In this blog, we’re going to look at the MRP live in s4hana latest developments in the SAP. SAP S/4 HANA features the newly developed MRP engine known as MRP Live. MRP Live is optimized for the SAP HANA database. The new MRP engine can read all requirements elements (like Production order, Sales order and so on), replenishment elements (like Purchase order, Stock transfer order etc.) determine the number of shortages and prepare the procurement plans (planned purchases and purchase requests) using a single database procedure. This helps reduce the amount of data transferred between the server in the database and the client, which leads to better performance.
Classic MRP’s changes have led to a significant decrease in runtime. However, MRP can still be performed more efficiently when it is running on SAP HANA databases. SAP S/4HANA’s first release introduced MRP Live. This allows you to run MRP in memory using the new Transaction MD01N. All steps during the MRP planning run can be executed directly with stored procedures on SAP HANA. This takes full advantage of SAP HANA’s internal parallelism, greatly improving MRP performance.
MRP live in s4hana should produce similar results to classic MRP. However, there are a few design modifications, and MRP Live is faster than classic MRP if there are fewer materials that have restrictions.
Table of Contents
Introduction MRP live in S4HANA
SAP S/4 HANA business suite is built on the HANA in-memory system. It has several improvements over the traditional ECC enterprise suite. SAP S/4 HANA is packed with a fresh Fiori user interface based on Fiori, as well as a revised data model, embedded analytics and capabilities to use machine learning. SAP S/4 HANA brought a simpler approach to various business processes
A simplified model of data included in SAP S/4HANA has played a significant role in reaching this aim. The core SAP HANA database eliminates many of the tables normally required to make it easier to search and report in traditional databases. It runs within memory SAP S/4HANA Live and also performs the computation in fractions of time.
Many of the calculations used within MRP live in s4hana are executed in SQL Script/CDS view/AMDPs running from the server database, in contrast to traditional ABAP code that is executed by the server that runs applications. Improvements or BAdI implementations of the original MRP run will not work with MRP Live when the content is supported or planned within MRP Live.MRP Live can force materials to convert to classic MRP when materials are using a setup that is not compatible with MRP live
What is new in MRP live in S4HANA
SAP S/4HANA and the latest releases of SAP ERP introduced a new MRP live in s4hana functionality called MRP Live, which was the same concept and logic but improved for better performance on an SAP HANA database. Since then, the previously existing MRP and its transactions have become known as classic MRP to help differentiate between the versions.
To increase performance, SAP has redesigned MRP live in s4hana to be run using the SAP HANA database and has created a new transaction that will run MRP in memory in SAP S/4HANA. With these changes, all ABAP-based transactions are now referred to as classic MRP transactions, and this new version of MRP is referred to by the name MRP Live.
The MRP functionality and previously available transactions have been renamed classic MRP to distinguish between versions.SAP has updated MRP live in s4hana to run on SAP HANA and introduced a new transaction that allows MRP in memory to be run in SAP S/4HANA. All ABAP-based transactions that were previously in use are now called classic MRP transactions, while MRP Live is the new name for MRP.
Features of MRP live in S4HANA
- Priority of sourcing has been improved
- MRP Live always creates delivery schedules for externally procured material with valid delivery dates and generates purchase requisitions for any other material procured externally.
The supply logic is derived from external sources on a generic article level, and normal vendor decision logic. - The simplified model of data that is part of SAP S/4HANA has been a major factor in the achievement of this goal. The core SAP HANA database eliminates many of the tables normally required to make it easier to search and report using traditional databases. It runs within memory SAP S/4HANA Live and also can complete computational tasks in fractions of time.
- A major benefit from this arrangement is more efficient planning of materials requirements (MRP)
What is Classic MRP
Classic MRP is a set transaction that can be used to plan materials. It allows us to plan an entire plant or just one material. Classic MRP transactions such as Transactions MD01-MD02 and MD03 have been available from the earliest versions of SAP’s ERP software. They can be executed in SAP GUI (the software installed on the end user’s computer to access SAP S/4HANA).
SAP S/4HANA still supports all the classic MRP transactions, but it is not the architecture of the future. It has been included in the SAP S/4HANA While classic MRP is still possible in SAP S/4HANA it is not recommended for long-term solutions. All innovation in MRP Live will be focused on MRP.
These transactions were designed using an SAP programming language ABAP that was built on the notion that the transactions could support multiple databases, and contain all the business logic in the ABAP layer. In the MRP planning run in the classic MRP, the planning elements are selected sequentially from the database, from 52 different tables and ABAP code checks. They can verify each planning element before taking the next step. This process works fine in conventional SQL databases but does not benefit from SAP HANA’s parallel processing capability.
All the traditional MRP transactions are available and can be used in SAP S/4HANA, but it’s no longer the preferred architecture for the future. . While traditional MRP can be utilized within SAP S/4HANA, it’s not suggested as a solution for the long term as all innovations in MRP will revolve around MRP Live.
To enhance the traditional MRP performance within SAP S/4HANA, the traditional MRP logic that selects the data in the database has been revised and stored in stored procedures within SAP HANA, so that every table is read at the same time in memory by using SAP HANA’s parallelism internal to the system. The change to the internal MRP algorithm improves the performance, but only when accessing data from databases and other MRP logic, like the net requirements calculation, or the lot-sizing calculation remains within the ABAP layer. This means that from a functional standpoint, only minor changes are occurring. For instance, some MRP that are created in one day is combined in an MRP list, while some ABAP BAdIs that read information from the database has been removed since this logic no longer operates on ABAP.
SAP S/4HANA’s classic MRP functionality was improved by redesigning all of the MRP logic used to select information from the database. The stored procedures in SAP HANA were encapsulated in stored procedures so that all tables can be read simultaneously from memory using SAP HANA’s internal parallelism. The performance of this internal MRP change is only for reading data from SAP S/4HANA. All other MRP logic such as net requirements calculation and lot-sizing calculation are still performed in the ABAP layers. Functionally, there have been no major changes. One example is that MRPs that occur on the same day are grouped into the MRP List. Some ABAP BAdIs to read data from the database are no more called as this logic does not run on ABAP.
What is MRP Live
MRP live in s4hana is typically performed as a background task overnight, coordinating every change in materials in one or more plants. To determine the amount of shortages for each product, the system must read all relevant planning elements, including production and sales orders. Any document that can take or transfer a specific amount of stock is important for MRP and must be extracted from the database. This implies that MRP should choose large chunks of information from the database to make it easier for the user. Because of this and the intricate algorithm used during the planning process, MRP may take a longer duration to finish.
When SAP developed its SAP HANA database, it was a massive possibility to boost MRP performance by using the capabilities provided by SAP HANA’s memory-based parallelization. This is why SAP decided to modify MRP by integrating the MRP logic into the database layer and making MRP Live.
MRP live in s4hana was first available in SAP ERP, which was it was running on SAP HANA however, it needed to be activated by a business function. Within SAP S/4HANA MRP Live is active by default and is the most recommended solution for material planning. The MRP method described within this publication is identical for both classic MRP and MRP Live, but MRP Live’s primary benefit is the improvement in performance.
In addition to its performance aspect, MRP live in s4hana offers other benefits, like the fact that it is an updated transaction with more flexibility in the selection criteria, which replaces all of the standard MRP transactions. Remember the fact that SAP S/4HANA also brought the function of PP/DS from SAP APO into its code and the MRP Live that is now available MRP Live is also capable of planning materials using the heuristics of PP/DS. This means we could use an all-in-one planning run to prepare all the material.
MRP live in s4hana is generally carried out as a background job in the evening. It makes plans for any changes to one or more plant. It needs to analyze all relevant aspects of planning, including production or sales orders to determine the amount of needed material. MRP is based on the understanding that any document used to consume or bring a certain amount of stock must be accessed through the database. MRP has to select huge amounts of information from databases. This is because MRP will take a significant amount of time due to complicated algorithms and scheduling runs.
MRP live in s4hana was initially available in SAP ERP in SAP HANA. But, it had to be activated by a business function. MRP Live in SAP S/4HANA is turned on by default and is recommended for material planning. This book will provide the MRP process for both traditional MRP and MRP Live. The difference is that MRP Live has the principal benefit of increasing performance.
MRP live in s4hana has other benefits other than speed. In addition, the new transaction gives more flexibility when making decisions about transactions. It replaces the previous MRP transactions. SAP S/4HANA introduced the functionality for PP/DS of SAP APO; the new MRP Live can also plan materials using PP/DS heuristics. This means we could do one plan run for every material.
Another advantage lies in the future to be in future. MRP live in s4hana, the new version of MRP Live is being regarded by SAP as their new architecture and this means that all innovation in this field will be centred around MRP Live rather than the traditional MRP. It is therefore highly advised that SAP S/4HANA applications use MRP Live as their default planning tool.
The modifications made to traditional MRP live in s4hana have resulted in substantial reductions in MRP time, however greater performance improvements can be obtained when it runs using the SAP HANA database. Thus, in the initial SAP S/4HANA release SAP implemented MRP Live, which provides the new Transaction MD01N that allows you to run MRP in memory. In the end, the entire process of MRP planning process is carried out using stored procedures directly in SAP HANA. SAP HANA database, taking the maximum benefit from SAP HANA’s internal processing parallelism and consequently dramatically increasing MRP performance.
Since the entire MRP logic was replaced with stored procedures that are part of SAP HANA, a few frequently used scenarios weren’t changed and must be planned using the standard ABAP logic. It is possible to plan these scenarios using the MRP live in s4hana dispatcher is capable of detecting these limitations instantly and automatically triggering the standard logic to ensure that all materials are planned in the same process. The less materials you can plan using the standard logic the more efficiently MRP Live will perform.
From a performance viewpoint, MRP live in s4hana output should be very similar to results of traditional MRP however, there are a few design modifications. From a performance standpoint, MRP Live could indeed be as fast as ten times faster than traditional MRP if a minimum amount of materials with limitations are planned for ABAP.
The entire MRP logic was reimplemented using stored procedures in SAP HANA. However, some rarely used scenarios have not been updated and need to be planned with classic ABAP logic. MRP live in s4hana dispatcher can automatically identify these restrictions and trigger the classic logic so that all materials can be planned in one transaction. MRP Live’s performance depends on how many materials you plan to use the classic logic.
Please refer SAP OSS Knowledge Base Articles
You might also like the below articles.
- MRP
- SAP Best Practices
- SAP Modules
- SAP SD Vistex
- SAP Credit Management
- Sap learning hub
- SAP Redwood Scheduler
- SAP Idoc Monitoring
- SAP Master Data
- SAP BTP