ATP (Availability to Promise) is an SAP function that assists businesses in the planning and management of their manufacturing, sales, and distribution processes by providing real-time availability information for materials, finished goods, and capacity. ATP can be used to determine whether a company has the necessary resources (such as raw materials, finished goods, and capacity) to meet customer demand and identify potential supply chain bottlenecks and constraints. ATP is applicable to a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, and retail, and it is frequently integrated with other SAP modules such as Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Sales and Distribution (SD).
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SAP ATP Overview
ATP (Available to Promise) is an essential calculation that determines whether your company can fulfill customer orders with its available inventory. Customers expect timely delivery when placing orders, and ATP ensures your company can meet this expectation by promising products within specific timeframes. ATP incorporates various factors relating to current stock levels; new production or procurement inventory coming in; existing reservations (for future orders); etc into its Stock Availability Projection analysis. Calculations involving ATP calculations have an enormous influence on order processing, production planning, and delivery scheduling – three areas essential for fulfilling orders. When the system detects insufficient stock levels, backorders may be placed or existing quantities distributed according to priority.
What is ATP in SAP
Available to Promise (ATP) is when the system verifies that material can be confirmed for delivery in a sales order as available (stock is available or can be manufactured or purchased on time for delivery). The Material is available in the stock in the appropriate quantity, and the ATP requirements are passed on to either the production order or purchase order.
What is the purpose of SAP ATP Check?
It helps in determining whether the goods are ready or to be produced or procured externally
- When a customer places an order for material and requests that the material is delivered to him on a specific date. This delivery date can only be confirmed after ensuring material availability after considering all the inward as well as outward stock movements
- The availability check shall take into account the respective activities that must be carried out before delivery can take place
- Similarly, the procurement department is also to be informed on the quantities that sales require to be able to deliver against the orders received. This information can trigger production orders for manufacturing.
- If sufficient quantities are not available to cover the requirements, purchase orders can be created in purchasing on the basis of the transfer of requirements planning
Types of Availability Checks
There are three types of Availability checks:
Check on the basis of Available To Promise (ATP) Quantities:
The ATP quantity is calculated from the warehouse stock, the planned inward movements of stock (production orders, purchase orders, and planned orders), and the planned outward movements of stock (Sales Orders, deliveries, and reservations). This type of check is performed dynamically in the transaction. Planned independent requirements are not taken into account here
Check against product allocation:
Product allocation facilitates the period-based distribution of products to certain customers or regions. This type of check is useful in a where, for example, the production is very low, customer requirements is high
Check against planning
The check against planning is performed against independent requirements, which are usually created for an ‘anonymous’ market rather than being customer specific.
Scope of the Availability Check
The following elements can be included in the availability check:
- Stock: Safety stock, Stock in transfer, Stock in quality inspection, blocked stock
- Inward movement of goods: Purchase orders, Purchase requisitions, Planned orders, and Production orders
- Outward movement of goods: Reservations, Dependent reservations and requirements, sales and delivery requirements
Availability Check – Sales Order
When you create an order, the system determines the required material availability date on the basis of the customer’s requested delivery date. You will start the picking, packing, and loading of the goods on this date. This is also the date of importance for the preparation of requirements, on which the availability test will be reviewed
The following data is required for determining this date:
- Route from the shipping point to the ship to party
- Shipping point from which the goods are issued
- Loading group from the material master record
- Weight group determined from the order using the order quantity
Control of Availability Check
The control features specific to Sales and Distribution are:
Checking group:
It controls whether the system is to create individual or collective requirements in sales and shipping processing. The checking group can also be used to deactivate the availability check. It is proposed in the material master record on the basis of the material type and the plant and copied into the sales documents.
Checking Rule:
The use of the Checking rule to control the scope of the availability check for each transaction in sales and distribution. You also specify whether the check should include or exclude replenishment lead time
Schedule line category:
The schedule line category controls whether an availability check and transfer of requirements should be carried out in the sales documents
Delivery item category:
The delivery item category can be used to control whether an availability check takes place in deliveries.
SAP ATP configuration
Prerequisites for Availability Check
- The availability check must be switched on at the requirements class level
Menu Path: IMG- Sales & Distribution – Basic Functions- Availability Check & TOR- TOR à Define Requirement Classes
- In order to have an availability checked in the sales document, the indicator must be set at the schedule line category level.
Menu Path: Display IMG- Sales & Distribution- Sales-Sales Documents-Schedule Lines- Define Schedule Line Categories
- A requirements type must exist by which the requirements class can be found
Menu Path: Display IMG- Sales & Distribution- Basic Functions- Availability Check & TOR- TOR -Define Requirement Types
Availability Check: Configuration
- Define Checking Groups: Use standard SAP checking group “01” for daily requirements and 02 for individual requirements. In order to create a new group, copy an existing group, change the name (ensure that the name starts with “Z”), and description to your preference
IMG- Sales & Distribution- Basic Functions- Availability Check & TOR-Availability Check- Availability Check with ATP Logic or Against Planning-Define Checking Groups
- Defining Material Block for other users: Tick the “Block” checkbox to block a particular material from being checked for availability if it is being checked at the same time by another user. This ensures two users cannot confirm the same quantity for the same material at the same time.
IMG-Sales & Distribution- Basic Functions- Availability Check & TOR- Availability Check-Availability Check with ATP Logic or Against Planning- Define Material Block For Other Users
- Control of Availability Check: We indicate what stock is in hand, and which inward and outward stock movements should be taken into consideration while carrying out an availability check. The Control group specifies in combination with the checking rule the scope of availability check
IMG-Sales & Distribution- Basic Functions-Availability Check & TOR- Availability Check- Availability Check with ATP Logic or Against Planning-Carry Out Control For Availability Check
- Determining the Procedure for Each Delivery Item Category: Here we have the option of switching off the availability check. This option is used for return items
IMG- Sales & Distribution- Basic Functions- Availability Check & TOR- Availability Check- Availability Check with ATP Logic or Against Planning- Determine Procedure For Each Delivery Item Category
- Defining the Default Settings: Here we define the default setting for each sales area
IMG- Sales & Distribution- Basic Functions- Availability Check & TOR-Availability Check-Availability Check with ATP Logic or Against Planning- Define Default Settings
Master Data Preparation for Availability Check
- A checking group must be defined in the “Availability Check” field in the “MRP 3” screen of the material master.
- A plant must be determined in the sales order for the line item. It can either be proposed from the customer material info or customer master or material master or can be proposed manually in the document
Availability Check – Order Processing
In the sales menu, you select Environment -> Availability Overview to display the availability status for material with reference to the plant and checking rule. During order creation, an availability check can be carried out by clicking on the button as shown in the screenshot. We can also display item availability as shown in the screenshot
On the Availability Control screen, we can choose between the following delivery proposals:
- One-time delivery on the requested delivery date
- Complete delivery
Delivery proposal: In this section, the system checks whether and for which dates partial deliveries can be made
On the Availability Overview screen, we can view:
- Availability Checking Group and Checking Rule.
- Scope of Check
- Quantity available and simulated requirements and the number of storage location
Availability Check – Delivery Processing
In the delivery document, Use the path: Environment-Availability to go to the Availability overview screen. The screen with a summary of availability is shown as the second screenshot in the previous image
Conclusion
SAP Available to Promise (ATP) is an essential component of good supply chain and order fulfillment management, and we have investigated its intricate intricacies—its capabilities, benefits, and role in assisting firms in meeting customer expectations more effectively – in this article.Now follow these tutorial links to learn more about …Happy Learning ..!!
- Available to Promise (ATP) in SAP
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- SAP Sales Integration with other Modules
- SD Advanced Pricing
- SAP S/4HANA
- User exit in sap
- SAP Fiori App
- SAP Fieldglass
- SAP Customer Engagement & Commerce Suite(CEC Suite)
- Hybris Marketing
Very Good, could you please review the missing images? Thanks.
Thanks Fernando, We will fix this issue shortly.