A daily shortage list from SAP your team can trust
Most parts that stop a line were visible in SAP days earlier. Here is how to build the list from what SAP already saw, and check it before anyone picks up the phone.
Why the morning shortage list is rebuilt by hand
SAP holds most of the data: stock, open orders, the MRP plan. But in many plants a person still exports to Excel each morning, checks part by part, and phones suppliers. The list is late, and it changes with whoever built it.
Three ways SAP alone can mislead
- Some "shortages" are already inside your gate. The truck arrived, but the stock waits for quality release. Book stock is empty, so the part looks short. The call goes to stores and quality, not to the supplier.
- Suppliers ship to your schedule, not to their history. A forecast from recent receipts can make a healthy part look critical. The real question: which supplier is behind the schedule you gave it?
- Book time is not floor time. If consumption is booked hours after the parts are used, a run-out time from SAP alone can be hours wrong.
Build the list from what SAP already saw
- From your last MRP run (MD07 or MD04), take parts whose stock runs out before the next confirmed receipt.
- For each, note the next receipt: purchase order, schedule line or production order, with its date.
- Re-check the top lines in MD04 the same morning. Remove parts covered by stock in quality inspection or in transit.
- Compare with the list your team built by hand. The parts SAP saw but nobody listed are the ones that stop lines.
- Give each remaining part one action, one owner and a date: pull in, expedite, order now, or fix the booking.
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Lasts to | The date the line runs dry on the current plan |
| Next receipt | What has to arrive, and when |
| Short by | Working days between the two |
| On your list? | Shows what the manual list missed |
| Owner and date | Turns the list into action |
Questions planners ask
We already hold a daily shortage meeting. What does this add?
Keep the meeting. Mark which shortages SAP could see days earlier but were not on the list. If there are none, this adds nothing, and that is worth knowing.
Can this run without changing SAP?
Yes. It reads standard reports. No login, no ERP change.
Who should own each line?
The buyer for anything a supplier must do; the planner for production orders and bookings; stores and quality for stock waiting for release.
Get this for one of your plants, free
Your stores, planner and buyer export three standard SAP reports (MB52, MD07, ME2M), with no price lists. On working day 5 after the files, you get one page: orders your buyers can ask suppliers to push back and stock your plan doesn't need for 8 weeks, each in ₹, plus parts about to run short, checked in SAP. Your files are deleted after the readout unless you go ahead.
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