General Discussion - Why to choose APO over R/3 for planning?

[Former Member]

Hi All,

Why do we choose APO over R/3 for planning? What are the inputs or other factors that make APO a better planning tool?

Are the factors which make APO a better tool not available foe R/3 planning?

Thanks in advance

Changed subject suitably.

Message was edited by:

Somnath Manna

[somnath_manna · Accepted solution]

Finally someone has asked the big question.

Well my knowledge of R/3 is limited but this are some of the points I could quickly come up with.

We shall go module-wise.

First Demand Planning - Of course R/3 provides Demand Management and also Statistical Forecasting tools. However the architecture in APO-DP is totally different and based on characteristic value combinations with liveCache for very fast data access. This allows easy aggregation and disaggregation. Moreover once you create the CVCs they can be modified easily with the associates transaction data using Realignment. The macro functionality in DP provides quick and user-friendly computations on the transaction data. Moreover the Statistical Forecasting toolset in APO-DP is more comprehensive to that in R/3. Not sure if MLR is possible in R/3. Promotion planning and Life-cycle planning are some nice features in APO-DP.

Second - Supply Network Planning in APO can be mapped to DRP in R/3. But then APO offers planning cross-plant for a complete supply chain network. SNP in APO offers basic Heuristic-based planning (quite similar to R/3 DRP) along with advanced planning features like Optimization and Capable-to-Match (order-based planning for prioritised demand matching). Moreover Deployment and Transport Load Builder functionalities provides automatic planning in case of short supply followed by consolidation of deliveries according to transportation capacities.

Third - Production Planning Detailed Scheduling.

This according to me is the most hotly debated module. APO PPDS is very close to R/3 Production Planning functionalities and relies on the same set of master data transferred from R/3 to APO via CIF. However the multitude of Heuristics (both Production Planning and Scheduling) provides automation and gives more time to the Planners and Schedulers in focusing on more important tasks. The Detailed Scheduling functionality especially Planning Board in APO is a rich graphical and intuitive application for carrying out sequencing of activities. Likewise the Product Planning Table and Product Overview features of APO provides a cockpit view of the Production Plan and allows drilling down to exceptions. Of course PPDS has Optimiser functionality but the usability of the results is questioned by many a business users.

I hope there will be some good discussion on this thread.

Thanks,

Somnath

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

<b>Detailed Comparision between R3-PP and APO -PPDS:</b>

(1) <b>Linear vs Simultaneous Planning Process</b>

<b>R/3 PP</b>

Linear Process – Traditional MRP Logic

Run MPS & MRP

Create planned purchases, production orders, Explodes BOM, Calculates net requirements & Lot size

Run Rough-Cut Capacity Planning

Backward scheduling logic only using standard lead-times to determine required start date

Production order process

Optional material & capacity check

Scheduling

Capacity leveling over & under

Sequencing by overall setup time within day

<b>

APO PPDS</b>

Plans for both Material & Capacity Constraints in one planning process

Optimization of Planning

Sequencing & Changeover

Bottleneck resources

Automatic solve constraint resources alternate resource, capacity variant

Detailed Capacity Planning

(2) <b>R/3 PP Linear Planning Process</b>

Sequential programs makes for long planning cycle

Batch runs

Limited what-if simulations

<b>PP/DS - APO Takes Minutes</b>

Parallel Processing - Simultaneously Plans Material & Capacity

Constraints Based Forecast - Planning for Materials & Capacity

Reduced Planning Cycle Time from Weeks to Minutes

(3) <b>Unconstrained vs Constraint-Based Planning</b>

<b>R/3 PP</b>

Infinite material & capacity planning

Creates unconstraint plan

Creates feasible schedule

Sequencing by overall setup time within day

Simulation is for long term planning

Backward scheduling logic only

Due date driven planning

Manual Capacity Leveling

<b>PP/DS</b>

Finite capacity & material planning

Constraint-Based Planning

Uses Optimization to create schedule

Minimize = total LT + setup time + delay time + production cost + setup cost

Simulation is fast real-time, “what if” planning capabilities

Forward & backward scheduling

Customer priority, cost, driven solution

Scheduling Algorithms

Detail Capacity Planning

(4)<b> Technology</b>

<b>R/3 PP</b>

Real-time integration of enterprise-wide

Data utilizing 3-tier client/server architecture

Application Link Enabling (ALE)

Componentization of applications

<b>

PP/DS</b>

Real-time integration of enterprise-wide and inter-enterprise - R/3 and non-SAP

System transaction information utilizing

liveCache technology in a APO architecture, enables fast responsive planning

(5)<b> Supply Chain Cockpit</b>

<b>R/3 PP</b>

Not Available

<b>PP/DS-APO</b>

Graphical Supply Chain visualization

Model builder for APO applications

Alert monitor for exception-based supply

chain management

Key performance indicators

Information retrieval from liveCache,

Regards

Kumar Ayyagari

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Somnath,

For Demannd Planning, can't we have BW & live cache integrated to R/3?

[somnath_manna · Accepted solution]

Hi Sharad,

Data in BW can be extracted from R/3. With ECC it becomes easier since it contains the BI stack as part of Netweaver which is same as in APO.

For liveCache - Demand Planning uses Time Series data and NOT Order Series data. Order series data is basically all kind of transaction data (includes Stocks, PIRs, Procurement and Production Orders) which can be transferred between APO and R/3 using CIF.

However that is not possible in case of Time Series data. The most common way of Transaction data in Time Series format in DP loading to the Planning Area is from an Infocube. For example you have Sales History which can be extract of your deliveries from R/3 to APO into an Infocube. That data can then be loaded to a particular keyfigure in APO-DP in the Planning Area. That way using BW and liveCache you can have transaction data integrated from R/3 to APO DP.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Somnath

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi,

we are using ERP 6.0. Now we are planning for APO.

Do we need separate licnse for APO.

Do we need to install SAP SCM for APO or APO can be installed separatedly without SCM.

please verify in detail.

thanks and regards,

abuzar.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

APO is a solution component that comes as part of SAP SCM. In fact the latest version of APO software is called SCM 7.0.

You will get a detailed quotation if you contact your SAP account manager directly

Regards,

Anil