Where PPDS Stops and SNP Starts With Respect to Time and Location

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Executive Summary

There is a background on synching SNP and PPDS.
SNP and PPDS differ in their horizons, and which horizons do what and where and how the SNP Production Horizon and PP/DS Horizon do not overlap.
How SNP and PPDS differ by location.

Introduction

A common question on APO projects is how SNP and PPDS interact from a timing perspective. SNP will create the initial production plan and in some cases a feasible production plan, which is then passed to PP/DS for adjustment. However, SNP and PP/DS need to be synchronized in the following areas to work properly together:

When using CTM, the CTM profile must be set up for either time continuous or bucket resources. (Described in this link)
The resources must be both selected (that is the right resource type used and configured in the right way) to support the integrated design.
The SNP Production Horizon and the PP/DS Planning Horizon must be set up in a way that supports the design.

Our References for This Article

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Settings of the Horizon

On the settings of the horizons in the different applications, the following quote from SAP is instructive.

“You separate the responsibilities for planning using the PPDS horizon and the SNP production horizon. Planning within the PPDS horizon is part of PPDS planning and planning outside of the SNP production horizon is part of SNP planning, although the planning areas may also overlap.” – SAP Help

Therefore, the SNP Production Horizon and the PPDS Planning Horizon can be set to the same value. This is applicable in situations when the design is to have the production planners simply plan and schedule what they are given by supply planning.

Within the SNP Production Horizon

Within the SNP Production Horizon, SNP will not create any planned orders. Therefore this can be seen as the stable or frozen period. In the different design, and when there is significant overlap between the SNP Production Horizon and the PP/DS Planning Horizon, this allows PP/DS and production planning to receive changes to planned orders within the PP/DS horizon. Furthermore, if this PP/DS Planning Horizon is long, then it allows the production planners to move the planned orders between the weeks, in addition to within a week.

“If, within short-term planning, you want to execute more detailed planning on receipts created by SNP, meaning that you want to plan them with detailed dates and a complete BOM, you must convert the SNP receipts into PP/DS receipts. PP/DS can either determine the lot sizes and sources of supply independently of SNP, or can copy the SNP lot size and source of supply decisions.” – SAP Help

“You execute medium-term planning with SNP and short-term planning with PP/DS. The planning areas do not overlap, meaning that the PPDS horizon and the SNP production horizon are the same length. If the SNP receipts reach the PP/DS horizon, you convert the SNP receipts into PPDS receipts.” – SAP Help

SNP Production Horizon

Making the SNP Production Horizon and the PP/DS Planning Horizon the Same

If you want the SNP Production Horizon and the PP/DS Planning Horizon to be the same, you do not have to enter a PP/DS Planning Horizon, as this quote describes.

“You enter the PPDS horizon and the SNP production horizon in the location product master for the products that you want to plan using SNP and PPDS. If you want the PPDS horizon and the SNP planning period to always follow each other without a gap, you only enter the SNP production horizon in the location product master, and no PPDS horizon. The system automatically uses the SNP production horizon as the PPDS horizon.” – SAP Help

This is shown in the graphic below:

SNP and PP/DS and Location Differences

Another question can be where SNP stops, and PPDS starts from a location perspective. This is much less frequently a confusing aspect of these two applications. SNP plans the overall supply network and can be cognizant of production resources (although it should be stated, it can not manage interactions between locations such as the way redeployment functionality works). I thought this quotation from SAP on this topic says it well. SAP describes two different situations or configuration setups.

Where the SNP Production Horizon and PP/DS Horizon Overlaps

“You plan the distribution centers with SNP and the production plants with PPDS. You use the strengths of PPDS (detailed production planning with complete BOMs and order sequences that are optimal for setup) for production planning. This degree of detail is not necessary for planning the distribution centers. In SNP planning, you only have to model the production capacities roughly in SNP to create plans that are also realistic about production. SNP planning results primarily in stock transport orders. These orders are relevant to PPDS if the stock transfer requirements concern production plants.” – SAP Help

Where the SNP Production Horizon and PP/DS Horizon Does not Overlap

“Here, there is a common planning area for SNP and PP/DS in which SNP has planning control for certain finished products and their critical components; that is, SNP alone plans receipts and determines cost-effective sources of supply and lot sizes. You only use PP/DS to plan the receipts created by SNP in detail (that is, to complete the BOM) and to execute sequencing (for example, with setup time optimization). PP/DS copies the SNP source of supply decisions during conversion. For planning in-house production, this scenario requires the use of mixed resources and production process models.” – SAP Help

There is also the following difference in what can be done inside and outside the PP/DS horizon.

“Within the PP/DS horizon, PP/DS can create receipts automatically. Outside the PP/DS horizon, you can only manually create receipts in PP/DS.

SNP plans outside the SNP production horizon, meaning that SNP can create receipts here. Planning within the SNP production horizon is fixed for SNP. SNP can no longer change an SNP order that has landed in the SNP production horizon. You have to convert it into a PP/DS order, if necessary.

PP/DS receipts are visible for SNP as aggregated receipts, but they cannot be changed. SNP considers PP/DS receipts as confirmed production during the net requirements calculation.” – SAP Help

Conclusions

Understanding how the settings must be made to make SNP and PP/DS work together is critical. However, the information that is available on this topic makes the understanding of this topic much more complicated than it needs to be. This article drew on several sources and added some extra clarification that should help configurators set this up correctly.