Lesson 4 of 5
Scheduling, calls and deadline monitoring
8 min
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A maintenance plan does nothing on its own. SAP's training is blunt about it: without regular scheduling, no call objects are created. Scheduling calculates the planned dates of the plan and creates calls when they fall within the call horizon. Each call creates its call object, usually a maintenance order with the task list's operations and components.
Starting and running a plan
| Function | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Start | First scheduling of a new plan, from a cycle start date |
| New start | Restart after scheduling ran with wrong parameters |
| Start in current cycle | Pick up a plan mid-cycle, for example when maintenance was previously tracked in another system; enter the date of the last work |
| Manual call | Create a call for a specific date outside the regular rhythm |
| Scheduling (regular) | Calls the next date; normally triggered by technical completion and deadline monitoring, not by hand |
Scheduling functions in SAP's training. In SAP GUI, IP10 schedules a single plan.
Day-to-day scheduling runs in the background. Deadline monitoring (in SAP GUI, IP30, or the mass scheduling transaction IP30H) is scheduled as a daily job that checks all active plans and creates the calls that have fallen due. IP19 shows a scheduling overview and simulation; IP24 lists the scheduling overview. In Fiori, the Manage Maintenance Plans and Manage Maintenance Items apps cover plans and items, including compliance views and an automatically calculated final due date.
Planned date, call date and horizon
The planned date is when the work is due. The call date is when the order is created, normally before the planned date so parts and people can be organized. The call horizon sets the gap as a percentage of the cycle. SAP's own example: with a 250-day cycle, a call horizon of 0% calls immediately, 80% calls after 200 days, and 100% calls only on the planned date. For Contoso's quarterly compressor service (about 90 days) with an 85% horizon, the order appears roughly two weeks before the service is due.
- Jan 1Cycle startLast quarterly service completed
- About Mar 17Call date (85%)Deadline monitoring creates PM02 order with operations 0010 and 0020
- Mar 17 to 31PreparationFilter kit and oil reserved; order released; work scheduled
- Apr 1Planned dateService due
- Apr 3TECOCompletion date feeds the next due date (within tolerance)
From call to order
The maintenance item decides what the call creates: an order of a given type (Contoso uses PM02 for preventive orders), a notification, or a service entry sheet for contracted work. The order copies the item's reference object, planning data and task list operations; with a strategy plan, only the operations assigned to the package being called. From there it is an ordinary order: released, executed, confirmed and technically completed. When it is completed, the scheduling list marks the call as completed and the completion date feeds the next calculation, subject to the shift factors and tolerances.
- Is the plan started?Yes → continue · No → no dates exist; start it with IP10 or the app
- Is the next planned date within the call horizon?Yes → deadline monitoring creates the call · No → the call waits
- Is a completion requirement set and the last call still open?Yes → no new call until it is completed · No → call is created
- Does the item name a task list and order type?Yes → order with the due operations · No → check the item; the call object may be incomplete
Look at the scheduling list of a plan whenever something seems off. It shows each planned date, the call date, whether the call has been created, skipped or completed, and the completion date that fed the next calculation. Skipping a call is possible when work is genuinely not needed, for example because the machine was overhauled during a breakdown repair, but every skip should have a reason the auditors can read. Rosa's team reviews skipped calls monthly.
Deadline monitoring needs owners too. Sam's Basis team schedules the job; Rosa's team owns its selection variant (which plants and plan categories it covers) and reads its log every morning. If the job fails silently over a long weekend, nothing is called and nobody notices until the work is overdue.
- No scheduling, no calls: plans must be started and then monitored by a daily deadline monitoring job.
- The call horizon sets when the call is created relative to the planned date.
- Calls create orders, notifications or service entry sheets as defined in the maintenance item.
- Technical completion of the call's order feeds the next due date.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What happens to an active maintenance plan if deadline monitoring never runs?
2. With a 250-day cycle and an 80% call horizon, when is the call created?
3. Contoso has tracked a compressor's services in a spreadsheet and now creates a plan mid-cycle. Which function fits?
4. Which transaction shows a scheduling overview and simulation?