Scheduling agreement and part
Scheduling agreement number, part and plant per call-off line.
SA · part · plantAutomotive Logistics · Supplier Collaboration
Scheduling Agreements & Supplier Call-Offs
ESS Hub gives suppliers structured visibility into scheduling agreements, delivery schedules and call-offs within the same environment used for wider supplier collaboration. Demand information from the customer's SAP, ERP or integration landscape can be made available to suppliers through ESS Hub without requiring every supplier to operate a traditional EDI connection.
This is particularly relevant for automotive supply chains where suppliers need timely visibility into changing delivery requirements but may have different levels of EDI capability.
Process
From SAP demand to supplier visibility
Demand information leaves the customer's SAP or ERP system, passes through the integration layer and appears in the supplier's ESS Hub workspace. The supplier's confirmation or alternative proposal is recorded in ESS Hub; whether and how it is returned to SAP/ERP is implementation-dependent and part of the customer's integration scope.
Demand to the supplier
01SAP / ERPSystem of record for demand
02Scheduling agreement · delivery schedule · call-offDemand information
03Integration layerCustomer's integration architecture
04ESS HubSupplier workspace: Demands
05SupplierSees and confirms
Supplier response — where implemented
01Supplier interactionConfirm · propose alternative
02ESS HubStatus Confirmed or Proposed
03Integration layerReturn path defined per implementation
04SAP / ERP
Conceptual view · message types and return path are defined per implementationESS Hub in navy
Terminology
Scheduling agreements, delivery schedules and call-offs
Automotive terminology varies between companies, ERP implementations and EDI standards: the same document may be called a delivery schedule, a release or a call-off, and these terms do not always map one-to-one to a specific SAP object or EDI message. ESS Hub uses “scheduling agreements & call-offs” for the supplier's Demands area.
- Scheduling agreement
- A longer-term purchasing arrangement defining the commercial and logistical framework between buyer and supplier for a part.
- Delivery schedule
- Demand information communicating required quantities and dates over a planning horizon.
- Call-off
- A release or requirement against the underlying supplier arrangement requesting delivery according to specific quantities and dates.
Supplier view
What suppliers can see in ESS Hub
The Demands area of the supplier workspace lists scheduling agreements and call-offs. What it shows in ESS Hub today:
Quantity and date
The required quantity and the delivery date of each call-off.
Qty · delivery dateType and status
The type of the requirement (for example forecast) and its status: Open, Overdue, Confirmed, Proposed or Shipped.
StatusCumulative quantities
Called versus received quantities, with a cumulative history of the last four weeks per call-off.
Called · receivedFilters and views
Filter by plant, status, type, part and delivery date; table, week and day views; a view of confirmed call-offs ready for ASN pickup.
ViewsSummary
Total open requirements, overdue requirements and confirmations this week.
OverviewResponse
Supplier confirmation and response
In ESS Hub a supplier can confirm a call-off or propose an alternative delivery date and quantity. The call-off then shows the status Confirmed or Proposed, and the enterprise Control Tower shows call-off confirmations by supplier — including who has not confirmed and which call-offs are overdue. Confirmed call-offs are the basis for creating the ASN. Supplier response and confirmation workflows can depend on the implemented customer process and integration scope: whether the response is returned to SAP/ERP, and in which form, is defined per implementation.
01Buyer requirementCall-off in ESS Hub
02Supplier reviewsDetails · cumulative history
03Supplier confirms or proposesAlternative date and quantity
04ESS HubStatus Confirmed or Proposed
05Buyer visibilityControl Tower: confirmations by supplier
Verified product behaviour: confirm · propose alternative · status · Control TowerESS Hub in navy
Channels
EDI and non-EDI suppliers in the same process
ESS Hub is designed to extend structured supplier collaboration to suppliers that do not operate a traditional EDI connection, while EDI-capable suppliers can continue using the customer's existing B2B integration landscape. The objective is not to force every supplier onto the same communication channel; the objective is to maintain a structured business process across suppliers with different levels of digital maturity. Automotive WebEDI · Non-EDI suppliers in SAP processes · EDI & B2B Integration · SAP Integration
EDI-capable supplier
01Supplier AOwn EDI system
02EDIMachine-to-machine
03Integration layerCustomer's B2B landscape
04SAP / ERP
Supplier without EDI
01Supplier BWeb portal
02ESS HubWebEDI channel
03Integration layerCustomer's B2B landscape
04SAP / ERP
Same enterprise process, two supplier channelsESS Hub in navy
Logistics
From demand to shipment
The call-off is the starting point of the shipping process. In ESS Hub the advance shipping notice is created from confirmed call-offs, packed into handling units and labelled. This is the wider business process, not one automatic workflow: each step is its own record. ASN & DESADV · Automotive Labels · VDA 4987
01Scheduling agreement / call-offRequirement
02Supplier requirementConfirmed in ESS Hub
03Supplier preparationProduction and picking
04ASNCreated from confirmed call-offs
05Packaging / handling unitsPallets and boxes
06Automotive labelsHandling-unit labels
07DeliveryInbound at the plant
Wider business process · each step is its own recordESS Hub steps in white
Exceptions
Changes and exceptions
Automotive demand changes, and a supplier needs to see when it does. What ESS Hub provides today:
- each call-off carries its delivery date, quantity, type and status as currently required
- call-offs whose response is overdue are marked Overdue and counted in the supplier's summary and in the enterprise Control Tower
- the cumulative history (called versus received, last four weeks) shows how the requirement developed
- the supplier can propose an alternative date or quantity when a requirement cannot be met as called off
ESS Hub does not currently highlight differences between two releases of the same schedule, send change alerts or run automatic shortage detection; a changed requirement appears as the current values of the call-off.
Architecture
SAP and ERP integration
The customer's SAP or ERP environment can remain the system of record for purchasing and demand information, while ESS Hub provides the supplier-facing collaboration layer. Integration may use the customer's existing EDI and integration architecture. No specific SAP IDoc, API, BAPI, RFC or message type is implied here: the demand messages and the return path for responses are defined during implementation. SAP Integration · EDI & B2B Integration · ESS Hub technical architecture
01SAP / ERPSystem of record for purchasing and demand
02Integration layerExisting EDI / integration architecture
03ESS HubSupplier-facing collaboration layer
04SupplierWeb portal
Bidirectional where the return path is implementedESS Hub in navy
Product evidence
Scheduling agreements and call-offs in ESS Hub
Automotive
Designed for automotive supplier collaboration
- Frequent demand updates. Automotive requirements change often; the supplier needs the current call-off, not a mailbox to search.
- Structured supplier communication. Confirmation and alternative proposals are recorded on the call-off, not in e-mail threads.
- Delivery requirements. Quantity, date, plant and cumulative quantities are visible per call-off.
- EDI and non-EDI supplier populations. The same process reaches suppliers on EDI and suppliers in the web portal.
- Integration with existing ERP processes. SAP or another ERP remains the system of record; ESS Hub is the supplier-facing layer.
- Downstream ASN and shipping. Confirmed call-offs become the basis of the ASN, packaging and labels.
Record
Traceability
Structured demand and response information leaves a record both sides can rely on: which call-offs were open, which were confirmed or proposed, and when they became overdue. The cumulative history per call-off and the Control Tower's confirmation status by supplier make the state of the supplier relationship visible without reconstructing it from e-mail.
Platform-wide, enterprise administrators have an audit trail of actions in the portal, and business records carry their status and dates instead of being reconstructed from mailboxes. Infrastructure-level logging and compliance topics are covered in the vendor assessment.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is an automotive scheduling agreement?
A longer-term purchasing arrangement between a customer and a supplier that defines the commercial and logistical framework for a part; actual quantities and dates are called off against it over time.
What is a supplier call-off?
A release or requirement against the underlying supplier arrangement that requests delivery according to specific quantities and dates. Terminology varies: the same document may be called a delivery schedule, release or call-off.
Does ESS Hub support scheduling agreements?
Yes. The Demands area of the ESS Hub supplier workspace shows scheduling agreements and their call-offs — scheduling agreement number, part, plant, delivery date, quantity, type and status — with cumulative called and received quantities.
Can suppliers see delivery schedules in ESS Hub?
Yes. Suppliers see their call-offs in a table, a week view and a day view, filtered by plant, status, type, part and delivery date, with a summary of open, overdue and recently confirmed requirements.
Can suppliers work with call-offs in ESS Hub?
Yes. A supplier opens the call-off, sees its details and the cumulative history of the last four weeks, and either confirms it or proposes an alternative date and quantity. Confirmed call-offs are the basis for creating the ASN.
Can suppliers confirm scheduling requirements in ESS Hub?
Yes. A supplier can confirm a call-off or propose an alternative delivery date and quantity; the call-off then shows the status Confirmed or Proposed and the enterprise Control Tower shows call-off confirmations by supplier. Whether the response is returned to SAP/ERP depends on the implemented customer process and integration scope.
Can non-EDI suppliers use ESS Hub for scheduling information?
Yes. That is the purpose of the WebEDI channel: a supplier without its own EDI connection works with the scheduling and call-off information in the ESS Hub web portal, while the customer's SAP/ERP process remains structured.
Can EDI suppliers continue using EDI?
Yes. EDI-capable suppliers keep exchanging messages through the customer's existing B2B integration landscape; ESS Hub adds the portal channel for the suppliers that need it.
Does ESS Hub integrate scheduling information with SAP?
Demand information from the customer's SAP or ERP system reaches ESS Hub through the integration layer, which can use the customer's existing EDI and integration architecture. The message types and the return path for supplier responses are defined in the implementation; no specific SAP IDoc or message type is implied on this page.
Can scheduling agreements be connected with ASN and shipping processes?
Yes. In ESS Hub the advance shipping notice is created from confirmed call-offs, then packed into handling units and labelled; cancelling a shipment returns its call-offs to Confirmed.