cannot modify or create groups to which Sales Organization or Distribution
Channel are assigned.

Avoiding Overprotection
Find a recommendation on how to avoid overprotection.

To avoid overprotection, we recommend protecting only minimum quantities and not the complete forecast quantities.
Overprotection occurs if there is a high level of protection and a lack of stock at the same time. As protected quantities restrict the
demand of sales orders or other demand elements (that do not correspond to the protection group), protection groups might
block each other. This means that each protection is a restriction for any other protection. In this case, it will not be possible
anymore to con rm the demand. To reduce the risk of overprotection, the following principles apply:

Protect only minimum quantities.

Protect only groups that are really important.

Reduce the number of supply protection objects for the same material-plant combination.

Use time buckets to distribute the protection so that protected quantities can also expire.

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In addition, you can combine supply protection with product allocation. For example, there are three protection groups with
priorities 1, 2, and 3. The protection group with the highest priority (1) consumes more quantity than protected. In supply
protection, this is possible because the protection groups with lower priorities (2 and 3) do not have to be considered by a
protection group with a higher priority. Therefore, the stock is used up, but the supply protection groups 2 and 3 still exist. Another
supply protection object must then take care of the remaining protection. With product allocation, you can de ne an upper limit
for a protection group. This prevents this group from consuming the complete stock. For more information, see Using Supply
Protection and Product Allocation.

Alternative-Based Con rmation (CA-ATP-ABC)

Use
A requirement consists of various attributes, most importantly a requested material in a speci c quantity, a requested delivery
plant and delivery date. You can use Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC) in aATP in SAP S/4HANA to check for all possible
alternatives to con rm a requirement when, for example, the availability of a material in a requested material-plant combination is
insufficient to con rm the original requirement. With ABC, your system can exchange the originally requested delivery plant with
an alternative plant, with the aim of providing, for example, more quantity and/or an alternative delivery date that better ful lls the
customer's original requirement. In doing so, the system uses a heuristic approach to calculate all possible alternatives and
determines an alternative plant automatically: if more than two alternative plants can equally ful ll a requirement in terms of
quantity and delivery date, the originally requested plant is used as the delivery plant.

Features

Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Con gure Substitution Strategy How to Create a Substitution Strategy

De ne substitution methods for
plant substitution.

Display substitution methods and

their values.

Activate plant substitution (inline or

by generating subitems) in sales
orders.

Con gure Alternative Control How to Activate Plant Substitution

Create alternative controls (a set of
values assigned to a given set of
selected characteristics).

Display, edit, copy and remove

existing alternative controls and
their values.

Display, edit, add and remove

characteristics.

Restrictions
You can use ABC to process requirements from order documents of the business document class sales order only.

If Sales (SD) processes such as Variant Con guration (LO-VC) or Advanced Variant Con guration are used to de ne
classi cation characteristics for product allocation in the Manage Characteristic Catalogs app and substitution is executed
in ABC, the sales order document is updated (for example, to re ect a new delivering plant) but any data originally

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provided by the SD-related processes is not updated. For more information about classi cation characteristics in the
context of product allocation, see Classi cation Characteristics.

Related Information
Con gure Substitution Strategy
Con gure Alternative Control
How to Check Availability with ABC

How to Create a Substitution Strategy

Context
Use this example procedure to create a substitution strategy to enable plant substitution for sales orders in Alternative-Based
Con rmation (ABC).

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log onto SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the Order displays.
Ful llment Manager role.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Open the Con gure The Con gure Substitution
Substitution Strategy tile. Strategy screen displays.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

3 Create a new substitution Click the Create pushbutton. In A draft substitution strategy is
strategy. the General Information section created automatically while you
of the Strategy screen, make the are working.
following entries:

Strategy Name: <your

strategy name>

Strategy Description:
<your strategy
description>

Verify that:

Allow Inline Substitution

and Subitem Generation
is displayed by default
for Substitution Item
Type. Note that
depending on context,
you may also decide to
choose Force Inline
Substitution or Force
Subitem Generation.

Plant Substitution is
displayed for
Substitution Method.

Con gure the Consider

Alternative dropdown as
required.

In the Building Rule section,

select the Alternative
Determination as required.

4 Save the new substitution Choose Save to create the Your substitution strategy is
strategy. substitution strategy. listed on the Strategies
subscreen. Clicking the
substitution strategy takes you
to the Strategy screen where
you can edit and copy the
strategy.

Related Information
Con gure Substitution Strategy
Substitution Item Types
Consider Alternatives
Alternative Determination

Substitution Item Types

Use
Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC) offers three con guration options for substituting the delivery plant for requirements in
sales orders.

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Options
You can choose from the following con guration options in the Substitution Item Type dropdown in the Con gure Substitution
Strategy app:

Substitution Type Con guration Option System Behavior

Inline substitution is the simple Force Inline Substitution The sales order will contain a single
replacement of the delivering plant entered requirement item and the originally
for the original requirement item in the sales requested delivering plant will be replaced
order with an alternative delivering plant, as by the alternative delivering plant.
chosen by ABC.
Note that you can use a single material-
plant combination for substitution only.

Subitem generation is the more advanced Force Subitem Generation The delivering plant for the original
type of plant substitution supported by ABC: requirement item in the sales order will be
the original item in the sales order is retained. A subitem will, however, be
retained but a subitem is created in the sales generated for each material-plant
order for each material-plant combination combination used to ful ll the request. The
used to ful ll the request. subitem states the new plant used for
con rming the requirement, as well as the
Subitems are advantageous as multiple
con rmed delivery date and quantity.
substitutions can be utilized to ful ll a
customer requirement, making it possible to Note that if a requirement item in a sales
deliver quantities of a requested product order contains multiple requested schedule
from several plants simultaneously. lines, one subitem is created per requested
schedule line. Furthermore, the originally
requested requirement item is still visible in
the sales order.

Inline substitution and subitem generation Allow Inline Substitution and Subitem The system will choose the optimum
Generation solution based on stock availability in the
potentially relevant delivering plants: if a
single delivering plant can con rm the
requirement, inline substitution is possible
and will be used. Otherwise, subitems will be
generated.

Note that this con guration option is the

default substitution item type.

Note that if Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC) is active when a backorder processing run is executed, the Plant Substitution
column in the Monitor BOP Run app will display the originally requested delivery plant and the substituted delivering plant for the
relevant requirement.

Consider Alternatives

Use
You can use the Consider Alternative dropdown in the Con gure Substitution Strategy app to de ne how alternatives are
determined by Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC).

Options
You have the following selection options:

Selection Option System Behavior

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Selection Option System Behavior

Set Consider Alternative to Always. Alternatives are determined every time availability is checked, for all
requirements.

Alternatives are determined only when requirements are created.

Set Consider Alternative to Depends on Execution Context.

Click Show.

Set Req. Posting Status to New.

Alternatives are determined only when existing requirements are

Set Consider Alternative to Depends on Execution Context.
changed (and availability is subsequently re-checked.)
Click Show.

Set Req. Posting Status to Posted.

Note:

If you do not consider alternatives when checking availability, the substitution strategy will be executed nevertheless and
existing substitutions will be retained: the con rmed quantities can be changed as required. For example:

In a previous availability check, plant 0001 and plant 0002 had con rmed quantities of 50 EA and 50 EA.

After a re-check without considering alternatives, plant 0001 and plant 0002 have con rmed quantities of 20 EA
and 80 EA.

If a partial delivery exists for a subitem and Substitution Item Type is changed to Force Inline Substitution, subsequent
checks will ignore the Force Inline Substitution setting and retain the original subitem in the sales order.

Related Information
Con gure Substitution Strategy
How to Create a Substitution Strategy

Alternative Determination

Use
You can use the Alternative Determination eld in the Con gure Substitution Strategy app to de ne how alternatives are
prioritized when your system identi es more than one potential alternative when availability is checked.

Options
You can use the following alternative determinations for plant substitution:

Alternative Determination Description Purpose

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Alternative Determination Description Purpose

FULL_CONFIRMATION Full Con rmation Aims to con rm the requested quantity

fully. If this is not possible, no con rmation
is generated. If the requested quantity can
be con rmed in multiple ways:

The maximum delay for the last

con rmation is minimized.

A single plant is used.

MAX_EARLIER_CONFIRMATION Maximum Con rmation Earlier Con rms the maximum possible quantity. If
the requested quantity can be con rmed in
multiple ways:

The maximum delay for the last

con rmation is minimized.

A single plant is used.

ON_TIME_CONFIRMATION On-Time Con rmation Con rms only on the requested delivery
date and for the maximum quantity possible
on the requested delivery date. If the
requested quantity can be con rmed in
multiple ways, a single plant is used.

Note:

In the case of inline substitution, all three alternative determinations use a single plant to con rm the requested quantity.

If multiple plants can ful ll a requirement equally (for example, multiple plants can con rm the full requested quantity on
the requested date), the system determines the most appropriate plant in the following sequence:

1. The same country as the ship-to party.

2. The same region in the same country as the ship-to party.

3. The alternative plant with the shortest transit time.

4. The alternative plant with the shortest overall delivery time (including picking and packing).

5. If 1-4 do not provide a unique result and if multiple plants can con rm the requirement equally, the system chooses
as follows:

a. If the original plant is one of the multiple plants, the system chooses the originally requested plant.

b. The system sorts the multiple plants offering a suitable con rmation on the basis of their four-digit plant
numbers alphabetically (numbers are sorted before characters) and chooses the rst plant from the sorted
list.

Related Information
Con gure Substitution Strategy
How to Create a Substitution Strategy

How to Activate Plant Substitution

Context

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Use this example procedure to activate plant substitution for sales orders in Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC).

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log onto SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the Order displays.
Ful llment Manager role.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Open the Con gure Alternative The Alternative Controls table
Control tile. displays.

 Note
Existing alternative controls
are listed here and can be
processed by clicking Edit.

3 Maintain control characteristics. You will be prompted to add Your selected combination of
control characteristics if they characteristics is displayed.
have not been assigned yet. To
do so, click Maintain Control  Note
Characteristics. On the
You can add further
Maintain Control
characteristics subsequently.
Characteristics screen, add the
To prevent duplicate
characteristics that you require
alternative controls from
for the alternative controls, for
being created, you can only
example, Sales Document Type
delete characteristics from
and Sold-to Party - Customer
the bottom of the list.
Number. Use the Up and Down
buttons to put the For information about about
characteristics into the required restricting authorizations on
sequence. the basis of characteristics,
see Authorizations Based on
Characteristics.

4 Create a new alternative control. On the Alternative Controls The Alternative Controls table
screen, click Add. Enter values shows the alternative control
for your previously chosen with maintained characteristic
characteristics, for example: values.

Sales Document Type =

<your sales
document type>, for
example, OR

Customer Number =
<your customer
number>

 Note
When entering characteristic
values, ensure they do not
violate the wildcard
principles (see below).

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

5 Activate ABC for the de ned Assign the already created ABC is active for requirements
scenario. substitution strategy to the that match the parameters of
alternative control by choosing your alternative control. The
the strategy in the Substitution selected substitution strategy
Strategy eld of the Alternative will be applied.
Controls table. Select the
Execute ABC checkbox and
press Save.

 Note
An alternative control is only
active when the Execute ABC
checkbox is selected. This
allows you to use an
alternative control only when
required, for example, for
con rming products that are
in high demand during the
holiday period.

Note:

You can extend the Base (Sales Order) characteristic catalog for ABC to include additional standard and custom elds in
the Manage Characteristic Catalogs app.

If you do not want to restrict your alternative control to, for example, a speci c customer, enter an asterisk (*) in the
Customer Number eld. You cannot, however, use an asterisk in combination with a speci c value to create a pattern (for
example, 123* in the Customer Number eld).

You can use the Execute ABC checkbox to deactivate ABC temporarily for requirements that t the selected characteristic
values as well as to ease maintenance. Furthermore, if ABC is relevant for multiple customers except one, you can:

1. Create an alternative control in which the Customer Number eld contains * and for which the Execute ABC
checkbox is selected, for example:

Characteristic: Sales Organization Sales Document Type Sold-To Party - Execute ABC
Customer Number

Value: 0001 OR * Selected

2. Create an alternative control in which the Customer Number eld contains the speci c customer number and for
which the Execute ABC checkbox is not selected, for example:

Characteristic: Sales Organization Sales Document Type Sold-To Party - Execute ABC
Customer Number

Value: 0001 OR specific Not selected

customer number

When maintaining characteristic values for an alternative control, you cannot use wildcards ( *) before xed values in
alternative controls. Instead, change the sequence of characteristics in the alternative control to ensure that the
characteristic value containing a xed value is before any characteristic value containing a wildcard, for example:

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Incorrect

Characteristic: Sales Organization Sold-To Party - Customer Sales Document Type

Number

Value: 0001 * OR

Correct

Characteristic: Sales Organization Sold-To Party - Customer Sales Document Type

Number

Value: 0001 * *

Correct

Characteristic: Sales Organization Sales Document Type Sold-To Party - Customer

Number

Value: 0001 OR *

This restriction ensures that there is no ambiguity in the alternative control list and only one substitution strategy can be
applied to a requirement.

Due to the above, it is recommended to give those characteristics in an alternative control that may change, resulting in the
use of Execute ABC checkbox to activate or deactivate ABC, the highest possible ordinal number in the Maintain Control
Characteristics dialog.

Related Information
Con gure Alternative Control

How to Check Availability with ABC

Use this example procedure to perform plant substitution with Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC). ABC calculates possible
alternatives for a requested material-plant combination when you:

Perform an availability check for a sales order created in transaction VA01 (or in the Create Sales Orders - VA01 app).

Change a sales order in transaction VA02 (or in the Change Sales Orders - VA02 app) by adding a new line item or by
changing the originally requested material or plant.

 Note
If two or more alternative plants can equally ful ll a requirement in terms of quantity and delivery date, the originally requested
plant is always recognized as the delivery plant for a sales order con rmation.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Call transaction VA01 or click Create a sales order as follows: Your sales order data is ready to
the Create Sales Orders - VA01 be checked against product
Enter <your order
tile on the SAP Fiori launchpad. availability.
type>, for example, OR.

Enter <your sales

organization>, for
example, 1010.

Enter <your
distribution
channel>, for example,
10.

Enter <your
division>, for
example, 00.

Click Enter to continue. Enter

the following information:

Enter <your sold-to

party>, for example,
10100001.

Enter <your
customer
reference>.

Enter <payment
terms>, for example,
0001 .

Enter <your
requested
material>.

Enter <your
requested plant>,
for example, 1010

Click Enter and con rm any

subsequent messages. Enter the
following information:

Enter <your
required material
quantity>, for
example, 20PC.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

2 Execute an availability check. Press Enter. Alternatively: An availability check is executed

based on the originally
Mark the item and click
requested material-plant
Check Item Availability.
combination and includes ABC.
Based on the substitution
Select Check Document
strategy, plant 1010 is replaced
Availability.
by plant 1020. The Review
Availability Check Result screen
displays and contains the
results of the plant substitution:

The Plant column

displays the delivery
plant after substitution
by ABC, 1020.

The originally requested

plant, 1010 is struck
through.

Displaying the details for the

check result item takes you to
the Availability Control screen
where, if required, you can edit
requested quantities and re-
check availability.

Click Apply to continue

processing the sales order.

3 Change the original request. Change the plant for item 10 The Review Availability Check
from 1020 to 1030. Result screen displays a
con rmation from plant 1030.
Execute an availability check, Click Apply to continue
above. processing the sales order.

4 Change the plant and execute an Change the requested plant for Your system generates a
availability check. your sales order to the con rmation from plant 1020.
<original plant>, for
example, 1010 and execute a
new availability check.

Changing a Sales Order

Use this example procedure to test ABC when a sales order is changed and an availability check is subsequently executed:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Call transaction VA02 or click Enter <your order number> Your sales order displays.
the Change Sales Order - VA02 in the Order eld and click
tile on the SAP Fiori launchpad. Enter.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

2 Execute an availability check. Press Enter. Alternatively: An availability check is executed

without ABC as the sales order
Mark the item and click
item was not changed. The
Check Item Availability.
Review Availability Check
Select Check Document Result screen displays a
Availability. worsened con rmation (less
quantity or a later delivery date)
for 1020 as available stock was
reduced previously. Note that
when in change mode, the
availability check is executed
without ABC. The availability
check uses the originally
requested material-plant
combination.

3 Change the plant. Change Plant from 1020 to The plant is changed.
1010.

4 Execute an availability check. Press Enter. Alternatively: An availability check is executed

and ABC is re-evaluated. The
Mark the item and click
Plant column displays 1010
Check Item Availability.
struck through and displays
Select Check Document 1030 as offering a full
Availability. con rmation.

Creating a Delivery
Use this example procedure to create a delivery and execute a subsequent availability check when ABC is active:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Increase available stock. Increase the Stock for plant The stock for plant 1020 is
1020 to 18PC. increased.

2 Create a delivery for your sales Create a delivery for <your A delivery for 15 PC is created.
order. sales order>, with a
delivered quantity of 15PC as
con rmed previously.

3 Increase requested quantity and Increase the requested quantity An availability check is executed
execute an availability check. in the delivery to 20PC. Press without ABC, as the delivery
Enter. Alternatively: process does not support ABC.
The Review Availability Check
Mark the item and click Result screen con rms 18PC in
Check Item Availability. plant 1020 as the stock for that
plant was changed accordingly.
Select Check Document
Availability.

5 Call transaction VA02 or click Enter <your order number> Your sales order displays.
the Change Sales Order - VA02 in the Order eld and press
tile on the SAP Fiori launchpad. Enter.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

6 Execute an availability check. Press Enter. Alternatively: An availability check is executed

and does not change the plant
Mark the item and click
because the substitution
Check Item Availability.
strategy forces inline
Select Check Document substitution and there is already
Availability. a partial delivery from plant
1020. An additional substitution
cannot be created.

The availability check should

generate a con rmation for
18PC.

Related Information
Alternative Determination
Create Sales Orders - VA01
Change Sales Orders - VA02

Subitem Handling

Use
If you want to process requirements relevant for Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC) with subitems in Backorder Processing
(BOP) you have two options:

1. If your lter selects the main item, the main item is processed and re-evaluated against ABC depending on your
substitution strategy.

2. If your lter selects only one or more subitems (but not the main item), the subitems are checked individually and are not
re-evaluated against ABC. Non-selected subitems are remain un-checked and retain their con rmation from the database.

Note that if the lter selects both main and subitems, the subitems are excluded and the main item is checked.

Restriction
Subitems are not created when a required material is relevant for batch management and the sales order item type is con gured
for automatic batch determination.

Related Information
Exception Handling for Subitems
Alternative-Based Con rmation in Sales Orders
Delivery Options

Apps for Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC)

Use
Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) in SAP S/4HANA offers two interdependent SAP Fiori apps with which you can use an
alternative plant to con rm requirements in sales orders.

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Business Roles
You require the following business role to use the following SAP Fiori apps in the SAP Fiori launchpad:

Business Role Role ID SAP Fiori App

Order Ful llment Manager R0226

Con gure Substitution Strategy

Con gure Alternative Control

User Assistance
SAP Fiori apps contain Web Assistant documentation for key elds and concepts. To display the documentation, con gure the
settings as detailed in the User Assistance Settings section of the Installation Guide. The Installation Guide is available in the
Product Documentation section of the SAP Help Portal and is speci c to the SAP S/4HANA product and version you are using.
After the user assistance settings have been con gured, pressing F1 or clicking the question mark symbol displayed in the app
header will display the Web Assistant documentation.

Con gure Substitution Strategy

With this app, you can de ne which substitution method is to be used and which alternative determination is to be applied to
ensure that requirements can be con rmed when a material-plant combination requested in a sales order document cannot
immediately be con rmed as originally ordered. All possible material-plant combinations that could ful ll the sales order
requirement are calculated and considered. Substitution strategies are assigned to alternative controls maintained in the
Con gure Alternative Control app. You can use this app if you have the business role Order Ful llment Manager (R0226).

Key Features
You can use this app to:

De ne and display strategies to control how and in which context plant substitution is executed when material availability is
checked.

Use inline substitution to replace the delivering plant for sales order requirements: after substitution, the sales order will
contain a single requirement item and the originally requested delivering plant will be replaced by the alternative delivering
plant.

Use subitem generation to replace the delivering plant for sales order requirements: after substitution, the orignal
requirement item in the sales order will be retained but a subitem will be generated for each material-plant combination
used to ful ll the request. The subitem states the new plant used for con rming the requirement, as well as the con rmed
delivery date and quantity.

Con gure your system to choose the optimum solution based on the stock availability in potential delivering plants: if a
single delivering plant can con rm the requirement, inline substitution is possible and will be used. Otherwise, subitems
will be generated.

De ne how the most appropriate substitute plant is chosen when multiple plants can ful ll a requirement.

Display and navigate to the alternative controls using a substitution strategy.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

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Related Apps
This app is one of two interdependent apps that you can use to perform plant substitution with Alternative-Based Con rmation
(ABC) in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). For more information on the related app, see Con gure Alternative Control.

Related Information
How to Create a Substitution Strategy
Substitution Item Types
Alternative-Based Con rmation in Sales Orders

Con gure Alternative Control

With this app, you can set up and adjust alternative controls with which to improve the con rmations for requirements in sales
order documents by activating Alternative-Based Con rmation (ABC). The alternative controls are de ned on the basis of ordered
characteristics to which a substitution strategy is assigned. You can use this app if you have the business role Order Ful llment
Manager (R0226).

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create alternative controls (a set of values assigned to a given set of selected characteristics according to the speci c
scenario for the business document class sales order).

Display, edit, copy and remove existing alternative controls and their values.

Display, edit, add and remove characteristics for the business document class sales order.

Display and navigate to the substitution strategy used in an alternative control.

Catalog Extensibility
You can de ne additional characteristics for the characteristic catalog Base (Sales Order) for Alternative-Based Con rmation in
the Manage Characteristic Catalogs app.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of two interdependent apps that you can use to perform plant substitution with Alternative-Based Con rmation
(ABC) in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). For more information on the related app, see Con gure Substitution Strategy.

Related Information
How to Activate Plant Substitution
Using the Manage Characteristic Catalogs App for aATP

Master Data - Product Substitution

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Use
Master Data - Product Substitution can be used to de ne and maintain substitute products. Business processes like sales,
manufacturing, and logistics, require a functionality where you can substitute one product with another. Products can be
substituted due to various reasons such as:

An improved version of the product is available

Product is unavailable

For example:

A customer ordered product A. However, product A is unavailable because it is out of stock. On agreement with the customer, the
supplier delivers a substituted product (product B) which has similar form, t, and function. The supplier substitutes product A
with product B, and delivers it to the customer.

Substituting Products
Businesses may choose to use or supply substitute products if the substitute product is identical, performs the same function as
the original product, and ts the business requirements.

Business scenario examples where you can use Product Substitution include:

An upgraded version of the product is available

Upgraded versions of a product become available during product promotion activity

A product is discontinued and needs to be replaced

Product Substitution Scenarios

The following scenarios can be implemented:

Product Substitution Scenario Description

One-to-one substitution (1:1) A product is replaced by another product which has similar form, t, and function.

One-to-many substitution (1:n) A product is replaced by more than one product.

Features
Master Data - Product Substitution in SAP S/4HANA supports the following key features for product substitutions:

Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Manage Substitution Reasons How to Create a Reason

Create and manage reasons to
indicate why a product is substituted
or excluded.

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Key Feature SAP Fiori App See Also

Manage Substitution Groups How to Create a Group

Create and manage groups, which
can be used to group together
substitute products of similar form,
t, and function.

Activate or deactivate groups.

Manage Substitution Controls How to Create and Con gure a Control

Create and manage controls that
can be used to manage groups of
substitutions.

Assign groups to controls.

Manage Substitutions How to Create and Con gure a Product

Create and manage product Substitution
substitutions.

Create application-speci c product

substitutions.

View product substitution graph.

Manage Exclusions How to Create a Product Exclusion

Exclude products from being used in
substitutions.

Restrictions
The following restrictions are applicable:

Product Substitution supports only the Gregorian calendar.

Limitations
The following limitation is applicable:

aATP application area doesn’t support groups, sets, time range validities, and conversions. eSPP application area doesn't
support groups.

For more information, see Application Area Support for Functions.

Apps for Master Data - Product Substitution

Use
Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) in SAP S/4HANA offers ve SAP Fiori apps which help in substituting products.

Business Roles
You require the following business role to use the following SAP Fiori apps in the SAP Fiori launchpad:

Business Role Role ID SAP Fiori App

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Business Role Role ID SAP Fiori App

Master Data Specialist – Product Data R0097-13

Manage Substitution Reasons

Manage Substitution Groups

Manage Substitution Controls

Manage Substitutions

Manage Exclusions

User Assistance
SAP Fiori apps contain Web Assistant documentation for key elds and concepts. To display the documentation, con gure the
settings as detailed in the User Assistance Settings section of the Installation Guide. The Installation Guide is available in the
Product Documentation section of the SAP Help Portal and is speci c to the SAP S/4HANA product and version you are using.
After the user assistance settings have been con gured, pressing F1 or clicking the question mark symbol displayed in the app
header will display the Web Assistant documentation.

Manage Substitution Reasons

With this app, you can manage reasons that can be used while creating substitutions and exclusions for product substitutions.
Reasons and reason descriptions help users understand why a product is substituted in or excluded from a substitution. By
default, the app displays the reason description in the language that the user has logged in. You can use this app if the business
role Master Data Specialist – Product Data (R0097-13) is assigned to you.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create, edit, and delete a reason.

Create multiple language-speci c descriptions for each reason.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of the ve apps that you can use to manage product substitutions in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). For
more information on related apps, see:

Manage Substitution Groups

Manage Substitution Controls

Manage Substitutions

Manage Exclusions

Related Information
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How to Create a Reason

Manage Substitution Groups

With this app, you can create and manage groups that can be used while creating and con guring product substitutions. Product
substitutions can be grouped together if the substitute products are identical in all of their technically relevant properties (form,
t, and function). For example, you have a product i.e, keyboard. You create multiple product substitutions for the keyboard. The
substitute products that are used can be a different model or are manufactured by different companies. You can now group
together all these product substitutions. You can use this app if the business role Master Data Specialist – Product Data (R0097-
13) is assigned to you.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create, edit, and delete a group

Create multiple language speci c-descriptions for each group.

Change the status of a group to Active, Inactive, or Obsolete.

View the details of controls assigned to each group.

Additional Information
You can’t delete a group if:

The group is assigned to a control.

The group is used in a substitution or an exclusion.

The group is a parent group to another group.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of the ve apps that you can use to manage product substitutions in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). For
more information on related apps, see:

Manage Substitution Reasons

Manage Substitution Controls

Manage Substitutions

Manage Exclusions

Related Information
How to Create a Group

Manage Substitution Controls

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A control is used to consume one or more prede ned groups of substitutions. With this app, you can create and manage controls.
By assigning substitution groups to controls, consuming applications can manage substitution groups. You can assign only active
and inactive groups to a control. A control can be deleted even if groups are assigned to it. You can use this app if the business role
Master Data Specialist – Product Data (R0097-13) is assigned to you.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create, edit, and delete a control.

Create multiple language-speci c descriptions for a control.

Assign and unassign groups to controls.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of the ve apps that you can use to manage product substitutions in advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP). For
more information on related apps, see:

Manage Substitution Reasons

Manage Substitution Groups

Manage Substitutions

Manage Exclusions

Related Information
How to Create and Con gure a Control

Manage Substitutions
With this app, you can create and manage product substitutions. You can use this app to substitute a product with another
product. For example, a supplier selling product A realizes that the product is out of stock. The supplier can substitute the product
with product B to ful ll business requirements. You can create multiple substitutions for a product. Additionally, you can create
aATP and eSPP relevant product substitutions.

 Note

Extended Service Parts Planning (eSPP) application area does not support groups.

Advanced Available To Promise (aATP) application area does not support the following:

Time validities

Sets

Conversions using numerator and denominator

Conversion percentage
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Groups

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create, edit, and delete product substitutions.

Create plant-speci c substitutions. You must ensure that both the product and its substitute belong to the same plant.

Provide reasons for substitutions.

View preceding and succeeding substitutions.

Specify the order in which the substitutions are performed by sequencing them.

Specify when a chain of substitutions has to stop.

Specify which substitution has precedence.

View product substitution graph.

Limitations

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of the ve apps that you can use to manage product substitutions. For more information on related apps, see:

Manage Substitution Reasons

Manage Substitution Groups

Manage Substitution Controls

Manage Exclusions

Related Information
How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution

Manage Exclusions
With this app, you can create and manage product exclusions. Product exclusions allow you to prevent products from being used
in any substitution. For example, Product A is out of stock for one month. You can create a product exclusion for Product A, which
is applicable for a month. When a product exclusion is linked to a group, the system excludes the product only when the group is
used in a substitution. You can use this app if the business role Master Data Specialist – Product Data (R0097-13) is assigned to
you.

 Note

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While creating a product exclusion, you must specify the application area. For example, either eSPP or aATP, or both.

Key Features
You can use this app to:

Create, edit, and delete product exclusions.

Create time-range speci c product exclusions.

Specify a group for a product exclusion.

Activate or deactivate product exclusions.

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Related Apps
This app is one of the ve apps that you can use to manage product substitutions. For more information on related apps, see:

Manage Substitution Reasons

Manage Substitution Groups

Manage Substitution Controls

Manage Substitutions

Related Information
How to Create a Product Exclusion

Key Concepts in Product Substitutions

The following concepts are important for Product Substitutions:

Concept: De nition:

Substitute product The product that substitutes another product for business reasons.

Fully interchangeable The product and its possible substitute are replaceable both ways.
For example, Product C can be substituted with Product D, and
Product D can be substituted by Product C.

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Chain of substitutions A substitution chain is a sequential relationship of products that can

substitute each other.

For example:

Product A > Product B > Product C > Product D

Predecessor and successor substitutions When you create a chain of substitutions, any substitute in the chain
can have predecessor and successor substitutions.

For example:

Substitution 1: product A is substituted by product B.

Substitution 2: product B is substituted by product C.

Substitution 3: product C is substituted by product D.

The substitution chain is de ned as: A> B>C>D

In this chain of substitutions, for Substitution 2, the predecessor

substitution is Substitution 1 and the successor substitution is
Substitution 3.

The predecessor and successor substitutions allow you to

understand the chain of substitutions for a product.

Status The following statuses are available:

Active

Indicates that the object is valid and is used. You can change
this status to either Inactive or Obsolete.

Inactive

Indicates that the object is invalid and isn't used. You can
change this status to either Active or Obsolete.

Obsolete

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Indicates that the object is no longer in use. You can change
this status to either Active or Inactive.

Statuses are used in groups, substitutions, and exclusions.

Sequence A user-speci ed controlled order in which the system performs the

substitutions. For a product, you can create multiple product
substitutions. When you arrange the substitutions in a speci c
order using the sequence numbers, the system performs
substitutions according to the sequencing. The sequence value is
indicated by an integer value. By default, this value is set to 0.

For example:

The following substitutions are created:

Product A is substituted with Product B.

Product A is substituted with Product C.

Product A is substituted with Product D.

Product A is substituted with Product E.

You can specify sequence numbers to each substitution so that the

system performs the substitutions in the speci ed order.

Set A set is de ned as a xed collection of products that substitute a

product. A set is identi ed by specifying a unique identi er (set ID)
to it.

For example:

Product B, product C, and product D are grouped together as Set 1.

Product A is replaced by Set 1.

For more information, see Application Area Support for Functions.

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Quantity conversion: Numerator and Denominator Some business scenarios require that when a product is substituted
by another product, the quantity of the substitute product changes
due to various factors. Quantity conversion is used to de ne how
the quantities of the product and the substitute product are related.
The quantity conversion is expressed as a conversion factor that
has numerator and denominator attributes. These attributes are
always integer values..

For example:

Product A is substituted with 80% of Product B.

A = 0.8 x B

A = 8/10 x B

In this example, 8 is the numerator corresponding to the product

substitute, and 10 is the denominator corresponding to the product
substitute.

Conversion percentage De nes the quantity conversion in the form of a percentage value.

For example:

Product A is substituted with 80% of Product B.

A = 0.8 x B, which means A = 80% x B

In this example, the conversion percentage is speci ed as 80%.

Lead indicator In a chain of substitutions, the lead indicator speci es one

substitution out of several possible substitutions as the lead.

Time range validities De nes the time range validities of a product substitution or a
product exclusion. The system allows you to specify the valid from
and valid to time and date details for substitutions and exclusions.
The following example diagram shows how time range validities can
be used in product substitutions:

Time zone The time zone in which the time range validities data is provided.
Users can specify the required time zones. If the time zone
information isn't speci ed, the system uses the UTC time zone by
default.

Exit indicator The exit indicator stops further substitutions in the chain of

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substitutions. In a chain of substitutions, if the exit indicator is set
for a substitution, no further traversing is allowed.

For example:

Substitution 1: Product A can be substituted by Product B.

Substitution 2: Product B can be substituted by Product C.

Substitution 3: Product C can be substituted by Product D.

Substitution chain: A> B>C>D

The exit indicator is speci ed for Product B to Product C

substitution. The system stops further substitutions that are
possible in the chain.

Substitution chain: A>B>C

Group When a product can be substituted by more than one substitute

product, you can use a group to de ne all the product substitutes
that are used to replace the product. You can create a group and
specify it in a substitution. For more information, see Using Groups
in Product Substitutions.

Control Allows you to manage groups, and therefore manage the

substitutions within the groups. For more information, see Using
Controls in Product Substitutions.

Reason Identi es the reason why a product is substituted or is excluded fom

being used in a product substitution.

Application Area Support for Functions

Application area support for functions like sets and conversions is shown in the following table:

Application Area Time Range Validities Groups Sets Quantity Conversions Quantity Conversion Percentages

aATP No No No No No

eSPP Yes No Yes Yes Yes

Extended Service Parts Planning (eSPP) Relevant Substitutions

Extended Service Parts Planning (eSPP) is an application area that can also use Product Substitution for product
interchangeability. When you create eSPP relevant product substitutions, you must provide the following additional location
independent attribute related information which are:

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Use-up date (optional)

Use-up strategy

Replacement type

Product substitution group type

Direction of interchangeability

For more information, see Supersession Settings in eSPP.

If you are creating a plant and product combination of a product substitution, you can provide the following additional location
dependent attribute related information which are:

Stock exhaustion date

Stock exhaustion warning date

Data realignment end date

Successor product planning date

Successor product receipt date

Final date

For more information, see Supersession Settings in eSPP.

Related Information
Determination of the Successor Product Planning Date
Determination of the Stock Exhaustion Warning Date
Product Interchangeability in eSPP

Using Sets in Product Substitutions

A set can be termed as a collection. A product can be substituted with a set of products. Product Substitution allows you to
substitute a product with a set of products. A set is identi ed by assigning it a unique set ID.

Some business scenarios require that a product be substituted with a collection of products. For example, during a promotional
campaign for a product, buinesses may offer an upgraded product and two additional accessory products.

For example:

You want to replace product A with a collection of product B, product C, and product D, named as SetX.

Create the following three product substitutions:

Product A is substituted by product B.

Product A is substituted by product C.

Product A is substituted by product D.

In these three product substitutions, specify the set name as SetX. The system substitutes product A with all substitute products
of A that have the same set ID.

Using Groups in Product Substitutions

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When a product can be substituted by multiple alternate products, you can use a substitution group to de ne all the product
substitutes that are used to substitute the product.

A substitution group de nes a business semantic as specifed by the user. Business semantics can be used as a classi cation on
the basis of factors such as version, geography, age group, origin, technological relevance, type of product, business
segmentation, etc. A few examples of business semantics are: premium customers, display products, etc. When a substitution is
associated with a substitution group, it means that the substitution is valid for the substitution group only.

For example:

Product A can be substituted with product B, product C, or product D. The following three substitutions are created:

1. Product A is substituted by product B.

2. Product A is substituted by product C.

3. Product A is substituted by product D.

Implementation

You can group the susbtitutes by specifying the same group name in all the three substitutions.

Using Controls in Product Substitutions

Controls are used by consuming applications that perform product substitutions. The consuming applications use controls to
manage groups, and therefore manage the substitutions within the groups. For example, in aATP application area, the control is
determined based on the characteristics of a sales order requirement.

For example:

Different types of kitchen appliances are available such as fridge, dishwasher, oven, cooker, grinder, mincer, chopper, and hand
mixer, etc. You can create multiple substitutions for each of these products and group them according to type or company.
However, you want to categorize the appliances as:

Large appliances

For example, fridge.

Medium appliances

For example, oven and dishwasher.

Small appliances

For example, cooker, grinder, mincer, chopper, and hand mixer.

You can create a control for each of these categories and assign different substitution groups to each control. These controls can
later be used by any consuming applications.

Product Network Graph

For any product substitution, the Product Network Graph page displays a graphical representation of how the preceding and
successive substitutions are arranged and sequenced like a chain. The graph helps you to visualize the chain of different
substitutions that can be performed for a product.

At a glance, the Product Network Graph page provides the following information:

Active substitutions

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Inactive substitutions

Active substitutions (fully excluded)

Inactive substitutions (fully excluded)

Direct substitutes

Starting product

Stop indicator

Lead indicator

All successors to a substitution

All predecessors to a substitution

On the details page of any substitution, clicking on the View Graph button displays the Product Network Graph page. Initially, the
graph displays data based on the context set by the product substitution. Additionally, this page displays a set of con gurable
lters in the header section. You can modify the con gurable lters. After you change the values in the lters and click Go, the app
regenerates and displays the revised graph based on the new lter values.

 Note

If you specify <Empty> value in a lter criteria, the app considers that the product isn't associated with any values of
the criteria. For example, if you specify <Empty> for the Plant lter, the app shows substitutions where the plant isn't
speci ed.

If the lter criteria are set to blank, the app considers all possible values set in the lter.

How to Create and Manage Product Substitutions

Use the following example procedures to create and manage product substitutions:

Purpose Procedure

Use this example procedure to create a reason that can be used in a How to Create a Reason
product substitution or product exclusion.

Use this example procedure to create a substitution group where How to Create a Group
you can group together all those products sharing the same
characteristics and can be used in a product substitution.

Use this example procedure to create a substitution control where How to Create and Con gure a Control
you can assign groups to a control.

Use this example procedure to create a product exclusion. How to Create a Product Exclusion

Use this example procedure to create a product substitution. How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution

How to Create a Reason

Context
Use this example procedure to create reasons that can be used in product substitutions and product exclusions. The reason name
must be unique. The maximum number of characters that you can use for a reason name is 20 characters.

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For each reason, you can create reason descriptions in the supported languages. You can specify a maximum of 60 characters for
a reason description.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log on to SAP Fiori launchpad. Log on to the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the role Master displays.
Data Specialist – Product Data.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Click the Manage Substitution The Manage Substitution
Reasons tile. Reasons – Products screen
displays.

3 Create a new reason. Click Create in the Reasons The app refreshes the page to
table toolbar. display the Reason screen.

In the Header section, de ne

<your reason name> as the
reason.

4 Save the reason. Click Save. The app creates the reason and
displays a screen where you can
provide multiple language-
speci c reason descriptions.

The Edit and Delete buttons are

now available for users to make
changes to the reason or delete
it.

Note: You can't delete a reason if

it's used by a product
substitution.

5 De ne reason description. Click Create in the Descriptions The app refreshes the page to
(Optional) section. display a screen where you can
select a language and provide a
In the General Information
language-speci c reason
section, select the required
description. For each language
language and enter the reason
supported by SAP, you can
description.
provide one reason description.

6 Click Save. Click Save. The app saves the reason

description. The Edit and Delete
buttons are now available for
users to make changes to or
delete the reason description.

Related Information
How to Create a Group
How to Create and Con gure a Control
How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution
How to Create a Product Exclusion

How to Create a Group

Context
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Use this example procedure to create a group and its group description that can be used in product substitutions. The group name
must be unique. The maximum number of characters that you can use for a group name is 20 characters, and 60 characters for a
group description. By default, the app displays the group description in the language that the user has logged in.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log on to SAP Fiori launchpad. Log on to the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the role Master displays.
Data Specialist – Product Data.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Click the Manage Substitution The Manage Substitution
Groups tile. Groups – Products screen
displays.

3 Create a new group. Click Create in the Substitution The app refreshes the page to
Groups table toolbar. display the Group screen.

In the Header section, de ne

<your group name> as Group.

4 Save the group. Click Save. The app creates the group and
displays a screen where you can
provide language-speci c group
descriptions.

The Edit and Delete buttons are

now available for users to make
changes to the group or delete
it.

 Note
You can't delete a group if it
is in use by a product
substitution or a product
exclusion.

5 De ne group description. Click Create in the Group The app refreshes the page to
(Optional) Descriptions section. display a screen where you can
select a language and provide a
In the General Information
language-speci c group
section, select the required
description.
language and enter the group
description. For each language supported by
SAP, you can provide one group
description.

6 Click Save. Click Save. The app saves the group

description. The Edit and Delete
buttons are now available for
users to make changes to or
delete the group description.

Related Information
How to Create and Con gure a Control
How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution
How to Create a Product Exclusion
How to Create a Reason

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How to Create and Con gure a Control

Context
Use this example procedure to create a control and its descriptions, and assign groups to it. Groups are used in product
substitutions. The control name must be unique. The maximum number of characters that you can use for a control name is 20
characters, and 60 characters for a control description.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log on to SAP Fiori launchpad. Log on to the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the role Master displays.
Data Specialist – Product Data.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Click the Manage Substitution The Manage Substitution
Controls tile. Controls – Products screen
displays.

3 Create a new control. Click Create in the Controls The app refreshes the page to
table toolbar. display the Control screen.

In the Header section, de ne

<your control name> as Control.

4 Save the control. Click Save. The app creates the control and
displays a screen where you can
create language-speci c control
descriptions and assign groups
to the control.

The Edit and Delete buttons are

now available for users to make
changes to the control or delete
it.

5 De ne the control description. Click Create in the Control The app refreshes the page to
(Optional) Descriptions section. display a screen where you can
select a language and provide a
In the General Information
language-speci c group
section, select the required
description. For each language
language and enter the required
supported by SAP, you can
control description.
create one group description.

6 Click Save. Click Save. The app saves the control

description. The Edit and Delete
buttons are now available for
users to make changes to or
delete the control description.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

7 Assign groups to the control. Click Assign in the Assigned The app displays a Assign
Groups section. Groups to Control window
where you can select groups for
The app displays Assign Groups
assigning.
to Control window where you
can select the required groups
 Note
and assign.
In the Assign Groups to
Click Assign. Control windown, the system
does not display the already
assigned groups to the
control.

8 Save the control. Click Save. The app assigns the controls to
the group. The control can now
be used.

Related Information
How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution
How to Create a Product Exclusion
How to Create a Reason
How to Create a Group

How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution

Context
Use this example procedure to create a product substitution. It's assumed that for demonstration purpose in this example, the
product and the substitute product are already available in the system.

If you want to specify the reason for a substitution, ensure that the reason is already created in the system. You can use the
Manage Substitution Reason app to create reasons.

 Note

aATP application doesn't support groups, sets, time range validities, and conversions. Therefore, don't specify data in
these elds while creating aATP relevant substitutions.

eSPP doesn’t support groups. Therefore, don't specify data in the group elds while creating eSPP relevant
substitutions.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log on to SAP Fiori launchpad. Log onto the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the role Master displays.
Data Specialist – Product Data.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Click the Manage Substitutions The Manage Substitutions
tile. screen displays.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

3 Create a new substitution. Click Create in the Substitution The app refreshes the page to
list table toolbar. display the Unnamed Object
page where you can enter
Header and General
Information related elds.

4 De ne the details required in the In the Header section, enter the

Header facet. required details in the following
elds:

Product

You can also search and

select the required
product that you want to
replace.

Substitute Product

You can also search and

select the required
product that will be the
substitute product.

Plant

Ensure that the product

and the substitute
product belong to the
same plant.

 Note
Ensure that the
product and plant
combination is valid.
A blank Plant eld
indicates that the
substitution is valid
in all the plants.

aATP Relevant

Select this checkbox if

you want to create an
aATP relevant
substitution.

 Note
aATP doesn't support
groups, sets, time
range validities, and
conversions in
product
substitutions.

eSPP Relevant

Select this checkbox if

you want to create an
eSPP relevant
substitution.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

 Note
eSPP does not
support groups in
product
substitutions.

 Note
You can also select both
aATP Relevant and eSPP
Relevant checkboxes.

By default, the Status of the

substitution is set to Inactive. If
required, you can set the status
to Active.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

5 De ne the required details in the In the General Information

General Information facet. facet, enter the required details
in the following elds:

Group

Enter the group name if

you want to group this
substitution.

Reason

Enter the reason code or

use search to nd the
required reason.

Lead Indicator

Select this checkbox if

you want this
substitution to take
precedence among
multiple available
substitutions.

Sequence

Specify an integer value

if you want to set the
order for substitutions.

You can enter a

maximum of 5
characters.

Exit Indicator

Select this checkbox if

you don't want the app
to traverse through
further possible
substitutions in a
substitution chain.

Valid From

Use the date picker to

select the required date.
Ensure that the Valid
From date isn't greater
than the Valid To date.

Valid To

Use the date picker to

select the required date.

Time Zone

This eld is mandatory if

you select either or both
of the Valid From and
Valid To dates.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

6 De ne the required details in the In the eSPP - Location

eSPP - Location Independent Independent Attributes section,
Attributes section. enter the required details in the
following elds:
 Note
Direction of Int.
This section appears only if
the eSPP Relevant checkbox Select the required from
is selected. the dropdown.

Use-Up Strategy

Select the required

strategy from the
dropdown.

Use-Up Date

Use the date picker to

select the required date
for the Use-Up Strategy.

Replacement Type

Select the required

replacement type from
the dropdown.

Prod.Substn.Grp.Type

Select the required

group type from the
dropdown.

7 De ne the required details in the In the eSPP - Location

eSPP - Location Dependent Dependent Attributes section,
Attributes section. use the date picker to select the
required date for the following
 Note elds:

This section appears only if Exhaustn Date

the eSPP Relevant checkbox
is selected and the Plant SucPdtReceiptDt.
details are provided.
Succ.Plan.Date

RealignmtEndDate

Exhaust. Warning Dt.

Final Date

8 Save the substitution details. Click Save. The app saves the entered
details, creates the substitution,
and displays a con rmation
message. The app also shows
blank Predecessor
Substitutions and Successor
Substitutions sections.

Related Information
How to Create a Product Exclusion
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How to Create a Reason
How to Create a Group
How to Create and Con gure a Control

How to Create a Product Exclusion

Context
Use this example procedure to create a product exclusion so that the product is excluded from being used in a product
substitution.

You can also specify time range validities for product exclusions. However, you can't create multiple exclusions that have
overlapping time range validities for the same product. While specifying the time range validities, ensure to specify the time zone.
The app internally saves the time and date information in the UTC time zone. You can specify one of the following possible time
range validities:

Both the valid from and valid to date and time validities

Only the valid from date and time validities

Only the valid to date and time validities

 Note

aATP application area doesn't support time range validities. Therefore, while creating aATP relevant substitutions, don't
specify data in these elds.

eSPP application area doesn’t support groups. Therefore, while creating eSPP relevant substitutions, don't specify data
in the group eld.

If you're specifying a plant, ensure that the product and plant combination is valid.

When an exclusion is created, by default the status is set to Inactive.

Proceed as follows:

Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

1 Log on to SAP Fiori launchpad. Log on to the SAP Fiori The SAP Fiori launchpad
launchpad using the role Master displays.
Data Specialist – Product Data.

2 Access SAP Fiori app. Click the Manage Exclusions The Manage Exclusions -
tile. Products screen displays.

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Step # Action Instructions Expected Result

3 Create a new exclusion. Click Create in the Product The app refreshes the page to
Exclusions list table toolbar. display the Product Exclusion
screen.
In the Header section, de ne the
following elds:

Product

Plant

Status

aATP Relevant

eSPP Relevant

In the General Information

section, de ne the following
elds:

Reason

Group

Valid From

Valid To

Time Zone

4 Activate exclusion. Click Save. The app creates the product

exclusion.

The Edit and Delete buttons are

now available for you to make
changes to the exclusion or
delete it.

Related Information
How to Create a Reason
How to Create a Group
How to Create and Con gure a Control
How to Create and Con gure a Product Substitution

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