SAP Repetitive Manufacturing (REM)

Welcome to the free SAP Repetitive Manufacturing (REM) tutorial, a part of our free SAP PP Training course. Here, we will explain what is REM in SAP, its key features, and its processes.

SAP Repetitive Manufacturing (REM) is one of the types of manufacturing processes supported by SAP. For each industry, there is a manufacturing process that is more suitable than the other. Factors such as production rates, consumer demands, and product complexity have an influence when selecting the manufacturing process.

The commonly used manufacturing processes are:

1. Discrete manufacturing
2. Repetitive manufacturing
3. Process manufacturing

SAP Repetitive Manufacturing (REM) method is used in industries where the production is quantity-based and not order-based. Another main aspect of repetitive manufacturing is that the production is based on time such as months or years. Examples of industries that use SAP repetitive manufacturing are:

• Electronics
• Automobiles

Let’s take a device like a mobile phone, for example. Once the design is finalized, its production will be done in mass quantities. The production is not order-based, the focus is to produce a quantity within a specific period. In this example, the time period or planning horizon can be prior to the release of the new model. So, the manufacturing will be quantity and time-based.

Another key aspect of repetitive manufacturing in SAP is that products have a steady sequence of activities. This means that the routing is simple and there are not many routing variations. Below are some key differences and similarities between discrete manufacturing and repetitive manufacturing.

Discrete Manufacturing	Repetitive manufacturing
Order-based production	Quantity and period-based production
Frequent product changes	A steady flow of similar products without many changes
Both make-to-order and make-to-stock production methods can be utilized	Both make-to-order and make-to-stock production methods can be utilized
Backflushing is done order-based. Backflushing happens at the confirmation of individual orders.	Period-based backflushing.
Order-based cost controlling	Period-based cost controlling
High product complexity	Low product complexity

SAP Repetitive Manufacturing Process

SAP facilitates both Make-To-Order (MTO) and Make-To-Stock (MTS) repetitive manufacturing methods:

• MTS: Production is done without any reference to an order. Planned independent requirements are used to create demand in the system. When sale orders are received, those will be fulfilled by the warehouse stock.
• MTO: This is known as sales order-based production. Each production order will have a reference to the sale order. Stocks are maintained with the sale order assignment.

Master Data for Repetitive Manufacturing in SAP

Several master data objects need to be maintained to perform repetitive manufacturing in SAP.

1. Material master – In the material master, we need to maintain the repetitive manufacturing profile and the production version.
2. Bill of material (BOM) – Material BOM needs to be created.
3. Work center – Production lines have to be mapped as work centers.
4. Routing – In repetitive manufacturing, rate routing is used. There can be one or more operations.

Other than these master data, we need to define the product cost collector. Next, we can learn how the master data related to repetitive manufacturing is set up in SAP.

SAP Repetitive Manufacturing Profile

The Repetitive Manufacturing (REM) profile is the key to a successful setup of REM in SAP. The REM profile controls the way how REM is carried out in the system. This can be set up by following the below SAP configuration path or using the transaction code OSPT. Existing REM profiles can be changed from transaction code OSP2.

IMG -> Logistics -> Production -> Repetitive Manufacturing -> Control -> Create repetitive manufacturing profile using assistant.

The REM profile contains the below information:

1. REM production types: Production type selection is the initial step of setting up the profile. We need to select whether MTO or MTS production method is used.
2. Reporting points: This is defined to record consumption details such as work in progress and stock management during inventory management. This is somewhat like a milestone operation used in discrete manufacturing.
3. Automatic goods movement: Determines whether goods movement or backflush needs to happen during reporting point confirmation.
4. Activities posting: Determines whether the activities need to be posted to a product cost controller at the time of backflush.
5. Firming plan orders: This option will make sure that the plan orders are not changed by the MRP run.
6. Automatic stock determination: By defining the automatic stock determination procedure, the system will suggest the available stocks for consumption.
7. Batch determination procedure: If the material is batch-managed, we can define a batch determination procedure and assign it to the REM profile. Then the system will suggest batches based on the defined criteria.
8. Movement types for postings: We can define the movement types to be used for different postings. The system will suggest the default movement types. For example, 261 is the movement type for goods issue. If there are many customized movement types to be used, we can maintain those in the REM profile.

The REM profile is assigned in the material master MRP 4 tab.

Production Version

SAP Production version is a combination of BOM and routing. In REM, rate routing is used. The production version is maintained in the MRP 4 tab of the material master. Under the planning data section in the production version, we can select rate routing and then give the routing group.

Under the bill of material (BOM) section, we can give the alternative BOM number that applies to the production version. This is important to ensure the correct BOM during MRP.

Bill of Material

REM requires a Bill of Materials to be maintained. We can have several alternative BOMs and they need to be assigned to the correct production versions.

Rate Routing

Rate routing is specially used in REM. Rate routing enables a production rate to be maintained operation-wise. It has the same structure as routing and can be created from the transaction code CA21.

Product Cost Collector

The SAP order settlement can be done in two ways:

1. Order related
2. Product related

Order-related settlement is done when the product range is flexible and when the cost is managed in individual production lots. In the product-related settlement, the settlement is done based on the cost of the product cost collector.

A product cost controller is used in SAP REM to capture the actual costs. During production confirmations, the cost controller will collect the costs related to the goods movement performed and the settlement will happen periodically.

SAP Repetitive Manufacturing Process Flow

The above diagram consists of the basic steps followed during a REM process in SAP. Production requirements will be captured based on the MTS or MTO scenario. Next, the production planning and line loading will be done. Line loading or allocating the work centers will be based on the capacity. Then the production lists, which have the materials, quantities, and dates, will be handed over to the shop floor. Based on the requirement, methods like Kanban will be used to handle material staging. The next stage is the production and confirmation of the final order. The REM process will end when the cost captured through the cost collector is settled.

This concludes the tutorial on repetitive manufacturing. In summary, we have studied the key features of SAP Repetitive Manufacturing (REM), master data in REM, and the REM process.

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