Reuse Planned Order no.

Question

Dear All,
We are facing the issue about number range PLAF nearly exhausted. We have defined solution to atleast extend the range or create a new number range.
However we are thinking if the number range can be re-use.
Example
NR       From                  To
01        001000000        001999999  - old already used
02        002000000        002999999  - new
We plant to delete NR 01
After NR02 exhausted.
Maintain again NR 01 same range and re-use.
Appreciate any inputs/info to be share. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Yun,
Like most NR strategies, yours will work if it is coupled with an archiving policy.  Eventually, you will have to re-use numbers that have already been used once.  You shouldn't allow SAP to attempt to automatically create a new planned order if the number it will use already exists in the database - the transaction will generate an error.  MRP runs may stop....
Archiving and deleting existing planned orders prevents this from happening.
For planned orders in a non-repetitive environment, it is a bit simpler, since they are generally deleted physically from the database by the system automatically when the system has no further use for them.  You can see which order numbers are in use by reviewing table PLAF.  Whenever you elect to re-use a number range, you should eliminate all existing entries from the database that belong to that range...if possible.
If the number range is large enough, and the number of entries in PLAF relatively much smaller, it is sometimes possible to get by just by resetting the "current number" back to an open portion of the range.
Best Regards,
DB49