Understanding Strategy 25 in SAP PP: Production Planning for Configurable Materials

In the SAP Production Planning (PP) world, selecting the proper planning strategy is crucial for efficient inventory management and production scheduling. Strategy 25 caters to a unique scenario: Make-to-Order (MTO) production of configurable materials.

What are Configurable Materials?

Imagine a product with various options and features that customers can choose from. This is a configurable material. A single material master record represents the base product, but specific variants are produced based on customer configurations.

Why Strategy 25?

Since the final configuration of the product is only known once a sales order arrives, planning the finished product itself wouldn’t be practical. Strategy 25 addresses this by:

• Focusing on Variant Production: When receiving a sales order, the system prompts you to select the specific variant (based on customer configuration) and its corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM) and routing.
• Ignoring Finished Product Planning: The system must consider existing finished product stock for planning purposes. The focus is on procuring and producing the specific variant based on the sales order.
• Independent Component Planning: Components required for the variant can be planned using other strategies like MRP (Material Requirements Planning).

Key Points to Remember:

• Strategy 25 shares similarities with Strategy 20 (Make-to-Order) but is designed explicitly for configurable materials.
• Configuration in the material master record is a prerequisite for using Strategy 25.
• The existing stock of the configurable material itself should be considered during MRP.

Benefits of Strategy 25:

• Accurate Production Planning: Ensures production aligns with specific customer requirements.
• Reduced Inventory Costs: No unnecessary finished product stock is produced, minimizing holding costs.
• Improved Flexibility: Adapts to changing customer demands by tailoring production to specific configurations.

Who Should Use Strategy 25?

This strategy is ideal for companies that manufacture products with a high degree of customization. It allows them to be responsive to customer needs while optimizing production processes.

In Conclusion:

Strategy 25 in SAP PP is a valuable tool for managing the production of configurable materials in a Make-to-Order environment. Understanding its core functionalities and benefits allows you to leverage this strategy to achieve efficient production planning and meet your customers’ specific requirements.