SAP SCM: Applications and Modeling for Supply Chain Management (with BW Primer)

Chapter 5. Supply Chain Management Master Data

In this chapter we will examine supply chain management (SCM) master data in particular and work out the steps required to model supply chain networks and factories in SAP APO. All SAP APO projects entail the custom modeling of a business or organization’s supply chain, and the supply chain master data expresses the components of that architectural model. Several different modules of SAP APO directly exploit the master data architecture. Supply Network Planning (SNP) employs master data to optimize cross-factory, cross-geography production, purchase, and delivery schedules. Production Planning/Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) uses much of the same master data but at a more detailed level to specifically optimize individual factory production schedules. Transportation Planning/Vehicle Scheduling (TP/VS) relies on much of the same data to optimize logistics and delivery. For its part, Demand Planning (DP) operates at a more abstract level of forecast analysis than the concrete supply chain components discussed here and generally stays within the realm of the data objects discussed in Chapter 6.

The following examples will create master data for a fictitious supply chain network, with its factories and vendors, that specializes in producing and supplying products for practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, such as herbs, acupuncture needles, vacuum cups, and so forth.

Locations and Calendars

Locations constitute the foundation of both general ...