Supply Chain Processes with SAP APO

Supply and demand planning processes enable consumer goods companies to create a profitable match of supply and demand. Responsiveness to demand changes and flexibility in planning are essential. Demand planning (forecasting) is a key requirement in the fast moving consumer goods industry. Analysis of historic sales data is the foundation for creating sales forecasts, and ready access to enable adjustments to this forecast by Product Managers, Account Managers, Sales Managers and Sales Representatives leads to a more accurate, consultative sales forecast.

Key Applications and Components

· SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization
· SAP R/3
· SAP Business Information Warehouse

Scenario

  • Collaborative Supply & Demand Planning
  • Sales Order Oriented Planning
  • Vendor Managed Inventory with SAP APO and SAP R/3
  • Procurement Scheduling Agreements in Heuristic-Based SNP

Collaborative Supply & Demand Planning

  • APO Demand Planning also supports collaborative planning among business partners such as
    distribution centers and manufacturers. The collaboration partners can provide joint inputs to the
    planning modules.
  • Partners can exchange data in two ways:
    • Automatically using time series data exchange between SAP systems
    • Manually via a Web browser for collaboration between SAP and non-SAP systems
  • Time series data exchange: Planning book data can be exchanged directly between two APO
    systems. In this step, you transfer planning data stored in a planning book from one APO system to
    another. For example, this type of data transfer can be used in the following collaborative scenarios:

    • CPFR consensus-based forecasting between manufacturer and customers
    • Exchange of demand data between manufacturer and supplier
    • Exchange of inventory data between manufacturer and supplier
  • Using only a Web browser, the external partner can:
    • View planning data
    • Enter, edit, or delete data, for example the weekly forecast
    • Choose and execute a macro for data evaluation
    • Drill down with standard functionality on one characteristic at a time
    • Sort column of characteristic values
    • Access APO alerts that are displayed in Alert Monitor MiniApp
  • For data exchange via a Web server, you will need the SAP Internet Transaction Server (ITS).

Leave a comment