ATP based off of ETA's - Is this possible

[Former Member]

Infosys is telling us that our ATP cannot consider ETA's that are being sent to SAP from our TMS.  Is this true, that we have to use "Lead Times" instead of actual ETA's?

Please help....thanks so much!!!

[Former Member]

John,

In SAP (and in any other software) "cannot" is a very grey area.  For any requirement that is logically consistent; the issue is more likely to be "how much will the creation and maintenance of the solution cost", and "can you justify the cost".

I don't know what are 'ETAs'.  How are these data currently being booked into your SAP system?  Is your TMS one of SAP's solutions, or a third party solution, or is it homegrown?  And, what is the nature of the SAP ATP check you are using?

Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Thanks for the response and yes, I totally agree with you.  "Cannot" is a strong word, especially in SAP.  Here's some additional information.

(1) ATP is currently being calculated based on manual Lead Time entry

(2) ETA - Expected Time of Arrival

(3) So the ETA is entered by the trucking company to tell us around what day and time they plan to deliver the STO.  This is then fed back to SAP through an iDOC update.

Thus, it would seem to me that we would be able to take this ETA, which we are capturing and storing in SAP S&D module, and use it in our ATP calculation.  Seems simple to me, but I don't know APO that well. 

Thanks for any insight anyone has!

[Former Member]

John,

I will assume you are talking about "product check" in APO.  Your answer was somewhat vague, so I will give a generic answer.

You have not mentioned details of how the IDOC is updating ERP.  I will assume that the IDOC performs some kind of update on the STO in ERP; there are several possibilities.  FYI STO is mostly unrelated to SD, this is an MM object.

It is possible to configure an APO Product check to consider a Stock Transport Order as a supply element. Further, it can consider an inbound delivery associated with a Stock Transport order, or a confirmation associated with a Stock Transport order, as supply elements for Product Check.

These elements can be used with or without consideration of lead time in a Product Check, depending upon the business requirements.

Infosys is a big company, with many experienced consultants and a good track record.  I will assume you have already asked them this question. If you are unable to get your consultants to answer all of your questions satisfactorily, you should escalate with the consulting team lead.  I am sure that Infosys management would be happy to address this problem for you.

Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Thanks for the answer again!  It is much appreciated. 

Infosys is telling me this cannot be done (the use of an ETA).  My former Deloitte SAP Delivery Manager has told me that it can be done.  So I don't have a solid answer. 

I don't see why an Available to Promise check (a 'product check') could not be performed based on the arrival time (e.g. ETA) of product to a warehouse.  I've done this in Oracle and Peoplesoft in my previous lives, but I'm only strong in SAP in FI, HR, BW and CUA. 

I'll either get you more details or just push this harder through.  Thank you so much for the help!

[Former Member]

John,

This is a forum; I am here to answer specific questions about specific business problems.  It is unfortunately not possible for me to gather enough information in a few forum posts about your business requirements to provide a complete solution for you, nor would I be so inclined.

Your first point of contact in this matter is your consulting team. There is no sin in bringing these same points you have just raised to the attention of your consultants. You are paying top dollar for these folks' time, you should be able to get any answers about the solution that you seek.  Clients should ask a thousand 'whys' before they sign off on any solution.

If you wish to self-educate, I suggest you bone up on the basics of the topic.  SAP online help has more info than any normal person could absorb in 10 lifetimes.  Start with

GATP Overview

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_SCM700_ehp02/helpdata/en/26/c2d63b18bc7e7fe10000000a114084/frameset.htm

Product Check

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_SCM700_ehp02/helpdata/en/83/e7783739e6ff5de10000009b38f8cf/frameset.htm

Also, here is a bit about standard data replication from ERP to SCM and APO

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_SCM700_ehp02/helpdata/en/64/08533b89050863e10000000a114084/frameset.htm

Good luck and Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Thanks again.  I have read about 1000 pages on this topic and have differing viewpoints from the "experts".  The question in my mind still remains somewhat simple - I'll challenge Infosys again as I am do not accept their answer.

Just to be clear - I wasn't asking for someone to solve the issue.  In my mind, the question I have is very simple and can be done in PS and Oracle---- Can SAP ATP consider ETA's instead of plugging in Lead Times?  It's a simple calculation based on the ETA.  I'll challenge Infosys again

[Former Member]

John,

I am duly impressed with your 1000 page accomplishment.

There is no such thing as an ETA in SAP.

Your statements, however, lead me to believe that the ETA updates the STO.  With your technical background and extensive research into the matter, I don't need to explain any further.

Best Regards,

DB49

[Former Member]

Thanks again and just to be clear, I've read a lot about this topic.  Maybe not 1000 pages, but a couple of books over the past few weeks, just can't find the answer.   

BTW, there is absolutely an ETA in the SCN module and Fleet Management module of SAP.  I guess the ETA isn't anywhere else though, which helps me greatly.  I know what discussion I need to have with Infosys. 

Thanks again and this has been good for me! 

[Former Member]

Jeff,

My apologies for overgeneralizing.

Best regards & Good luck,

DB49

[Former Member]

Hi John,

I won’t pretend to know more than than that DB49 already
responded, but I see your possible business motivation, having faced a similar
response from a similar consulting firm many moons ago.

What Infosys says is what standard SAP does and is right. I
would assume the advising consultant was unable to fully appreciate the need
for ETA as basis for scheduling the ATP quantity check date. So you probably
need to explain him is so many words the real motivation for "ATP off ETA"

The first thing to understand and appreciate is ATP check
(product check), in standard SAP, happens on a CALCULATED Material Availability
Date.

The delivery date in STO is the Date on which destination plant
EXPECTS the stuff to arrive. Usually if a transportation lane exists between
issuing and receiving plant, system will automatically use this lead time and
offset it from current date and CALCULATE the delivery date as well. So the
first time you create STO, this date can be automatically proposed (depends on
settings and how this STO is created... from an MRP proposed STR or a manually
created one)

Now this is how system calculates the dates within ATP logic.

- If the Delivery Date is feasible based on lead times YOU
maintained in the scheduling part of ATP check or in the transportation lane,
the material is confirmed FOR the delivery date requested/proposed at the
destination. The condition here is sufficient ATP must be available on the
calculated material availability date.

- If not feasible (not sufficient time on hand, not sufficient
stuff on hand), then Material availability date is scheduled forward from calculated material availabiltiy date and can even be AFTER the Requirement date/Delivery Date. In this case you have a CONFIRMED delivery date that is different to Original Delivery Date. 

-If there is still not enough ATP on the calculated material availability
date, the system proposes another date that can be a fixed date in future. This
depends on how you have told the system to confirm a requirement if there is
not enough ATP, whether or not lead time is sufficient as of carrying out the
ATP check.

ETA thing, by business meaning, is generally an AFTER THE
FACT phenomenon. i.e. after the delivery has been done, goods have been issued,
shipped and customer(plant) has been told/lied that his stuff is "on the
way" and can expect it "anytime soon". ATP check has no role to play after stuff has been shipped.

ETA then merely serves as measure of performance/customer
service. At the time of ATP check, the delivery date in STO could be x, the confirmed delivery date
(bcoz of ATP check) could be y BUT ETA can be x - 1 or x - 3 or x + 4  or y-1 or y+2 or x
+10 or x - y + 8 etc. depending on how frequently you get an update of ETA
(latest ETA).

ETA CAN BE ANYTHING. On the same lines, ATA (actual time of
arrival) can also be anything if this what you care most in terms of customer
service.

So now you have many dates

When the plant wanted it (Requested Delivery Date):RDD

When the system confirmed it (Confirmed Delivery Date): CDD

When the stuff was ACTUALLY available (Material Availability Date): MAD

When the Request Plant actually received the stuff..ATA

What date your shipper told will be delivered at
destination: ETA

of which Confirmed delivery date and material availability date
is dynamically calculated depending on how frequently you process the STO (and
its delivery). You can keep calculating it up until you have issued the goods.

IF ETA is being provided to you by the shipper BEFORE you
actually deliver the stuff, you may want to call this ETA the delivery date in
STO and then carry out an ATP check. You need to store this ETA value somewhere
to begin with and pass it as a Delivery date  (ask your developer how to do this). This will give you a Material availability date based on latest ETA whenever you open this STO and carry out an ATP check.

It would be advisable if you also carry out an ATP check at
delivery creation as your ETA may have changed several times between the time
you first created the STO and time time you decided to create a delivery for this
STO. It is likely that ETA has been updated BUT you don’t have the stuff to
make good the ETA as provided by your shipper and/or as promised to your
customer. So you may be wrong again on the promised ETA if you do not carry out
an ATP check at delivery creation.

Once you create the delivery you also must issue the goods ASAP.
There is no guarantee that stuff is indeed available as confirmed by ATP!!

Hope I was able to imagine your motivation for “ATP based off ETA's”

Thanks

Guru