Question:
Hi
I am looking for a high level explanation about APO or i2. Primarily would like to know what these planning tools can do which we can't achive through R/3.
Appreciate an help ..
Thank you in advance
Answer:
APO and I2 are Finite PLANNING tools. When MRP runs with APO or I2 (or Red Pepper or Manugistics), it takes Capacity issues into consideration. MRP in SAP R/3 Core does not, it assumes infinite capacity available. (MRP only looks at material availablity.)
However, SAP R/3 DOES do finite SCHEDULING, which is where the system 'dispatches" operations on a production order until it fills up the capacity available, then moves to the next time period and dispatches until that period is filled up. In SAPspeak, that is called capacity leveling.
I believe APO should only be used in very large companies (billions) because of the amount of master data that must be maintained, and that data better be ACURATE, or you've wasted a heck of a lot of time. By the way, APO stands for Advanced Planner and Optimizer tool, obviously a German sort of name!
Answer:
Russell
Thanks for the update. May I know how you differentiate, planning & schedulling? In the second para, you mentoned that SAP will do scheduling? Does it mean that SAP does planning wiithout considering the available capacities?
Not sure, wheter you are aware about the transaction OPU5 in R/3, this allows some configuration at capacity level. Any idea, this can be used for planning by considering capacity?
Thanks Again
Answer:
Yes, I am very familiar with OPU5. There is a lot of tough configuration there, and the only way to really understand it is to set up a senario, see what happens, then make a change to the config, check the senario again, and to that about 500 times!
You got it right. R/3 does planning without consideration for capacity situations. So if MRP says you need 500 parts on 3/1/04, it schedules them all to be built at the same time, even though you can only do 100 at a time. Assume you have a fixed lot size of 100, you'll get 5 planned orders for 100 to start on the same day. This is "Infinite Planning". APO would recognize that constraint, and instead schedule out the 5 orders over time. The important part of that is that it also will schedule out the deliveries of the components for 5 different days. This is "Finite Planning".
Now, assume old fashion MRP. It schedules all 5 orders for the same day, and the buyers go out an get all of the components for the same day. Then the planner realizes he can't do all 5, and manually changes the schedule, and manually spreads out the 5 orders. The buyers will recieve rescheduling notifications, but not until the scheduler does the manual rescheduling. You could call this "Infinite Scheduling", but that only means the same thing as Infinite Planning.
But, SAP has "Capacity Leveling". What that means is you run another program after MRP (CM27 and CM28), which can be run in batch mode overnight. (There is a ton of configuration and thinking that will be required to do this!). The capacity leveling program will recognize the constrant at the work center level, and fill up the first day, then re-schedule the next order to the next available capacity, then the next order searches for available capacity, and so on. This is called "Finite Scheduling". The problem with this is the opposite of Infinite Planning, which is it doesn't take Material availablity into consideration! The system will re-schedule a production order without thinking about whether the materials will be available or not.
Finite Planning does Finite Sheduling at the same time. If there is no capacity available on the desired date, the system looks for when capacity IS available. Then it stops to see if Materials will also be available (usually based on the lead-time for those components). If there is a material problem, then the system figures out when the materials WILL be available, and then checks to see if capacity is available on THAT day, and if so, it blocks off capacity, and allocates the materials for that day.
That's what I believe is the differences between planning and scheduling, finite and infinite......
Russell
Answer:
Russel
You done a fantastic job by articulating different planning scenarios.
Let me try to digest it and update soon.
In the Mean time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH ........!!!!
Answer:
Thanks
Very useful
Answer:
Thanks Russell !
May I ask where we can get more info on APO. My company is currently going down that foggy trail !!!
Regards,
AdrienW
Answer:
Adrien,
Any information you get about APO from the SAP websites are very simplistic. What you want to do is contact your SAP representative, and ask them to give you three actual users of APO for you to contact, and ask questions. You can also ask them to come out to your company and give you an on-site demo of APO. The reason they will gladly do this is because it requires an additional license, so the sales guy has an opportunity to make money.
The big question is: How big is your company? Can you afford both the technical people to run it, and the additional planners that you'll need to maintain it? Again, if you're not in the big money (>$500M or more!), then it's going to be more trouble than it's worth.
What kind of product do you manufacture?
Best of Luck! You'll need it!
You might also send someone to the ASUG convention in Atlanta. There ought to be some real APO users there.....
Russell
Answer:
Hi Russell,
I am in the computer hardware peripheral industry. Not at liberty to say who, but we are a 2bln/yr company. I understand that APO is resource intensive. It will all come down to $$$ in the end, though. If APO is projected to save money, we will go ahead.
Thanks very much for your comments. Much appreciated.
Regards,
AdrienW.
Answer:
Dear Russel
It will really be kind enough if you please send me some documentation on APO to my mail ID d_kalyan@hotmail.com
Will be waiting for your mail
Regards
PPPrince