Question on EDQA setttings and configuration

[Former Member]

Folks,

I have a question in the configuration for EDQA (Quantity Assignment). The link to the specific functionality can be found here

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_scm2007/helpdata/en/26/c2d63b18bc7e7fe10000000a114084/frameset.htm

I have some specific questions around this. Please read the background below and then the question will follow:

There is a step called "Define process categories for quantity assignments to order due lists (QODL)". If you want to know where I got this step from, you can take a look at the following link (expand all and then search for EDQA).

http://help.sap.com/SCENARIOS_BUS2010/helpdata/EN/4a/8fafa463e138dae10000000a42189b/frameset.htm

a. In Customizing for SAP SCM, choose Advanced Planning and Optimization ® Global Available-to-Promise (Global ATP) ® Event-Driven Quantity Assignment (EDQA) ® Quantity Assignment to Order Due Lists (QODL) ® Define Process Category for Quantity Assignment to Order Due Lists (QODL).

b. In the navigation tree under Category Profile, create the following category profiles:

Once you have created a category profile, you can assign the original category (say CC) to a target category that you have created (say ROD).

Question 1

Does anyone know what we are doing in this step? That is, what are we doing by assigning the standard ATP categories to the custom categories?

Question 2

When the warehouse management system receives inventory into storage location ROD, this whole EDQA process is supposed to trigger. What if you receive this in SCM into ATP category CF (Quality Inspection)? How do you trigger the event in this case?

[Former Member]

Satish,

Mapping categories is useful if you are using an external system, such as CRM, If you are not going to use CRM or other external system, you don't have to map those categories, just leave the Category Profile blank.

Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Dear DB49:

Thank you for your response. We are using CRM for order entry.

If you have information on how teh category profile should / could be used, could you please let me know?

Thanks,

Satish

[Former Member]

Satish,

Sorry, but I have never set up EDQA with CRM; only ERP.

However, looking at the documents you posted, the setup seems extremely detailed. If I were trying to set up Service Parts Management, I think I would just follow the instructions, step-by-step, from the beginning.

Or, maybe one of the other forum members has experience w/ EDQA with CRM that could offer guidance.

Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Hello DB49:

I have some general questions for you based on the setup you have done for ECC. These are more for my understanding of the setup. Please give your thoughts. All my questions below only refer to the Quantity Assignment to ODL scenario (and not ROC for example).

1. Activity (stock change) finds the Process Category.

2. Process Category has two components: a) Condition Profile, and, b) Events for process category.

In the event for process category, you create the EDQA event and then give the parameters required for this event.

i. What is the purpose of the "business event" in the Events for process category configuration? It does not seem to make sense for the Quantity Assignment case. You agree?

ii. What is the meaniing of the choices SI Single and IT Iterative? When should one use IT?

iii. What is the business reason for the delay field?

What does the node type (output node, input node, etc.) in the condition profile used for? The default seems to be output node.

So, when there a stock change, system will find the process category and from there the condition profile. Suppose that we have a condition profile that is based on product (say MAT1) as the filter. Now, assume that the stock change is for product MAT2. Since MAT2 is not there in the condition profile filter, this will not trigger the workflow for the EDQA BOP. Is this correct and is this how the condition proile is used?

To summarize, condition profile will give the conditions under which the workflow should be triggered. After that, the orders that actually go into the BOP will be controlled by the ODL.

Can you add your thoughts to this?

Thanks,

Satish

[Former Member]

Satish,

I did both MAFL and ROC for two different scenarios, they both actually end up being almost identical to configure, except for the ODL you create. Like all projects, I was under time constraints and didn't have much time to 'experiment' with alternatives. Everything I know about EDQA I learned from just trying it. Documentation on EDQA is....sparse.

i. What is the purpose of the "business event" in the Events for process category configuration? 

I don't know for sure. Since my ultimate goal was to reschedule my Sales orders, I entered Business Event A. Luckily for me, I didn't have any MTO or other special segments to deal with. As I recall, when I tried to leave BE blank, I got errors.

ii. What is the meaning of the choices SI Single and IT Iterative? When should one use IT?

Again, I just selected Single, and got the results I was looking for. When I tried Iterative, I then began to see Workflow errors, so I didn't pursue the matter. Single worked 'good enough'.

iii. What is the business reason for the delay field?

There is no business reason, it is a performance issue. If you enter a delay, then the first activity will not process until the delay is over. If you end up with multiple activities happening with great frequency, (in your case, stock changes), it has the effect of 'saving' the activities up and then processing them in a group. This is supposed to place less overall load on the system. The down side is that the users will experience additional delay. If they are expecting immediate gratification, don't put a delay. Also, during unit testing, leave the delay at zero until you are fully debugged.

What does the node type (output node, input node, etc.) in the condition profile used for? 

I implemented EDQA in an SCM 5.0 system, which does not have nodes in the Condition Profile. Nodes were added in a later version, I am not sure which one. FYI there is a nice doc that describes the changes in functionality with 7.0EHP1, which I confess I didn't study (again, time pressure). Here is the link http://service.sap.com/~form/sapnet?_FRAME=CONTAINER&_OBJECT=011000358700001412072010E if you are interested.

To summarize, condition profile will give the conditions under which the workflow should be triggered. After that, the orders that actually go into the BOP will be controlled by the ODL.

That is my understanding, although my filtering criteria for both Condition profile and ODL were the same, so I didn't spend any time testing alternative scenarios.

Sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. Perhaps some of the other forum members might have something more concrete to offer.

Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Hello DB49:

Thanks for the response. My intent was exactly this. I summarized my understanding and you augmented it. It has been very useful to me and hopefully will be useful to folks that want to implement some of these less used functionaliities.

I think that this is enough of ROC and EDQA and therefore, closing the topic.

Thanks again,

Satish