Demand Planning Purpose Use APO Demand Planning (DP) to create a forecast of market demand for your company's

s products. This component allo s you to take into consideration the many different causal factors that affect demand. The result of APO Demand Planning is the demand plan.
Demand Planning is a po erful and fle!i"le tool that supports the demand planning process in your company. User#specific planning layouts and interacti$e planning "ooks ena"le you to integrate people from different departments% and e$en different companies% into the forecasting process. Using the DP li"rary of statistical forecasting and ad$anced macro techni&ues you can create forecasts "ased on demand history as ell as any num"er of causal factors% carry out predefined and self#defined tests on forecast models and forecast results% and adopt a consensus#"ased approach to reconcile the demand plans of different departments. To add marketing intelligence and make management ad'ustments% you use promotions and forecast o$errides. The seamless integration ith APO (upply )et ork Planning supports an efficient (*OP process.

+ntegration ,ith Other APO -omponents

To Track exceptional, unexpected or critical situations in the demand planning process Share plans with your supply chain planner Do this Open the Alert Monitor Other information

Use the functions for releasing data to and from Supply Network Planning

The supply chain planner can plan resources ased on a full and relia le picture of demand, and the demand planner can monitor where ad!ustments to the demand plan ha"e een necessary due to production, distri ution and other constraints#

$o reporting

%nstall a &' front end and launch (ueries from your APO system

,ith Other (ystems

To )oad actual and*or planned data into $emand Planning from a &', +*,, or external system or from a flat file Do this Use APO Administrator 'ork ench in $emand Planning Other Information The functions of the Administrator 'ork ench in APO are identical to those of the Administrator 'ork ench of the &usiness %nformation 'arehouse -&'.#

$o reporting )oad data into &'

+un the &usiness /xplorer component of the SAP &usiness %nformation 'arehouse -&'. Use APO Administrator 'ork ench in $emand Planning to load the data into &' as from one data

The functions of the Administrator 'ork ench in APO are identical to

mart to another

Manage your customers0 forecasts using "endor1 managed in"entory -2M%. &uild a forecast together with your suppliers, customers and other usiness partners

3ather your customers0 in"entory and POS data "ia /$% Use 4olla orati"e $emand Planning

those of the Administrator 'ork ench of the &usiness %nformation 'arehouse -&'.# See .endor /anaged

+n$entory ith APO and (AP 012#

Partners without an APO system plan demand through a we 1 ased interface#

Demand Planning Process Purpose This process descri"es each acti$ity in the Demand Planning (DP) cycle. +n general% you can assume that the order of the processes presented here is the order in hich you should proceed through the DP cycle. 3o e$er% since DP is represented as a cycle% not a linear path% you may decide to repeat certain acti$ities or to proceed in a different order.

Process 4lo

The follo ing diagram depicts the DP cycle. ...

5. -arry out all the steps needed to set up your planning area. The planning area is the "asis for all acti$ities in APO Demand Planning. +t is a collection of parameters that define the scope of all planning tasks. The planning area is linked to the data mart. 6ou load into the data mart the actual history (for e!ample% "ookings% shipments or "illings) that l7ll "e used to create the DP master data and generate the demand forecasts. (ee Planning Area Administration. 8. /ap the structure of your company (for e!ample% regions% di$isions% "rands% products and customers) for planning purposes in the DP master data. (ee /aster Data (etup. 2. -onfigure the layout of the planning screens for the different parties (departments% managers% di$isions% and so on) ho ill participate in demand planning "y designing planning "ooks. Define macros to perform calculations% carry out tests% and arn you of e!ceptional situations. (ee Planning 9ook Design. :. Define forecast models for time series forecasting% causal analysis and1or composite forecasting. (ee Definition10edefinition of 4orecast /odels. ;. -reate a forecast of market demand using a top#do n% middle#out% or "ottom# up approach. -hoose from a ide $ariety of forecasting methods and techni&ues. (ee -reation of the Demand 4orecast. <. 4orecast ne products and discontinued products "y applying lifecycle planning and =like= modeling techni&ues. (ee >ifecycle Planning. ?. Plan promotions and other e$ents. @!amples of promotions are free#standing inserts% coupons% discounts% product displays% trade sho s% dealer allo ances% coupons% contests% and ad$ertising. (ee Promotion Planning. A. 4ine#tune the demand plan "y adding management o$errides and modifications. (ee 4ine#Tuning of the Demand Plan. B. 0econcile the demand plans of different departments "y merging the plans into a one#num"er% consensus forecast. (ee 0econciliation of Demand Plans. 5C. (imulate different planning scenarios. (ee (imulation. 55. /onitor e!ceptional or critical situations through the Alert /onitor. (ee /onitoring Alerts for Demand Planning (DP). 58. /ake the demand plan a$aila"le in ()P "y releasing it. The demand plan is often unconstrained "y any production or distri"ution restrictions. This step can "e completed "y either the demand planner or the ()P planner. (ee 0elease of the Demand Plan to ()P. 52. /ake the ()P plan a$aila"le to DP "y releasing it. The ()P plan takes into account any production or distri"ution restrictions. A comparison of the t o plans could lead% for e!ample% to the opening of a factory to meet demand in a ne market region. (ee 0eleasing the (upply )et ork Plan to Demand Planning. 5:. (tore the forecasts made at different times for a period. (ee 4orecast (torage and 4urther Processing in Other (ystems. 5;. Update the actual data. (ee 3istorical Data Updates. 5<. .erify the accuracy of the forecastD for e!ample% "y comparing it ith the constrained forecast from ()P% ith actual data and ith other demand planning

$ersions that you did not release to ()P. (ee /onitoring of 4orecast Accuracy. 5?. 0e$ise the master data to reflect the addition of ne products% customers% and so on. (ee /aster Data 0e$ision. 5A. 0efine the forecast models in the light of kno ledge gained from forecast accuracy checks. Add ne models for ne products and product lines. (ee Definition10edefinition of 4orecast /odels. 0esult The result of Demand Planning is the demand plan. +nfoO"'ects in Demand Planning Definition Demand Planning makes use of se$eral +nfoO"'ects from the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse. Use This section descri"es these +nfoO"'ects and their use in Demand Planning in more detail. +ntegration 6ou can use infoO"'ects such as key figures or characteristics "oth in Demand Planning and for reporting purposes in the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse. -haracteristic Definition A planning o"'ect such as a product% location% "rand or region. The master data of Demand Planning or (upply )et ork Planning encompasses the permitted $alues of the characteristics% the characteristic $alues. -haracteristic $alues are discrete names or num"ers . 4or e!ample% the characteristic 'location' could ha$e the $alues >ondon% Delhi and)e 6ork. Use The characteristics used in Demand Planning are the same as those used in the (AP 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse. 6ou create and edit characteristics in the Administration ,ork"ench. 4or more information% see +nfoO"'ect and -reating +nfoO"'ectsE -haracteristics. (AP deli$ers se$eral characteristics for use in (AP APO as 9usiness -ontent. These characteristics ha$e the prefi! BA as opposed to C for other 9, characteristics. As (AP reser$es the right to change these characteristics ithout notice% e strongly recommend that you do not change them. -ompared to 9, characteristics there are the follo ing restrictions for the use of characteristics in Demand Planning. Data types DAT( F Date and T+/( F Time are not permissi"le. (imilarly lo ercase characteristic names are not permissi"le. (6ou can of

course use lo ercase in the description fields. ,e recommend that you do not use compound characteristics.

Descripti$e -haracteristics Definition 9efore 0elease 2.5% product and location ere the only characteristics that could "e transferred from Demand Planning to (upply )et ork Planning (()P) and Production Planning and Detailed (cheduling (PP1D(). As of 0elease 2.5% it is possi"le to define descripti$e characteristics for use in the applications that use Order >i$e-ache. These characteristics permit more detailed planning in se$eral applications. As far as Demand Planning is concerned% descripti$e characteristics do not differ from other characteristics. Use Demand Planning 0elease of Unconstrained Demand to Order >i$e-ache Descripti$e characteristics are used in Order li$e-ache. +n order to use the forecast from Demand Planning% you must release the demand plan to ()P. +n the release transaction% you must edit the fields that appertain to descripti$e characteristics. The descripti$e characteristics are then attached to the resulting planned independent re&uirements. (ee also Descripti$e -haracteristics in Production Planning. 0elease of -onstrained Demand from Order li$e-ache to Demand Planning This process recogniGes the characteristics attached to the >i$e-ache order and transports the constrained forecast "ack to DP ith the same characteristic $alues. (ee also 0elease of (upply )et ork Plan to Demand Planning and 0eceipts and 0e&uirements During 0elease to DP. Production Planning -onsumption ,ith descripti$e characteristics% it is no possi"le to perform forecast consumption on any characteristic in DP that can "e matched to an 012 attri"ute of a sales order. 4or e!ample% including the customer in the descripti$e characteristics ena"les the identification of customer#specific forecasts for the same location1product that can "e consumed "y a sales order for that customer. -apa"le#to#/atch Planning (-T/) Demand PrioritiGation +t is possi"le to assign priorities "ased on descripti$e characteristics. 4or e!ample% you can specify that one customer or customer group is gi$en preferential treatment if the demand cannot "e completely satisfied. -urrently% rules can "e found for a fe attri"utes of the forecast (product% location%

category). ,ith descripti$e characteristics it is possi"le to perform the rule finding process on any characteristic le$el in DP. 4or e!ample% including the customer in the descripti$e characteristics ena"les the identification of customer#specific rules for the same location1product. 4or more information% see Demand PrioritiGation. (ee also Use of Descripti$e -haracteristics Attri"utes Definition An attri"ute is a characteristic that is logically assigned and su"ordinated to another characteristic. )a$igational attri"utes offer a ay to plan multiple o"'ects hile achie$ing optimum system performance in Demand Planning. Use Administrator ,ork"ench Define characteristics that are to "e used for selection and na$igation as na$igational attri"utes. 6ou do this in the (AP APO Administrator ,ork"ench. 6ou assign these attri"utes to the characteristics to hich they "elong. 4or e!ample% you might assign the sales representati$eand priority attri"utes to the customer characteristic as part of the definition of the customer +nfoO"'ect. Planning Area Administration ,hen creating the master planning o"'ect structure% you specify hich characteristics you ant to plan. +f na$igational attri"utes e!ist for one or more of these characteristics% these attri"utes are automatically attached to the master planning o"'ect structure hen you acti$ate the master planning o"'ect structure. This means that if you add attri"utes to characteristics after the master planning o"'ect structure has "een acti$ated% you must reacti$ate the master o"'ect planning area "efore the attri"utes are effecti$e. (6ou do not need to deacti$ate the master planning o"'ect structure to do so.) To display the attri"utes% choose )a$igational Attri"utes in master planning o"'ect structure maintenance. ,hen creating the planning area% you define aggregates. 6ou cannot include na$igational attri"utes in an aggregate. /aster Data /aintenance for Attri"utes 6ou assign $alues to an attri"ute "y maintaining its master data in the Administrator ,ork"ench% not in Demand Planning master data maintenance. -hoose from the attri"ute maintenance screen and enter selection criteria to restrict the selection% if necessary. 4or e!ample% you gi$e the sales representati$e attri"ute the $alues H4 and @T. To see ho the attri"utes fit into the Demand Planning master data% you do the follo ingE ... 5. On the (AP @asy Access screen% choose /aster Data I Demand Planning

/aster Data I /aintain -haracteristic .alues. 8. @nter the master planning o"'ect structure. 2. -hoose Display -haracteristics -om"inations. 6ou cannot assign attri"utes to aggregates.

+f you use na$igational attri"utes% it is much easier to realign realignment characteristic $alue com"inations hen characteristic $alues change. 4or more information% see J0ealigningK )a$igational Attri"utes. Attri"utes in +nteracti$e Demand Planning 6ou do not see the difference "et een characteristics and attri"utes in interacti$e demand planning. Use the attri"utes for selection and na$igation. 0eporting 6ou can perform reporting on "oth characteristics and attri"utes. 4or more information% see the (AP >i"rary for the (AP 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse (9,) in the Administrator ,ork"ench component under )a$igational Attri"utes. Ley 4igure Definition -ontains data that is represented as a numerical $alueMeither a &uantity or a monetary $alue. @!amples of key figures used in Demand Planning are planned demand and ac tual sales history. @!amples of key figures used in (upply )et ork Planning are production receipts and distri"ution receipts. Use 6ou create key figures in the Administration ,ork"ench% e$en if you only intend to use the key figures in >i$e-ache. -hoose Tools I @dit +nfoO"'ects.
+n APO% create APO key figures (not 9, key figures). There are three types of key figure that are of interest for demand planningE Nuantity Use this type for physical &uantities Amount This type is amounts of money )um"er Use this type for num"ers that do not ha$e units of measure or currencies% such as factors. The unit of measure and currency are al ays taken from the planning area.

There are different places in hich a

Ley 4igures in Demand Planning Demand Planning has a num"er of key specific purposesE

@!plained figures that are used for separate% &uite

O O 3istorical +nput O O Original 3istory O O -orrected 3istory O O Original19aseline 4orecast O O -orrected 4orecast O O Promotion 3istorical +nput Definition 6ou enter the historical input key figure in the uni$ariate forecast profile. The historical input key figure is the one hose actual data is used to calculate the forecast.
6ou see the historical input key figure% sometimes called the orders history% in the uni$ariate forecast $ie . The key figure is taken from either an +nfo-u"e or the >i$e-ache.

Original 3istory Definition The original history is almost the same as the historical input key figure% "ut ith t o possi"le ad'ustmentsE O The system ad'usts the historical input $alues as per the phase#in profile if the follo ing conditions are fulfilledE 5 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e created a phase#in profile. 8 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e maintained the "asic settings of the phase# in profileD that is% you ha$e assigned characteristics to the profile. 2 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e assigned characteristic $alues to the phase#in profile. : The time range of the profile falls ithin the historical forecast horiGon of the master forecast profile. ; 6ou ha$e specified that the phase#in profile affects historical data. +n the maintenance of forecast profiles choose Poto I Phase#in1out profiles I (ettings. < 6ou ha$e selected /aterial fcst in the master forecast profile. ? To create the forecast% you use a uni$ariate forecast profile. O The system ad'usts the historical input $alues as per the phase#out profile if the follo ing conditions are fulfilledE 5 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e created a phase#out profile. 8 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e maintained the "asic settings of the phase# out profileD that is% you ha$e assigned characteristics to the profile. 2 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e assigned characteristic $alues to the phase#out profile. : The time range of the profile falls ithin the historical forecast horiGon of the master forecast profile. ; 6ou ha$e specified that the phase#out profile affects historical data. +n the maintenance of forecast profiles choose Poto I Phase#in1out profiles I (ettings.

< 6ou ha$e selected /aterial fcst in the master forecast profile. ? To create the forecast% you use a uni$ariate forecast profile. This results in the original history. The original history is displayed in interacti$e demand planning if you ha$e included an actuals ro for the historical input key figure in the planning "ook. The original history is not stored in the planning area. +t is the historical input key figure that is stored in the planning area.
+f neither of the a"o$e situations e!ists in your system% the historical input and the original history are the same.

-orrected 3istory Definition Ley figure in hich the history that has "een corrected "y the system or manually "y the user is stored.
6ou can correct history (see steps 8 and 2 "elo ) ithout storing it in this key figure. The corrected history is then displayed in an au!iliary ro in the statistical forecast $ie and cannot "e sa$ed. This has no significant performance disad$antages. +f you set the Read corrected history data from planning $ersion indicator% the system uses the corrected history as the "asis for the forecast% and not the key figure you entered for historical input in the uni$ariate profile. Only use this setting if you ha$e corrected the historical data manually. The system automatically takes other effects such as phase#in1out profiles and outlier correction into account. (etting the indicator ould then result in such correction "eing applied each time you e!ecute the forecast. (ee also note 222;<;. Do not use the corrected history key figure if you use either of the functions in the uni$ariate forecast profile that correct history to account for promotions. The corrected history key figure is made up as follo sE

5 8 The system takes the original history as the starting point. 2 +f you ha$e entered a $alue in the Days in period field in the uni$ariate forecast profile% the system ad'usts the corrected history key figure "ased on this a$erage. 4or a detailed e!planation% see the 45 3elp of the field. : +f you ha$e selected Outlier correction in the uni$ariate forecast profile% the system corrects the historical $alues that it determinesQ"ased on the sigma factor Qto "e outliers. 3istorical $alue markings are also taken into account. (ee also Outlier -orrection. Use 6ou "ase the forecast on the corrected history key figure if you ish to correct history manually. The prere&uisites areE
+n the planning area% you ha$e included a key figure to hold corrected history. +n -ustomiGing% you ha$e defined hich key figure in your planning area is to hold corrected history and ha$e assigned it to the "aseline forecast key figure. +n the uni$ariate forecast profile% you ha$e specified that the forecast should "e "ased on the corrected history key figure "y selecting Read corrected history data from planning version. +n the uni$ariate forecast profile% you ha$e specified ho you ant history to "e corrected (Days in period and1or Outlier correction ith or ithout Historical value markings). +f you ish to see the corrected history key figure in interacti$e demand planning% you ha$e included a ro for it in the planning "ook and data $ie .

+f you use the history of a =like= product to create the forecast% the system "ases the forecast on the original history. +t does not read the corrected history of the =like= product. +t applies any corrections you ha$e specified (Days in period% Outlier correction% Historical value markings and1or promotion corrections) to the original history.

-orrected 3istory Definition Ley figure in hich the history that has "een corrected "y the system or manually "y the user is stored.
6ou can correct history (see steps 8 and 2 "elo ) ithout storing it in this key figure. The corrected history is then displayed in an au!iliary ro in the statistical forecast $ie and cannot "e sa$ed. This has no significant performance disad$antages. +f you set the Read corrected history data from planning $ersion indicator% the system uses the corrected history as the "asis for the forecast% and not the key figure you entered for historical input in the uni$ariate profile. Only use this setting if you ha$e corrected the historical data manually. The system automatically takes other effects such as phase#in1out profiles and outlier correction into account. (etting the indicator ould then result in such correction "eing applied each time you e!ecute the forecast. (ee also note 222;<;. Do not use the corrected history key figure if you use either of the functions in the uni$ariate forecast profile that correct history to account for promotions. The corrected history key figure is made up as follo sE

5 8 The system takes the original history as the starting point. 2 +f you ha$e entered a $alue in the Days in period field in the uni$ariate forecast profile% the system ad'usts the corrected history key figure "ased on this a$erage. 4or a detailed e!planation% see the 45 3elp of the field. : +f you ha$e selected Outlier correction in the uni$ariate forecast profile% the system corrects the historical $alues that it determinesQ"ased on the sigma factor Qto "e outliers. 3istorical $alue markings are also taken into account. (ee also Outlier -orrection. Use 6ou "ase the forecast on the corrected history key figure if you ish to correct history manually. The prere&uisites areE
+n the planning area% you ha$e included a key figure to hold corrected history. +n -ustomiGing% you ha$e defined hich key figure in your planning area is to hold corrected history and ha$e assigned it to the "aseline forecast key figure. +n the uni$ariate forecast profile% you ha$e specified that the forecast should "e "ased on the corrected history key figure "y selecting Read corrected history data from planning version. +n the uni$ariate forecast profile% you ha$e specified ho you ant history to "e corrected (Days in period and1or Outlier correction ith or ithout Historical value markings). +f you ish to see the corrected history key figure in interacti$e demand planning% you ha$e included a ro for it in the planning "ook and data $ie . +f you use the history of a =like= product to create the forecast% the system "ases the forecast on the original history. +t does not read the corrected history of the =like= product. +t applies any corrections you ha$e specified (Days in period% Outlier correction% Historical value markings and1or promotion corrections) to the original history.

Original19aseline 4orecast Definition The original forecast% sometimes kno n as the "aseline forecast% is the key figure to hich the original forecast results are ritten. +n addition% any e!isting phase#in profile and1or phase#out profile is applied to the original forecast.
The system ad'usts the original1"aseline forecast $alues as per the phase#in profile if the follo ing conditions are fulfilledE 5 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e created a phase#in profile. 8 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e maintained the "asic settings of the phase#in profileD that is% you ha$e assigned characteristics to the profile. 2 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e assigned characteristic $alues to the phase#in profile. : The time range of the profile falls ithin the future forecast horiGon of the master forecast profile. ; 6ou ha$e selected Material fcst in the master forecast profile. < 6ou ha$e specified that the phase#in profile affects historical data. +n the maintenance of forecast profiles choose Goto Phase-in/out profiles Settings ? To create the forecast% you use a uni$ariate forecast profile. The system ad'usts the original1"aseline forecast $alues as per the phase#out profile if the follo ing conditions are fulfilledE 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e created a phase#out profile. 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e maintained the "asic settings of the phase#out profileD that is% you ha$e assigned characteristics to the profile. 4rom the master forecast profile% you ha$e assigned characteristic $alues to the phase#out profile. The time range of the phase#out profile falls ithin the future forecast horiGon of the master forecast profile. 6ou ha$e selected Material fcst in the master forecast profile. 6ou ha$e specified that the phase#out profile affects historical data. +n the maintenance of forecast profiles choose Goto Phase-in/out profiles Settings To create the forecast% you use a uni$ariate forecast profile.

Use
1 2

,hen you create the planning area% you include a key figure for the original forecast. 3 +f you use any of the follo ing key figures% you assign them to the 4orecast key figure in -ustomiGing for the planning areaE -orrected history
-orrected forecast @!#post forecast @!#post multiple linear regression 4 6ou enter the original forecast key figure as the !orecast key figure in the master forecast profile. 5 +f you do promotion planning% you enter the original forecast key figure as the Planning key figure on the Planning area ta"strip in the promotion planning orkspace.

-orrected 4orecast Definition The corrected forecast key figure is made up as follo sE 5

8 The system takes the original forecast as the starting point. 2 +f you ha$e entered a $alue in the Days in period field in the uni$ariate forecast profile% the system ad'usts the corrected forecast key figure "ased on the actual num"er of orkdays in each period. 4or a detailed e!planation% see the 45 3elp of this field. Use The prere&uisities for using the corrected history key figure are as follo sE
+n the planning area% you ha$e included a key figure to hold the corrected forecast. +n -ustomiGing% you ha$e defined hich key figure in your planning area is to hold the corrected forecast and ha$e assigned it to the "aseline forecast key figure. +n the uni$ariate forecast profile% you ha$e made an entry in the field Days in period +f you ish to see the corrected forecast key figure in interacti$e demand planning% you ha$e included a ro for it in the planning "ook and data $ie . 6ou do not need a corrected forecast key figure for promotion planning.

Promotion Definition The system stores a promotion as an a"solute num"er in the promotion key figure. +f you define your promotion as a percentage% the system con$erts the percentage to an a"solute num"er "efore storing it. Use The prere&uisites for using the promotions key figure are as follo sE ... 5. ,hen creating the planning area% you ha$e included a key figure for promotions. 8. +f you ish to release the sum of the unpromoted forecast and the promoted forecast to (upply )et ork Planning% you ha$e included in the planning area a key figure to contain the total. 2. +f you ish to see the promotions key figure in interacti$e demand planning% you ha$e included a ro for it in the planning "ook and data $ie . :. +f you ish to see the sum of the unpromoted forecast and the promoted forecast in interacti$e demand planning% you ha$e ritten a macro that adds the t o together and displays them in a third ro of the planning "ook data $ie . This ro can "e the key figure you defined in step 8. ;. +f you ish to release the sum of the unpromoted forecast and the promoted forecast to (upply )et ork Planning% you ha$e ritten a macro that adds the t o together and stores the results in the key figure you created during the transfer process in step 8. <. +f you ish to correct history to take account of past promotions% you ha$e made the necessary specifications in the uni$ariate forecast profile. This step is optional. +t does not affect the planning of future promotions. ?. 6ou ha$e maintained promotion key figure for the planning area. 4rom the (AP @asy Access screen% choose Ad$anced Planning and OptimiGation I Demand

Planning I Planning I Promotion I /aintain Promotion Ley 4igures. A. +n the orkspace on the Promotions Planning desktop% you ha$e entered the original forecast key figure as the Planning key figure and ha$e specified the Promotions key figure on the Planning area ta"strip. 4or more information% see Promotion Planning.

Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench The Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench contained in (AP APO is used in e!actly the same ay as the Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench of the (AP )et,ea$er 9usiness +ntelligence (9+) usage type. 4or more information% see the (AP >i"rary of (AP )et,ea$er under (AP )et,ea$er >i"rary I(AP )et,ea$er Ley 4unctional Area I Ley 4unctional Areas of +nformation +ntegration I 9usiness +ntelligence I Data ,arehousing I Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench.

Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench The Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench contained in (AP APO is used in e!actly the same ay as the Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench of the (AP )et,ea$er 9usiness +ntelligence (9+) usage type. 4or more information% see the (AP >i"rary of (AP )et,ea$er under (AP )et,ea$er >i"rary I(AP )et,ea$er Ley 4unctional Area I Ley 4unctional Areas of +nformation +ntegration I 9usiness +ntelligence I Data ,arehousing I Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench.

Planning O"'ect (tructures Definition The term planning o"'ect structure comprises of R /aster planning o"'ect structures and R Aggregates 4or more information% see the rele$ant topics. Planning O"'ect (tructures Definition The term planning o"'ect structure comprises of

R /aster planning o"'ect structures and R Aggregates 4or more information% see the rele$ant topics. ,orking ith /aster Planning O"'ect (tructures Use /aster planning o"'ect structures are prere&uisites for creating planning areas in (upply and Demand Planning. +n Demand Planning you can assign any characteristics that e!ist in the system to the master planning o"'ect structure. The follo ing applications ha$e fi!ed sets of standard characteristicsE R (upply )et ork Planning R -haracteristic#"ased forecasting R 4orecasting ith "ills of material Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e created the characteristics ith hich you ish to ork. Procedure To edit master planning o"'ect structures you ork in (upply and Demand Planning Administration% hich you access "y choosing Demand Planning1(upply )et ork Planning I @n$ironment I -urrent (ettings I Administration of Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning. +n (*DP Administration you can editE R Planning areas R /aster planning o"'ect structures To edit master planning o"'ect structures choose Plng o"'ect structures on the selection "utton (top left of the screen). -reating /aster Planning O"'ect (tructures 5. -hoose -reate master planning o"'ect structure from the conte!t menu. 8. On the dialog "o! that appears enter a name for the ne master planning o"'ect structure and choose . The -onfigure Planning O"'ect (tructure screen appears. 2. @nter a descripti$e te!t for the master planning o"'ect structure. :. 6ou no assign characteristics from the ta"le on the right of the screen. +f the master planning o"'ect structure is for use in one of the applications listed a"o$e in the Use section% simply select the rele$ant indicator. The standard characteristics are transferred automatically. Other ise select the characteristics that you ant to use and then choose . (imilarly you can choose to remo$e characteristics from the master planning o"'ect structure. ;. 6ou can also assign dimensions to the characteristics in your master

planning o"'ect structure. Dimensions here are similar to dimensions in +nfo-u"es and are used to impro$e performance. To assign dimensions use the pull#do n "o! in the dimension () column of the left hand ta"le. 6ou can add further dimensions "y choosing the Add "utton at the "ottom of the screen. <. +f you ant to use other characteristics for product and location than BA/AT)0 and BA>O-)O% you must specify these characteristics in the master planning o"'ect structure. +n general you should use the t o (AP characteristics as the "asis for the ne characteristics. The main reason for changing these characteristics is to "e a"le to use na$igational attri"utes in Demand Planning ithout causing pro"lems after ards in ()P (()P does not support na$igational attri"utes). To assign the product 1 location characteristics in the master planning o"'ect structure choose @dit I Assign prod.1loc.. @nter the rele$ant characteristics in the dialog "o! that appears. ?. (a$e your master planning o"'ect structure. -hanging Planning O"'ect (tructures (AP recommends that you do not change master planning o"'ect structures that ha$e "een acti$ated and that are in use in planning "ooks. To remo$e a characteristic from a master planning o"'ect structure you must first deacti$ate the structure. ,hen you deacti$ate a master planning o"'ect structure% all characteristic $alue com"inations are deleted and the e!isting li$e-ache time series o"'ects "ecome inconsistent. Acti$ating1Deacti$ating /aster Planning O"'ect (tructures 9efore you can ork ith a master planning o"'ect structure (for e!ample create characteristics com"inations or assign them to a planning area) you must acti$ate it. 6ou can do this eitherE R 4rom the planning o"'ect structure orkspace in (*DP Administration "y selecting the master planning o"'ect structure and then choosing Acti$ate or Deacti$ate from the conte!t menu. R On the -onfigure Planning O"'ect (tructure screen "y choosing to acti$ate or to deacti$ate. -haracteristic .alue -om"ination Definition A characteristic $alue com"ination is the com"ination of characteristic $alues ith hich you ant to plan. +t is sometimes referred to as a characteristic com"ination. 6ou can only plan data if you ha$e defined such a com"ination. -haracteristic $alue com"inations are planned for master planning o"'ect structures. The

com"inations are then $alid for all planning areas "ased on this planning o"'ect structure. Use There are t o paths for accessing characteristic $alue com"ination maintenance. 9oth paths lead to the same screen. R On the (AP @asy Access screen% choose /aster Data IDemand Planning /aster Data I /aintain -haracteristic .alues. R +n (*DP Administration% select the rele$ant master planning o"'ect structure and then -reate -har. -om"ination from the conte!t menu. +n "oth cases% the /aintain -haracteristic -om"inations 0ele$ant to Planning screen appears. 3ere you can perform the follo ing acti$itiesE R Penerate characteristic com"inations 6ou use this option to generate characteristic com"inations "ased on the contents of an +nfo-u"e. The system checks hich com"inations of $alues e!ist in the +nfo-u"e and creates them for the master planning o"'ect structure. As a result% it is essential that the same characteristics are contained in the +nfo-u"e and the master planning o"'ect structure. The +nfo-u"e can contain more characteristics than the master planning o"'ect structure. Taking the a"o$e pro$iso into account% you can use any +nfo-u"e to generate com"inations. (ee also Penerating /aster Data for DP. R -reate indi$idual characteristic com"inations 6ou use this option if there is no suita"le data stored in an +nfo-u"e or the com"inations of $alues is ne % for instance% a ne product. (ee also -reating a (ingle @ntry in the /aster Data. R Display or delete e!isting characteristic com"inations (ee also Display and Deletion of -haracteristic .alue -om"inations. During operation% ne characteristic $alue com"inations occur. 4or instance% your company introduces ne products or products are manufactured at another location. (AP pro$ides a realignment tool ith hich you create the ne characteristic $alue com"inations automatically. 4ore more information% see 0ealignment. Another method of maintaining se$eral characteristic $alue com"inations is to edit the com"inations in a flat file such as a /icrosoft @!cel file% upload this file to an +nfo-u"e% and then use this +nfo-u"e to generate the characteristic $alue com"inations.

0ead the cautions a"o$e "efore deacti$ating master planning o"'ect structures.

-reation of -haracteristic .alue -om"inations Use Use this function to create se$eral characteristic $alue com"inations either online or as a orklist from hich the characteristic $alue com"inations can "e created later in a "ackground 'o". Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e created and acti$ated the master planning o"'ect structure. +f you ant to create the corresponding time series o"'ects% you must ha$e created and initialiGed the rele$ant planning area. 4eatures The function has four optionsE R -reate /anually 6ou can create one or more characteristic $alue com"inations manually. The ne com"inations are first placed in a orklist and can "e used as the "asis for further com"inations. 6ou can then check the ne com"inations. The follo ing checks are carried outE R Duplicate entries Do the ne entries e!ist alreadyS R Type Dos the ne entries ha$e the correct entry format F numerical entry only% alphanumericalS R (pecial characters Do the ne entries contain special characters that are not allo edS R -on$ersion routine Are the prere&uisites for the con$ersion routine for the characteristic fulfilledS 6ou then generate the selected com"inations. The ne characteristic $alue com"inations are displayed immediately. +t is also possi"le to load com"inations from other sources. 4or more details see "elo . R >oad to ,orklist 6ou can directly load data into the orklist from other sources. These sources areE R Planning O"'ect (tructures This is can "e the same planning o"'ect structure as you are currently orking in. +n this case the com"inations that are loaded form the "asis for ne com"inationsD to create ne com"inations you must change the e!isting ones. Alternati$ely you can upload com"inations from another planning o"'ect structure. +n this case the structure should "e similar in "oth planning o"'ect structures. This means that at least one characteristic should "e the same% "ut to ork effecti$ely the

differences should "e $ery small. The $alues of the characteristics that are contained in the target planning o"'ect structure "ut not in the source remain "lank in the orklist and must "e filled manually or using the 9Ad+. -haracteristics that e!ist in the source "ut not the target are ignored. R +nfoPro$ider 6ou can upload com"inations from +nfoPro$iders in the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse. The same remark as a"o$e apply for +nfoPro$iders. R 4ile 6ou can create a list of characteristic $alue com"inations as a file and upload it. 4or details of the file format% choose the +nformation icon that appears hen you choose 4ile as the Data (ource. )ote that you can upload data from a P- in online mode% "ut can access the application ser$er in "oth online and "ackground mode. R 9usiness Add#+n (9Ad+) +f you ha$e implemented the -O/9+T@)0+-3 method of the 1(APAPO1(DPT/A(T@0 9Ad+% you use it to import data to the orklist. 4or more information% see the +/P under 9usiness Add#+ns #U Additional 4unctions for -haracteristic .alue -om"inations. Penerate +mmediately The system generates the ne characteristic $alue com"inations from the same data sources as a"o$e immediately ithout creating a orklist. Penerate in 9ackground +n a "ackground 'o" the system generates the ne characteristic $alue com"inations from the same data sources as descri"ed a"o$e in>oad to ,orklist% ithout creating a orklist.

Acti$ities ,orking ith the ,orklist The orklist is "ased on the (AP >ist .ie er see A>. Prid -ontrol (9-#(0.# A>.). This means that you ha$e the usual functions to change% filter and sort the display. The follo ing functions are particular to the orklist +con 4unction -reate ro -opy ro -omment -reates a ne ro in the orklist. 6ou enter ne $alues either $ia the key"oard or "y using the 4: help. 6ou select an e!isting entry and choose this icon. The system creates an identical that you must then change to create a ne characteristic com"ination.

0eplace 4or the selected ro s in the orklist you can replace one characterist characteristic $alue ith another. ,hen you click on the icon a ic $alues dialog "o! appears in hich you choose the characteristic% the

$alue to "e replaced% and the ne $alue. -heck @ntries Penerate com"inatio ns >og -arries out the checks descri"ed a"o$e in the -reate /anually section for the selected ro s. Penerates characteristic $alue com"inations from the selected ro s. +f you ha$e set the Ad'ust Time (eries O"'ects indicator on the initial screen% these are also created. (4or more information% see the 45 help for this indicator.) Displays the log for the current session

+f you load data from the current planning o"'ect structure into the orklist and change entries% these com"inations are not changed in the planning o"'ect structure. )e com"inations are created% "ut the e!isting com"inations are neither deleted or changed. +f you ant to do this% use 0ealignment.

Ad'ustment of Time (eries O"'ects

Use +n general hen you create characteristic $alue com"inations you also create the corresponding time series o"'ects "y setting the Ad'ust Time (eries O"'ects indicator. 3o e$er there are situations here this is not ad$isa"leE R 6ou ha$e created many characteristic $alue com"inations. (ince creating the time series o"'ects takes longer than creating the characteristic $alue com"inations themsel$es% it can impro$e system performance if you do this in a "ackground 'o"% scheduled for a lo #load period such as at night or the eekend. R (e$eral 'o"s run simulataneouly for the same master planning o"'ect structure. This can cause inconsistencies. The cases in hich this can happen are less than in earlier releases. The main case is hen se$eral users create characteristic $alue com"inations at the same time. Prere&uisites Time series o"'ects already e!ist for the master planning o"'ect structure. This means that you ha$e initilaiGed at least one planning area "ased on the master planning o"'ect structure. Acti$ities 6ou start this function from (*DP Administration for planning o"'ect structures "y selecting the rele$ant master planning o"'ect structure and choosing Ad'ust Time (eries from the conte!t menu. On the Ad'ust Time (eries O"'ects screen that

appears you can see if the function needs to "e e!ecuted "y choosing the icon ith the &uick info te!t Time series to "e ad'usted. The system displays the num"er of times series o"'ects to "e created or deleted. 6ou can also specify that the system creates an error log hen it e!ecutes the program. +t is also possi"le to create a program $ariant and thus run the program in the "ackground.

Aggregate Definition The aggregates in APO are not the same as those in the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse (9,)% "ut they ha$e the same purposeE to speed up data access and therefore increase performance. (AP recommends that you use aggregates in Demand Planning. These aggregates are sometimes referred to as persistent aggregates% in particular hen talking a"out detail and aggregate le$els in interacti$e planning. Use An APO aggregate contains a su"set of the characteristics in the master planning o"'ect structure. The creation and use of aggregates is optional. The data is al ays sa$ed on the lo est le$el of detail. +f aggregates e!ist% the system sa$es the planning data on the defined aggregate le$els as ell as on the lo est le$el of detail. The data is sa$ed t ice% "ut consistentlyD that is% the sum of the details e&uals the aggregate $alue. (AP recommends that the aggregates you "uild in APO for planning data also e!ist in 9, for actual data. +f you ant to sa$e fi!ed $alues at aggregate le$el D that is not at detail le$el of the master planning o"'ect structure% in a planning "ook% you must create aggregates for this le$el. Other ise the data is only sa$ed at detail le$el. 6ou cannot form aggregates for na$igational attri"utes

(ee alsoE 4i!ing Ley 4igure .alues Aggregates are discussed in detail in O(( note ;C22<2. (AP recommends that you read this note thoroughly "efore configuring your master planning o"'ect structures and aggregate hierarchy. 4i!ing Ley 4igure .alues Use 6ou can fi! the $alue of a key figure in interacti$e demand planning so that the $alue does not change if you change other $alues of the key figure at other planning le$els. The system sa$es information rele$ant for fi!ing at detail le$el. ,e recommend that you select 'ust one key figure and s itch to the details $ie "efore fi!ing any $alues. Other ise% you cannot see ho a change to a key figure $alue at one

planning le$el affects the other le$els. Prere&uisites To "e a"le to fi! a key figure in interacti$e planning% the follo ing prere&uisites must "e metE R The key figure must ha$e a calculation type that allo s for disaggregation% for e!ample% pro rata or "ased on another key figure. A calculation type for a$erage calculations or )o -alculation are not allo ed. The system pre$ents you from creating such planning areas ith key figures for fi!ing. R 6ou ha$e included the key figure in the planning area. 6ou ha$e defined this key figure as a 4i!a"le Ley 4igure. +f you also ant to fi! key figures ith Gero $alues% you must ha$e set the Vero allo ed and 4i!a"le Vero indicators. ... 4eatures Propagation of 4i!ing +nformation +f you ork ith the propagation of fi!ing information% you can create and fi! data at an aggregated le$el ithout ha$ing created a fi!ed aggregate for this le$el. The prere&uisite is that you are orking at aggregated le$el and the detail le$els are not $isi"le. +f you fi! a $alue at aggregated le$el in this case% the system propagates the fi!ing information at the detail le$els% meaning that it fi!es the $alues at the detail le$els as ell. +f you unfi! a $alue at aggregated le$el% the system also unfi!es the $alues at the detail le$els. +f the detail le$els are $isi"le% ho e$er% and you fi! a $alue at aggregated le$el% the system does not automatically propagate the fi!ing information at the detail le$els. +f you fi! all the $alues at the detail le$els% the system does not fi! the corresponding total $alue at the aggregated le$el. 3o e$er% the $alue is displayed as fi!ed. +f you ork ith se$eral fi!ed $alues at the detail le$els% at least one $alue and the total must "e ready for input% meaning they should not "e fi!ed. Other ise the system cannot make any changes. +f a firm aggregate e!ists for a specific le$el and you fi! it% the system propagates the fi!ing at the detail le$els as ell. The aggregate itself remains fi!ed e$en after you sa$e. Acti$ities 4unctions for 4i!ing in +nteracti$e Planning 4unction 4i! a key figure $alue Procedure Dou"le#click in the cell for the key figure $alue. Alternati$ely% click on the cell ith the right mouse "utton and choose 4i! cell. A padlock icon and a pink font indicate that this $alue is no fi!ed. Dou"le#click in the cell for the key figure

Unfi! a key figure $alue

$alue. Alternati$ely% click on the cell ith the right mouse "utton and choose Unfi!. (a$e a $alue as a fi!ed $alue (a$e the planning "ook.

,hen orking ith different aggregate le$els% only display the key figures that are currently of interest. Use the key figure selection icon () from the tool"ar a"o$e the planning ta"le to do this. This makes the display more intelligi"le. @!ample 6our planning "ook contains the follo ing characteristicsE R (ales organiGation R >ocation R Product R -ustomer 6ou start interacti$e planning ith a planning "ook at the (ales OrganiGation 5CCC le$el and drill do n on the location. 9efore you display any details% you enter a $alue% fi! and sa$e it. +f you no drill do n on some products% they ha$e all "een fi!ed. 6ou can unfi! one line% for instance the last. The total is automatically unfi!ed so that the data remains consistent. +n the e!ample "elo % if you add 5C to the total 2CC% this is added to the unfi!ed lines% that is the :A in the last line is increased "y 5C. 6ou can also use the function to change the distri"ution to each detail line. To do so% unfi! the lines that should "e changed and fi! the total. The sum of the unfi!ed lines remains constant. +f you change ;8 to 5C in the e!ample "elo % the system automatically changes ;A to 5CC.

Using this procedure it is $ery easy to generate negati$e entries% hich make no sense for planning purposes. +n the a"o$e e!ample% if you ere to enter 8CC instead of 5C% the $alue for P: ould "e changed to FBC. +f you no sa$e the planning "ook% the total only remains fi!ed if there is an aggregate for this characteristic com"ination% in this case for sales organiGation and location.

aila"le for administrati$e purposes. 4eatures 6ou can run consistency checks for R /aster planning o"'ect structures R Aggregates R -haracteristics The checks that you can select are dependent on hich type of o"'ect you select. 6ou choose the (elect checks "utton to select these checks. 9y clicking on the 3elp icon you can display the online help for each check. This also tells you if it is possi"le to use the 0epair option ith this check to automatically correct any errors found in the o"'ect. 6ou can use the (election -ondition and Prouping -ondition "uttons to restrict the characteristic $alue com"inations that are checked. There are t o modes R AnalyGe The selected check(s) are carried out. A results screen appears from hich you can go to a more detailed log. R 0epair +f the selected check permits (see online help for check)% the system automatically tries to correct any errors it finds. As a"o$e a results screen appears from hich you can go to a more detailed log. Acti$ities 6ou access the checks either "y choosing Ad$anced Planning and OptimiGation I APO# Administration I -onsistency -hecks I Demand Planning I -onsistency -heck for Planning O"'ect (tructure or in maintenance of a planning o"'ect structure "y choosing @!tras I -onsistency -heck. On the screen that appears you select the type of o"'ect that you ant to check (master planning o"'ect structure% aggregate% or characteristic) and enter the name of the o"'ect. 6ou first run the checks in Analyse mode% and then if any errors are detected that can "e corrected in 0epair mode (deselect unnecessary checks). Planning Area Definition Planning areas are the central data structures for Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning. The planning area is created as part of the Demand Planning1(upply )et ork Planning setup. A planning "ook is "ased on a planning area. The end user is a are of the planning

"ook% not the planning area. The li$e-ache o"'ects in hich data is sa$ed are "ased on the planning area% not the planning "ook. The planning area specifies the follo ingE R Unit of measure in hich data is planned R -urrency in hich data is planned (optional) R -urrency con$ersion type for $ie ing planning data in other currencies (optional) R (torage "uckets profile that determines the "uckets in hich data is stored in this planning area R Aggregate le$els on hich data can "e stored in addition to the lo est le$el of detail in order to enhance performance R Ley figures that are used in this planning area R (ettings that determine ho each key figure is disaggregated% aggregated% and sa$ed R The assignment of key figures to aggregates (upply )et ork Planning comes ith predefined planning areas. 6ou can also define your o n planning areas. Use 6ou define planning areas in (*DP Administration. (tructure 6ou assign a planning area to a master planning o"'ect structure% hich in turn is assigned characteristics and aggregates. hich in turn is assigned characteristics and aggregates. 6ou assign the key figures ith hich you ant to ork directly to the planning area.

(torage 9uckets Profile Definition There are t o kinds of time "ucket profilesE one is used for storing data (the storage "uckets profile)% and the other for planning the data (the planning "uckets profile). A storage "uckets profile defines the time "uckets in hich data "ased on a gi$en planning area is sa$ed in Demand Planning or (upply )et ork Planning. +n a storage "uckets profile% you specifyE R One or more periodicities in hich you ish the data to "e sa$ed R The horiGon during hich the profile is $alid. 6ou can also include a time stream in storage "ucket profile. 6ou use time streams to incorporate factory calendars and other planning calendars in Demand Planning. 6ou can thus specify hich days are orkdays and hich days are holidays. 6ou define time streams in -ustomiGing under APO I /aster Data I -alendar I /aintain Planning

-alendar (Time (tream). 0efer to the implementation guide (+/P) "efore editing time streams. 6ou assign the time stream to the storage "ucket profile in the rele$ant field at the "ottom of the screen. 6ou select the periodicities month and eek in the storage "uckets profile. 6ou do not enter a time stream. Data for the months of Hune and Huly 8CC5 is stored in the follo ing "uckets% also kno n as technical periods. Time span 4riday through (unday% Hune 5#2 /onday through (unday% Hune :#5C /onday through (unday% Hune 55#5? /onday through (unday% Hune 5A#8: /onday through (aturday% Hune 8;#2C (unday% Huly 5 /onday through (unday% Huly 8#A /onday through (unday% Huly B#5; /onday through (unday% Huly 5<#88 /onday through (unday% Huly 82#8B /onday and Tuesday% Huly 2C#25 )um"er of days 2 days ? days ? days ? days < days 5 days ? days ? days ? days ? days 8 days

Use The definition procedure for storage "ucket profiles is the same for Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning. +nclude in the storage "uckets profile only the periodicities you need "ecause the

technical periods take up storage space. On the other hand% you must include all the periodicities in hich you intend to plan. 4or e!ample% if you intend to plan in months% you must include the periodicity month in the storage "uckets profile. 6ou need a storage "uckets profile "efore you can create a planning area. The storage "uckets profile can "e used for the release to ()P. 4or more information% see 0elease of the Demand Plan to ()P. The ay data is sa$ed is further defined "y the ay you customiGe the -alculation type and Time#"ased disaggregation in the planning area. 4or more information% see Aggregation and Disaggregation and the 45 3elp for these fields. To define the "uckets in hich data is displayed and planned in interacti$e planning% create a planning "uckets profile. 4or more information% seePlanning 9uckets Profile. 6ou maintain storage "ucket profiles in -ustomiGing under (upply -hain Planning I Demand Planning I 9asic (ettings I Define (torage 9ucket Profile. Once a storage "uckets profile is in use% it is not possi"le to change it. +t is therefore sensi"le to specify a relati$ely long horiGon. (ince the storage "ucket profile does not take up any room in li$e-ache% this does not affect performance.

Planning 9uckets Profile Definition +nformation that is incorporated into the definition of the past or future time horiGon of demand planning. The planning "uckets profile defines the follo ingE R ,hich time "uckets are used for planning R 3o many periods of the indi$idual time units are used R The se&uence in hich the time periods ith the $arious time units appear in the planning ta"le Use R R 6ou can plan in monthly% eekly% daily or (com"ined ith fiscal year $ariants) self#defined periods. ,hen you create a planning "uckets profile% only use the periodicities or a su"set of the periodicities that are also defined in the storage "uckets profiles (see storage "uckets profiles) on hich the planning area is "ased. +n a planning "uckets profile% do not include a periodicity that is not in the storage "uckets profile. 6ou can ha$e multiple planning "uckets profiles% and therefore multiple planning horiGons% for one planning "ook. The planning "uckets profile is attached to the data $ie ithin the planning "ook. 6ou could ha$e three data $ie s for three users% for e!ample% here a different planning "uckets profile is $alid for each $ie E /arketing plans in months% sales plans in months and eeks% and logistics plans in eeks and days.

To s itch to a different planning "uckets profile in interacti$e planning% you open the planning "ook iGard "y changing to Design mode and choosing the -hange Planning 9ook "utton. On the Data .ie ta" page% enter a name and description for the ne $ie as ell as the re&uired time "ucket profiles and any other necessary data. +f you specify a historical planning horiGon in the data $ie % the first historical time "ucket starts on the day "efore the future planning horiGon start date. The second historical period "egins further "ack in the past% and so on. +f you plan in eeks% the first day of the eek is al ays /onday. +f you plan in eeks and the planning horiGon start date as specified in the data $ie of the planning "ook is not a /onday% the first eek of the planning horiGon is predated to the pre$ious /onday. 4or e!ample% if the planning horiGon start date as specified in the planning "ook is )o$em"er 5% 8CC5 (a Thursday)% the first eek of the planning horiGon "egins on Octo"er 8B% 8CC5 (a /onday). +f the planning "uckets profile contains smaller and larger time "uckets% for e!ample eeks and months% the smaller time "uckets take precedence if any conflict arises. +f% for instance% you ha$e specified that the first month is to "e planned in eeks and the month does not start or end on a /onday% the system creates ; time "uckets of a eek's duration. 4or e!ample% you start planning on Hanuary C5% 8CC5 and specify that the first month (Hanuary) is to "e planned in eeks. The first ; time "uckets from Hanuary 5 to 4e"ruary : are in eeks. The first month "ucket is shortened and is from 4e"ruary ; through 4e"ruary 8A. +f you forecast using mass processing 'o"s% the length of the planning horiGon is a $ital prere&uisite for "eing a"le to sa$e corrected history and the corrected forecast. The historical planning horiGon in the planning "ook must include the historical forecast horiGon in the master forecast profile. +t may also go further "ack into the past than the historical forecast horiGon in the master forecast profile. +t must not "e shorter than in the master forecast profile. (imilarly% the future planning horiGon in the planning "ook must include the future forecast horiGon that is defined in the master forecast profile. +t may also e!tend further into the future than the future forecast horiGon in the master forecast profile. +t must not "e shorter than in the master forecast profile. This restriction is necessary for performance reasons. +t does not apply if you forecast in interacti$e demand planning. To read the data for the online release of the demand plan to ()P% you can use a planning "uckets profile. 4or more information% see 0elease of the Demand Plan to ()P. To release the demand plan to (upply )et ork Planning in daily "uckets% you use a daily "uckets profile% that is a planning "uckets profile containing daily "uckets only. The use of a time "uckets profile to release data to (upply )et ork Planning is optional. (ee also 0elease of the Demand Plan to ()P and 0elease from an +nfoPro$ider to ()P. To see the start and end dates of a period in a planning "ook or in the demand planning ta"le% dou"le#click ith the right mouse "utton on the column heading. +n this dialog "o!% you can also configure hat information you ant to see in the column heading.

The "uckets in hich the data is stored in the system are kno n as storage "uckets or technical periods. 6ou define these technical periods hen you create a storage "uckets profile. 4or information on ho technical periods affect disaggregation and rounding% see @!ample of Disaggregation and 0ounding.

(tructure After you ha$e created the planning "uckets profile% use it for the definition of the future planning horiGon and of the past horiGon "y entering them in a planning "ookE one horiGon as future planning horiGon and one as past horiGon. The system displays the horiGons in interacti$e demand and supply planning starting ith the smallest time "ucket and finishing ith the largest time "ucket. The future horiGon starts ith the smallest time "ucket% on the planning horiGon start date% and orks for ards% finishing ith the largest time "ucket. The past horiGon starts ith the smallest time "ucket the day "efore the start of the future horiGon and orks "ack ards% finishing ith the largest time "ucketE @!ample )um"er of periods 9asic periodicity 4iscal year $ariant of "asic periodicity (optional) Display periodicity 4iscal year $ariant of display periodicity (optional)

8 5 8 6 /

6 / ,

+n the a"o$e e!ample% the time horiGon spans t o years. Of these t o years% the first year is displayed in months. The first t o months of this year are displayed in eeks. The first ro defines the entire length of the time horiGon. The follo ing ro s define the different sections of the horiGon. 6ou make entries in the columns )um"er and Display periodicity. The content of the other columns is displayed automatically hen you press @nter. To see e!actly hich "uckets ill "e displayed% choose Period list. -reating Planning Areas Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e created a master planning o"'ect structure. Procedure ... 5. -hoose Demand Planning I @n$ironment I -urrent (ettings I Administration of Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning. The Planning Area $ie appears automatically. 8. (elect the Planning areas node and -reate planning area from the conte!t menu.

The -reate Planning Area dialog "o! appears. 2. @nter a name for the ne planning area% the master planning o"'ect structure% a storage "ucket profile and a unit of measure for the planning area. 6ou can also enter a currency for statistics and e!change rate type. +f you access historical data from +nfo-u"es% you must ensure that the units of measure in the +nfo-u"e and the planning area are the same. :. -hoose @nter. A ne screen appears% at the Aggregate ta" page. The system automatically copies the aggregates from the master planning o"'ect structure. +f you do not ant to use an aggregate in the planning area% select it and then choose . )ote that this feature is only a$aila"le for ()P planning areas. ;. On the Ley figs. ta" page assign key figures to the planning areas. +n the right#hand ta"le you can see all the a$aila"le key figures in the system. (elect the re&uired key figures and choose to transfer them to the planning area. The system creates for each key figure a planning o"'ect at detail le$el and at each aggregate le$el. 4or more details of these planning o"'ects% choose . +f a key figure is to "e taken from an +nfo-u"e% enter the +nfo-u"e here. +f a key figure is taken from an +nfo-u"e% the units of measure must "e the same in the +nfo-u"e and the planning area. /ost of the other fields on this screen are for use in ()P planning areasD for details refer to the 45 help. +n Demand Planning the Ley 4igure (emantics field is used hen planning ith "ills of material. for more details see 4orecasting ith 9ills of /aterial. <. On the Ley fig. aggregation ta" page specify ho the indi$idual key figures are to "e disaggregated. (ee Aggregation and Disaggregation. ?. On the Ley fig. assgmt. ta" page you can remo$e key figures from aggregate le$els.% if for e!ample a key figure is only re&uired at detail le$el. (elect the key figure in the aggregate in the left#hand ta"le) and then choose Delete key fig. from the conte!t menu. 6ou can reassign a key figure to an aggregate "y selecting in the right#hand ta"le and dragging it and dropping it to the aggregate. A. (a$e your entries. 6ou can change a planning area as long as you ha$e not created any time series o"'ects for the planning areas. 6ou must create time series o"'ects% "efore you can use a planning area.

@diting Planning Areas and

Additional 4unctions

Use (*DP administration pro$ides $arious functions ith hich you can make settings for

the planning area. 4eatures 6ou can change a planning area as long as there are no time series and the planning area has not "een initialiGed. +f there is one or more time series for the planning area% the system enters planning area maintenance in display mode. 6ou can still use se$eral features% such as data e!traction% in change mode. Planning Area -heck +n change or display mode you can start a check for the planning area. This check is less e!tensi$e than the full consistency check. The system checks R the consistency of the data"ase entries R that the planning o"'ect structure is $alid R the num"er of key figures )o log is created. The check stops as soon as the first message is issued. To start the check% choose . 4unctions a$aila"le under the Poto /enu (election /anagement This function refers to the selections used in forecasting. 4or more details% see (elections in 4orecasting. This function is not to "e confused ith selection organiGation as can "e accessed from the (AP @asy Access screen (see (election /anagement). Po to /aster Planning O"'ect (tructure 9y choosing Poto I /aster Planning O"'ect (tructure you can go directly to the master planning o"'ect on hich the planning area is "ased. +f the master planning o"'ect has "een deacti$ated% it is possi"le to change it% other ise the system s itches to Display mode. A similar function lets you go from a master planning o"'ect structure to its dependent planning areas. Po to >inked Planning 9ooks 9y choosing Poto I >inked Planning 9ooks you can start interacti$e planning for planning "ooks in the planning area. +f there is more than one planning "ook for the planning area% a dialog "o! appears here you can choose a planning "ook. )otes O$er$ie 3ere you can call up the notes o$er$ie for the planning area. (ee )otes /anagement. Transport -onnection Use this function to transport the planning area% planning "ooks% selections% and so on to other systems. 4or more information see the +/P documentation for Demand Planning (DP) under 9asic (ettings I/aintain /anual Transport >ink for DP1()P and the (AP )ote <2?C8?. 4unctions a$aila"le under the @!tras /enu Ley 4igure (ettings 3ere you can change the properties of the key figures of a planning area% if the planning

area has already "een initialiGed. 6ou can also add or delete key figures. 3o e$er% you can only delete key figures that are no longer used in planning "ooks% data $ie s% macros% or demand forecasts. 6ou can find out in hich o"'ects a specific key figure is used ith the here#used list. Only e!perienced users should "e allo ed to delete key figures or change key figure properties in initialiGed planning areas. +f you make changes here% the time series o"'ects ha$e to "e ad'usted directly in li$e-ache and in the data"ase. (ince these changes are time#consuming% e recommend that you make the changes to key figure properties in the "ackground. 4orecast (ettings +t is possi"le to use se$eral key figures for the forecast. 6ou can use this function to specify hich key figures contain the other information re&uired for forecasting in Demand Planning. 6ou can specify key figures for the follo ings functionsE R -orrected history R -orrected forecast R @!#post forecast R @!#post multi#linear regression and assign them to a forecast key figure. Use of this function is optional. 3o e$er% if you do not enter a key figure in one of these fields% you cannot sa$e this information. +t is possi"le to create se$eral com"inations for one planning area% "ut each key figure can only "e used once. 4or more information on forecasting% see Definition10edefinition of 4orecast /odels. Parallel Processing for +nitialiGation 6ou can define the technical system settings for the parallel processing of planning "ook initialiGation. 6ou can specify the num"er of characteristic $alue com"inations in a "lock% the minimum num"er of com"inations to initiate parallel processing% and the ma!imum num"er of parallel processes. 4or more information% see the 45 help for the rele$ant fields. -hoose (ettings I Parallel Processing of +nitialiGation. @!port Data (ource 6ou can also generate an e!port data source to transfer data from the planning area to an +nfo-u"e% see for e!ample% @!tracting Data from a Planning Area. 6ou can also access se$eral tools for use ith data e!traction. 4or more details% see Tools for @!traction from Planning Areas. -onsistency -hecks 6ou can start consistency checks for notes% selections% and dependent planning "ooks. 4or more information% see -onsistency -hecks for Planning Areas. Acti$ities +f you ant to change a planning area% from the (AP @asy Access screen% choose Demand Planning I @n$ironment I Administration of Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning. (elect a planning area and in the conte!t menu choose -hange.

-onsistency -hecks for Planning

Areas

Use The consistency of planning area data is paramount importance for smooth e!ecution of the Demand Planning processes. -hanges in a planning area can result in inconsistencies in su"ordinate o"'ects. These functions let you check the consistency of the data in $arious areas. 4eatures 6ou can check the consistency of the follo ing o"'ects from planning area maintenanceE R )otes ta"le R (election ta"le R The planning "ooks that use the planning area R The time series in >i$e-ache 9oth notes and selections are stored internally in a ta"le that is created together ith the planning area. +f the planning area is su"se&uently changed% for instance characteristics are created or deleted% the su"ordinate ta"les may not agree ith the planning area. (uch inconsistencies may cause the program to terminate. The check for selections is the same as the one you can access from selection management. The system also checks the standard interfaces in ()P. The fourth option is a consistency check for time series >i$e-ache o"'ects. The system checks that the corresponding o"'ects for the planning area e!ist in >i$e-ache. Other more specific checks are also a$aila"le F see the 45 help for more details. +n se$eral cases you can correct any inconsistencies that the system finds immediately. This of course depends on the se$erity of the pro"lems found. Acti$ities 6ou start the consistencies checks from planning "ook maintenance. -hoose @!tras I -onsistency -hecks and then the check you ant to start. +n all cases a further screen appears on hich you can make the necessary detail settings. 6ou the choose @!ecute to start the checks. An application log appears after the checks ha$e run. +n it are listedE W The checks that ha$e run W Any arnings. W Any errors +t is also possi"le to schedule the checks as a "ackground 'o"s "y choosing Program I @!ecute in 9ackground. Time (eries -onsistency -heck This check is only possi"le if time series o"'ects e!ist for the planning area. This means that you ha$e initialiGed at least one planning $ersion. +n a Demand Planning en$ironm

Planning Area 4unctions in (*DP Administration Use (e$eral functions for planning areas are directly a$aila"le in (*DP Administration. 6ou access all functions from the conte!t menu. 4eatures /aintenance 4unctions 6ou can change% delete and copy planning areas. 6ou can change a planning area as long as you ha$e not created any time series o"'ects for the planning areas. To display the details of a planning area choose Detail from the conte!t menu. A second screen area appears on the right. 3ere you can find information such as R Peneral information% for e!ample storage "ucket profile% unit of measure R Details of master planning o"'ect structure% including the key figures that ha$e "een assigned. The details of the key figures contain the +nfo-u"e if rele$ant% the ()P details (key figure semantic% category group etc.)% and the disaggregation settings as used in the planning area. R Details of any aggregates. The same information is pro$ided as for the master planning o"'ect structure. R Administrati$e data such as ho created or changed the planning area hen. R A list of the planning "ooks that are "ased on the planning area. +t is possi"le to go directly from this detail screen to indi$idual o"'ects% for e!ample a planning "ook% "y dou"le#clicking on it. U (e$eral functions that in pre$ious releases ere a$aila"le from the conte!t menu ha$e "een mo$ed to ithin planning area maintenance (see @diting Planning Areas and Additional 4unctions). -onse&uently it is no possi"le to enter planning area maintenance e$en if the planning area has acti$e time series o"'ects. +n this case you cannot change the planning area itself% "ut can access and change the additional functions. Time (eries 9efore you can create and ork ith planning "ooks% you must create time series o"'ects for the planning area. This process is sometimes kno n as initialiGing the planning area. The system creates a net ork of characteristics and key figures in >i$e-ache. 6ou create time series o"'ects for a $ersion and a period of time. 6ou can delete time series o"'ects and see hich time series o"'ects e!ist for a planning area. As of 0elease :.C it is possi"le to choose the initialiGation period for each key figure indi$idually. This means% for e!ample% that you initialiGe key figures for historical data only in the past and forecast key figures only in the future. 6ou can thus reduce the

amount of memory re&uired and impro$e performance. +t is possi"le to e!tend the time series into the future and delete the last periods from >i$e-ache "y reinitialiGing the time series periodically. +n such a ay you can maintain a =rolling horiGon=. Acti$ities 6ou access all the a"o$e functions $ia the conte!t menu. /ost of these function re&uire no further description. -reating Time (eries O"'ects 6ou select the re&uired planning area and choose -reate Time (eries O"'ects from the conte!t menu. A dialog "o! appears% in hich you enter the planning $ersion and the dates. To specify the $alidity period for indi$idual key figures choose the Ley 4igure .ie "utton. A further dialog "oy appears that contains all key figures in the planning area. The default dates are al ays the dates you entered for the hole planning area earlier. 6ou can either change the dates for indi$idual key figures in the ta"le. Alternati$ely% if you ant to enter the same dates for se$eral key figures% select the key figures and enter the dates in the corresponding fields at the "ottom of the screen. -hoose @nter and then . The dates are changed in all key figures. The initiliaGation dates for indi$idual key figures must "e ithin the initialiGation dates of the hole planning area. (ee alsoE +nitialiGing Planning Areas in 9ackground Ho"s Displaying @!isting Time (eries O"'ects To see hich periods ha$e "een initialiGed for hich $ersions you choose -reated time series o"'ects fron the conte!t menu. A ta"le appears listing the $ersion that ha$e ""en initialiGed. 6ou can also display the initialiGation periods for indi$idual key figures "y either dou"le#clicking on a $ersion or selecting a $ersion and choosing . +nitialiGing Planning Areas in 9ackground Ho"s

Use To keep the siGe of time series o"'ects to a managea"le minimum it makes sense to initialiGe planning areas "y scheduling "ackground 'o"s that run periodically. This is sometimes kno n as orking ith rolling horiGons. Prere&uisites 6ou need the re&uisite authoriGations to ork ith the A9AP editor or to start report programs. Procedure ... 5. 4rom the menu on any screen%

choose (ystem I (er$ices I 0eporting.

On the initial screen% enter the report program1(APAPO1T(TPA0@AT+)+T+A>+V@. -hoose . 8. @nter the re&uisite data as descri"ed in Planning Area 4unctions in (*DP Administration. 2. -hoose to sa$e the selection data as a $ariant. On the screen that appears% enter a name and a description for the $ariant. -hoose . :. 4rom the menu% choose Program I @!ecute in 9ackground. ;. On the screen that appears% enter the "ackground print parameters. -hoose (a$e. <. (chedule the 'o". 4or more information% see% for e!ample% Ho" (cheduling @!plained in the (AP >i"rary documentation for -omputing -enter /anagement (ystem (9-#--/). (etting Up 0olling +nitialiGation +f you ant the system to roll o$er periodically ithout scheduling the same 'o" repeatedly% you should use selection $aria"les to enter relati$e dates. The system then calculates the start and end dates each time the report is e!ecuted. 4or instance% you specify that the initialiGation period should "e from 58 months in the past to 58 months in the future. +f todayXs date is Huly 5% 8CC2% this means that the initialiGation period starts on Huly 5% 8CC8 and ends on Hune 2C% 8CC:. +f the report is started ane on August 5% 8CC2% change the dates to August 5% 8CC8 and Huly 25% 8CC:. ?. On the (a$e as .ariant screen select the (election .aria"le indicator for the (tart1@nd Date field. A. -hoose the (election $aria"les "utton on the tool"ar. B. +n the ta"le that appears% click on the traffic lights in column D so that the lights change to green. -lick on the pull#do n that appears "eneath the name of the field (0DAT). A list of possi"le entry types appears. -hoose an entry type for a range such as 9eginning of mth#!! months% end of mthYyy months. -hoose . 5C. +n the dialog "o! that appears% enter the num"er of periods in the past or in the future for start and end dates. -hoose . 55. -hoose . 58. -ontinue as in step 2 in the main procedure. (ee alsoE .ariants in the (AP >i"rary for the A9AP ,ork"ench and in particular Using .aria"les for Date -alculations. Time (eries Data /anagement in Demand Planning

Use This function ena"les you to use data from Time (eries Data /anagement (T(D/) in planning areas of Demand Planning (DP). Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e configured and acti$ated Time (eries Data /anagement. 4or more information% see Time (eries Data /anagement.

4eatures 6ou can ork ith time series data in the planning area at the follo ing planning le$elsE Z at location product le$el if the master planning o"'ect structure contains the characteristics product and location Z at detail le$el ith any characteristics in the master planning o"'ect structures +n this case% planning must take place at the most detailed le$el. This function is not a$aila"le for orking ith planning areas of (upply )et ork Planning (()P) or ith data from (er$ice Parts Planning ((PP). )ote the follo ing general constraints hen orking ith T(D/ in Demand PlanningE Z 6ou cannot use any time series data in characteristics#"ased forecasting. Z 0ealignment is not possi"le for planning areas that use T(D/. Planning 6ou can carry out planning ith T(D/ key figures at location product le$el or at detail le$el if you are at the correct planning le$el. +f not% the corresponding key figures are not ready for input in interacti$e planning. +n mass processing% you must select the correct planning le$el as the aggregation le$el. 0eports 6ou can use the follo ing reports hen orking ith time series dataE Z 1(APAPO1T(T-3@-LT/A(T@0DATA 6ou can use this report to check if all the master data e!ists for the location products of a planning o"'ect structure. Z 1(APAPO1T(D/TP>O9T>+(TTP@)@0 6ou can use this report to generate a list of location products that are used in a time series data type for a specific time period. 6ou can e!tend this list in a ord# processing or spreadsheet program ith free characteristics and their $alues. Then you can upload these characteristic $alues com"inations to a planning o"'ect structure. 4rom the (AP @asy Access screen% choose Ad$anced Planning and OptimiGation I /aster Data IApplication#(pecific /aster Data I Demand Planning I /aintain -haracteristic .alues. 4or more information% see -reation of -haracteristic .alue -om"inations. 6ou can sa$e the list the report generates ith [>( or T[T format. To upload the list at a later time% ho e$er% you need format T[T. Acti$ities Planning Area /aintenance Peneral (ettings for T(D/ 6ou make the settings for T(D/ in planning area maintenance on the +nfo ta" page. 3ere

you specify hether you ant to plan ith time series data at location product le$el or at detail le$el. +n "oth cases you must specify a times series type for hich you ha$e defined a corresponding time series data type in -ustomiGing for T(D/E Z T(D/ at location product le$el (elect a mode A time series data type. +f you ork ith locations for hich you ha$e set the $irtual child location (.->) or third#party order processing (TPOP) indicator in the location product master% use type -. Z T(D/ at detail le$el (elect a time series data type ith mode 9. Use -hange 3istory 6ou can also specify that the system records hen data in T(D/ is changed in a change history. 4or this% the follo ing prere&uisites must "e fulfilledE Z 6ou ha$e set the T(D/ -hange 3istory indicator in planning area maintenance on the +nfo ta" page. Z 6ou ha$e set the -hange 3istory indicator in -ustomiGing for Time (eries Data /anagement under -onfigure Time (eries Data /anagement. 6ou must also make sure that you ha$e set the )o -hange 3istory indicator for key figures for hich the system is not to record changes. Define T(D/ Ley 4igures 4or key figures that use T(D/% select the setting BBB (T(D/E Nuantity) on the Ley 4igs ta" page under Details in the (emantic field. (ince time series data cannot "e aggregated or disaggregated% these key figures automatically recei$e the corresponding settings for -alculatn Type andTime#9ased Disaggreg. on the Ley 4igure Aggregtn ta" page. +f you plan ith time series data at location product le$el and ant to see TPOP or .-> data% create alternati$e key figures for this data. To do so% select Poto I Ley 4igure /apping T(D/ in planning area maintenance. Planning 9ook /aintenance +f you ork ith T(D/ at location product le$el% the characteristics >ocation and Product must "e a$aila"le. +f you ork ith T(D/ at detail le$el% you must plan ith all the characteristics that you ha$e defined for the planning o"'ect structure. +f you use a T(D/ key figure% the planning "uckets profile can only "e $alid for one periodicity. This periodicity must "e the same as the one you ha$e defined in the time profile of the time series data type.

DP Data /art Definition The data mart in APO consists of +nfo-u"es. +n the +nfo-u"es% you store actual data and older planning data. +f you ha$e a data arehouse% such as the (AP 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse (9,)% the DP data mart is a su"set of the data from your data arehouse. To set up the data mart% you use the Administrator ,ork"ench. The Administrator

,ork"ench is the tool ith hich you load data into the +nfo-u"es from a source system. The Administrator ,ork"ench in APO pro$ides an identical set of functions to the functions in the Administrator ,ork"ench of the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse (9,). 6ou can also use the APO Administrator ,ork"ench to load data into 9, from APO. The data mart setup process consists of the creation of +nfo-u"es in APO and the loading of actual and1or planned data. Actual data can "e used as input for time series forecasting or causal analysis% or for a comparison of the demand plan ith actual demand. Planned data could consist of forecasts su"mitted "y indi$iduals or departments% such as product line forecasts from sales representati$es. 4or more information a"out the Administrator ,ork"ench% see the (AP 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse documentation Administrator ,ork"ench. Use 3a$e your systems administrator include the authoriGation profile (T0(TA>> in your user profile.
To find out ho to create an +nfo-u"e and populate it ith data% seeE (AP 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse documentation for the Administrator ,ork"ench

+ntegration +f you ha$e a 9, system% it can "e run on a separate instance than APO. 4or information on ho to Data (torage in Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning Use +n Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning% you can store data in three aysE
O +n li$e-ache time series o"'ects O +n li$e-ache orders O +n an +nfo-u"e @ach key figure in a planning area has its o n storage method.

+ntegration (ince planning areas for (upply )et ork Planning can contain only the standard ()P characteristics% you can only use a 'oint planning area for Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning% if demand planning in your company is done at product le$el or at product and location le$el. +f you ant to do demand planning at other le$els% such as "rand or regional le$el% you must ha$e separate planning areas. 4eatures >i$e-ache Time (eries O"'ects The data is stored in "uckets% ith no reference to orders. This storage method is suita"le for tactical% aggregated planning. +t is the usual method for sa$ing current Demand Planning data. +t also supports the (ales * Operations Planning process. +f you sa$e a key figure to li$e-ache time series o"'ects% you can use the follo ing functionsE
O -onstraint propagation up and do n stream (material constraints% capacity constraints% stock le$el contraints) O Aggregation and disaggregation O 4reely defina"le macros O Product allocation checks O -haracteristics#9ased 4orecasting (-94) O (ingle# and multile$el infinite heuristics O -apacity le$eling O /+>P OptimiGer

O -apa"le#to#/atch O Deployment O .endor#/anaged +n$entory (./+) There are a num"er of standard key figures that are sa$ed to li$e-ache time series o"'ects hich you can include in an ()P planning area "y choosing "dit # S$P time series o%&ects. The prere&uisites for sa$ing a key figure to li$e-ache time series o"'ects are thatE O 6ou ha$e created time series o"'ects for the planning area. O ,hen creating the planning area% you made no entries for the key figure in the fields 'nfo(u%e% (ategory or (ategory Group O ,hen creating the planning area% any entry you made in the field )ey figure semantics is prefi!ed ith T( (an entry in this field is optional). 4or an e!ample of (ales * Operations Planning using the time series storage method% see planning "ook 9ASOP% planning area 9ASNP01(transaction 1(APAPO1()P(OP) in the standard APO system.

>i$e-ache Orders The data is stored ith reference to orders. This storage method is suita"le for operati$e planning% such as in a classical ()P setup. +f you sa$e a key figure to li$e-ache orders% you can use the follo ing functionsE
O 0eal#time integration ith 012 O 4ull pegging O 4reely defina"le macros O (ingle# and multile$el infinite heuristics O -apacity le$eling O /+>P OptimiGer O -apa"le#to#/atch (-T/) O Deployment O One#step deployment O Transport >oad 9uilder (T>9) O .endor#/anaged +n$entory (./+) There are a num"er of standard key figures that are sa$ed to li$e-ache orders hich you can include in an ()P planning area "y choosing "dit # S$P standard. The prere&uisites for sa$ing a key figure to li$e-ache orders are thatE O 6ou ha$e created time series o"'ects for the planning area (e$en though you are sa$ing to orders). O ,hen creating the planning area% you either specified a (ategory or (ategory Group or entered a )ey figure semantic prefi!ed ith >-. O ,hen creating the planning area% you made no entry for the key figure in the field 'nfo(u%e 4or an e!ample of (upply )et ork Planning using the orders storage method% see planning "ook 9ASNP94% planning area 9ASNP02 (transaction 1(APAPO1()PB:) in the standard APO system.

+nfo-u"es The data is stored in an +nfo-u"e in the Administrator ,ork"ench. This storage method is suita"le for data "ackups% old planning data% and actual sales history. +n Demand Planning% actual sales history is used to generate master data and as the "asis for forecasting. +n APO Demand Planning you can only read from +nfo-u"es if you ha$e specified the +nfo-u"e in planning area configuration. 4or details of ho to sa$e data to +nfo-u"es see @!change of Data 9et een +nfo-u"es and Planning Areas. To specify an +nfo-u"e from hich the key figure is read in all $ersionsE 5 (elect the planning area in (*DP Administration. 8 -hoose -hange in the conte!t menu. 2 On the Ley figs ta" page choose Details. : (elect the rele$ant key figure and enter the +nfo-u"e in the rele$ant field.

+t is possi"le to use different +nfo-u"e for different $ersions. -ontinue as a"o$e up to step 2. +n (tep : do not enter an +nfo-u"e. -hoose . A dialog "o! appears% in hich you enter the +nfo-u"e for each $ersion. After you entered the necessary information% choose to sa$e the data and return to the pre$ious screen. 6ou can see that such data has "een entered "y the icon.
4or information on data "ackups% seeE

O O O O

4orecast (torage @!tracting Data from a Planning Area

Upload Process Purpose The process for uploading data is more or less the same irrespecti$e of the type of source system. This process is descri"ed in outline "elo . 4or more information a"out each step% see the (AP >i"rary for (AP )et,ea$er under (AP )et,ea$er >i"rary I (AP )et,ea$er "y Ley -apa"ility I +ntegration +nformation "y Ley -apa"ility I 9usiness +ntelligence I Data ,arehousing I Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench.

Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e made the necessary setting for

the source systems in the current system

and in the source system. 4or more information% see (ource (ystem. Process ... 5. 6ou create an +nfoArea. ... a. On the (AP @asy Access screen% choose Demand Planning I @n$ironment I Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench. ". +n the modeling tree on the left% choose Data Targets. c. 0ight#click the Data Targets node on the right and choose -reate +nfoArea. d. @nter a name and a description for the +nfoArea. e. -hoose @nter. 8. +f necessary% you create an +nfo-u"e. 4or more information% see -reating +nfo-u"es for Use in Demand Planning and +nfo-u"es. 2. 6ou no define the source system. This step depends on the type of source system for the data. 4or more information% see (etting Up the (ystem +nfrastructure. :. +f necessary% you create an application component. ;. 6ou create an +nfo(ource for this application component. 3ere you decide hether to maintain transaction data or master data. +n general% data for use in Demand Planning is transaction data. /aster data consists of attri"utes% te!ts% and hierarchies and is stored in a characteristic. 4or more information% see +nfo(ource. <. 6ou no assign the source system that you created in step 2 to the +nfo(ource. 6ou define the transfer structure% transfer rules% and communication structure. The transfer structure defines ho the data is transferred from the data source. The communication structure defines ho data is imported into the +nfo-u"es. +f you only ha$e one data source for an +nfo(ource% there is no difference "et een the transfer structure and the communication structure. 4or more information% see -reating (ource (ystems. ?. 6ou create update rules for the +nfo-u"e. The update rules determine ho the data is uploaded from the communication structure of the +nfo(ource to the indi$idual +nfo-u"es. 4or a description of transfer rules% see Update 0ules. A. 6ou create an +nfoPackage. An +nfoPackage contains% for e!ample% the follo ing dataE \ ,hen the data is to "e uploaded% for instance% immediately or as a "ackground 'o" \ Details a"out the e!ternal data such as the location of flat files

\ (election criteria \ The target +nfo-u"e(s) 6ou can also use +nfoPackage groups to schedule se$eral +nfoPackages together. 4or more information% see (cheduler and /aintaining +nfoPackages. 0esult The data is transferred to the +nfo-u"e. 6ou can also display a log F hich you can call from the Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench F for the order generated for the 'o" in the manager. To do so% you select the +nfo-u"e and choose the manager from the conte!t menu. 3ere you can also check the contents of the +nfo-u"e "y selecting the +nfo-u"e in the top section of the screen and choosing -ontents. (ee alsoE Updating +nfo-u"es Directly Updating +nfo-u"es Using Data(tore O"'ects -reating +nfo-u"es for Use in Demand Planning

6ou can create +nfo-u"es manually as descri"ed "elo or use report program 1(APAPO1T(TPA0A@TTOT+-U9@ to generate a ne +nfo-u"e from the planning area automatically. 5 +n Data Targets in the Administrator ,ork"ench% select the +nfoArea you pre$iously created and choose -reate +nfo-u"e from the conte!t menu. 8 @nter a name and a description for the +nfo-u"e% select the +nfo-u"e type% and choose @nter. +f asked "y the system to choose "et een APO and 9,% select 9,. 6ou ne$er acti$ely create APO +nfo-u"es. 2 +n the @dit +nfo-u"eE -haracteristics screen% select from the template the characteristics you ant to include in your +nfo-u"e and copy them to the +nfo-u"e using the Transfer fields "utton. +nclude BA.@0(+O). The APO system is preconfigured to store planning $ersions in this characteristic. (AP recommends that you include the same characteristics that you ha$e in your master planning o"'ect structure. Do not include characteristics that you defined as attri"utes in the master planning o"'ect structure. +nclude BA/AT)0 for products and BA>O-)O for locations. -haracteristics prefi!ed ith 'BA' fall ithin the standard APO name range. Use con$ersion routine P0ODU for the characteristic that represents products. : -lick on Dimensions to define at least one dimension. Dimensions allo you to group your characteristics according to different "usiness perspecti$es. 4or e!ample% you might ha$e a Peography dimension and a Product dimension.

6ou do not need to create dimensions for time characteristics% units or data packetsD these are created automatically. ; -lick on the Assign ta" to assign the characteristics to dimensions (elect the characteristic(s) you ant to assign% use the scroll "uttons to select the dimension to hich you ish to assign it (them)% and click on Assign. 4or e!ample% you might assign the characteristics 0egion and -ustomer to the Peography dimension% and the characteristicsProduct family% 9rand and Product to the Product dimension. Assign the characteristic BA.@0(+O) to a dimension named .ersion. -hoose -ontinue. < -lick on the Time chars. ta" to edit the time characteristics. The @dit +nfo-u"eE Time -haracteristics screen appears. (elect time characteristics from the template. (AP recommends that you include the same time characteristics as you ha$e for periodicities in the storage "uckets profile of the planning area. ? To include key figures in your +nfo-u"e click on the Ley fig. ta". The @dit +nfo-u"eE Ley 4igures screen appears. (elect from the template the key figures you ant to include in your +nfo-u"e and copy them to the +nfo-u"e using the Transfer fields"utton. +f you ish to use this +nfo-u"e to "ack up planning data as ell as to store actual data% include all the key figures hose data you ish to "e "acked up. 4or information on data "ackup% see @!tracting Data from a Planning Area. 3o e$er% you should not use +nfo-u"es for storing your current planning data. The performance of the >i$e-ache is markedly "etter. To create ne key figures% choose @n$ironment I Ley figures I -reate. 4or monetary amounts% select Amount% and enter the data type -U00 and the unit1currency C(TATT-U00 or C-urrency. 4or &uantities% select Nuantity and enter the data type NUA) and the unitC9A(@TUO/ or CUnit. A -hoose +nfo-u"e I Acti$ate. B -hoose 9ack.

-reating (ource (ystems Use 6ou must create source systems to "e a"le to upload data into +nfo-u"es. The system distinguishes "et eenE R (AP source system (0elease 2.CD and on ards) R 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse systems R 4lat files% hose /etadata is edited manually and is transferred using a file interface (for e!ample /icrosoft @!cel files) R @!ternal systems% hose data and /etadata is transferred using 9AP+s +ntegration +ntegration of different systems is an important feature of the my(AP.com solutions. The

+ntegration of APO and 012 documentation pro$ides more details on the integration of APO and 012. +n this conte!t other (AP components such as the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse (9,) or -ustomer 0elationship /anagement (-0/) are similar to 012. The integration is set up in the same manner. Prere&uisites 9efore you create a source system in the Administrator ,ork"ench% you must ha$e created logical systems to identify systems. 6ou should include systems that are to ork together in a 9usiness (ystem Proup. 4or more details% see (etting Up the (ystem +nfrastructure and Data Transfer and -hecklist for (etting Up the (ystem +nfrastructure. 4eatures -ommunication ith other (AP systems is through "ackground users. 6ou set up the users in "oth the APO system and the system ith hich you ant to communicate. This user must ha$e the necessary authoriGations. +n the source system these should include profile (T9+#,[T044urthermore you also need to ha$e administrator authoriGations in the source system. 4or more details% see (ource (ystem in the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse documentation for the Administration ,ork"ench

Transferring 4lat 4iles Prere&uisites A file e!ists that has "een sa$ed in ].cs$ or ].asc format. Procedure -reating the (ource (ystem ... 5. -lick (ource systems in the tree on the left. 8. 0ight mouse click the (ource systems node on the right and choose -reate. 2. (elect 4ile(ystem% manual meta data% data using file interface. :. -hoose @nter. ;. @nter a name and a description for the source system. <. -hoose @nter. -reating the +nfoPackage Difficulties are sometimes encountered hen uploading dates. The

system interprets dates from flat files in the user#defined format. Therefore it is essential that you change your user settings to fit the date format in the flat file. To do so% choose (ystem #U User profile #U O n data #U Defaults and select the rele$ant date format. 4or more details% see (AP notes 5<5;C<% 5;?<:2% and 5:58BA. The follo ing is a short recipe for the entries you need to make in the +nfoPackage for @!cel files. 4or detailed information a"out the indi$idual steps% see /aintaining +nfoPackages in the 9usiness +nformation ,arehouse documentation for the Administration ,ork"ench. ... 5. -lick on +nfo(ources in the tree on the left. 8. )a$igate do n the +nfo(ource tree until you can right mouse click the source system you created earlier. 2. -hoose -reate +nfoPackage. :. @nter a description% select the Data(ource and choose (a$e. ;. 6ou are no in the (chedulerE /aintain +nfoPackage screen. <. /ake the follo ing settings on the ta" pagesE @!ternal Data 0adio "uttons -lient orkstation -ontrol fileE )o 4ile typeE -(. file @!ternal Data Processing Data Parameters Targets P(A and then into data targets (packet "y packet) Update in all data targets for hich update rules e!ist Update (chedule Parameters Ta" 4ull update Al ays update data e$en if no master data e!ists for the data +nstant loading of data online

-heck"o!

-urrency con$ersion for e!ternal systems Data separator D To check the data separator% open the .cs$ Thousand separator % -haracter for decimal point

4ields

file in )otepad. 4ile name -E1 path and name of .cs$ file Push# "utton

(tart

The file is no uploaded from the flat file to the +nfo-u"e. +f you encounter performance difficulties% refer to (AP note 2;B?<5.

@!change of Data 9et een +nfo-u"es and Planning Areas Use 6ou store permanent data in +nfo-u"es. +n general this is either historical actual data or forecasts that you ant to keep for future comparison. -urrent data for planning is kept in >i$e-ache in planning areas. Demand Planning itself is conducted in >i$e-ache. 6ou need to transfer data "et een the t o% for instance to use historical data as the "asis for forecasting.
,hen designing your planning area% remem"er that although placing a lot of a data in >i$e-ache impro$es performance it re&uires more memory.

4eatures +mporting Data into Planning Areas There are "asically t o methods of importing data.
+f you ant ha$e permanent access to the data ,hen you assign key figures to the planning area% you enter the +nfo-u"e from hich the key figure is taken. This forms a permanent link "et een the +nfo-u"e and the planning area. +f you only ant to copy data occasionally from an +nfo-u"e to the planning area

6ou use the function >oading Data from an +nfo-u"e into a Planning Area. A similar function is -opy1.ersion /anagement% hich allo s you to copy "et een planning areas and $ersions. @!porting Data from Planning Areas to +nfo-u"es Again there are t o methods of doing this. 6ou can e!port directly as descri"ed in @!tracting Data from a Planning Area (mo$e mode)or using indirectly OD( o"'ects as descri"ed in Updating +nfo-u"es from Planning Areas (delta mode). ,ith the second method it is easier to update +nfo-u"es. +f you e!port directly there is the danger that you copy the same data time and time again to the +nfo-u"e. 6ou can a$oid this "y using OD( o"'ects. -opy /anagement Use Use this function to copy one or more key figures "et een planning areas in any of the follo ing aysE

 4rom a key figure sa$ed in the li$e-ache time series to the same or another key figure also sa$ed in the li$e-ache time series 4rom a key figure sa$ed in an +nfo-u"e to the same or another key figure also sa$ed in an +nfo-u"e (the +nfo-u"e(s) must "e defined in planning area administration) 4rom a key figure sa$ed in an +nfo-u"e to the same or another key figure sa$ed in the li$e-ache time series (the +nfo-u"e key figure must "e defined in a planning area) 4roma key figure sa$ed in li$e-ache time series to the same or another key figure sa$ed in an +nfo-u"e (the +nfo-u"e must "e defined in planning area administration) 4rom one planning area to another ,ithin the same planning area 4rom one $ersion to another ,ithin the same $ersion $ersion 4rom one key figure to a different key figure 4rom one key figure to the same key figure in a different planning area and1or $ersion

To release the demand plan to the supply chain planner orking ith li$e-ache orders% use the 0elease to ()P functions. These functions do more than 'ust copy data. They take into account the location split% the product split and a time split. 4or more information% see 0elease of the Demand Plan to ()P. To copy from an +nfo-u"e that is not defined in planning area administration% use the function >oad planning area $ersion. 4or more information% see >oading Data from an +nfo-u"e into a Planning Area. Prere&uisites Time series o"'ects ha$e "een created for the planning area(s) in the Administration settings of Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning. 4eatures
Screen text 5ori6on Selection condition What to do 7ou must enter a From date and a To date# Select indi"idual characteristic "alues or ranges of characteristic "alues from which you wish to copy# %f you make no entries here, all characteristic "alues for which characteristics ha"e een selected in the grouping condition and which are common to source and target are copied# Select the characteristics from which you wish to copy#

3rouping condition

Propose key figures 9ey figure assignment

9y default% all characteristics are selected. &efore copying, the system aggregates the data to the le"el of the characteristics you selected# %t then copies this data to the mapped target characteristics -see 84haracteristic assignment8 elow. and then disaggregates it to the remaining characteristics in accordance with the Calculation type defined for the target key figure in planning area administration# 'hich characteristics you select here can ha"e profound effects on the results# %n this respect, the grouping condition is similar to the planning le"el in mass processing# %f you wish the system to suggest a mapping of identically named key figures, check this ox# 4lick here to check and edit, or define the key figure mapping# Use the data transmission type )ey figure copy DP-DP to copy key figures ithin Demand Planning. Use the data transmission type )ey figure copy if a standard ()P

4haracteristic assignment

le$el has "een defined for the the source and1or target planning areas(s)D that is% if the planning area(s) is1are used in (upply )et ork Planning. This ensures that the characteristics =location= and =product= are included in the grouping condition. To add the key figure "alue to the target key figure, check the ox Add data# To o"erwrite the key figure "alue of the target key figure, lea"e this ox unselected# 4lick here to define the mapping of characteristics#

The system takes into account only those periodicities that are common to "oth planning areas. 4or e!ample% if the data is sa$ed in months in the source planning area "ut in months and eeks in the target planning area% the system copies to months in the target planning area and then disaggregates the data to the storage "uckets in accordance ith the Time#"ased disaggregation setting made for the target key figure in planning area administration. 4or more information on storage "uckets% see (torage 9uckets Profile. Acti$ities 4rom the (AP @asy Access menu% choose Demand Planning ^ @n$ironment ^ -opy1.ersion /anagement. >oading Data from an +nfo-u"e into a Planning Area Use Deleting .ersion Data Use Use this function to delete the contents of a $ersion. 4eatures The time series o"'ects for the $ersion are deleted. Acti$ities 5 8 4rom the (AP @asy Access menu% choose Demand Planning ^ @n$ironment ^ -opy1.ersion /anagement. 2 @nter the $ersion hose contents you ish to delete% as ell as the planning area in hich it resides. : (elect Delete planning $ersion. ; (pecify hether you ish to see a results log. < -hoose Program ^ @!ecute. Use this function to load data from an +nfo-u"e into a planning area. This function is designed for +nfo-u"es that are not defined in planning area administration. The characteristics in the selection condition and the grouping condition refer to the characteristics in the +nfo-u"e. Other ise% the functionality is the same as in the -opy1.ersion /anagement function. 4or more information% see -opy /anagement. Acti$ities To access this function% choose Demand Planning ^ @n$ironment ^ >oad planning area $ersion from the (AP @asy Access menu. /aster Data (etup Purpose The master data of Demand Planning determines the le$els on hich demand plans are created% changed% aggregated and disaggregated at your company. 4or e!ample% your

master data might consist of all of the products% product families% regions% customers% that your company intends to plan in Demand Planning% as ell as all rele$ant com"inations of theseD for e!ample% hich customers "uy hich products in hich regions. 6ou model these le$els in a non#hierarchical tree structure. 4rom a technical point of $ie % you are specifying hich characteristic $alues are planna"le for the characteristics in your planning area.
4or organiGational units that you ant to use for selection and na$igation% "ut not as planning le$els% create attri"utes and assign the attri"utes to a characteristic that you ill use for planning. This procedure offers a ay to plan multiple characteristics hile achie$ing optimum system performance.

As part of master data setup% you can also specify ho a demand plan that is created on a high le$el (such as product family) is distri"uted to a lo er le$el (for e!ample% to the different products in the product family). 6ou do this "y calculating a fi!ed proportional factor for each "ranch in the tree. The disaggregation type of the key figure is 9ased on proportional factor. There are other ays to disaggregate data. 4or more information% see Aggregation and Disaggregation. Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e carried out planning area administration. /aintenance of -haracteristic .alue -om"inations

Use 4rom a central screen% you ha$e access to the follo ing acti$itiesE R -reate characteristic $alue com"inations R -reate single characteristic $alue com"inations R Display e!isting characteristic $alue com"inations R Delete e!isting characteristic $alue com"inations R Display the logs generated "y functions Acti$ities 6ou ha$e t o options for calling these functionsE R +n (*DP Administration% select the rele$ant master planning o"'ect structure and then -reate -haracteristic -om"inations from the conte!t menu. R -hoose /aster Data I Demand Planning /aster Data I /aintain -haracteristic .alues.

-reating a (ingle @ntry Use 4ollo this procedureE Z To add a single entry to the DP master data 4or more than single entries% use another method as descri"ed in -reation of -haracteristic .alue -om"inations.

To create some master data in a test planning area as the "asis for familiariGing yourself ith DP functions "efore starting to plan =for real= The characteristics you see on the selection screen do not include the na$igational attri"utes. 6ou create the master data for a na$igational attri"ute in the Data ,arehousing ,ork"ench. (ince it is possi"le for users to interfere ith each other hen editing characteristic com"ination for a master planning o"'ect structure% you should limit the num"er of users ho carry out these tasks to a minimum. Prere&uisite 6ou ha$e carried out planning area administration. Procedure ... 5. 4rom the Planning O"'ect (tructures screen of (*DP Administration select the re&uired master planning o"'ect structure and from the conte!t menu choose -har. com"inations I /aintain. Alternati$ely% from the (AP @asy Access screen% choose /aster Data I Application#(pecific /aster Data I Demand Planning I/aintain -haracteristic .alues. 8. The /aintain Planning#0ele$ant -haracteristic -om"inations screen appears. +f necessary% enter the master planning o"'ect structure that contains the characteristics you ant to plan. 2. (elect -reate (ingle -haracteristics -om"ination. :. @nter the $alues of the characteristics. ;. +f this is the last time you are creating an entry in this update phase% check the "o! -reate time series o"'ects. Alternati$ely% you can create the time series o"'ects after step <D that is% ha$ing run this program. 6ou do this "y choosing Ad'ust Time (eries from the conte!t menu for the indi$idual master planning o"'ect structure in (*DP Administration. <. -hoose Program I@!ecute. @!ample +f the master planning o"'ect structure

Display and Deletion of

-haracteristic .alue -om"inations

Use Once you ha$e created characteristic $alues% you can do the follo ingE R Display entries This is useful for checking that the system has created the data as you e!pected. R Delete entries

6ou can either delete single entries or select se$eral entries to delete. -hange entries To delete e!isting entries% for instance% hen you introduce a ne product% you use the 0ealignment function.

Prere&uisites 6ou ha$e created master data (characteristic $alue com"inations) as descri"ed in /aintenance of -haracteristic .alue -om"inations or-reating a (ingle @ntry% or "y using realignment. Acti$ities 6ou access the functions for displaying and deleting master data in the same ay as you do for creating itE R 4rom the menu% "y choosing /aster Data I Demand Planning /aster Data I /aintain -haracteristic .alues R +n Administration of Demand Planning and (upply )et ork Planning% you select the master planning o"'ect structure and then choose/aintain -haracteristic -om"inations from the conte!t menu. Displaying /aster Data To display e!isting characteristic $alue com"inations% choose Display characteristics com"inations. There are t o functions that help you restrict the data that is displayedE R (election condition 6ou use this "utton to enter selection criteria for one or more characteristics. Only the com"inations that contain these $alues are then displayed. R Prouping condition 6ou use this "utton to display the characteristic $alue com"inations grouped according to the characteristics that you select. This sho s you in effect the aggregate le$els. +f you ha$e not created an aggregate for the chosen characteristic com"ination% a planning o"'ect +D ith the prefi! T/P appears. +f an aggregate e!ists% you see the PU+Ds for the planning o"'ects. 0emem"er that you can sa$e data at detail le$el or on aggregates if a planning o"'ect e!ists. Optionally% you can choose to use the technical names of the attri"utes instead of the description. 6ou can also choose to display the results on a separate screen. After you ha$e entered any criteria% choose to display a list of the characteristic $alue com"inations that meet these criteria. Deleting /aster Data There are t o methods of deleting e!isting characteristic $alue com"inationsE Delete indi$idual com"inations To delete indi$idual com"inations or all com"inations that contain indi$idual

characteristic $alues% choose Delete char. com"inations. 4or e!ample% if your master planning o"'ect structure contains characteristics for product% location% sales organiGation% and customer and you enter the $alue (/+T3 in the -ustomer field of the selection screen% the system deletes all characteristic $alue com"inations that contain the customer (/+T3. (ince entering 'ust one or t o $alues can result in se$eral characteristic $alue com"inations "eing deleted% you can perform a test run "efore finally deleting the com"inations. To do so% choose Test. Delete com"inations from a list +f you choose Delete from a list of com"inations% an initial screen appears that corresponds to the screen for displaying master data (see a"o$e). 3ere% you can restrict the data to "e displayed in e!actly the same manner. After you ha$e chosen % a list appears. 6ou select the characteristic $alue com"inations that you ish to delete% and then choose Delete to delete all the selected com"inations at once. +n the case of master planning o"'ect structures that contain interdependent entries F as for DP "ills of material or characteristics#"ased forecasting F all the interdependent entries are also deleted automatically if you select one entry. This is to preser$e data consistency. (elect characteristic $alue com"inations using na$igational attri"utes To select com"inations that you then ant to either delete or load into the orklist% you can use na$igational attri"utes. )ote that the na$igational attri"utes are not actually part of the characteristic $alue com"inations. 6ou cannot delete the assignment to a characteristic here. To do so% you call the Administrator ,ork"ench 0ealignment and -opying of Data Purpose +n modern "usiness processes master data is constantly changing% for e!ample ne products are introduced% organiGational structures change% or e!isting products are manufactured in ne locations. These changes need to "e accounted for in your demand planning process. T o processes are in$ol$edE 5. The system generates ne characteristic $alue com"inations. +f re&uired% it later deletes the old com"inations. 8. The system copies the planning data to the ne com"inations. (ince doing this manually re&uires a lot of ork% (AP pro$ides functions to create ne characteristic $alue com"inations and to copy the data. +n contrast to earlier releases ( _ 2.5) the process is split into t oE 5. 0ealignment -haracteristic $alue com"inations are maintained for master planning o"'ect structures. 0ealignment itself orks at this le$el. The system creates ne characteristic $alue com"inations "ased on selected $alues from e!isting

com"inations. +t then copies the data from the old com"inations to the ne ones. The data of all key figures in all planning areas "ased on the master planning o"'ect structure is copied. +f re&uired% the old com"inations are then deleted together ith the data. 8. -opy 4unction Data itself is stored at planning area le$el. +f the characteristic $alue com"inations already e!ist and you ant to copy data from one com"ination to another% you use this function. (ince the e!tent of the function is limited to the planning area% more selection options are a$aila"le than for the master planning o"'ect structure. +t is possi"leE # # To copy data "et een indi$idual $ersions To select the key figures to "e copied

# To restrict the period in hich data is copied There is also an e!tensi$e log function. Prere&uisites The re&uisite master planning o"'ect structures and planning areas already e!ist. (ee alsoE 0ealignment -opying of Data