The events that can automatically trigger the material-availability check for a production order are defined in the checking control (OPL8). SAP standard delivers the following automatic events: order creation, order release, order change, and order confirmation. When the order is released (C) or a confirmation is posted (B), the system immediately executes the availability check according to the checking rule assigned to the order type/plant. Capacity-planning activities and the COHV mass-processing program do not belong to the list of automatic events; they require an explicit, manual start of the check.

A. Capacity planning analyses available capacity only; it neither calls the MRP nor the order-specific material availability check automatically.

D. Mass processing (COHV/COHVPI) offers a manual “Check material shortage” function; it is not executed automatically when the mass run is started.

1. SAP S/4HANA Help Portal, “Production Orders – Material Availability Check”, section “Checking Control: Events”, S4CORE 107 (2023), para. 2–3.

2. SAP Education Course TS422, “Production Order Management in SAP S/4HANA”, Unit 6 “Availability Check”, slides 6-11 to 6-13.

3. SAP IMG Documentation, path: Production → Shop Floor Control → Functions → Availability Check → Define Checking Control (transaction OPL8), field list for events (Order Creation, Release, Change, Confirmation).

Pegging, in the context of SAP Advanced Planning (specifically PP/DS), is the process that creates and maintains a direct relationship between a requirement element (an issue, such as a sales order or dependent demand) and a corresponding receipt element (such as a planned order, production order, or stock) intended to cover it. This evaluation traces these relationships through the multi-level bill of material (BOM) structure, creating a cause-and-effect chain. This linkage is essential for transparency in planning, allowing planners to identify the specific source of any demand and analyze the impact of changes to either supply or demand elements.

B. Identifying overstock situations is an analytical outcome that may use pegging data, but it is not the definition of pegging itself.

C. While pegging creates a "network," its fundamental definition is the "relationship" it establishes. "Coverage" is the result of this relationship, not the definition.

D. A planning run identifies shortages; pegging is the subsequent tool used to trace the root cause of those shortages through the supply chain.

1. SAP Help Portal, SAP S/4HANA 2023, "Pegging": "Pegging creates relationships between the receipt elements and the requirement elements of a product. A pegging relationship links a receipt element with a requirement element. The system uses pegging to identify which requirement is covered by which receipt element." This directly supports the definition of pegging as a "relationship between the receipt the issue elements."

2. SAP Learning Hub, Course S4520, "Advanced Planning in SAP S/4HANA", Unit 4: Production Planning Heuristics: The course material explains that pegging establishes the link between stock, receipts, and requirements. It clarifies that this is a core function of planning heuristics to ensure that every requirement has an assigned receipt, forming a pegging network based on the product's BOM structure.

3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OpenCourseWare, 15.762, "Supply Chain Planning", Lecture 5: Material Requirements Planning (MRP): The course notes define pegging as a key feature of MRP systems that allows for tracing the source of gross requirements for any part number. This confirms that pegging is about establishing the relationship from a requirement back to its origin, which is consistent with the BOM structure.

The Kanban control cycle is the core master data element that defines the relationship between a demand source and a supply source. The Production Supply Area (PSA) is the specific location on the shop floor (the demand source) where the material is required and consumed. The Replenishment Strategy is defined within the control cycle to determine how the material is to be replenished (e.g., via in-house production, external procurement, or stock transfer), thereby defining the link to the supply source and the replenishment process itself.

A. Routing: A routing specifies the sequence of operations for in-house production; it is a detail of a specific replenishment strategy, not the element that defines the core supply-demand relationship.

B. Work Center: A work center is a location where production operations are performed. While a PSA is often assigned to a work center, it is the PSA itself that acts as the demand source in the Kanban process.

1. SAP S/4HANA Product Documentation: Kanban > Master Data for Kanban > Control Cycle. The documentation states, "You create a control cycle for a material that is to be replenished using Kanban for a specific production supply area (PSA)... In the control cycle, you define the Kanban process, for example, by specifying the replenishment strategy." This confirms that the PSA (demand source) and replenishment strategy (link to supply source) are fundamental.

2. SAP S/4HANA Product Documentation: Production Supply Area (PSA). This section details that the PSA is the "stocking location near the production line from which the material is taken directly for production." This establishes it as the demand source.

3. SAP Training Courseware TS422 (Production Planning in SAP S/4HANA): Unit: Lean Manufacturing, Lesson: Kanban. The course material explicitly details the creation of a control cycle (transaction PKMC), highlighting the mandatory entry of the Production Supply Area and the selection of a Replenishment Strategy as the primary parameters for defining a Kanban loop.

A production planning run in Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) creates procurement proposals to fulfill material requirements. For materials produced in-house, the system generates planned orders. For materials procured externally, if a scheduling agreement is used as the source of supply, the planning run can directly create scheduling agreement schedule lines. These are the primary planning elements generated to cover net requirements. Production orders and purchase orders are execution-level documents that are typically created by converting these initial planning proposals (planned orders and purchase requisitions, respectively).

C. Production order: A production order is an execution document. It is created by converting a planned order, not generated directly by the PP/DS planning run itself.

D. Purchase order: A purchase order is an execution document for external procurement. The planning run typically creates a purchase requisition, which is then converted into a purchase order.

1. SAP Help Portal for SAP S/4HANA: Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) -> Procurement Proposal. The documentation explicitly lists the possible procurement proposals created in PP/DS as "PP/DS planned orders," "Purchase requisitions," and "Scheduling agreement schedule lines." This confirms that planned orders and scheduling agreement schedule lines are direct outputs, while production orders and purchase orders are not. (Accessed for SAP S/4HANA 2023).

2. SAP Learning Hub Course S4220 (Production Planning in SAP S/4HANA): Unit 5: Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) -> Lesson: Executing the Planning Run. This course material details that the PP/DS planning run (e.g., using a heuristic) results in the creation of planned orders for in-house production and purchase requisitions or scheduling agreement schedule lines for external procurement, depending on the source of supply defined.

Standard heuristics in Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) are algorithms designed to solve specific planning problems for a defined set of objects, such as products at a particular location. They are executed to perform tasks like creating or changing procurement proposals (e.g., planned orders, purchase requisitions) to cover requirements, or to schedule operations on resources. Each heuristic follows a predefined, step-by-step procedure to generate a feasible, though not necessarily optimal, plan for the selected objects.

A. To automate material movements in material staging: Material staging is a production supply process, often integrated with EWM. Heuristics are planning algorithms, not tools for automating physical material movements in the execution phase.

B. To set default values in production master data: Heuristics are planning functions that use existing master data (like materials, PDS, resources) to create transactional data. They do not set or maintain the master data itself.

D. To optimize costs times in production plans: While heuristics aim to create a feasible plan, they are not optimizers. The PP/DS Optimizer is a separate engine that uses complex algorithms to find a mathematically optimal plan based on costs and constraints.

1. SAP Help Portal, SAP S/4HANA 2023, "Heuristics": "A heuristic is a planning function that executes a planning algorithm for a selected number of objects... You use heuristics to execute planning tasks, for example, to create procurement proposals to cover product requirements." This directly supports the concept of solving planning problems for defined objects.

2. SAP Help Portal, SAP S/4HANA 2023, "Heuristics Versus Optimization": "Unlike optimization, a heuristic is a problem-solving procedure that uses rules of thumb to find a solution. A heuristic does not guarantee that it will find a good or a feasible solution." This reference clarifies that heuristics are distinct from optimization functions, making option D incorrect.

3. SAP Help Portal, SAP S/4HANA 2023, "Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS)": The overall documentation for PP/DS describes its core function as creating short-term, feasible production plans. The section on master data is distinct from the sections on planning processes like heuristics, confirming that heuristics do not maintain master data (refuting option B).