Course Overview
Contents:
 Course Goals
 Course Objectives
 Course Content
 Course Overview Diagram
 Main Business Scenario
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Course Goals
This course will enable you to:
 Plan based on information structures
 Use the planning tools in the LIS system
 Summarize the uses of the planning methods and
differences between them
 Maintain master data for various planning methods
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Course Objectives
On completing this course, you will be able to:
 Outline the differences between Standard SOP and
Flexible Planning
 Create sales and production plans
 Use the forecast tool
 Create planning types, macros and events
 Perform resource planning and rough-cut capacity
analysis
 Use mass processing
 Transfer planning results to Demand Management
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Course Contents
Preface
Unit 1
Introduction
Unit 7
Events
Unit 2
Planning Methods
Unit 8
Production Planning
Unit 3
Master Data
Unit 9
Mass Processing
Unit 4
Planning Types and Macros
Unit 10
Allocations
Unit 5
General Planning Functions
Unit 11
Conclusion
Unit 6
Statistical Forecast
Appendices
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Course Overview
Planning Types
Master Data
Planning
Functions
Planning Method
Info
Structure
Stat. Forecast
Allocations
May
Events
Job
Mass Processing
Production Planning
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Business Scenario
 You are a member of your company‘s planning
implementation team. Define your info structure,
that means your planning levels (characteristics)
and key figures you want to plan.
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Logistics Planning Systems
Sales organization
Division
Sold-to party
Material
Plant
SOP
SOP
Sales plans
Production
plans
.
..
SKUs/
configurable materials
Statement of
demand
.
Demand
Demand
Management
Management
..
 Order and rate proposals
 BOM explosion
 Scheduling at work
centers
Quantities and dates
MPS/MRP
MPS/MRP
..
.
Production controlled
by run schedule
headers
Repetitive
Repetitive
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Production order
control
SFC
SFC
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
Sales & Operations Planning (SOP) is the planning tool of the Logistics Information System (LIS).

Sales & Operations Planning (SOP) is a flexible forecasting and planning tool with which sales,
production, and other supply chain and logistics targets can be set. The basis for this is provided by
historical, existing, and/or estimated future data. Planning with SOP is generally carried out on a
medium to long term basis. Resource planning can also be carried out to determine the amounts of
the work center capacities and other resources required to meet these targets. SOP supports both the
high-level planning of complex planning hierarchies and the detailed planning of finished products.
Therefore, either a top-down or a bottom-up approach to planning is possible.

The architecture of the logistics planning systems is based on the MRP II concept.
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Business Applications of SOP
 Sales Planning
 Production Planning
 Purchasing
 Retail
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
In SOP, you can plan future sales volumes on the basis of historical data as well as market
intelligence and anticipated trends and changes at your company. Aggregate sales planning is
possible. Sales plans can be kept consistent at all levels of your organization.

Sales planning provides the input for production planning. You typically carry out production
planning at product group, finished product, or SKU level.

With SOP, you can manage the allocation of scarce products to different customers or customer
groups.

Complex products manufactured in a large number of variants can also be planned.

Possible uses of SOP in purchasing are the planning of quotas for multiple sources of supply or the
tracking of purchasing budgets.

In retail, you can use the SOP system to plan purchasing budgets and monitor open-to-buy.
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Info Structure Definition
Characteristics
Key figures
398
157
Period unit
Versions
Region
Sales organization
Material
Plant
etc.
Incoming orders
Invoiced sales
etc.
Day
Week
X Month
Fiscal year variant
Flexible time buckets
A00
A00
000
000
001
001
002
002
etc.
etc.
Active
Active
Actual
Actualdata
data
Forecast
Forecastbased
basedon
ontrend
trendmodel
model
Sales
incl.
market
intelligence
Sales incl. market intelligence
 SAP AG 1999

Sales & Operations Planning uses the same data infrastructure as the logistics information systems
(e.g. the Sales Information System). In other words, planning data as well as actual data is stored in
information structures.

There are three different types of information in an information structure:
­ Characteristics are criteria by which data reduction is carried out: e.g. sales organization,
distribution channel, customer, material, and plant.
­ Periods are time units which give the information structures a time reference. Planning data is
displayed and stored per storage periodicity. This is not necessarily the same as the update
period of the information structure.
­ Key figures are values of particular business interest: e.g. incoming sales and production
quantities. Historical key figure values give a measure of business performance.

In addition, SOP allows you to maintain alternative planning scenarios in the same information
structure. You do this using planning versions. Version A00 is the active planning version. Use it to
maintain your definitive plan. Inactive versions are numerical and consist of three digits. Use them to
maintain test plans.
Remember that version 000 contains actual data. Do not plan version 000.
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Flexible Planning: Master Data
Characteristics
Info structure
EUROPE
Central
Paris
Region
Sales organization
Sales office
Material
North
America
USA
North
South
New York
Dallas
(Product groupings or materials)
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
The objects you plan in SOP depend on the characteristics in the info structure, and on the sequence
of the characteristics in the info structure.

By defining the values of the planned characteristics, you create the master data for flexible
planning.

Some of you may know the above structure as the ”sales forecast hierarchy” (SFH).
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Flexible Planning vs. Standard SOP
Flexible Planning
Standard SOP
Multiple options for
customized configuration
Largely preconfigured
Planning hierarchies
Product groups
Consistent, level-by-level,
or delta planning
Level-by-level planning
Content and layout of
the planning table is
user-defined
Standard planning table
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Sales & Operations Planning is made up of two elements: flexible planning and standard SOP.
The above table shows you the differences between them.

To access flexible planning, select Logistics Logistics Controlling Flexible planning.

To access standard SOP, select Logistics Production SOP.

You can copy the planning table of standard SOP and then modify it to suit your company's needs.
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
Copy Management is a tool for managing data in information structures.

In Sales Operations Planning, you can use it to copy actual data from a standard information
structure to the information structure you want to use for planning. You can therefore carry out
comparisons of planned and actual data.

Using Copy Management to populate your planned information structures with actual data has
performance advantages. Operative system load is minimized due to the decrease in the number of
info structures that are updated. (You can also supply planned information structures with actual data
through LIS updating.)

Another possible use of Copy Management would be to copy data you have planned in one
information structure to information structure S140, where you then plan product allocations.

You access Copy Management in Customizing for the Logistics Data Warehouse.
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
You can run a standard analysis for any planning version based on consistent planning. Choose
Environment Reporting.

You can store the standard analysis as a selection version. A selection version is not the same as a
planning version.
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
A wide range of functions can be used to examine the underlying key figures and characteristic
values of an analysis from a business perspective. All the functions for statistical analyses are
graphically supported.
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Introduction: Summary
 SOP is the planning tool of the Logistics
Information System.
 Sales & Operations Planning (SOP) can be used to
plan sales, production, and other supply chain and
logistics activities.
 The Logistics Information System and Sales &
Operations Planning have the same data
infrastructure.
 Sales & Operations Planning is made up of two
elements: Flexible planning and standard SOP.
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