Ok, first real blog.  I’ve been having a hard time deciding what to blog about, not because of a lack of SAP topics but because I could not figure out where to start.  My goal is to blog about issue that SAP end users and SAP IT people run into every day.  Well today it hit me, why not blog about the stuff I’m working on right now.

So here we go…

SAP Discontinued Parts – Material Master and BOM

While my goal is that anyone can use the following information to successfully setup and use SAP’s discontinued parts functionality this is not a step by step instruction manual and will require a good understanding of SAP MRP, material masters and BOMs.

What is a discontinued part?  For the purposes of this discussion a discontinued part is a material that will be phased out of production at a specific point in time with a different material/part taking its place in the BOM.  With the stock of the discontinued material being used up before the replacement material takes effect.

There are many scenarios as to why a part/material will be replaced.  For this discussion the “why” is not important.  Whatever the reason, you need to replace a material on a BOM with a new material at a specific date, while using up the stock of the discontinued material in the process.

By using this process SAP, via MRP, reassigns the dependent requirements of the material being replaced to the replacement material after the stock for the discontinued part has been depleted.

Prerequisites for using Discontinued Materials:

• Both parts must be planned via MRP
• The base unit of measure should be the same for both parts
• Item category, on BOM, should be stock item or variable size item

Master Data:

Master data changes will be made to the discontinued parts material master and all BOMs where the discontinued part is being replaced.

Overview – Material Master – MRP4 View

• Discontinuation indicator – There are two types of discontinuation Single parallel and Dependent parallel.
• Single/parallel discontinued part/material (1) – Sometimes referred to as Simple Discontinuation. This is a simple one for one replacement of a material/part with a follow up material.  This is the scenario being discussed in this document. 
• Dependent parallel discontinued part/material (30) – This indicator is used for replacing groups of components in the BOM. This is a more complex process and will not be covered in this document.
• Effective-Out Date – Date the stock for Discontinued Part should be used up. When no stock exists the follow up part will be used the following day.
• Follow-Up Material – Material replacing Discontinued Part.

Note:  For more detailed explanation of each field view the SAP Help (F1) when on the field in the material master.  SAP has done a good job explaining these fields.

Maintain – Material Master (MM02) – MRP4 View

The below screen shots show the data entered on MRP4 view of material master to allow for a material to be discontinued.

• Discontinuation indicator – Enter “1”
• Effective-Out Date – Enter date follow Up material should take effect (example: 08/29/15)
• Follow-Up Material – Enter Material to replace discontinued part (Example DIS_ABCD)

Maintain – BOM (CS02)

Will be replacing component DIS_1234 (Original Part – Discontinued) with follow up component DIS_ABCD (Discontinued Follow Up).  If the following information is not maintained in the BOM MRP will not plan the Follow Up material.

Select Line 0010 then menu path Goto =>Line (F7).

Select “Discontin. data” icon.

Pop Up box will appear.  Enter Discount Group.  Example: “10”

Hit Back icon

Start process over for Follow Up material:

+ Selecting the Follow Up material (DIS_ABCD) line (30) in BOM.

+ Follow menu path Goto =>Line (F7).  Select “Discontin. data” icon. Pop Up box will appear.

+ In Discontinuation Data Pop Up box for material DIS_ABCD enter “10” in Follow-up group box.    This group number must match discontinued group number used for material DIS_1234.

Hit Back icon

Save BOM changes.

Stock Requirements List (MD04) – No Stock for DIS_1234

In this scenario the discontinued part does not have any stock/inventory to be depleted.

In the following screen shots you will see:

• That the Parent Material (DIS_PARENT) has requirements/planned orders going out through 04/2016.
• That the discontinued part (DIS_1234) has requirements out to 08/28/15. The effective out date on its material master is 08/29/15.
• That the Follow Up material (DIS_ABCD) requirements starts on 09/29/15.

Screen Shot Material DIS_PARENT

Screen Shot Material DIS_1234

Screen Shot Material DIS_ABCD

Stock Requirements List (MD04) – Stock for DIS_1234

In this scenario the discontinued part does has stock that will need to be depleted from inventory.

In the following screen shots you will see:

• That the discontinued material DIS_1234 has an effective out date of 08/29/15 but because of on hand inventory the material has dependent requirements until 10/29/15.
• That the Follow Up material (DIS_ABCD) requirements begins in November after the on hand inventory for DIS_1234 has been depleted.

Screen Shot Material DIS_1234

Screen Shot Material DIS_ABCD

If you have question on this or any other PortSAP Consulting blog please feel free to contact us at Blog@PortSAP.com.  Or if you are looking for Top Quality SAP Consultants please feel free to contact us.

The author, Ray Hornbrook, has over 16 years of SAP functional and technical experience.  Ray started his career in SAP as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for a SAP implementation in 1998 and is now a senior level SAP Consultant.  Since Ray has worked both sides of SAP, business end user and IT professional, he is able to communicate effectively with both IT and Business team members.  Having a background as an SAP business end user has helped Ray greatly in his consulting career to better communicate with the business members of the team.  As well as helping bridge gaps in communication between the IT and Business team members.

To find out more about the Ray Hornbrook please check out his LinkedIn profile by clicking HERE.

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