Planning with Final Assembly (Strategy 40): Forecast, Sales Orders and Requirement Consumption

Business scenario

Sales expects to sell 100 EA of FG-2000 in November. Planning enters that forecast and MRP plans production for it. Over the month two orders arrive: 30 EA and 20 EA.

All companies, numbers and documents are fictional demo data.

Step-by-step flow

1. 01

   Enter the forecast (MD61) open in twin

   Planning enters a planned independent requirement: 100 EA of FG-2000 for November.

   It lets production start before orders arrive, so lead times can be met.

2. 02

   MRP plans for the forecast open in twin

   MRP sees 100 EA required and no stock: planned order 45900 for 100 EA.

   With strategy 40 the finished product is built to forecast — orders then take it from the plan.

3. 03

   First order: 30 EA open in twin

   Sales order 10000210 for 30 EA consumes the forecast: PIR open 100 → 70.

   The order is the forecast coming true — it must not be planned on top of it.

4. 04

   What does MRP now plan? open in twin

   Forecast 100, sales order 30. What total requirement does MRP see?

   Without consumption, every order would inflate the plan.

5. 05

   Demand counted twice open in twin

   Planning 130 would build 30 more than anyone expects to sell. That happens when strategies are misconfigured (e.g. orders not consuming PIRs).

   Overproduction and excess stock: the classic symptom of a missing consumption setup.

6. 06

   Second order: 20 EA open in twin

   Order 10000211 for 20 EA: PIR open 70 → 50. Total requirement still 100.

   If orders exceeded the forecast, the excess would add to the requirement.

7. 07

   Month end: 50 EA of forecast unconsumed open in twin

   November closes with 50 EA of forecast never ordered. MRP still plans for them until the planner acts.

   Left alone, they keep driving production for sales that did not happen — forecast hygiene is part of the planner's job.

8. 08

   Forecast and orders reconciled open in twin

   Forecast 100, orders 50, open forecast 50 to be cleaned up.

   Compare with strategy 20 (make-to-order), where nothing is produced until an order exists.

SAP documents

Stock impact

This part of the process does not change stock.

Accounting impact

Movement type

This flow spans several documents rather than a single movement type.

Starts production before customer orders arrive, based on a forecast, while letting actual orders replace the forecast so total demand is not overstated.

Transactions & Fiori apps

Configuration

• Strategy 40 (requirement type VSF, KSV — typical)

  Typical

  Orders consume PIRs; ATP checks against planned receipts.

• Consumption mode and periods

  Configuration dependent

  Backward/forward consumption and number of days, on the material master or plant.

Prerequisites

• Strategy group 40 on the material
• PIRs maintained per period
• Consumption mode and periods set

Master data

Material master (MRP 3)

Strategy group and consumption settings.

Organizational structure

• Plant 1000
• MRP controller 001 (demo)

Tables

Integration

• SDSales orders consume the forecast.

Common errors

• “MRP plans forecast plus orders”

  Likely causes: Strategy group missing or wrong; Order outside the consumption period

  Where to look: Material MRP 3 view · Consumption settings · MD04 pegging

• “Overproduction from old forecasts”

  Likely causes: Unconsumed PIRs in the past never cleaned up

  Where to look: MD04 · PIR reorganization

Troubleshooting

Something went wrong? Work through these checks in order. They are diagnostic questions, not configuration instructions — confirm changes with your system owner.

1. CHECK 1

   Consumption

   • Strategy group 40?
   • Is the order inside the consumption period?

Interview questions

• What is requirement consumption?

  Customer orders reduce (consume) planned independent requirements in the same period, so total demand is the higher of forecast and orders rather than their sum. Consumption mode and backward/forward periods control which PIRs an order can consume.

• Compare strategies 10, 20 and 40.

  10: make-to-stock against forecast; orders do not consume PIRs (they are reduced at goods issue). 20: make-to-order, no forecast, each order planned in its own segment. 40: planning with final assembly — forecast drives production and orders consume the forecast.

Quiz

Related processes

• FlowMRP Run
• 261 · 101Make-to-Order (PP)

References

• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Planning Strategies (source)
• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Requirement Consumption (source)

Explanations are original. They summarize standard behaviour; always validate against your system's release and configuration.

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