Time-Dependent Stock Levels in SAP S/4HANA

 SAP S/4HANA 2022 introduced the new Fiori App Maintain Time-Dependent Stock Levels (F5726), which allows the maintenance of Time-Dependent Stock Levels, that are relevant to MRP.

Using this app, planner can define a Time-Dependent Safety-Stock and Time-Dependent Days of Supply, that means, a safety stock or days of supply that is considered by MRP only within a specific time window.

This blog will explain how to set up this functionality and how to use this app to maintain time-dependent stock levels. We will also see an example of how the time-dependent safety stock is considered by MRP during net requirements calculation.

Note: The concept of time-dependent stock levels was introduced in SAP S/4HANA 2021 but the maintenance of the stock levels was only possible with the API API_PROD_TIMEDPDNTSTCK_SRV.

 

Definition of the MRP Safety Stock Method

The first step if we want to define a time-dependent stock level for a product is to choose the MRP Safety Stock Method, and we can choose a value for this field in the app Manage Product Master (F1602).

We will be able choose one of the following values for this field:

• Static Safety Stock: A fixed safety stock that will not change over time.
• Time-Dependent Safety Stock (MB): Allows the user to create custom time intervals and define a different value for the safety stock in each interval.
• Time-Dependent Days of Supply (MZ): With this setting in the material master, instead of defining a fixed value for the safety stock within a time-interval, we will define how many days of requirements should be covered by the safety stock.

 

In our example we will choose the option Time-Dependent Safety Stock, as shown in the Figure below, because we want to use a different value for the safety stock in each time-interval.

 

Maintaining Time-Dependent Stock Levels

After we define the safety stock method in the material master, we need to use the app Maintain Time-Dependent Stock Levels, highlighted in the following figure, to create our intervals and choose the desired quantity that will be used as a safety stock.

When we open this app, it will show a list of materials within the user Area of Responsibility for which an MRP Safety Stock Method has been defined. If we select one of those materials, we will jump into the details screen, where we can see all the intervals defined for a material.

As we can see in the Figure above, we already have intervals a safety stock defined for our material, but we can click the button Add Interval to create a new one.

We will add a new interval from February 1^st to February 28^th, where the safety stock will 15 PCs, as shown in the following Figure.

Existing intervals are automatically adapted to fit the newly created interval. As we can see in the Figure below, we have two intervals in the past, one interval from January first to January 31^st, where the safety stock is 20, another interval from February 1^st to February 28^th with a safety stock of 15 and on interval from March 1^st onwards with a safety stock of 20.

 

Checking the Safety Stock in the Stock/Requirements List

Now that the intervals were created, we can check the Stock/Requirements List either in the MRP Fiori Apps or directly in transaction MD04.

The Figure above shows the results in Fiori Manage Material Coverage (F0251), and we can see there are three lines representing the Time-Dependent Safety Stock:

• The first line is shown in the current date, and it is represented with a negative quantity of 20 PC.
• The second line, on February 1^st, shows a positive quantity of 5 PCs, because it shows the difference between the safety stock in the previous period and the safety stock in the new period, and the safety stock decreased from 20 PCs to 15 PCs.
• The third line, on March 1^st, shows a negative quantity of 5 PCs, because again it is showing the difference between the safety stock in the previous period and in the new period, but now the safety stock increased from 15 PCs to 20 PCs.

After MRP is executed for this material, we will observe that purchase requisitions are created to cover the shortages caused by the safety stock and that the available quantity is zero at the end of the Stock/Requirements List.

Now that you know how this Fiori App works and you have seen an example of a material using the Time-Dependent Safety Stock Method, you can explore this functionality and also create an example with Time-Dependent Days of Supply.

 

 

Additional Information:

SAP Help – Maintain Time-Dependent Stock Levels

openSAP Microlearning – MRP Time-dependent Safety Stock Levels

Source: https://blogs.sap.com/2023/01/04/time-dependent-stock-levels-in-sap-s-4hana/