Overview of Planning with BW-BPS

Purpose

In this overview you learn how to proceed generally in order to execute planning with BW-BPS. This offers an initial overview of the required and optional steps and how these are related to each other. You will find more information on the individual steps in the corresponding sections of this documentation, which is referred to each time.

 Process Flow:

       1.  If an InfoCube with the required data is not already available in your BW system, create an in InfoCube with the required characteristics and key figures. Normally you supply the InfoCube with data from the operative systems of your company. You can use this data as actual data as the basis of your planning. With BW-BPS you can also enter completely new plan data, without having to refer to existing actual data.

In both cases you need a transactional InfoCube for the plan data.

You can find more information under Create InfoCube and, in particular, under Transactional InfoCube.

     2. Create master data, master data texts, and hierarchies for the characteristics of the InfoCube. 

           3.  Create a planning area. You assign the InfoCube to this planning area. 

Note that an InfoCube can be assigned to one planning area at most. 

If you specify an RFC destination in a planning area you can also access data from another BW system. 

       4. Create characteristic relationships to ensure the consistency of the plan data. This step is optional. 

      5. Create planning levels for the planning area. You include a selection of characteristics and key figures from the InfoCube in these planning levels. In this way you define on which aggregation level you are performing planning. 

  Characteristics that you do not include in the planning level are handled by the system in the following way: 

  When reading the data, the system aggregates using all existing values in the transaction data records. When the data is saved the values of these characteristics are replaced with the initial value. 

       6. Create planning packages. 

A planning package represents the quantity of transaction data on which the planning functions and manual planning operate.  In this way you distinguish the work lists of the different planners. When designing a planning application you have to consider how you want to separate work lists so that planners do not mutually overwrite plan data or mutually lock data.  An alternative to working with planning packages is to use user-specific variables. 

Every planning level automatically contains a planning package; the ad hoc package. The ad hoc package can be used like a package that you have created.  However, while the settings of packages created by you are saved permanently, the system resets all package settings for the ad hoc package when you exit the planning session.

       7. Restrict the characteristics to your desired value ranges. 

For every characteristic, decide whether you want to carry out the restriction in the planning level or in the planning package. It is mostly advisable to restrict characteristics of general significance centrally in the planning level (for example fiscal year), while characteristics whose values describe certain subtasks, should be restricted in the package (for example planning for article 100 to 200, customer 1000, company code 2000 and 2100).

Try to restrict the characteristic values in the planning level and package to as small an area as possible. This way, you reduce the data quantity represented by the planning package, and increase the execution speed of the planning functions. 

       8. For every planning level create the planning functions you require. 

Planning functions are created in the context of a planning level, and can access the characteristics and key figures that are contained in the planning level. For all planning functions, you require a parameter group (or several) in addition, which contains the concrete processing rules – for example for a function of the type revaluation, the percentage by which the values should be changed. 

You will normally always choose the function type manual planning. With the planning layouts that belong to it, you cannot only enter data manually, you can also look at existing data. Apart from manual planning, you can also create functions of various types, for example revaluation, copy, repost, and provide them with parameter groups. 

       9. If you want to offer employees an individual view of the planning object, then you create a planning profile.

You can assign planning profiles your employees. These ensure that, from the entire quantity of all planning objects (planning areas, levels, packages, functions), only those are visible that are relevant to the respective employee. This makes orientation within the planning environment easier, and makes sure that all employees only process the objects that are assigned to them. 

This step is optional.

   10.  Define planning folders or Web interfaces for manual planning. This step is optional.

   11. Define planning sessions and subplans in the Status and Tracking System so that you are able to control planning processes.  

  This step is optional. 

   12. Execute planning.

When executing planning in the planning workbench always select a planning package first (for example by double-clicking) to determine the dataspace in which the planning function should operate. Subsequently open a planning layout for data entry (in the case of manual planning), or execute a planning function by double-clicking on the desired parameter group. You can also execute the planning functions from an open planning layout. After executing the planning function, you then see the changed key figure values directly in the opened layout.

The connection between planning packages, parameter groups, and layouts in the planning folders or Web interfaces are already fixed. End-users only have to select layouts or function keys to execute their planning tasks. 

   13. Save your data.

During a planning session, you can navigate freely within the planning environment. Changes to data and planning objects are automatically stored temporarily, and must be explicitly saved when you end the session.

   14.  You can protect your data from unwanted changes.

When you have finished a planning task, you can create data slices in the context of the planning area with which you can lock a greater area of complete data quantity of the planning area against changes.

This step is optional.

Result

You have plan data at your disposal that you can compare with current actual data at any time, and that you can also use as the basis for decisions.