Due to gaps in the supply chain and other external factors, unavailability of required parts necessary for production is a common scenario for most planners or Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) controllers.

For example, ACME Auto Company requires brake pads three days from the current date to complete production of a car assembly. However, the brake pads are out of stock and the supplier cannot deliver on the planned date. The brake pads are needed for several orders and their unavailability leads to severe disruptions and delays in the production line.

I take you through three important steps that help you correctly identify missing parts and evaluate the shortage information:

• Step 1. Run a collective availability check for several production orders using transaction COMAC. For an individual order, you can use the order change transaction CO02. The collective availability check updates the missing parts info system and sets the material shortage status (MSPT) on the order if a part is missing.
• Step 2. Check for missing parts by running a missing parts report using transaction CO24. You can also use the production order information system (transaction COOIS) Components List to display shortages for orders with MSPT status.
• Step 3. Use the stock requirements list for urgently required parts to analyze the scheduled receipts. For a specific production order with missing parts, you can run an order report to evaluate availability by using transaction MD4C. Backorder processing can be started from this point onwards if committed quantities can be redistributed. If backorder processing is not feasible, the purchasing department can be contacted to expedite procurement of the missing part.

After the missing part information has been analyzed, you proceed with backorder processing or expedite the purchasing process.  

Step 1. Collective Availability Check

To display the latest information on missing parts for several production orders, the first step is to carry out a collective availability check. If you directly start with analyzing missing parts data, then there is a risk that you might be looking at missing parts which have become available since the last check, for example, due to a recent goods receipt.

The overall availability program checks the availability of all items required for a production order and activates or deactivates the order status MSPT – Material shortage at the order header level. This status can then be used to restrict your order selection to orders with missing parts in production reports.

To start an overall availability check for multiple production orders, follow menu path Logistics > Production > Shop Floor Control > Control > Collective Availability Check or use transaction COMAC. To carry out an overall availability check for a single order, use transaction CO02 or follow menu path Logistics > Production > Shop Floor Control > Order > Change and use the check material availability button    on the header screen.

As with most SAP selection screens, several criteria are available to restrict selection of orders for which you may want to run the collective check. For instance, in my example, I selected Production plant, Order type, and MRP controller (Figure 1). I recommend restricting your selections to orders that do not have the system status confirmed (CNF) and technically completed (TECO) as these orders are not open for production anymore. To restrict selections, enter CNF and TECO in the Sys. status fields and check the Excl. (Exclude) check boxes.

Figure 1

Select orders for an availability check using transaction COMAC

Using the Mass processing-Material availability check tab, you can set the parameters for the mass availability check. Here it is important to consider the options available for Scope of processing, as these determine how the availability check function is executed. Settings that suit requirements of most companies are shown in Figure 2. Choose your required settings by using the drop-down menu options or by checking the appropriate check boxes. You may want to save the settings as a variant by choosing Go to > Variants > Save as Variant option from the menu so that when you next run the transaction you can call your variant by clicking on the get variant icon  displayed on the initial COMAC screen. 

Figure 2

Parameters normally specified for the mass availability check in transaction COMAC

Execute transaction COMAC to see a list of all production orders as per the selection criteria. You then select all orders in the output list using the select all icon  and execute the overall check using the material availability check icon  or pressing the F8 key. This step updates the missing part report in the background.

You can refresh the mass processing orders list after running the availability check by pressing the F5 key or by following menu path List > Refresh. This list can be filtered to display orders with missing parts (MSPT status) along with some other key information such as commitment date and confirmation quantity (Figure 3).  

Figure 3

Orders list filtered for orders with MSPT status after running the availability check

An optional step after running the collective availability check is to run transaction COOIS or use menu path Logistics > Production > Shop Floor Control > Information System > Order information system to display orders with MSPT status and view additional component information by selecting the Component List, shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

Components list display using transaction COOIS for orders with missing parts

After you run the availability check, you run a missing part information report for the missing components. Next, I move on to the second step of evaluating shortages using this report, which is identifying missing parts.

Step 2. Identify Missing Parts

To identify the missing parts using the missing part information report, follow menu path Logistics > Production > Shop Floor Control > Control > Information System > Missing Part Info System, or use transaction CO24.

Enter the required criteria on the selection screen.  For example, enter your Plant and MRP controller code, and choose a suitable layout to view orders with missing parts (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Missing parts report displayed with key information

Next, go to the production order from the missing parts info system to display or change the production order. Select the order line and click the change order button as shown in Figure 5.

It is important to note the difference between shortage quantity and missing part indicator in the report output. A shortage is the difference between the required quantity and the committed quantity (i.e., the available quantity that can be confirmed to meet the requirement). The shortage quantity field is updated automatically when the requirement is changed in an order and the report is refreshed. In contrast, the missing part indicator is updated only after an availability check. For example, you may see a situation in which a component has a shortage of 0 due to the requirements quantity being reduced manually but the missing part indicator is still set as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6

Quantities changed in a production order without an availability check to update the missing part indicator

Even if a check has been run recently, you can still run the material availability check in order change mode to see the latest availability situation. For example, in a fast-moving goods environment, a user runs a collective check in the morning to see the status of a missing part. In the afternoon, the planner wants to delay the order because missing part is still unavailable. Just before the user changes the production dates, it would be beneficial to run a last check again just to ensure that the part has not become available.

You can carry out this check from within the production order by clicking the material availability check icon (Figure 7). If all parts are not available on the required date, a dialog box appears showing the Missing parts list and Missing parts overview buttons. The main difference between these lists is that you can change the missing parts data by clicking the Missing parts overview button and manually entering the quantity required, for example. The Missing parts list is used for displaying information or reporting and printing.

Figure 7

An availability check can be manually triggered in the order change mode

Avoid confusion in such cases by running the availability check again. This updates the missing part indicator. Another common cause of such an issue is that the availability check is not configured to run automatically when changes are saved for a production order. Having this setting switched on helps if production orders are frequently changed in your organization. To activate this setting for order creation or release transactions, use the customizing node Define Checking Control under Shop Floor Control or use transaction code OPJK. 

Step 3. Analyze the Receipt Status

After you have identified the missing parts, the next step is to analyze the receipt (e.g., purchase requisitions or purchase orders) status for these materials. It’s also possible that a receipt has not yet been created in the system, in which case an MRP run might be required. To run an MRP for a single material at the single level, follow menu path Logistics > Production > MRP > Planning > Single item, Single level planning or use transaction MD03. You can also start backorder processing to deallocate a required part from a less urgent order to a high priority one or if this is not an option you may contact the responsible buyer to check if sourcing can be expedited.

To display receipt elements scheduled for a missing part you can branch to the stock requirements list (Figure 8) from the missing part report using the Environment menu option in transaction CO24. You can also access the stock requirements list by following menu path Logistics > Production > MRP > Evaluations > Stock/Requirements List or by using transaction MD04. For Multi-level or Plant-level MRP runs use transactions MD02 and MD01, respectively.

As shown in Figure 8, a requirement of 1,000 pieces cannot be met on 13.10.10 until the shortage of 484 pieces is delivered on 20.10.10. In this scenario, a planner would typically start backorder processing or contact the buyer of the material and check if a delivery is possible close to or on the requirements date.

Figure 8

Stock requirement list showing the receipt elements for the missing part

For an urgent production order with one or more missing parts, it is also sometimes useful to look at the overview of all required components including the header part. To display this information, run the multilevel order report following menu path Logistics > Production > Shop Floor Control > Information System > Order Report or by using transaction MD4C.  

Click the Production/Process order tab and enter the order number. Select a custom overall profile or a standard one such as SAP000000001. Execute the program to display the stock requirement situation for all order components. The output also displays the scheduled receipt elements for missing parts as shown in Figure 9. You can change the layouts if needed and you can navigate between the stock requirements situation for all materials shown in the column by double-clicking each line.

Figure 9

Multilevel order report with status of all components and the stock requirements list

Note
The multilevel order report can also be displayed on the stock requirements list by placing the cursor on a production order line, and then clicking on the order report icon  displayed on the bottom tool bar of the list.