Work Center in SAP PP: Create, Change, Display

What is a Work Center in SAP PP?

Work center is an organization unit where manufacturing activities are performed.

In other words, Work Centers are the master data which represent real machines, Production Lines, Assembly Work Center, etc. Manufacturing activity or Operations are carried out at Work Center.

• Work Centers are used in task list (routing) operations and is copied to production orders or process orders for the shop floor planning and execution.
• Work Center data is used for Scheduling, Costing, and Capacity Planning, as explained below.

1. Scheduling – When a production order is created, the duration of an operation can be calculated based on operating times in routing and formulas which are entered in the Work Center.
2. Costing – The costs of an operation can be calculated in the production Order based on the formulas which are entered in the Work Center. Work Center is also linked to a cost center.
3. Capacity Planning – The available capacity and formulas for calculating capacity requirements are stored in the Work Center.

• Work Centers are used in routing operation data.
• Work Center is created for a manufacturing plant and is identified by a code.
• Group of similar machines can also be created as a single Work Center. For example, 5 similar machines can be created as 1 Work Center with a number of capacities as 5.

Because these three functions all read the same master record, the accuracy of a single Work Center affects delivery dates, product cost, and machine loading at the same time. The next section explains where each setting is stored.

Work Center Data Tabs in SAP PP

A Work Center record is divided into tabs. Knowing what each tab controls makes the creation steps that follow much easier to interpret.

• Basic Data: Holds the description, person responsible, physical location, usage key, and the standard value key that lists the activity types used for costing.
• Default Values: Proposes the control key and standard values that are copied into a routing operation, which reduces manual entry.
• Capacities: Defines the capacity category, available working time, factory calendar, utilisation percentage, and number of individual capacities.
• Scheduling: Stores the formula that converts operation quantity and machine time into an operation duration.
• Costing: Links the Work Center to a cost center and to activity types with their own formulas, so operation cost is posted correctly.
• Technology: Optional tab for machine type and technical details. It is often left blank in a basic configuration.

The tabs are completed in sequence during creation, and the transaction will not allow saving until the mandatory entries on Basic Data, Capacities, and Costing are present.

How to create Work Center

Step 1) From SAP Easy access open transaction CR01

1. Enter your manufacturing Plant code where Work Center needs to be created.
2. Enter Work Center code.
3. Enter the Work Center category as “0001” which means Work Center would be categorized as machines.

After filling in all the fields, click or press Enter to go to the next screen.

Step 2) In this Screen, Work Center basic data would be entered as given below.

1. Input Work Center description.
2. Enter person responsible code for that Work Center.
3. Enter physical location where Work Center is located in the plant.
4. Enter usage as “009” which means Work Center is valid for all task list types such as production routing, maintenance task list, etc.
5. Enter standard Value key which contains different activity types used for standard cost calculation.

Step 3) In this Screen under “Capacities Tab.”

1. Enter Capacity category as “001” which represents machine category.
2. Input processing formula as “SAP006” – It is used to calculate the available capacity of Work Center.

SAP006 = ( Operation quantity* machine time )/ base quantity

3. After filling in the capacity category and processing formula, click on the button:

It will open another screen.

Step 4) In this Screen under capacities Tab, capacity data will be entered.

1. Enter Capacity description.
2. Enter details about “Input capacity planner group”, which is responsible for machine capacity.
3. Enter factory calendar ID, which has public holidays listed for your plant. So, on holidays, capacity for that Work Center would be zero.
4. Input base unit of measure as “MIN” which means work center available capacity will be measured in time i.e. min.
5. Enter the time period (start and finish time) for which Work Center would be available for operation.
6. Enter capacity utilization percentage %( how much time it is utilized out of the standard available working time) of the Work Center considering the breakdown and preventive maintenance of the machine. Input number of capacities which means a number of similar Work Center.
7. Check “relevant for finite scheduling and “long term planning” flags which indicate if there is a capacity constraint, then the operation is moved to a certain date where it can be processed without capacity constraints.

After filling in all the fields, click to go back to the Work Center capacity overview.

Then click on the tab “Scheduling” tab from the menu, the system will show the following screen:

Step 5) In Scheduling Tab,

1. Enter Capacity category as “001” which represents machine category and hence machine time would be the basis for calculating schedule time in production order.
2. Input processing formula as “SAP002” which is used to calculate scheduling time.

SAP002 = (Operation quantity* machine time)/ base quantity/no. of splits.

After filling in all the fields, click on the tab “Costing.”

Step 6) In Costing Tab

1. Enter Start and Finish date which represents validity date of the cost center.
2. Input cost center to which operational costs would be booked.
3. Input all activity types along with the formulae, which would be used for calculating the activity costs.

Click button to save the new Work Center. The system will show message at the lower left corner.

How to Change Work Center

We require changes in Work Center if the cost center assigned to the work center has been changed by the finance team. If Work Center available time for production or its utilization % has been changed, then also we need to make changes in the work center.

Step 1) From SAP Easy access screen, open the transaction CR02.

1. Enter Plant Code.
2. Enter Work Center code which needs to be changed.

After filling in all the fields, click to go to the overview screen of the Work Center. You can also directly go to the preferred tab by using the buttons.

Step 2)

1. Change the Cost Center or do any kind of modifications like a change of available time or utilization % in any of the tabs.

After finishing all modifications, click to save Work Center. The system will show a message like at the lower left corner.

How to display Work Center

Step 1) From SAP Easy Access screen open the transaction CR03

1. Enter Plant Code.
2. Enter Work Center code which needs to be displayed.

After filling in all the fields, press enter from the keyboard to go to the overview screen of the Work Center. You can also directly go to the preferred tab by using the buttons.

Display mode is read only, which makes CR03 the safe transaction to hand to shop floor users who need to check capacity or the responsible person without risking a change.

Important Work Center Transaction Codes in SAP PP

Creation, change, and display are only three of the transactions used to maintain Work Centers. The table below lists the codes an SAP Production Planning consultant uses most often.

Transaction Code	Purpose
CR01	Create a Work Center
CR02	Change an existing Work Center
CR03	Display a Work Center in read only mode
CR05	Work Center list by plant, category, or responsible person
CR06	Display the cost center assignment of Work Centers
CR07	Report Work Center capacities
CR10	Change documents for a Work Center
CR11	Create a capacity independently of a Work Center
CR15	Where used list for a Work Center in task lists and orders
CR60	Work Center information system

CR15 deserves special attention. Before deleting or reassigning a Work Center, run this where used list to see which routings and open production orders still reference it.

Difference Between Work Center and Resource in SAP

New SAP PP users often meet the term Resource and assume it is a synonym. Both objects describe where an operation happens, but they belong to different manufacturing scenarios.

Parameter	Work Center	Resource
Used in	Discrete and repetitive manufacturing (PP)	Process manufacturing (PP-PI)
Transaction to create	CR01	CRC1
Task list assigned	Routing	Master recipe
Typical object represented	Machine, assembly line, labour group	Reactor, vessel, processing unit
Order type produced	Production order	Process order

The underlying capacity, scheduling, and costing logic is nearly identical, so the skills learned here transfer directly to a PP-PI project. Choose the object that matches the manufacturing type configured in your plant.

Troubleshooting

• There might be the case where in Cost Center does not exist. For this, you need to create the cost center and maintain activity type – cost center relationships.
• If you go to the technology tab you will get stuck on selecting a machine type, if so click to leave the tab.
• Person responsible, capacity planner groups needs to be configured in order to proceed with Work Center creation.
• If scheduling produces zero duration, check that the standard value key on Basic Data matches the activity types referenced by the formula on the Scheduling tab.

FAQs