Taking Control of Sourcing with Quota Management in SAP PP

In Production Planning (PP), securing a steady supply of materials is crucial. While Material Requirements Planning (MRP) helps identify what you need, Quota Management in SAP PP empowers you to define how you source those materials.

What is Quota Management?

Think of quotas like slices of a pie. Quota Management allows you to define how a particular material requirement will be fulfilled across various sources. These sources can be internal production lines or external vendors. By setting quotas, you can:

• Split Production Across Lines: Do you have multiple production lines capable of making a specific item? Quotas lets you designate the percentage of the total demand each line should fulfill.
• Spread Orders Among Vendors: You may rely on multiple vendors for critical raw materials. Quotas enable you to assign each vendor a specific percentage of the overall requirement.

Benefits of Using Quota Management

• Enhanced Sourcing Control: Dictate how your materials are sourced, ensuring alignment with production strategies and supplier agreements.
• Optimized Production Flow: Balance workload across production lines, preventing bottlenecks and ensuring smooth operations.
• Improved Vendor Relationships: Maintain fair distribution of purchase orders among vendors, fostering stronger partnerships.

How to Implement Quota Management

SAP PP integrates quota management seamlessly with your existing workflows. Here’s an essential roadmap:

1. Material Master Setup: Within the material master record (MM01/MM02), activate quota usage for MRP.
2. Define Sources: In the relevant master data (production versions or purchase info records), specify your sourcing options, whether internal production lines or external vendors.
3. Set Quotas: Use transaction MEQ1 to establish quota percentages for each source over a defined period.
4. Run MRP: Execute MRP (MD02) to generate planned orders that reflect your established quotas.

Taking Your Production Planning Further

Quota Management is a powerful tool for taking charge of your material sourcing strategy. By leveraging its capabilities, you can optimize production processes, strengthen vendor relationships, and achieve greater efficiency within your SAP PP environment.

Additional Tips:

• Explore quota splitting for short-term and long-term planning horizons within MRP settings.
• Consider using quota restrictions to prioritize specific sources for critical materials.