Global Available To Promise (GATP) Overview
Introduction: Global Available To Promise
(GATP) in APO supports online searches to determine if requested products are
available at specific times in quantities that satisfy
customer demand. GATP processes are run via SAP live Cache, which processes large
volumes of data and enables data sharing across
several applications. GATP meetsthe challenge of providing availability information
across a global enterprise. The concept of available
to promise (ATP) used in Sales and Distribution (SD) module in SAP R/3 provides
check capabilitiesthat deliver resultsfor basic business
scenarios. More complex scenarios, however, require more robust capabilitiesto make
delivery commitmentsthat are in line with the
real-world demands. In short, global scenarios require global solutions. Global ATP
� or GATP � takes advantage of SAP APO
technology and picks up where the SAP R/3 ATP solution leaves off.
Following are the functionalities using GATP allows you to answer questions related
to promising products to your customers. GATP
quickly makes information available to provide real-time optimized decision
support. It offers the functionality to perform availability
checks which consist of online searches that determine if requested products are
available at requested times in the quantities that
satisfy customer demand. GATP can be used for Sales Order, Scheduling Agreement,
Delivery, stock transfer orders and production
orders (for their input components).
GATP Methods can be classified into three areas:
1. Basic methods and their combination (product check, product allocation, and
check against forecast)
2. Rules-based ATP (RBA)
3. ATP integrated with production
4. You can combine several GATP methods to provide more advanced capabilities.
Product Check
A basic product availability check generates positive results if the so-called ATP
quantity for a product is available on the requested
delivery date. If itis not available, a new delayed delivery date is proposed. The
ATP quantity referenced during the product availability
check is based on categories defined in Scope of Check.
Product Allocation Check (PAL)
The second basic method is product allocation (PAL). Using information in the DP
module, PAL lets you know your availability to
promise when sales orders compete for quantities in a constrained supply chain. New
products, production downtimes, and other
factors lead to fluctuating demands, which can affect product supply. For these
situations, PAL provides a tool to ensure a better
distribution of the total amount when a company cannot deliver the full available
quantity to a customer.
Check against Forecast
The last method on the list is a check against forecast. It provides a check method
that is especially important in make-to-order
environments, where inventory is not available to confirm the quantity ordered by
the customers. In this case, the quantity
confirmation is performed against the forecast. Like PAL, this functionality is
integrated with the DP module.
Rules-Based ATP
An ordinary ATP check is restricted to the requested location product and checks
only the according time series. Using rules-based
ATP it is possible to substitute both the location and the product. In branched
supply chain networks, rules-based ATP allows
companies to take full advantage of multiple shipping assets to ship goods from
alternative sites to customers. In addition, it permits
certain products to be substituted as required to successfully satisfy customer
demands. RBA is beneficial for Distributors, consumer
product goods Industries
