Configuring Special instructions in SAP ME

[murali_manohar]

Hello SAPians,

In this blog post, we will see how we can configure Special instructions in SAP ME and display the instructions in the POD.

Before we go into how to configure the special instructions, let’s see what a special instruction is and where special instructions can be used.

What are Special instructions?

Special instructions are nothing, but the simple one-line instruction displayed to the operator on starting the SFC at an operation in the POD.

The instruction can be displayed as a pop-up or a info message when an operator starts a operation in the POD.

Special instructions are intended to guide users/operators through specific steps, provide additional information, or highlight critical points in the manufacturing process.

Now, Let’s see what the ways are to configure the Special instructions in SAP ME.

One of the ways is to define the special instructions at Routing level, in the Routing Step during the Routing creation in Routing Maintenance as below,

Create the Routing in the Routing Maintenance ➡️ open the Routing Step ➡️ Select Details Tab ➡️ Special Instructions

Mention the one liner special instruction here and save it,

Here you can see I have defined the special instructions for two Routing Steps OP01 & OP03.

Now, let’s define the Special instruction at Operation level in Operation Maintenance in SAP ME.

Here, I have defined for Operation OP02 &OP04.

Once the Special instructions are defined, we can test how the Special instructions are displayed in the POD screen. But before that we need to configure the POD and define the configuration how you want to view the Special instruction on the POD Screen.

Goto POD Maintenance ➡️ Type of your POD ➡️ Retrieve your POD by Name

You can find a field Special Instruction Display, you can find three options

1. None – Doesn’t display the special instruction (even though you have defined the Special instructions in Operations/Routings)
2. POPUP – Displays Special Instructions over a dialog box.
3. Info – Displays the Special Instructions as an information message on top left corner of the POD.

Based on your configuration in the POD Maintenance, Message will be displayed when the operation is started in POD as below.

I have created & Released an order in SAP ME and below are my order details:

I’ll execute my two SFCs in two different PODs where I have configured Display as POPUP & Info.

Here, is the info type of display for Special Instruction on the POD.

And, this is how you can configure the special instructions for the operations in the POD and display it to the operators.

I Hope this is useful for you and do comment if we can configure the Special instructions in different ways in SAP ME.