Creating a Delivery Schedule Automatically

This document explains how a delivery schedule is created automatically. Delivery schedules are created automatically when your partner sends EDI (electronic data interchange) delivery schedules through M3 EDI Solution.

Usually, an EDI delivery schedule is sent with the purpose of replacing the current schedule, but it is also possible to create an EDI delivery schedule as the first schedule.

The automatic creation of a delivery schedule is managed in the same way, regardless of which EDI standard and subset the partner uses. The separation of EDI standard and subset is managed in M3 EDI Solution.

Outcome

A complete delivery schedule (DS), including the header, item lines, item line addresses, received delivery notes, cumulatives and demands, is created and a unique internal DS number is created.

When the DS is completed, an application message is sent informing the responsible user that a new DS has been received. If the new DS has not found a valid partner agreement, an application message is sent to the person responsible for the EDI to indicate that there is a missing partner agreement.

Based on the level of commitment and time period of each demand, the DS is used as a demand source to a company's planning and execution processes. The DS specifies such things as what to supply and to whom, and also the range of time of the demands. Eventually, the DS will result in customer demands for planning and execution purposes.

The next mandatory step is to validate the DS, which is the first activity in the Processing a Delivery Schedule. This is manually performed in 'Delivery Schedule. Open' (RSS100) and 'Delivery Schedule. Connect Item Lines' (RSS101).

You choose whether you want the EDI DS processing to be performed manually or automatically through the '055 Next Manual Function' field in 'Delivery Schedule Type. Open' (RSS010). If you choose automatic processing, the EDI DS can be fully processed with no manual activities involved.

The following files are created:

  • Delivery schedule header file (ORSHED)
  • Delivery schedule item line file (ORSITM)
  • Delivery schedule address file (ORSADR)
  • Delivery schedule received delivery note file (ORSDNR)
  • Delivery schedule cumulative file (ORSCUM)
  • Delivery schedule demand file (ORSINS).

In addition:

  • The partner settings file (ORSPPT) is updated with the date and time of the most recently received DS.
  • The application message file (CMAILB) is updated with application messages.

Before you start

  • M3 EDI Solution has to be configured to make it possible to receive an EDI delivery schedule.
  • If the EDI information needs to be translated before it is updated as a delivery schedule, a message data translation must be defined in 'Business Message Data Translation. Display' (CRS881).
  • A partner structure according to Enabling a Partner Structure must be defined.
  • A partner alias connection according to Enabling a Partner Alias must be defined.
  • A partner agreement according to Enabling a Partner Agreement must be defined.
  • An item must be defined in 'Item. Open' (MMS001), 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002) and 'Item. Connect Facility' (MMS003).
  • An item alias must be defined in 'Customer. Connect Item' (OIS005) or in 'Item. Connect Alias Number' (MMS025).

Follow these steps

  1. EDI Processing in M3 EDI Solution

    The DS that was received through a network in the form of an electronic message (EDI) is processed by M3 EDI Solution to automatically create a DS in M3.

    The automatic creation of DS information through EDI is technically managed through the API program 'Customer Delivery Schedule Interface' (RSS110MI) and the transactions AddHeader, AddItem, AddAddress, AddDeliveryNote, AddCumQuantity, and AddInstruction.

  2. Creating a DS Header

    To create a DS header successfully, the partner ID in the EDI DS has to be converted to a M3 partner ID. This converted partner ID is used together with the values in the 'Message type', 'Application reference' and 'Access reference' fields to find a partner agreement in 'Settings – Partners' (RSS015). For further information on Partner ID conversion and Partner Agreement, see Create Partner and Partner Alias Repositories and Enabling Partner Agreement, respectively.

    The EDI DS can create header data to the same extent as that of a manual DS. See Create a Delivery Schedule Header Manually.

    The EDI DS and the manual DS are separated through the 'Delivery schedule origin' field in (RSS100/E).

    The received DS also updates parameter 255 in 'Settings – Partners' (RSS015), which indicates the most recent date and time a DS was generated for this partner agreement.

    The created information can be reviewed in 'Delivery Schedule. Open' (RSS100).

  3. Creating DS Item Lines

    This activity creates one new DS item line per received item in the EDI DS. The EDI DS can create item line data to the same extent as that of a manual DS item line. See Create Delivery Schedule Item Lines Manually.

    The created information can be reviewed in 'Delivery Schedule. Connect Items' (RSS101), which is reached from (RSS100) through option 11=Items.

  4. Creating DS Addresses

    This activity, which is only valid for an EDI DS, creates several EDI addresses per DS item line. The EDI addresses are referred to as partner aliases in M3 and are the partners' own identities of the plant, the dock/gate and the final destination. The function of the 'Address type' field is to separate the EDI addresses.

    During validation, these created EDI addresses are converted into M3 identities, such as customer number, address number and delivery specification. See Create Partner and Partner Alias Repositories and Delivery Schedule Validation.

    The created information can be reviewed in 'Delivery Schedule. Open EDI Addresses' (RSS103), which is reached from (RSS101) through option 13=Addresses.

  5. Creating DS Delivery Notes

    This activity, which is only valid for an EDI DS, creates several delivery notes per DS item line. The delivery notes declare the most recent deliveries that the customer has received. The information is used later in the process as input to the automatic reconciliation of the DS demands.

    During validation, these delivery notes are checked against M3 delivery numbers to see if a match can be found. For further information, see Reconciliation of Delivery Schedule Demands.

    The created information can be reviewed in 'Delivery Schedule. Open Delivery Notes' (RSS105), which is reached from (RSS101) through option 15=Delivery notes.

  6. Creating DS Cumulatives

    This activity, which is only valid for an EDI DS, creates several cumulative accumulators per DS item line. The 'Cumulative type' field separates the different cumulatives.

    The cumulatives declare a calculated sum based on the values in the 'Cumulative type' and 'Cumulative from date' fields. The information is used as input to the automatic reconciliation of the DS demands.

    The created information can be reviewed in 'Delivery Schedule. Open Cumulative Figures' (RSS106), which is reached from (RSS101) through option 14=Cumulative.

    See Reconciliation of Delivery Schedule Demands .

  7. Creating DS Demands

    This activity creates one or several DS demands received in the EDI DS per DS item line. The EDI DS can create demand data to the same extent as that of the manual DS demands. See Creating a Delivery Schedule Manually.

    The created information is reviewed in 'Delivery Schedule. Connect Demands' (RSS102), which is reached from (RSS101) through option 11=Demands.

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