Infinite planning is a method of material requirements planning (MRP) that creates new orders without checking the capacity availability of the work centers. This means that the capacity requirements of a new order are created regardless of the existing capacity load or constraints of the work center. Infinite planning assumes that the required capacity can be increased or adjusted as needed. Infinite planning is suitable for situations where the capacity supply is flexible and the demand is urgent or unpredictable. However, infinite planning can also result in capacity overloads or unrealistic schedules that need to be resolved later by capacity leveling or rescheduling.Reference:SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing II, Unit 1: Material Requirements Planning; [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 77.

One-off events: These are special events that affect the demand for a product, such as promotions, holidays, or product launches. You can use the one-off events function in SAP S/4HANA to create and maintain events and assign them to products. The system considers the events when generating the forecast and adjusts the demand accordingly.

Past sales order quantities: These are the historical data of the actual sales orders for a product. You can use the past sales order quantities as the basis for forecasting the future demand. The system applies statistical methods and algorithms to analyze the past sales order quantities and identify the trends, patterns, and seasonality of the demand.

Market intelligence: This is the external information that influences the demand for a product, such as market research, competitor analysis, or customer feedback. You can use the market intelligence function in SAP S/4HANA to import and integrate market data from various sources into the forecast. The system adjusts the demand based on the market intelligence data and the weighting factors that you define.Reference:Exploring the Steps of Supply Chain Planning;SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing II, Unit 2: Demand Management; [SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide], page 76.

You have to use batch management in SAP S/4HANA to be able to track and use the information about materials whose specifications differ for each manufacturing process in all areas of logistics. Batch management is a function that allows you to manage materials that are produced or procured in batches, where each batch has a unique identifier and can have different characteristics or specifications. With batch management, you can:

Define the batch characteristics and specifications for each material, such as color, potency, or shelf life.

Assign a batch number to each batch of material and record the batch characteristics and specifications in the batch master record.

Use the batch number as a key for tracking and tracing the batch throughout the logistics processes, such as goods receipt, production, quality inspection, goods issue, or delivery.

Use the batch characteristics and specifications as criteria for batch determination, which is a function that automatically selects the suitable batches for a requirement based on predefined rules and conditions.

Use the batch characteristics and specifications as input for batch valuation, which is a function that allows you to valuate batches of the same material differently based on their quality or market value.

Heuristics are planning functions that execute planning for selected objects, such as products, resources, operations, or line networks, using a specific procedure. Heuristics are used in interactive planning, the SAP S/4HANA Digital Core MRP_live or in the Advanced Planning (PP/DS) production planning run. In the Advanced Planning, you can execute several heuristics, which belong to both production planning and detailed scheduling, for the same products in one planning run. Heuristics can help you to solve planning problems for defined objects, such as creating feasible production plans, scheduling operations, assigning resources, or leveling capacities.Heuristics can also consider various constraints and parameters, such as lead times, lot sizes, setup times, priorities, or alternative modes12.

1: SAP Help Portal: Heuristics

2: SAP S/4HANA Production Planning and Manufacturing Certification Guide, Chapter 4: Advanced Planning

If you have created a new MRP-relevant material that supports both in-house production and external procurement, you need to specify the procurement type for the material in the material master record. The procurement type determines how the material is procured, either in-house, externally, or both. If you do not specify the procurement type, the MRP run does not consider the material, and it has to be planned interactively using the MRP Live app or the MD04 transaction. In interactive planning, you can manually assign a procurement type to the material and create the corresponding order proposals, such as planned orders or purchase requisitions. Alternatively, you can maintain a production version for the material, which defines the procurement type and the BOM and routing to be used for in-house production or external procurement. The production version can be assigned to the material in the material master record or in the MRP Live app or the MD04 transaction.The production version allows the MRP run to plan the material automatically based on the specified procurement type123.Reference:Procurement Type | SAP Help Portal,Production Version | SAP Help Portal,Material Requirements Planning with SAP S/4HANA, page 79-80.