Net Requirements Planning in SAP PP: Streamlining Your Production Process

In the Production Planning (PP) world within SAP, ensuring you have the suitable materials at the right time is crucial. Here’s where Net Requirements Planning (NRP) comes in – a powerful tool that helps you achieve this by considering various factors to determine your material needs.

What is Net Requirements Planning (NRP)?

NRP is a planning strategy in SAP PP that calculates net material requirements by taking into account existing stock, planned receipts (purchase orders or production orders), and future requirements. It creates a more demand-driven production approach.

Critical Benefits of NRP:

• Reduced Inventory Levels: By factoring in existing stock, NRP avoids overproduction and unnecessary inventory holding costs.
• Improved Production Efficiency: NRP helps identify material shortages early on, preventing production line stoppages.
• Enhanced Customer Service: You can fulfill customer orders on time with accurate material availability information.
• Increased Demand Flexibility: NRP allows you to react quickly to changes in customer demand by adjusting planned receipts.

When to Use NRP:

NRP is ideal for mass production environments with a stable demand forecast. It’s beneficial for:

• Make-to-Stock (MTS) scenarios: Finished products are produced based on forecasts and stored for future sales. NRP ensures you have enough stock to meet anticipated demand.
• Repetitive Manufacturing: NRP excels in production processes with consistent bills of materials (BOMs) and predictable production cycles.

Implementing NRP in SAP PP:

NRP is primarily controlled by the MRP Planning Strategy setting in the material master data. The most common NRP strategies are:

• Strategy 10: Pure NRP – Uses only planned independent requirements (forecasts) and doesn’t consider dependent demand from sales orders.
• Strategy 40: NRP with consumption from sales orders – Ideal for MTS scenarios. Sales order consumption reduces planned independent requirements, reflecting actual customer demand.

Taking NRP Further:

For a more comprehensive understanding, consider exploring these aspects of NRP in SAP PP:

• Net Requirements Calculation: Delve deeper into the calculation process that considers stock, receipts, and requirements to determine net needs.
• Safety Stock: Learn how to integrate safety stock levels into NRP to account for unexpected demand fluctuations.
• MRP Pegging: Understand how pegging functionality links material requirements to their source, providing greater production transparency.

Mastering NRP in SAP PP can optimize your production planning process, reduce costs, and improve overall efficiency.