The bill of material and the routing are the two principal PP masters. One says what a product is made from, the other how it is made. Neither MRP nor costing works without both.
Bills of material
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Base quantity | How many units the component quantities relate to |
| Components and quantities | What is needed and how much |
| Item category | Stock item (L), non-stock (N), text (T) |
| Scrap | Expected component and operation scrap percentages |
| Validity | The period this structure applies to |
| Alternative items | Substitutes where the main component is unavailable |
The base quantity matters: five units of component A against a base quantity of 100 means 0.05 per finished unit. It preserves precision where recipes do not divide evenly.
BOM usage
| Usage | Number | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Production | 1 | The structure MRP and manufacturing use |
| Engineering | 2 | The design view, by function |
| Universal | 3 | Shared across purposes |
| Sales | 5 | Kit structures for selling |
| Costing | 6 | A structure specifically for costing |
Low-level codes
BOMs are hierarchical: product A uses semi-finished B, which uses component C. The low-level code records that depth, and both MRP and costing process in that order so that lower results feed higher ones.
Routings
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Operation | One step of work, executed in number order |
| Work centre | Where the operation is performed |
| Standard values | Setup, machine and labour times |
| Control key | Whether confirmation is required, whether it is costed, whether it is external |
| Component allocation | Which components are used at which operation |
| Inspection characteristics | Where QM is integrated |
Standard values and activity types
Operation 10: setup 0.5 h x 3,000 = 1,500
Operation 10: machine 2.0 h x 5,000 = 10,000
Operation 10: labour 2.0 h x 2,500 = 5,000
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Conversion cost for operation 10 16,500Standard values are multiplied by the activity rates on the cost centre behind the work centre. This is exactly where CO activity types meet PP.
Production versions
A production version pairs a specific BOM with a specific routing โ BOM 1 with routing A on the volume line, BOM 2 with routing B for prototypes. MRP and costing select a version to work with. S/4HANA requires production versions, so migrating from ECC means creating them.