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SAP IBP - Integrated Business Planning
SAP IBP (Integrated Business Planning) brings demand forecasting, S&OP, supply planning and inventory optimization into one planning area in the cloud. Planners work in web apps or the Excel add-in. At the shortest horizon, PP/DS in S/4HANA schedules bottleneck resources at finite capacity.
Part of these processes
Product family
Process
From demand to schedule in SAP IBP
In SAP's sample process, demand runs weekly and S&OP monthly; order-based planning and PP/DS take decisions down to orders and resources.
- 01Demand planningWeekly · forecast model
Forecast from sales history
- 02Demand reviewMonthly · consensus demand
Turned into revenue in SAC
- 03Supply and inventoryVersions · scenarios
Constrained plan, what-ifs
- 04Executive S&OPFinal consensus demand
Decisions made in the meeting
- 05Order-based planningRTI · orders and stock
Live S/4HANA data
- 06Detailed schedulingPDS · heuristics
Finite capacity at bottlenecks
Timeline
Dates that shape an APO exit
Two are already behind us; the other two set the roadmap for every company still running APO.
- New IBP licensing modelFoundation required; no CI-DS in new contracts
- On-premise PP-SOP rights endedTo end-2033 under RISE; successor SAP IBP
- APO mainstream maintenanceEnds for SCM 7.0, as for Business Suite 7
- Extended maintenance endsTwo points added to the current maintenance fee
Scope
What we build in SAP IBP and PP/DS projects
Planning area
A lean model that starts from SAP's sample area: planning levels, key figures, attributes and time profile.
Demand planning and forecasting
Forecast models and forecast error profiles; according to SAP, bias can only be calculated with the demand license.
S&OP calendar
The order of demand, supply, pre-S&OP and executive meetings, closing each cycle with an approved version and snapshot.
Inventory optimization
Target and safety stock per location-product across a multi-echelon network, driven by service level targets.
RTI and time-series loads
RTI feeds order-based planning; CI-DS or SAP CPI (new name: SAP Integration Suite, Cloud Integration) loads time series.
Embedded PP/DS
Advanced Planning flags, production data structures (PDS), heuristics and sequencing on bottleneck resources.
Current state
SAP IBP and PP/DS: licensing and maintenance dates
- SAP IBP contracts after 20 April 2026 need the foundation license; advanced demand, supply and inventory optimization are separate. Demand-driven replenishment (DDR) stays in the old model.
- Licenses bought after that date lack CI-DS. SAP recommends SAP CPI (Cloud Integration) for time-series data, and Integration Suite is licensed on its own; existing CI-DS setups carry on.
- SAP SCM 7.0 (APO) mainstream maintenance ends 31 December 2027. Extended maintenance to 2030 adds two points to the fee; customers who do not opt in get customer-specific maintenance.
- PP/DS has been in the S/4HANA core since 1610, so no separate APO system is needed. SAP's scope document counts it among Enhanced LoB features that may need an extra license.
Localization
Running SAP IBP in Türkiye
Turkish Excel add-in
The IBP 2608 supported languages list includes Turkish for the Excel add-in, so planning views can be used with a Turkish interface.
KVKK and data transfers
Planning data is rarely personal data, but user and some customer records are. Cloud transfers fall under Article 9 of KVKK; settle the legal basis at contract stage.
Currency scenarios
In SAP's sample process, revenue and COGS for the consensus demand are calculated in SAP Analytics Cloud. We keep exchange rate assumptions in separate versions.
From the field
SAP IBP pitfalls we see in the field
- The APO exit is treated as one project. Demand and supply plans run in IBP, while PP/DS runs inside S/4HANA; IBP can also take data from APO. Moving PP/DS is really an ERP project. We build the roadmap piece by piece against the end-2027 date.
- Every material goes into PP/DS. SAP describes PP/DS as a tool for critical products and bottleneck resources. Limiting scope with the Advanced Planning flag on the material keeps master data manageable; uncritical materials stay in S/4HANA MRP.
- Integration is budgeted on the old license. IBP bought after 20 April 2026 comes without CI-DS. We put the Integration Suite license and the build effort for time-series loads into the plan at proposal stage.
- The planning area grows with every question. Adding a key figure for each new question slows calculations and makes Excel views harder to maintain. We start from the sample area and test changes with Simulate Key Figure Calculations before activating them.
FAQ
SAP IBP and PP/DS: common questions
What is SAP IBP?
SAP IBP (Integrated Business Planning) is SAP's cloud solution for supply chain planning. It combines demand planning, S&OP, supply planning and inventory optimization in one planning area, and users work in web apps and an Excel add-in. Releases carry a year-month code such as 2608.
When does SAP APO maintenance end?
APO is part of SAP SCM 7.0, one of the core applications of SAP Business Suite 7. Mainstream maintenance ends on 31 December 2027. Extended maintenance for 2028-2030 costs two percentage points on top of the current maintenance fee; customers who do not opt for it continue under customer-specific maintenance.
Does PP/DS need a separate license?
PP/DS ships with S/4HANA and is switched on with one setting, Activate Advanced Planning and Scheduling. However, SAP's feature scope description lists it among the Enhanced LoB functions, for which it notes that a separate license may be needed. Check your contract before you switch it on.
How is SAP IBP different from MRP Live?
MRP Live (SAP PP) calculates net requirements per material and order and creates planned orders and purchase requisitions. IBP balances demand, capacity and stock over weeks and months and compares scenarios. One does not replace the other: IBP results are passed to the execution system, and requirements planning continues in S/4HANA.
What links SAP IBP to S/4HANA?
Order-based planning runs on real-time integration (RTI), set up with CIF integration models on the S/4HANA side; inconsistencies are resolved with Data Comparison and Reconciliation for RTI. Time-series data is loaded with CI-DS for licenses bought before 20 April 2026 and with SAP CPI (Cloud Integration) after that.
Sources12 sourcesSAP Help Portal, SAP Support, SAP +1
SAP Help Portal
- Applications and Features of SAP Integrated Business Planning help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- Example: Integrated Planning Process with Unified Planning Area help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- Supported Languages help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- Integration of Purchasing Info Records help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) (SAP S/4HANA) help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- PP/DS with SAP S/4HANA help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- Enabling Advanced Planning-Relevant Material Creation help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
- SAP S/4HANA 2023 Feature Scope Description help.sap.com (opens in a new tab)
SAP Support
SAP
Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi
Sources checked as of October 2026. SAP Notes require an SAP for Me account.
SAP Consulting
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