In SAP S/4HANA, acollective orderis a network of production orders where a top-level order (for a finished product) is directly linked to subordinate orders (for assemblies), created automatically via special procurement key 52 (material master, MRP 2 view). The advantages include:
* To perform availability checks across the entire collective order(A): When a collective order is created (e.g., via CO01 with "Collective Order" indicator), the system performs a material availability check (configured in OPL8) across all levels of the order hierarchy. This ensures components are available for the entire structure before release, reducing partial shortages.
* To post confirmations for the entire collective order(D): Confirmations (e.g., via CO11N or CO15) for the top-level order can automatically trigger goods movements (goods receipt for the finished product, goods issue for components) across all linked orders. This streamlines shop floor processing by consolidating confirmations.
To coordinate orders in the planning board(B) is not specific to collective orders-it's a general PP/DS or capacity planning feature (e.g., DS Planning Board), not an inherent advantage.To show the flow of batches (C) is possible via batch tracing (e.g., MB56), but it's not a unique benefit of collective orders, which focus on production linkage, not batch visibility. This aligns with SAP's collective order documentation.