SAP SCM Interview Questions

SAP Supply Chain Management is one of the key module in SAP ERP and controls Production Planning, business forecasting and demand planning, and helps the organization to manage their supply chain process in a dynamic environment.

SAP SCM process helps suppliers, customers, manufacturer, business partners and retailers to connect with each other to manage supply chain process effectively and efficiently.

The primary applications are SAP General Areas, SAP Supply Network Collaboration SNC, SAP Extended Warehouse Management EWM, Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO), Forecasting and Replenishment FRE and SAP Transportation Management TM.

Forecasting

To perform demand planning and forecasting, you can link to Customer Relationship Management CRM to get data related to customer campaigns, etc.

Supply Network Planning SNP

To view organization as a network of locations and to check stock projections and stock keeping criteria. Calculations in SNP drive dependent requirements down to supplying locations production and receiving stores.

Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling

This is to check the dependent requirements from locations within the supply network, passed down from SNP. This is linked with Material Requirement Planning MRP in Production Planning, which determines the inbound material required to complete a production order.

SC Collaboration

This is used to help in making collaborative forecasts and agreements.

SC coordination

This component in Supply Chain is used to coordinate the exchange of data and information between different business units.

Organizations can achieve following benefits in a distributed environment −

• To reduce accounts receivable collections with better visibility into the AR process, aging and extension of credit, and help to reduce day’s sales outstanding using SCM process.

• To effectively manage forecasting and handling sudden changes in demand and supply process.

• To effectively use Net Fixed assets NFA like plants and equipment.

• To meet customer demands, you can smartly plan and manage Supply chain Management process in an organization.

• Proper inventory optimization, order fulfillment and shipping of the goods.

• Distribution of the key information to all the stake holders spread across the network.

• Improved communication and collaboration between different business lines to manage demand and supply process in an organization.

• To improve production efficiency and reduction in production quality issues and hence reduce cost of goods sold.

• To reduce transportation duties and taxes, and increase rebates and incentives. It also helps to reduce transportation errors.

Demand management is used to forecast, manage and plan the demands of goods and has defined set of processes and capabilities to produce goods. This component is used to improve the demand planning by utilizing promotions.

Based on historical sales data, you can handle demand for every store, product from different customers and hence you can see customer responses as per change in pricing policies, and profit for a particular product in the organization.

You use demand models to predict consumers’ reaction with price change. As per organization goals like - increase profit, revenue, etc. you can define selling strategies for the products.

Demand management is performed by Planned Independent requirement PIR. Planned Independent requirement provides input for production planning. A PIR contains one planned quantity of product and one date for material or a Planned Quantity is split over a span of time period.

Make to Stock Planning strategy (MTS)

This is planning strategy where stock is produced without sales order. It is used to meet customer demands in future.

Make to Order planning strategy (MTO)

In this planning strategy, finish products are not produced until you receive sales order from a customer. For MRP run, you only consider Sales order.

In MTO strategy, you only produce sales order stock and products are delivered as per sales orders from specific customer.

When you use Planning strategy 10, only PIR quantity is considered for MRP run and sales order are completely ignored. In this PIR requirement type LSF and is reduced when you deliver stock to customer.

When you use Planning strategy 40, for MRP run maximum of 2 PIR and Sales order can be considered and PIR is reduced when enter the Sales order. PIR requirement type is VSF in this case.

You use Planning strategy 20 for make to order MTO process and planning strategy 25 is used to produce product variants when there is request for variant products from customer.

MRP run or planning run is an engine which is used to fill demand and supply gap. Issues & Receipts are called MRP Elements. Issues include PIRs, Dependent Requirements, Order Reservations, Sales Orders, Issuing Stock Transfer Orders, etc. and receipts include Production Orders, Purchase Requisitions, Purchase Orders, Open Production Orders, Receiving Stock Transfer Order, Schedule lines, etc.

NetChange

In this run system consider those material which has undergone some changes from the previous MRP run.

NetChange in planning horizon

This run considers the requirement in predefined planning horizon and not like net change which check the future requirements.

In this run, system consider only those material which has undergone some changes from their last MRP run.

Regenerative Planning

In this run, system consider all the material irrespective of changes and it is time consuming and not common in Production planning.

Basic Scheduling

It only calculates basic dates for orders in MRP run and in house production time for material master in use.

Lead time Scheduling

In this MRP, production dates are defined by lead time scheduling for planned orders.

Bills of material master data is related to material requirement planning and provides the list of components to produce the product.

To produce a product with different variants, you can create super Bills of Material that has list of components to manufacture different variants of a product and selection of component depends on details mentioned in planning order. You can create up to 99 Bills of Material.

To transfer master and transaction data from ERP system to SCM system, you need to define an integration model. When you create an integration model, system automatically generates a new version of this model.

No, you can create as many versions of an integration model as you want however only one version is active at a time.

Goods issue is done when raw material is consumed to produce material as per Production order. When goods are issued, system decreases the inventory of components at the storage location in Production Planning system.

Movement type 261 is used for goods issue.

Goods issue reversal is used when you cancel the goods issue for an order. Goods issue can be cancelled till order status is confirmed CNF in system.

Movement type is 262 in Goods issue reversal.

To perform goods issue reversal, use T-code: MB1A or go to Logistics → Production → Production Control → Goods Movement → Goods Issue

In SAP system, you can create a planned order request during planning run for a plant to trigger the procurement of material with the certain quantity for a specific time period.

Planned orders are created as result of shortage of materials that are set to internal procurement will create planned orders and you can convert planned orders to production orders using T-Code: CO40/CO41.

You can create a planned order manually using T-Code: MD11.

This is used to see current stock and planned receipts. Use T-code: MD04

MRP List is used to generate static report that contains planning run material wise and it displays time of MRP run at the top.

A Production order is used to define the material to be produced, plant location where production has to be done, date and time of production, quantity of goods required. A Production Order also defines which components and sequence of operations are to be used and how the order costs are to be settled.

BOM and routing data of the materials are copied into the Production order which determines the list of components and operational data in the order.

First step is to convert a planned order to production order. When you create a Production Order, type is defined in SAP PP system.

To start the production process, it is necessary to issue Production order. Till a production order is not released, execution of production process is not started.

Issuing goods is required for providing the goods to execute the Production order. Once goods are issues, document number can be updated in the system.

All the sub processes are executed in accordance with required operations to confirm the production as per Production order.

When you don’t select a restriction, it prompts that a very long run time is expected if you select execute.

No, when you deactivate an integration model, it doesn’t mean that all the objects that are transferred will be deleted in SCM system.

1

• BOM
• Work Center
• Material Master
• Routing

Routing defines sequence of activities performed at work center. Routing plays in important role in calculating production cost, machine time and labor time.

For each resource field in SAP APO/SCM, you have relevant work center in ERP system.

Resource type defines how the system plan resources as per the planning parameters. There are various planning parameters for each resource type. When you transfer work centers from ERP system, following resource types are already created −

• Single-Activity and Multi activity Resource
• Single-Mixed and Multi mixed Resources
• Line Resource

Single-Activity and Multi activity Resource

In Single activity resource, one activity can be carried out at a time. In multi activity resource, several activities can be carried out at one time.

Single-Mixed and Multi mixed Resources

In SAP SCM, you use mixed resources to perform Production Planning SAP PP and Detailed Scheduling both the activities.

Now single mixed resources means that a single activity resources in Production planning PP and in Detailed Scheduling DS and multi-mixed resources allow multi activity resources.

Line Resource

It defines working time and rates of line. A line resource is created in APO for each line you create in DI system.

• Vehicle Resource
• Bucket Resource
• Transportation Resource

Production Data Structure is known as structure of master data that can be used in planning process. PDS are generated when you transfer the master data using Core Interface in APO system from SAP ERP system.

• PDS for Production and Detailed Planning
• PDS for Supply Network Planning
• PDS for Demand Planning
• PDS for CTM Planning
• Template PDS for industry specific optimizer

SAP APO Core Interface (CIF) is known as interface that allows you to exchange data between SAP APO and ERP system.

You can perform the following functions using CIF −

• Source and target system determination within complex system environments
• Supply of SAP APO with the master and transaction data relevant to planning
• Transfer of changes to transaction data.
• Return of planning results from SAP APO

To change the PDS data, it should be changed in data in SAP ERP and generate the production data structure PDS using SAP APO core interface CIF.

PDS type should be SNP or SNP Subcontracting.

To transfer changed master data and production versions to SAP SCM, go to Logistics → Central Functions → Supply Chain Planning Interface → Core Interface Advanced Planner and Optimizer → Integration Model → Change Transfer → Production Data Structure PDS → Transfer Production Data Structure.

In SAP SCM, you use supply chain model for the planning. SAP system considers the master data that is assigned to a model for the planning purpose. You can assign the master data to a model either in the Supply Chain Engineer or in master data. Maintenance transaction.

It is also possible to assign one or more planning versions to a model. All the master data released for the planning must be assigned to the active model and the active planning version- model 000 and planning version 000 respectively. In production system all master data that you transfer from SAP R/3 is automatically assigned to the active model and the active planning version.

Yes

No, when a model is deleted, it also remove all the planning versions that has been created for this model.

SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization provides a range of functions that can be used to plan and execute the supply chain processes in an organization. SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization supports the following features −

• You can use this to perform collaboration on a strategic, tactical, and operational planning level.

• This is used to perform the coordination between partners at all stages of the supply chain process.

• You can achieve constant optimization and evaluation of the supply chain network’s efficiency.

You can use the Alert Monitor to monitor whether your application is running without problems. You can use alert profiles to specify in what situations the system reports the problem.

Using alert monitor, you can monitor all the alerts that have occurred, and can move the application directly to see the problem.

You can only use the Alert Monitor in these applications - Advanced Planning and Optimization, SAP Forecasting and Replenishment and Extended Warehouse Management.

Using Supply network collaboration, it allows you to synchronize information flow in a company and its suppliers. You can include key steps related to purchase order processing, supplier inventory, etc. can be implemented.

• Custom Key figures
• Creating alert notifications
• Custom alerts
• Configuring UI enhancements and hiding column in ALV and many more

In Supply Chain Management SCM, Forecasting & Replenishment enables the planning and executing of inventory strategies. It perform the streamlining inventories with supply chain and lower overall inventory levels and cost.

Following are the key functions that you can perform using SAP SCM F&R

• Demand forecast
• Alert-driven manual interventions

  Monitoring the quality of the processes and of the solution implementation.

  Management of high data volumes