Understanding the difference between the different dates on the PO

Confusion abounds when discussing which fields to use on the PO to get my stuff delivered on time...

Here is the short and skinny of it and then I'll open the floor for comments:

• The "Delivery Schedule" tab, of the PO, holds the delivery date. This is the official date as to when the product will be delivered...
• On the same tab is the field "Statistical Delivery Date" which stores the original requested delivery date. This is the field that is used to measure Vendor compliance to on time delivery. i.e. You measure vendor performance based on the original date and not the adjusted date.

 

• On the "Confirmations" tab, of the PO, we have the Order Acknowledgement date (Confirmation Category = AB). This entry is done either via a vendor EDI 855 / ORDRSP feed which generates an ORDRSP IDoc in to SAP to post the confirmation. If the vendor is not set up for EDI then the buyer would need to manually get confirmation from the vendor for the expected delivery date. The "Delivery Date" on the confirmations tab for the AB entry denotes the vendor agreed delivery date. NB: If the PO is a drop-ship PO (i.e. connected to a Sales Order via a Purchase Requisition) then creating this entry will auto-magically update the sales order schedule line to reflect the new date. As a second note, the AB entry on the confirmation does not automatically update the Delivery Schedule on the PO. The PO Schedule needs to be updated for material planning and control purposes. Tip: To update programmatically use BAdI "ME_PROCESS_PO_CUST" - Method: CHECK.

Use transaction WPDTC to analyze the performance of a vendor in terms of executing to a planned delivery time.