Secure and future-ready procurement for production
A reliable material supply is essential for efficient production. To ensure that procurement processes run smoothly, all involved components – from suppliers and business data to production operations – must be optimally aligned. Fully automated procurement reduces delays, minimizes errors, and ensures a stable supply of production materials, allowing every part of the procurement process to work together seamlessly.
Challenges and solutions in production procurement
The purchasing department is responsible for ensuring a continuous supply of materials as well as maintaining complete and consistent material, supplier, and other master data. Companies face the challenge of ensuring that ordered materials arrive on time, in the right quality and quantity, and at the correct location. A successful procurement strategy requires seamless end-to-end integration of purchasing into the company’s business processes.
Your benefits with optimized procurement
- Automated processes: From the MRP run and the generated purchase requisition to the automatic purchase order to the supplier, goods receipt posting, and invoice verification and posting, procurement in SAP S/4HANA is fully automated end to end.
- Efficient source of supply management: Qualified suppliers are automatically selected based on source lists, quota arrangements, and material master data, including scheduling in line with lead times, to ensure demand-driven material supply.
- Fast, digital communication: By using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), scheduling agreements and purchase orders are transmitted in real time without delays or media disruptions.
- Optimized material requirements planning: Real-time demand planning, automatic supplier selection, and Fiori reporting ensure material availability, reduce manual effort, and support strategic sourcing.
- Optimized material supply: Automatically provision materials, coordinate suppliers, and monitor inventory levels in real time for an efficient, seamless supply chain.
Your benefits from successful Sourcing & Procurement–PP integration in the SAP S/4HANA system:
- Subcontracting: MRP automatically creates purchase requisitions for subcontractors – reducing manual maintenance efforts
- External processing: Components are provided to external vendors and goods receipts are posted automatically – ensuring transparent material flows and reliable completion
- Production version in the purchasing info record: Purchasing info records reference the production version and BOM – ensuring the correct production data is used
- Factory calendar: Lead times and working days are considered in requirements planning – enabling optimal scheduling and on-time material supply
- Embedded PP/DS (planning heuristic for externally procured materials): Requirements for purchased components are automatically optimized – reducing bottlenecks and excess inventory
- Quota arrangement: Demand split between purchased components and in-house production: MRP automatically distributes material requirements between externally procured components and in-house production, taking supplier quotas and outline agreements into account – enabling efficient planning and balanced resource utilization
- Availability check in PP: Inventory levels and open purchase orders are automatically checked – preventing material shortages and production downtime
- Production order release: Releasing production orders triggers automatic material staging – shortening lead times
Successful projects & references
WFEL – Optimization of procurement processes
- Implementation of the CONSILIO Logistics Alert Cockpit to improve the management of material shortages
- Optimization of the external procurement process to reduce lead times and increase security of supply
- Simplification of supplier returns to make return processes more efficient and transparent
Our services for your successful procurement
- Optimize master data quality: Precise material, supplier, and other master data form the foundation for error-free procurement
- Enhance MRP processes: Improved material requirements planning and control to ensure reliable production based on real-time data
- Implement automated document exchange (EDI): Digital communication with suppliers for fast and seamless processes
- Integrate special procurement processes: Seamless integration of subcontracting, external processing, consignment, and pipeline procurement into your SAP system landscape
Why CONSILIO?
- Experience & expertise: We have many years of international experience in Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and in optimizing purchasing processes.
- EDI integration for maximum efficiency: By leveraging Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), delivery schedule lines, purchase orders, and order changes can be transmitted in real time.
- Seamless integration of special procurement processes: We ensure that subcontracting, consignment, and pipeline procurement are optimally integrated into your processes.
SAP S/4HANA Sourcing & Procurement – Your key to automation
With SAP S/4HANA Sourcing & Procurement, operational procurement processes can be largely automated, while strategic tasks are optimized through comprehensive system support.
Benefits of SAP S/4HANA:
- Fiori apps: Intuitive, role-based user interfaces simplify usability and enable mobile working
- Real-time analytics and monitoring for improved decision-making
- Automated workflows for efficient procurement processes
- Simplified purchasing processes: Integrated self-service procurement functionality replaces the classic SAP SRM
- Embedded analytics & AI-based recommendations: Intelligent decision support directly within the system
- Seamless integration with cloud procurement platforms for optimized supplier collaboration
CONSILIO Logistics Alert Cockpit – Your early warning system for bottlenecks
The MRP run is the core of material requirements planning in SAP. Planners receive exception messages on critical shortages via the MRP list. However, the more complex the structures with multiple plants and MRP areas become, the less transparent this list is in the standard SAP system.
Our solution: The CONSILIO Logistics Alert Cockpit
- Identifies bottlenecks at an early stage and enables rapid countermeasures.
- Provides clear prioritization of relevant material shortages.
- Supports planners with structured alerts and targeted recommendations for action.
