MRP / Consumption-Based Planning — Deep Guide

CORE C_TS452: Consumption-Based Planning Phase 11 🛠️ Deep practical

🎯 In plain words

MRP (Material Requirements Planning) is SAP doing the buyer's mental maths automatically: it looks at how much stock you have, what's already on order, and what's needed — then proposes what to buy (or make) and when, so you neither run out nor pile up cash in excess stock. "Consumption-based" planning is the simplest flavour: reorder-point planning — when stock drops below a line you set, SAP raises a request to buy more.

🧠 MRP types — how a material is planned

Set on the material master MRP 1 view (field MRP Type), via MM02:

MRP Type	What it does
PD	Deterministic MRP — plans from actual demand (orders, dependent requirements). The "full" MRP.
VB	Manual reorder point — you set the reorder level + safety stock; SAP reorders when stock falls below it. (Consumption-based.)
VM	Automatic reorder point — SAP calculates the reorder level from past consumption + forecast.
V1 / V2	Automatic reorder point with external requirements / forecast included.
ND	No planning — material is excluded from MRP (you order it manually).

Also on MRP views: Procurement type — E in-house production, F external procurement, X both; Reorder point & Safety stock (MRP 1/2); Lot-sizing procedure (e.g. EX lot-for-lot, FX fixed, HB replenish-to-maximum); Planned delivery time (MRP 2).

🧠 The MRP run

T-code	Scope
MD01	Total planning — every material in a plant (background: MDBT).
MD02	Single-item, multi-level — one material and everything below it in the BOM.
MD03	Single-item, single-level — just one material (great for learning/testing).

MRP reads the planning file (which materials changed since last run) and produces:

Planned orders — for in-house produced materials (later converted to production orders).
Purchase requisitions — for externally procured materials (later converted to POs via ME57/ME21N).

🧠 Reading the result — MD04

MD04 = the stock/requirements list, the live picture every planner lives in: current stock at the top, then each requirement (orders, reservations) and receipt (POs, planned orders, PRs) in date order, with a running available quantity. (MD05 = the static MRP list — a snapshot from the last run; MD07 = collective access.)

🧠 How MRP picks the vendor (sourcing)

By itself, a requisition has no fixed supplier. MRP assigns one automatically when:

a source list entry is flagged MRP-relevant (the "1" flag), or
a quota arrangement exists (to split demand across vendors), or
a single valid outline agreement/info record is the obvious source.

This is the bridge back to Master Data (source list, ME01) — see also Scenario 14 (Source Management, 14H is the MRP case).

🛠️ Do it now — reorder-point walkthrough (RM-IRON-01)

MM02 RM-IRON-01 / plant PK01 → MRP 1: MRP Type VB, Reorder Point 20 TO, Lot size EX.
MRP 2: Procurement type F, Planned Delivery Time (e.g. 7 days), Safety Stock (e.g. 5 TO). Save.
Make sure your source list entry for RM-IRON-01 ↔ MUGHAL21 is MRP-relevant.
Drop stock below 20 TO (issue some via Scenario 3, mvt 201).
Run MD03 for RM-IRON-01 / PK01 (processing key NETCH, create PR = 1).
Open MD04 → a purchase requisition appears for the shortfall, with MUGHAL21 as the source.
Convert it: ME57 (assign & process) or ME21N adopt-from-PR → you're back in the P2P cycle.

Source List + MRP (14H) Goods Issue (drop stock) P2P cycle (convert PR→PO)

⚠️ Common gotchas

Nothing planned? Material MRP Type is ND, or MRP isn't activated for the plant (SPRO → MRP → Activate MRP and set up the planning file).
PR has no vendor? No MRP-relevant source list entry / quota — MRP can plan the quantity but won't guess the supplier.
Ran MD03 but no change? Use processing key NEUPL (regenerative) once, then NETCH (net change) for day-to-day.

🔗 Connects to

Phase 3 — Master Data: MRP reads the material's MRP views + the source list.
Phase 6 — Inventory: planning is only as good as your stock figures (MD04 reads them).
Phase 4 — P2P: the PR MRP creates feeds straight into the buying cycle.

🎓 Cert focus & quick recall

C_TS452 area ③. Expect questions on MRP types, what each run T-code covers, and what MD04 shows.

What is the difference between MRP type PD and VB?

PD = deterministic MRP (plans from actual demand/dependent requirements). VB = manual reorder point (consumption-based: reorder when stock drops below a level you set).

What does MRP create for an externally procured material, and how is it sourced?

A purchase requisition. It gets a vendor automatically if a source-list entry is MRP-relevant or a quota arrangement exists; otherwise the PR has no fixed source.

MD04 vs MD05?

MD04 = live stock/requirements list (recalculated as you open it). MD05 = static MRP list (a snapshot from the last run).

MD01 vs MD03?

MD01 plans every material in the plant; MD03 plans a single item, single level — ideal for testing.

✅ You're ready to move on when…

You can explain PD vs VB and when you'd use each.
You've set a reorder point, run MD03, and watched a sourced PR appear in MD04.
You can read an MD04 line and say whether it's a requirement or a receipt.

✅ MRP studied + reorder-point cycle run in IDES