This Blog is mainly on SAP Exam Questions and Selected "How-to" SAP processes

Monday, February 9, 2026

Q&A in Class (2026-02-11) S4222

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Question: Video Library and SAP Official Resources for SAP S/4HANA

Answer: See the following links:
See the following official SAP link to Video Library for SAP S/4HANA:
https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_S4HANA_ON-PREMISE/VideoLibraryforSAPS4HANA/ 
(Note that the "Manufacturing" Video Library may still be "in Construction" at the time of access)
(* You can revisit in the near future for new Video updates by the SAP team members)

See comprehensive SAP resources main page:

See the following links on official SAP resources on S4HANA:
https://blog.sap-press.com/key-differences-between-sap-ecc-and-sap-s4hana/

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Question: How does IBP integrate to the S/4 backend Demand Planning?


Answer: SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) integrates with the SAP S/4HANA backend to enable seamless data exchange for supply chain planning, using specialized tools to connect the cloud-based IBP with on-premise or cloud ERP systems or Cloud S/4HANA deployment. This is typically achieved via SAP Cloud Integration for Data Services (CPI-DS) or SDI, enabling downstream production and procurement planning.
SAP IBP Releases and Transfer the demand plans to S/4HANA by transferring finalized, high-level, or constrained forecasts—often from the FINAL CONSENSUS DEMAND key figure to become Planned Independent Requirements (PIRs) in S/4HANA. 
It is important to note that APO Demand Plan or SOP Plan also requires Releases and Transfer the demand plans to S/4HANA PIRs. The Principle and Structured method are well documented when SOP (Sales and Operation Planning) was released by consultants Richard Ling of the Oliver Wight organization  in the mid-1980s. The structured methodology has been adopted by all MRP systems developed since then including the SAP system in its deployment of (ALL uses the SAME Principle of Release and Transfer the Demand Plans to PIR): 
• SOP (Sales and Operation Plan) in R/3 1992
• DP (Demand Planning) in APO in 1999 (approximation)
• IBP (Integrated Business Planning) in S/4 in 2014
You can see the following Blog Post for more details:  
or Goto the section "IBP (Integrated Business Planning" in the Blog link section

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Question: Review S/4HANA Fiori Apps.

Answer: Click the following the 
SAP Fiori Library via the link https://fioriappslibrary.hana.ondemand.com/Viewer/
and the following links for Fiori demo and settings:

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Question: Review the the steps to upload PIR from Excel to the "Manage PIR" Fiori App.


Answer: To upload and download Excel/CSV files for managing Planned Independent Requirements (PIR) in the SAP Fiori "Maintain PIRs (App ID F3445)" app, download a template using the "Excel download" button, edit the CSV file, and use the "Upload and Edit" button to import changes. Ensure you have the necessary roles (e.g., SAP_BR_PRODN_PLNR) and have assigned your area of responsibility.
Review the Excel download + upload of PIR using "Manage PIR" Fiori App:

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Question: Review of Strategy 50 applications in Advanced Planning.

Answer: SAP Planning Strategy 50, known as "Planning without Final Assembly," is a Make-to-Order (MTO) production strategy where sub-assemblies and components are procured/produced based on forecasts (Planned Independent Requirements), but the final assembly is only triggered by a specific sales order. This strategy balances inventory costs with short delivery times by prepping components in advance.
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2025/05/sap-pp-strategy-50-planning-without.html

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Question: Review parameters/functionality differences in classic MRP transactions vs MRP Live.


Answer: MD01 (Classic MRP) and MD01N (MRP Live) differ primarily in speed, technology, and functionality, with MD01N being designed for high-performance planning on SAP S/4HANA. MD01N utilizes in-memory database capabilities to plan faster, allows for multiple plants/materials in one run, and does not create traditional MRP lists, unlike the slower, legacy MD01. 
One of the advantages of is the Fallback Mechanism of MD01N as if MD01N cannot plan a specific material, it automatically falls back to the classic MRP logic which can be found in the Fiori App of "MRP Dispatcher" or t-code "MD_MRP_FORCE_CLASSIC", thus the MRP Live is embedded with the "MRP Dispatcher" which acts as the "traffic cop" for the planning engine, directing materials to the best processing method to ensure efficient manufacturing. 
Here is a blog post illustrating the major difference in classic MRP via MD01/MD02 vs MRP Live via MD01N:

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Question: What happens when Release the Production, the component availability check returns a dialogue of missing parts?


Answer: Availability check for PP-PI Process Order and PP-DI Production Order reaction to missing parts at Production Order Release is setup via the Order Type with 3 configuration choices: 
1 = When missing parts, User decide to Release the Production Order Exit without Release
2 = When missing parts, System proceed to Release the Production/Process Order
3 = When missing parts, the Release is Rejected with "MPST" system status to the Header 
See the following Blog Posts for the configuration and execution case:
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2026/02/availability-check-in-production-orders.html

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Question: Strategy 10 vs Strategy 11


Answer: Strategy 10, 11, 40 are MTS (Make-to-Stock) strategy expected to be set at the Finished Product level (although it is possible to assign them to Sub-Assembly or Raw Materials level depending on Planning requirements).
• Strategy 11: only consider PIR in planning run (ignore both stocks and Sales Orders)
• Strategy 10: consider stocks, PIR in planning run (ignore Sales Orders)
• Strategy 40: consider stocks, sales orders, PIR in planning run
See the following Blog Posts for setup and processing steps of Strategy 10 and 11: 

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Question: Review of Consumption and Reduction logic for PIR with Sales Order with Consumption Mode "05".


Answer: 2 Points of discussion: 
• Consumption mode 5 in SAP, introduced in S/4HANA, represents Period-Specific Consumption for Planned Independent Requirements (PIRs). It ensures that customer orders or other demands only consume PIRs located within the same, exact planning period (e.g., within the same month or week). This prevents sales orders from consuming forecasts from different periods.
• PIR consumption and reduction in SAP represent how forecasted Planned Independent Requirements (PIRs) are adjusted by actual sales orders. Consumption is a dynamic, visual reduction in MD04 (planning only), while reduction is a hard, physical decrease of the PIR quantity in the database, typically triggered by goods issue or delivery. This ensures forecasted demand is not double-counted once actual sales orders are confirmed.
Here is a demonstration via a Blog Posts recently created: 

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Question: Review the setup of the Navigation profile in MD04. 


Answer: A Navigation Profile in SAP MD04 (Stock/Requirements List) is a customizable tool used to accelerate workflow by adding custom buttons, menu items, and transaction shortcuts directly to the ALV toolbar, facilitating faster access to related transactions (e.g., MD01N, MMBE, MD05, ME53N etc). It allows users to define, save, and assign personal navigation settings to improve efficiency.
See the following Blog Post:

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Question: When IBP released PIR, does the "pMRP" Fiori Apps capability to allow change of the PIR and release new quantities in the PIR violate the fundamental Principle of IBP.?


Answer: Based on Best Practices for SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and its integration with SAP ECC or S/4HANA, the consensus, in most cases, is that Planned Independent Requirements (PIRs) released from IBP should not be changed manually at the PIR level (e.g., MD62 in ERP) anymore.
The goal of implementing a robust planning tool like IBP is to establish a "single source of truth." 
However, the question remains that why do SAP developer came out with the functionality in the "pMRP" Fiori App to allow changes to the PIR knowing that this violates the principles behind the fact that IBP's release PIR should be the "single source of truth"?

The main functionality of simulating the PIR in a Scenario-based environment (active or non-active) was the focus of the "Long Term Planning" (PP-MP-LTP) introduced when SAP released the R/3 system (likely in the 1990s). The LTP functionality probably ceased development in SAP moved to work on other functionalities of PP in the S/4HANA system and one such new functionality is the "pMRP or Predictive MRP" Fiori App which complements or some say replacing the aged LTP features. 

A couple of points worth mentioning (in personal opinion):
  • The organization do not use IBP, the "pMRP" Fiori App tool is used as the main tool to derive a Feasible PIR to be released for Planning. 
  • Within a pMRP simulation, you can adjust the demand quantities to resolve capacity bottlenecks or material shortages. These changes are made in a simulated state and do not immediately change the original PIRs in the operational system. However, the simulation need not be released BUT rather to be used as a proof of "Capacity Overloads calculated by pMRP" to the IBP Planner to re-evaluate their Planning quantities.
  • It is also possible that use of "pMRP" to be considered as a Collaboration tool with IBP Planner to decide if shifting planned quantities is appropriate so that the changed PIR plans are approved collectively before Releasing the Plans as active PIR. Thus, the question of ownership of changed quantities in the pMRP results must be addressed. 
  • Alternatively, IBP may be releasing a non-active PIR to the S/4 backend for evaluation via "pMRP" Live with Collaboration planning to adjust the PIR quantities within specific tolerances to be released as active PIR; if this is a desirable planning policy for the organization. 

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Question: Review the ReOrder Point and Safety Stock calculation in the SAP system. 


Answer: Use the MRP type to configure ROP and/or Safety Stock Calculations, the system uses the following Formula:
• Automatic ROP = Safety Stock + (Average Daily Requirement × Replenishment Lead Time)
• Automatic Safety Stock= Safety Factor (R) × Square root of (Lead Time (W)) × MAD
See the following Blog Posts for the data and calculations in SAP for the above: 

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Question: Review of the Class Exercises 


Answer: Click on the following links to review the Class Exercises with some additional explanations:
• 01_Explore the Planning Process at a Glance
• 02_ExploreProductionPlanningMasterDataAndSAPFioriApps
• 03_ApplyMake-to-OrderProduction(Strategy20)
• 04_ApplyPlanningWithoutFinalAssembly(Strategy50)
• 05_ApplyPlanningwithFinalAssembly(Strategy40)
• 06_ApplyPlanningOnAssembly(Strategy70)
• 07_ReorganizePlannedIndependentRequirements
• 08_RunPredictiveMRP
• 09_PlanInteractivelyUsingtheMonitorMaterialCoverageSAPFioriApp
• 10_ApplyingPlanningRunwithMRP-Live
• 11_ApplyDemand-DrivenReplenishmentinSAPS/4HANA
• 12_Finite MRP-Live Planning with PP/DS

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Question: Notes on the Basics of DDMRP Logic.

Answer: Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP) was developed by Carol Ptak and Chad Smith. Both are prominent proponents of the MRP system and have work with/in APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society) for many years. They then become the co-founders of the Demand Driven Institute (DDI), an organization established in 2011 to promote and develop these Dmand-Driven Strategies.
The Demand Driven Institute (DDI) is now the global authority and governing body for Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP) education, training, certification, and compliance. organization. The Institute sets the standards for DDMRP, promoting methodologies that replace traditional, forecast-driven planning with demand-driven approaches to improve supply chain flow, reduce inventory, and increase responsiveness. 

The Core Concept of DDMRP is "Position, Protect, and Pull" - Instead of pushing inventory based on long-term forecasts (which causes the "bullwhip effect"), DDMRP manages inventory through a visual, pull-based system that only replenishes what has actually been consumed. 

DDMRP vs. Traditional MRP:
  • Driver: Traditional MRP is push-based (forecast-driven), while DDMRP is pull-based (demand-driven).
  • Inventory: Traditional MRP often leads to overstocks and shortages, whereas DDMRP reduces total inventory (30-45% reduction) and improves service levels (97-100% on-time).
  • Response: DDMRP reduces lead times by up to 80% and reduces the need for "firefighting" or expedited shipping.
SAP officially released Demand-Driven MRP (DDMRP) capabilities in September 2017 with the SAP S/4HANA 1709 release. It was introduced to help manufacturers manage complex supply chains by using buffer-level stocking, rather than relying solely on forecasts.
See the following Blog Post

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Question: Is there a way to setup to run MRP Live right after PPDS Run completed?


Answer: Yes. via SM36 for S/4HANA Jobs with conditions meaning for example:
Use SM36 to setup 
Job 1 with example Job Name "MD01N' for Program PPH_MRP_START" 
Job 2 with example Job Name "PPDS" for Program /SAPAPO/BACKGROUND_SCHEDULING" 
then in Job 2 use "Start Condition" with "After Job" Condition to Job name "PPDS"
Caution: you may need to check with Basis Consultant if the Job created for "Schedule MRP Run" Fiori App (Fiori App for backend MD01N) can also be included in SM36. 

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Question: Where to setup of the PP of PPDS and DS of PPDS Horizon?


Answer: Do check on the latest SAP S/4HANA version for any changes in the settings of PP/DS Horizon, Detailed Scheduling Horizon, and Time Fence and the following are as at S/4HANA 2023. 
  • PP/DS Horizon (CONVH): Defines the timeframe in calendar days within which PP/DS heuristics plan, typically used to generate procurement proposals to satisfy production requirements (mid to long term planning)
    • Set at the Material Master "Advanced Planning" data view (MM02) Priority 1
    • Set at the Planning Version (/SAPAPO/NVM) Priority 2
  • Detailed Scheduling Horizon (DS Horizon): PP/DS in S/4HANA enables detailed scheduling, which focuses on sequencing operations on resources, often within a shorter, specific, detailed scheduling window (short term sequencing of production orders)
    • DS Horizon can be set in the Detailed Scheduling Planning Board itself
  • Time Fence: n the product master, this defines the period within which PP/DS orders cannot be changed by the heuristic
    • Time Fence is set in the Material Master MRP1 data view
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Question: In S/4HANA, when materials are planned using PP of PPDS and MRP Live, the system NEVER creates MRP List (as at S/4HANA 2023), is there any way to get the SAP system to create the MRP List (the snapshot of the last MRP run) at al? 


Answer: As at S/4HANA 2023 (FPS Q4 2024), both MRP Live and PPDS will NEVER create the MRP List in the standard SAP system, and it not possible to run Classic MRP in subsequent steps after MRP Live or PPDS to create the MRP List (tested again today). 

The new MRP Live was designed with a focus in performance improvement, so it wouldn't make any sense to include an additional logic in MRP Live to aggregate the MRP results into a table, considering that this information would be quickly outdated and also because the actual information can be quickly read from the Stock/Requirements List. Therefore, when we plan a material with MRP Live in SAP S/4HANA, it will not generate an MRP List. Only materials planned with the Classic MRP transaction (such as MD01) will still generate MRP lists.

Key OSS Notes and Considerations:
  • SAP OSS Note #2268085: This is the primary note explaining that MRP Live on SAP HANA does not create MRP lists. It highlights that the MRP list is part of the SAP S/4HANA compatibility scope with limited usage rights.
  • SAP OSS Note #2269324: Compatibility Scope Matrix for SAP S/4HANA: Details that MRP lists are part of the compatibility scope, meaning their usage is limited and they are being phased out.
  • SAP OSS Note #2554382: MRP List (MD05) Can't Be Found After MRP Live Run: Explains that MRP Live does not create MRP lists to improve performance, except for specific termination scenarios.
  • SAP OSS Note #2640393: Explains the detailed differences between transaction MD01N (MRP Live) and classic MRP (MD01/02/03), specifically regarding the "Create MRP List" parameter.
  • SAP OSS Note # 2269324: MRP List is part of the SAP S/4HANA compatibility scope, which comes with limited usage rights. Classic MRP which can generate MRP List is still available in SAP S/4HANA.
Alternative Solution:
  • Use Dynamic Lists: Shift to using MD04 (Stock/Requirements List) or the Fiori app Manage Material Coverage to evaluate current supply and demand or use the improved Fiori UX of "Material Coverage" Fiori App.
  • Force Classic MRP: If a material absolutely requires an MRP list, you can use transaction MD_MRP_FORCE_CLASSIC to ensure it is planned via the classic engine instead of the HANA-optimized one.
  • Planning File Clean-up: If lists are missing even in classic MRP, run report PPH_SETUP_MRPRECORDS to ensure the planning file is correctly populated.
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