When it comes to managing production processes in SAP S/4HANA, ensuring that all required resources are available is critical to avoiding delays and disruptions.
The availability check functionality helps production planners and schedulers confirm whether materials, capacities, and production resources/tools (PRT) are ready for use before and during the production process. By configuring availability checks correctly, businesses can detect shortages early, control production order creation and release, and streamline operations. In this post, we’ll explore how availability checks work in SAP S/4HANA, the different types available, and how to define the key elements that control them.
An availability check enables the system to check and validate whether one or all of the required resources, whether materials, capacities, or production resources/tools (PRT), are available in the production process. A production planner and a scheduler want a comprehensive overview of material and capacity availability or shortages so they can take necessary action, if required. In case of missing component availability, the system maintains an entry in the missing parts information system. Moreover, controls can be put in place on whether the system should allow creation or release of the production order if it finds a shortage of a material or capacity needed to produce the goods.
Several options are available for performing material or capacity availability checks. You can manually check these within the production order creation screen, or you can even use a separate transaction to perform the material availability check. Alternatively, you can make the settings in the availability check for the system to perform these functions automatically.
There are three different types of availability checks in the SAP S/4HANA system:
The system makes availability checks on two levels:
The following sequence of steps is involved in the availability checks:
Let’s go over each of these now.
To set the availability checking control, follow menu path SAP IMG > Production > Shop Floor Control > Operations > Availability Check > Define Checking Group or use Transaction OVZ2. In the figure below, the Availability Check 01 for Daily requirements has options to enter TotalSales and TotalDlvReqs on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. If the No PAC box is checked (not shown), then the system switches off the available-to-promise check.
You can define a checking rule to cater to various functional areas such as SAP S/4HANA Sales, MRP, production order processing, and IM. This enables configuring and integrating different checking rules for different applications to meet the business needs. To define the checking rule, follow menu path SAP IMG > Production > Shop Floor Control > Operations > Availability Check > Define Checking Rule.
From the combination of the previously defined availability checking control as 01 (Daily requirements) and Checking Rule as PP, we proceed to define the scope of the check. This step primarily defines which inward and outward movements and stock types the system should consider during the availability check—for example, if the system should consider purchase orders whose GRs on the delivery dates will ensure material availability. Similarly, you can set the relevant settings for the system to include (or exclude) confirmed planned orders in its quantity and material availability calculation.
In the standard settings, the system only considers available unrestricted stock for the availability check; however, there may be business needs in which quality stock may also be considered as available stock during an availability check. For example, in ice cream manufacturing, the stock is kept in quality inspection even during transportation from one plant to another, until it reaches its destination. If such quality stock should be included in the material availability check, then you should set the relevant indicator.
To define the scope of the check, follow menu path SAP IMG > Production > Shop Floor Control > Operations > Availability Check > Define Scope of Check or use Transaction OPJJ.
On the screen shown in the next figure, choose the stock types and inward/outward movements that best meet the business scenarios. Scroll down and notice that in the Receipts in Past field (not shown), you can control whether the system should consider all past and future receipts or future receipts only.
Now, proceed to assign the checking group in the MRP 3 view of the material masters for all the components in the Availability Check field. For this example, use availability checking group 01 and assign it in the MRP 3 view of the material masters for all the components used in producing the semifinished product (Turbine Manufacturing).
As mentioned previously, you maintain comprehensive availability checks of material, PRT, and capacity during production order creation and release. Because creation and release of production orders are two important business functions, you should define the level of controls for each business function. For example, if there’s a long lead time between production order creation and release, skip some of the availability checks, such as for capacity or PRT, until the order is ready to be released. Similarly, instead of selecting a stringent control (meaning that the system doesn’t allow the release of a production order until the material is available to produce it), select the option in which the user decides when to release the production order, which meets business needs more closely so that at least partial production can commence.
To set up a checking control for production order creation and release, follow menu path SAP IMG > Production > Shop Floor Control > Operations > Availability Check > Define Checking Control or use Transaction OPJK. On the initial screen, there are several order type and plant combination entries. For this example, copy the standard settings of plant 0001 and order type PP01 and both business functions (1: creation, 2: release) to the newly created order type PP10 and for plant 1710. The screen shown in this figure will appear after you complete the copy function.
Then, double-click Plant 1710, Type PP10, and Business Function 2 (release). On the screens shown in the figure below, notice that there are four distinct areas: Material availability, PRT availability, Capacity availability, and Batch assignment. In the Checking Rule field, assign the PP rule that was discussed previously. For PRT availability, check the No check box so the system won’t check for PRT availability during production order release. There can be different settings when creating a production order (Business Function 1) compared to when a production order is released.
For Capacity availability shown in the next figure, assign an overall profile and also select option 1 for the Release Order field. This option enables the user to decide on a runtime basis whether to allow creating a production order despite a capacity shortage. Finally, for the Batch assignment, the same logic of releasing a production order (or not) holds if there are missing batch assignments of components in a production order.
Save your settings, then repeat the same steps for Business Function 1 (create production
order).
Availability checks in SAP S/4HANA ensure that production processes run smoothly by validating material, capacity, and PRT availability at critical points in order management. By carefully defining the checking group, rule, scope, and control, businesses can align system behavior with operational needs and avoid costly disruptions. Whether checks are performed manually or automatically, these configurations give planners the flexibility to manage shortages, control production order release, and keep operations moving efficiently. With proper setup, availability checks become a proactive tool for maintaining balance between supply and demand in manufacturing.
Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book Production Planning with SAP S/4HANA by Jawad Akhtar. Jawad is an SAP logistics and supply chain management expert with a focus on business sales and delivery. He earned his chemical engineering degree from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in the United States. He has more than 20 years of professional experience, 16 of which have been spent working with SAP systems. He has experience working on several large-scale, end-to-end SAP implementation project lifecycles, including rollouts. He works with SAP clients to help them identify the root causes of business issues and address those issues with the appropriate SAP products and change management strategies. He now focuses on next-generation SAP products such as SAP S/4HANA, SAP Integrated Business Planning, SAP Ariba, and SAP Customer Experience.
This post was originally published 10/2025.