SAP PM tricky interview questions

Here is the list of Top 100 brilliant SAP PM interview questions and answers. Such questions can be asked in interview with MNCs such as Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, TCS, PWC etc.

These are mostly asked in SAP PM interview questions. We have provided SAP PM questions answers and explanations for experienced professionals. Please add this web page in your favorites. 

Q. Can you use call horizon and shift factors in multiple counter plan?

A. No, there is no such option. Call horizon and shift factors are assigned in Single Cycle Plan and Maintenance strategy plan not in Multiple Counter plan.

Q. What is object information key in SAP PM?

A. Object information key, a special information window, pops up while creating maintenance notification. It contains a brief historical information about the technical object. [Read full answer]

Q. Which t code is used to do usage decision on inspection lot triggered by calibration order?

A. QA32

Q. What is t code for deadline monitoring? 

A. IP30

Q. Is it possible to schedule an individual plan? What is the t code? 

A. Yes, it is possible to schedule an individual plan. You may use t code IP10.

Q. Suppose I have two counters in a multiple counter plan. One is 1000 kms and another is 2000 running hours. If I want to trigger a maintenance order when both criteria are full fill or if any one of the criteria full fills. Do I need to make an enhancement in system or there is an SAP standard setting to achieve this?

A. There is an standard facility in Multiple counter plan where we can assign two counters and put the condition whether we want both conditions to satisfy or any one condition to satisfy to trigger the maintenance order. To check this facility you have to run t code IP43. Then enter desired information and go to tab “Maintenance Plan Scheduling Parameters“. Under this tab there is a box with title “Operation Type“, here we have two radio buttons ‘AND’ & ‘OR’. Please refer below screenshot:

•  If we select radio button ‘OR‘, it means that any of the counters cross the threshold value the maintenance order will trigger from Multiple Counter plan.
• If we select radio button ‘AND‘, it means that both counters must cross the threshold value to trigger the  maintenance order

Please note that above concept is applicable in only Multiple Counter Plans.

Q. What is difference between system status and user status?

A.

1. System status is an Standard SAP element which set internally by SAP when we post certain transaction in SAP. However, user status is a configurable element which can be configure in SPRO to make certain transaction more informative and systematic.
2. User status can control certain business transactions allowed by system status. For ex: We can Stop the system status notification completion (NOCO) unless a user status (PRCN – Production Confirmation) is not set.
3. We assign all user status to a status profile and assign that status profile to  notification type or order type or equipment category etc. This gives a flexibility to use different user status with different notification types but we do not have such flexibility with system status.

Important Concepts on Use Status

• We can set more then one user status at a time if we do not put a number with it in SPRO.
• We can assign an authorization key to each user status and link this key with the user id so that only authorized person with authorized key can set that particular user status.
• We can assign user status to following object types in PM module: Equipment, functional location, maintenance notification, maintenance order, maintenance plan, tasks in notification, PM operations.

Topic wise SAP PM Interview questions

Here is the list of Topic wise SAP PM interview questions and answers. This will help you to crack interviews in multi national companies like Accenture, Deloitte, TCS, Capgemini, IBM etc. These questions are divided into 10 sections. These sections are:

• Organization Structure
• Master Data
• Business Processes
• Notification
• Order
• Reports
• Integration
• Fiori
• General SAP questions
• S4 HANA specific questions

Organization Structure

Q. What is Maintenance Plant?

A. Maintenance Plant is the place where all the technical objects (structure and machinery) are physically installed. In SAP it is a 4 digit alphanumeric key

Q. How do you create a maintenance plant?

A. We do not create a maintenance plant in system. When plant is created in configuration automatically a logical maintenance plant gets created in PM module.

Q. What is a planning plant?

A. Planning plant is the place where all the maintenance planning activities are carried out. In SAP it is a 4 digit alphanumeric key.

Q. What is a planner group?

A. Planner group is the group of people who does maintenance planning in a planning plant. It is created and assigned to a planning plant. It is a 3 digit alphanumeric key.

For example:

Planner group can be created according to different departments:

• ELE – Electrical
• MEC – Mechanical
• CVL – Civil
• INS – Instrumentation

Planner group can also be created as per shift because many times activities are planned for each shift:

• SHA – A shift PG
• SHB – B Shift PG
• SHC – C Shift PG

There are lot of standard SAP Reports which can help tracking maintenance activities, history and cost at planner group level.

Q. What is main work center?

A. Main work center is group of people who does maintenance execution in the field. It is an eight digit alphanumeric key.

Examples of main work center:

• ELEC0001 – Electrical
• MECH0001 – Mechanical
• MECWRK01 – Mechanical Workshop
• ELEWRK01 – Electrical Workshop
• CIVIL001 – Civil

We can assign employee ids to a main work center.

Q. Which Work Center Category is used for plant maintenance work center?

A. It is “0005”.

Q. What is the purpose of having cost center in Main Work Center? How it is different from the cost center in equipment and functional location master?

A. Here you go:

1. Cost center in main work center is responsible to carry out the maintenance work. It supplies (not receive) the cost for implementing the maintenance work. However, cost center in equipment and functional location master is the cost receiver (not supplier). It is the maintenance requesting cost center.
2. In maintenance order you will find that Cost center from main work center copy into Additional Data tab as Responsible cost center. On the other hand the cost center from equipment master and functional location master copy into the account assignment under location tab and the same copy into the settlement rule because it is the cost receiver.
3. Therefore id of both cost centers can be different from each other and their purpose is different in maintenance processing.

Q. What is plant section?

A. Plant section is used to subdivide the maintenance plant from the point of view of production responsibility. The person responsible for the plant section is the contact for coordination between production and plant maintenance.
The plant section can be used in reports.

In different types of industries it is used to manifest the section id and description because most of the clients do not want to display the name of responsible production in charge of that section.

It is a three digit alphanumeric key. It is created and assigned to a maintenance plant.

Few examples of plant section:

• A01 – Area 1
• A02 – Area 2
• PL1 – Production line no 1
• PL2 – Production line no 2

Q. What is the difference between maintenance plant and planning plant?

A. Maintenance plant is the place where all machinery is physically installed. This machinery undergo maintenance periodically.

On the other hand, Planning plant is the place where we do the maintenance planning of the machinery (technical object) which is installed in maintenance plant.

Q. What are different types of planning can be done in SAP PM module?

A. In SAP PM we can have three types of planning:

1. Centralized Planning
2. Localized Planning
3. Partially Centralized/ Localized Planning

You can read more details here. Read more.

Master Data

Here is SAP PM master data interview questions

Q. What is the master data in SAP PM?

A. Please read full article on Master Data in SAP PM Module. [Read full answer]

Q. Is maintenance plan a master data?

A. Yes, Maintenance Plan is also a master data.

Q. What is purpose of Technical ID field in equipment master data?

A. Technical id field should have the technical id of equipment according to engineering drawing. For example: There is an equipment 10002745, now operations and maintenance department can not find out this id in engineering drawing. Therefore, therefore, there should be some field in master data where we can maintain technical id.

Q. What is purpose of construction type in equipment master?

A. Please read my article on construction type. [Read full answer].

Q. Is it possible to change the equipment category once created?

A. Yes, it is possible to change the equipment category of an equipment. Please go to t code IE02, then go to top menu bar and click on Edit and then click on Change category (as shown in below screen shot). [Read full answer]

Q. What is t code to create a catalog code and code group?

A. QS41

Q. Can you use call horizon and shift factors in multiple counter plan?

A. No, there is no such option. Call horizon and shift factors are assigned in Single Cycle Plan and Maintenance strategy plan not in Multiple Counter plan.

Q. What are class and characteristics? What are their use?

A. Please read below three articles for details

Class (Read full article)

Characteristics (Read full article)

Use of Class and Characteristics (Read full article)

Q. What is object information key in SAP PM?

A. Object information key is a special information window which pops up while creating maintenance notification. It contains a brief historical information about the technical object. [Read full answer]

Q. You tried to install an equipment on a functional location but system gives you an error. What could be the possible reason?

A. There are four important settings which must be check before installing an equipment. Although the error messages are self explanatory, but we can check few settings in SPRO and master data. [Read full answer]

Q. Which task lists are object based?

A. Equipment task List and Functional Location task Lists are object based because they are created with reference to a technical object.

Q. What is catalog in SAP PM?

A. [Read full answer]

Q. What is catalog profile?

A. [Read full answer]

Q. Which equipment category is used to represent Laboratory equipment?

A. Equipment Category ‘Q‘.

Q. Where do you assign activity type in master data?

A. We assign Activity type in Main Work Center. From main work center it automatically copy to maintenance order.

Q. What is the t code to create Activity type? Who create activity type?

A. KP26 is the t code to create Activity type. Generally CO consultant creates the activity type. However, plant maintenance consultant should also know the process to create the activity type.

Q. What is the criteria to change the equipment category?

A. There are four important criteria to change equipment category. First one is that both categories must have same reference category type…… [Read full answer]

Q. Which material type is used for maintenance spare parts?

A. For spare parts (Stockable) material type is ERSA and for non stock items material type is NLAG. 

Q. Why Manufacturer field is important in equipment master and functional location master?

A. “Manufacturer” is used in reports such as MCI2, IE05, IH06. By using these reports we can analyze which Manufacturer machinery is undergoing maintenance most. We can also analyze which Manufacturer machinery is taking maximum efforts and cost of maintenance. Therefore, business can take important decisions while making future purchase of plant machinery from that manufacturer.

For better reporting we should maintain a value in this field in equipment master.

Q. Why cost center field is important in equipment master?

A. Cost Center field is important in equipment master because at the time of creating the maintenance order with reference to equipment it automatically copies to the maintenance order “Location” tab under account assignment sub-screen and then it automatically populated in the settlement profile depending upon the SPRO settings in settlement profile. It is important for Breakdown, Corrective, Preventive, Calibration and predictive Maintenance because in these processes the maintenance cost is settled on cost center.

Q. What is structure indicator?

Answer. Structure indicator specifies the general structure of functional location label. It contains edit mask which decides the format or syntax of label and hierarchy levels.

Structure Indicator helps business to define their plant and machinery in a structured manner. For example: At the top level we can have plant, then Area, sub-area, section and so on.

By defining Structure Indicator in above manner we can ensure that we get some good reports at each level such as how many breakdown incidents have occurred in a certain location or level. In which area cost of maintenance is very high.

Q. What is Edit mask?

Answer. Edit Mask is a part of structure indicator. It defines the format of functional location label. Edit Mask decides the type of characters allowed in functional location label.

For ex:

Q. What is Measuring Point Entry List (IK31)? What is its purpose?

A. Suppose there are 5000 measuring points in a plant. Maintenance department takes reading of 50 measuring points on daily basis and 100 measuring points on weekly basis. Now maintenance department wants to have a separate list of daily readings and weekly readings. They can create two different list with two different names (External or Internal) and create the measuring point entry list. T code to create the entry list is IK31. In this way maintenance department does not miss any reading. Once measuring point entry list is created then user can enter the readings collectively in IK34.

It makes the life easy for the person who is taking reading on daily and weekly basis.

User is not required to search the daily and weekly measuring points from the ocean of 5000 measuring points.

It is important to note that we can have measuring points from different plants in one measuring entry list. Which means that this feature is independent of plant.

Q. Is it possible to create and schedule a maintenance plan without task list?

A. Yes, it is possible to create a maintenance plan without task list but we cannot create a maintenance strategy plan with out task list because maintenance cycle (maintenance package) is adapted from task list and without maintenance cycle we cannot create a maintenance plan.

Q. Can we assign more than one maintenance item to a maintenance plan?

A. Yes, we can assign more than one maintenance item to a maintenance plan. There could be a business situation when we need one maintenance cycle and start date for two technical objects. We can use this feature in such time.

For example: A motor and pump can undergo maintenance at the same time. If a motor is under preventive maintenance then pump will also be down because motor drives the pump. So it is better to take their annual maintenance at the same time by assigning them in maintenance items on same maintenance plan. There will be same maintenance cycle and same start date. This will result into triggering two maintenance order at the same time. One for motor and one for pump.

If we create different plans with different dates then it may create orders with different dates and this will increase technical object down time.

Q. Can we assign one maintenance item to more than one maintenance plan?

A. No, it is not possible to assign one maintenance item to two different plans.

Q. Is it possible to change the structure indicator of functional location?

A. Yes it is possible. But we will have to activate alternative labeling for that. It is not recommended at all.

Q. Where do you assign activity type in master data?

A. We assign Activity type in Cost Center. Cost center is assigned to Main Work Center in Costing tab. In main work center the activity type can be assigned. From main work center it automatically copy to maintenance order.

Q. What is call horizon? Explain with example.

A. In this question do not go with definition of ‘Call horizon’. Definition will not give correct picture. Answer in this way :-

Call horizon is a scheduling parameter. It is assigned in maintenance plan header. It decides the maintenance order call date. If the maintenance cycle is 100 days and call horizon is 100% then maintenance order will be triggered on 100th day. If call horizon is 80% then maintenance order will be triggered on 80th day.

Please refer below picture for understanding.

Q. If maintenance cycle is 100 days. First order is triggered and completed. Now what should be the value of call horizon so that you can trigger next order immediately after closure of existing maintenance order? Assume that you are running mass maintenance plan scheduling batch job (IP30H) in every hour.

A. Call horizon should be 0 (zero).

Q. Is it possible to have Call Horizon unit in Days also?

A. Yes, we can have call horizon in Days also. In fact we can have it in working days. So that we can call the maintenance order in advance as per the number of days mentioned in call horizon. We will have to activate a business function LOG_EAM_SIMPLICITY. Take help from basis to activate this business function.

Q. Why call horizon is important from business point of view?

A. Call horizon enables business to trigger the maintenance order in advance which helps business to make necessary arrangements to plan and manage man power, spare parts and initiate purchase activities. Business gets advance info about upcoming maintenance activity in their pending list of orders.

Q. If I want to trigger a maintenance order from a maintenance plan on every 7^th day of a month, then what settings will I do in the maintenance plan other than a maintenance cycle of 1 month?

A. There is a feature “Scheduling Indicator” in scheduling parameters in maintenance plan. There are three options provided. Choose second option “Time – Key date“. This feature enable you to trigger order for a specific date.

Q. What is the business purpose of field authorization group in equipment master and functional location master?

A. In the equipment master and functional master we have the field authorization object. This field allows to put restriction to end user to display and change the technical object on the basis of authorization group. Authorization group can be configured in SPRO and assigned here. Afterwards we can link the authorization group with the user id whom we want to authorized to access that technical object.

Many times Electrical department does not want Mechanical department to view and change their equipment and vice-versa. In such a business situation we can use Authorization group.

Q. What is concept of equipment numbering?

Q. Why do you need an equipment and functional location both?

Q. How equipment master is integrated with asset master in FI module?

Q. What is difference between single cycle plant and maintenance strategy plan?

Q. What is maintenance plan? Name all types of maintenance plans.

Q. What are scheduling parameters?

Q. What is shift factor? Explain with example.

Q. How maintenance strategy plan is different from multiple counter plan.

Q. What is purpose of offset entry in single cycle maintenance plan?

Q. What is maintenance item?

Q. How a general task list is different from equipment and functional location?

Q. Is it possible to install an equipment to a functional location without data transfer from function Location to equipment?

Q. What is business purpose of equipment BoM?

Q. What is purpose of serial numbers in SAP PM Module?

Q. What is reference functional location?

Business Processes

Q. What are the key business processes in SAP PM module?

A. There are 10 business processes in SAP PM. Click here to see the list

Q. In which business process you can use serial numbers?

A. Serial number is chiefly used in Refurbishment process.

Q. Where does cost of CAPEX order settled?

A. CAPEX orders are settled on WBS elements.

Q. How breakdown maintenance and corrective maintenance are different from each other?

A. Here are the key difference between breakdown and corrective maintenance:

1. In case of breakdown maintenance the technical object fails to start and becomes unproductive. On the other hand in case of corrective maintenance the technical object remains operational but not with its full capacity/ efficiency.
2. Malfunction start/ ends date and time are recorded for breakdown but same are not applicable for corrective maintenance
3. A fixing a minor leakage in a pipe by tightening the pipe or welding the pipe is an example of corrective maintenance. On the other hand if winding of a motor burnt off due to overload and motor fails to start then it is an example of Breakdown maintenance.

Q. How refurbishment process is different from other business processes?

A. Here you go:

1. Refurbishment process is mapped with order type PM04
2. Refurbishment order is created with reference to a material
3. Cost of refurbishment is settled on a material (not cost center or WBS element)
4. We need to activate split valuation in Material master
5. It updates the moving average price of the material (Refurbished) after settlement
6. Refurbishment order can be created by t code IW81 also.

Q. What is refurbishment process?

A. You can read about refurbishment process here.

Q. What configuration required in MM module for refurbishment process?

A. We need to activate split valuation in SPRO at this path -> Materials Management → Valuation and Account Assignment → Split valuation → Configure Split Valuation (transaction OMWC).

Q. Which business process cover the maintenance of laboratory equipment?

A. Calibration process covers maintenance of laboratory machinery. Over a period of time the laboratory equipment start giving incorrect values therefore they need re-calibration. There should be a separate order type to track the history and costing. Generally companies take help from a vendor to re-calibrate the machines.

If we do not do it then quality checks at the various stages of supply chain may go wrong.

Maintenance Order

Q. Which movement type is used to post goods movement against reservation triggered from maintenance order? Is it possible to change it?

A. Movement type 261 is used to post goods against reservation triggered from maintenance order. Yes, it is possible to create a custom movement but it is not recommended to do that.

Q Is it possible to assign a user status to the operation and sub operation of a maintenance order?

A. It is possible to assign user status to the operation of a maintenance order but not to sub-operation.

Q. How to settle maintenance cost at order operation level?

A. We have to activate a Business function LOG_EAM_OLC in ECC. This is an in-built feature in S4 HANA. Operation Level Costing can be activated per Order Type and Plant in SPRO. Follow this path in SPRO:

Plant Maintenance and Customer Service – Maintenance and Service Orders – Functions and Setting for Order Types – Costs at Operation Level

It means that you can activate and deactivate this feature at plant and order type level. To see the operation level cost you have to go to top menu bar and select option Extra → Cost Reports → Operation costs overview

Q. Which configuration setting will you check when inspection lot is not triggered from a maintenance order on scheduling a Calibration Plan ?

A : There are three main configuration settings which needs attention when an inspection lot does not triggered from a maintenance order:

1. Inspection type – 14
2. Assignment of inspection type 14 to PM order type (PM05)
3. Inspection point setting in QM must not be disturbed.

Q. Which order type you use for refurbishment?

A. As per standard SAP settings PM04 is used for refurbishment order.

Q. Which t code is used to create refurbishment process?

A. IW31 and IW81. This questions can be asked and interviewer expects you to answer both t codes.

Q. Is it a rule that you will use PM04 order type for refurbishment? Can you configure another order type for refurbishment?

A. There is no rule as such. You can configure any order type for refurbishment. There is a configuration setting in SPRO. Please check below path in SPRO.

Q. Why does settlement of a maintenance order is important?

A. Settlement of a maintenance order is important because if we will not settle the cost on a valid receiver such as cost center, internal order, WBS element etc then cost will remain on the maintenance order and not reflect in management reporting. Management reporting is important for profitability analysis.

Plant Maintenance and Customer Service ⇒ Maintenance and Service Processing ⇒ Maintenance and Service Orders ⇒ Functions and Settings for Order Types ⇒ Indicate Order Type for Refurbishment Processing[/success]Plant Maintenance and Customer Service ⇒ Maintenance and Service Processing ⇒ Maintenance and Service Orders ⇒ Functions and Settings for Order Types ⇒ Indicate Order Type for Refurbishment Processing

Once this indicator is set for any order type, the order will be created with reference to material (not equipment).

Q. What is purpose of maintenance activity type in maintenance order?

A. Purpose of maintenance activity type is to further classify(or categorize) the maintenance process according to type of maintenance business. For ex: Cleaning, Lubrication, Pre Shutdown activities, Inspection, Repairing, Rework, Shutdown etc.

1. It is placed at the header of maintenance order. MAT is a 3 Character key. It is recommended to use numbers here so that you can have them from 000 to 999.
2. In configuration we can define it and assigned to maintenance order types so that only relevant Maintenance Activity type appears on the maintenance order screen.
3. It is used in various standard reports to track and analyze maintenance incidents and cost based on Maint. Activity Type. For ex: IW38/39, MCI8. In these reports we can analyzed in preventive maintenance how much budget is utilized in “Repairing”, how much in “Inspection” in a certain period of time.

Configuration of Maintenance Activity Type:

Q. Which configuration setting allow a Calibration order to trigger an inspection lot from maintenance order?

A. Please follow below configuration path in SPRO:

Plant Maintenance and Customer Services ⇒ Maintenance and Service Processing ⇒ Maintenance and Service Orders ⇒ Functions and Settings for Order Types ⇒ Assign Inspection Types to Maintenance/ Service Order Types

Please below screen shot from configuration SPRO:

If this configuration is not maintained then you cannot trigger inspection lot from a Calibration Order. In general we use order PM06 as Calibration Order.

Q. What are various possible settlement receivers in a maintenance order?

A. For the Maintenance there are number of settlement (or cost) receivers but only few are relevant in practical scenario.

Here is the list of relevant settlement receivers:

1. Cost Center
2. WBS Element
3. Material
4. Order
5. Fixed Asset

If you want to see the complete list of settlement receivers then go to below path in configuration (SPRO):

Plant Maintenance and Customer Services ⇒ Maintenance and Service Processing ⇒ Basic Settings ⇒ General Order Settlement ⇒ Maintain Settlement Profiles

Select Settlement Profile “40” to see the complete list.

Q. How many ways you can create a maintenance order in SAP?

A. There are 6 ways to create a maintenance order in SAP PM Module

• T code IW31: You can create a maintenance order using t code IW31. This is to most common method to create a maintenance order
• From Maintenance Notification: You can create a maintenance order through a notification. There is a separate button provide with white sheet. Please refer below screenshot: