SAP PM Interview Questions and Answers

If you're looking for SAP PM Interview Questions & Answers for Experienced & Freshers, you are at the right place. There are a lot of opportunities from many reputed companies in the world. According to research, SAP PM has a market share of about 2.9%.

So, You still have the opportunity to move ahead in your career in SAP PM. Mindmajix offers advanced SAP PM Interview Questions 2024 that help you in cracking your interview & acquire your dream career as an SAP PM Developer.

• Freshers
• Experienced
• FAQs

Top SAP PM Interview Questions in 2024

1. What is SAP PM?

2. What are the activities of an SAP PM?

3. Explain the meaning of equipment master?

4. Why is change data not displayed in order?

5. How overheads are calculated and from where the formula is picked?

6. How do you define equipment/material loaned/leased to a customer?

7. What is the integration between PM and QM in SAP?

SAP Plant Maintenance Interview Questions For Freshers

1. What is SAP PM?

Ans: The R/3 SAP Plant Maintenance application component provides you with a comprehensive software solution for all maintenance activities that are performed within a company. The uniform, graphical user interface is particularly user-friendly and quickly meets with acceptance, thanks to the numerous possibilities that are available for tailoring it to meet individual requirements.

The data and functions of all maintenance procedures performed within a company can be fully interconnected. The openness of the R/3 System enables you to use external systems that are integrated with the PM component, such as geographical information systems (GIS), computer-aided design (CAD) systems, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

If you want to enrich your career and become a professional in SAP PM, then enroll in "SAP PM Training" - This course will help you to achieve excellence in this domain.

2. Is the functional location structure indicator unique across the system?

Ans: Across clients but not systems.

3. What must you do if you have assets (functional locations) with the same number in several plants?

Ans: You must use the plant reference number as the first level of the functional location structure.

4. What is the menu path for displaying the structure of a functional location in list form and as a graphic?

Ans: plant maintenance>technical objects>functional location>structural display
Give five examples of functional location structures.
Chemical Process, Energy (power station), Property Management, Transport, Steelworks, Production line.

5. What steps must be defined in customizing for alternative labeling?

Ans: Activate alternative labeling and indicators for the primary labels. Create a new structure indicator, and define a labeling system.

6. How do you define your own view of an alternative label?

Ans: Activate alternative labeling, define labeling systems for functional locations, and enter label internal view.

7. What level of functional locations should be changed for alternative labeling?

Ans: Second-level functional locations are to be changed, in changing master records extras>alternative labels>overview, change label ‘internal view’ choose structure indicator, and press refresh.

8. What is the menu path for creating a user profile?

Ans: Plant maintenance>technical objects>functional location>labels>user profile.

9. What functions are determined by the category of the functional location?

Ans: Change documents, status profile, asset, object information key, partner determination, and measuring point category.

10. What are the activities of an SAP PM?

Ans: The ‘SAP Plant Maintenance’ comprises the following activities such as inspection, to measure and establish the actual condition of a technical system, preventive maintenance to measure and maintain the ideal condition of a technical system, repair to measure and restore the ideal condition of a technical system and other measures that need to be taken using the maintenance organization.

SAP PM is closely integrated with other modules (for example, Materials Management, Production, Sales and Distribution, Personnel Management, and Controlling) the data is always kept current, and processes that are necessary for Plant Maintenance and Customer Service are automatically triggered in other areas (for example, a purchase requisition for non-stock material in the Materials Management/Purchasing area).

SAP Plant Maintenance Interview Questions For Experienced

11. Explain the meaning of equipment master?

Ans: Equipment Master pertains to one of the master data elements within the domain of Operations & Maintenance i.e. The SAP Plant Maintenance Module.
The business object “Equipment” is an individual, physical object that is to be maintained independently. It can be installed in a technical system or part of a technical system.

You can manage all types of devices as pieces of equipment (for example, production utilities, transportation utilities, test equipment, production resources/tools, buildings, PCs).
Since many of these physical objects are managed as “assets” in Asset Management, the term “piece of equipment” was chosen for objects defined from a technical perspective, in order to avoid confusion with the activated tangible assets.

You define and manage each piece of equipment in the Plant Maintenance (PM) System in a separate master record and can set up an individual maintenance history for each one.

12. For an equipment master record what fields need to be filled in?

Ans: Depends upon the Equipment. Normally, the fields used to maintain in an Equipment master are:
Equipment Category, Constr. type (serialized), Planning Plant, Work center, Plant, Maintenance plant, Location. You can attach equipment to another using a superior Equipment field.

13. How to configure the system to allow notification type change?

Ans: You can define in SPRO the “Allowed change of notification type”. Please follow the below path:
Maintenance and Service Processing –> Maintenance and Service Notification –> Notification Creation –> Notification types –> Allowed change of notification type

14. Why change data do not display in order?

Ans: Please check if the check box for change documents is checked or not in Customizing
PATH: Plant Maintenance & customer service –> Maintenance & service processing –> Maintenance & service Orders –>Functions & settings for order types –> Define Change Docs,Collective Pur.Req.Indicator,Operation No.Interval

15. How overheads are calculated and from where the formula is picked?

Ans: My client has a default setting of 10% overhead and now they want to change.
Plant Maintenance and Customer Service–> Maintenance and Service Processing–> Maintenance and Service Orders–> Functions and Settings for Order Types–>Costing Data for Maintenance–> and Service Orders–> Maintain Costing Sheet
Select the costing sheet that you are using and push costing sheet rows, next see the column overhead rate, select the row, and push the overhead rate.
consumer number, check your maintenance item or plan details.

16. Do we need to run this transaction code IP30 for all the maintenance plans which are scheduled on a regular daily basis or weekly basis so that if any scheduled object exists then it will get converted into the service order?

Ans: It needs to be run as per business requirements.
There are two ways to do so.

• One way manually as & when you run this transaction for required PM Plans say weekly or monthly with your scheduling parameter you will get the maintenance objects.
• Another way you create one variant. Now with this variant create one background job as per your need give the time period every day, every week, or month & the system will generate maintenance calls for you at that specified duration.

Is it necessary to run the IP Transaction code for each maintenance plan that we have scheduled?
Yes, if it is needed that the plan should generate orders it needs to be scheduled either in background job or needs manually executed.

17. Can a service order be generated automatically without running IP30 if we have scheduled a maintenance plan?

Ans: Yes, you can get a service order (PM Order) against this plant maintenance order with a control key as PM03 you can get PR from PR. You can get a service order again here MM integration if the auto PO concept is used then auto PO (service order) gets generated.
But if you want to avoid a lengthy process you can use IP10.
During each IP10 run if the call falls within the date you will get a maintenance call object that is PM order – ——> PR —–> PO PM Order —–> FO (Frame Work Order) PM Order —–> Service Contract ——> Value / Qty (These tabs you will get in PM order operation header general data)

18. Where to get the table which is having user status with Notification number. (not the system status)?

Ans: From the table, QMEL gets OBJNR(object number) using the QMNUM( notification number).
Using this OBJNR get STSMA( Status Profile) from table JSTO.
Using the OBJNR get STAT(object status) from table JEST. You may/ may not get multiple object status for an Object number.
System status number will start from E. User status number will start from I.
To get the text of the status, use the status number (STAT) and STSMA to get the status text from table TJ30T.

19. How do you distinguish, in a simple manner, between Equipment that is being charged and not charged for service?

Ans: Define different equipment categories. Standard equipment reference categories for ‘Internal Machines’ and ‘Customer Equipment’ exist.

20. How do you distinguish between company and customer-owned equipment? Equipment on land owned by the company and land leased by the company?

Ans: Same as Q1. Explore combinations of equip. category and equipment types to achieve the design objective.

SAP Plant Maintenance FAQs

21. How do you define equipment/material loaned/leased to a customer?

Ans: Read the documentation on ‘Structuring Technical Systems’ in ‘Plant Maintenance / Service management modules. You need to define sales area (sales org/dist channel/division) for an equipment with the equipment category being one for which the equipment reference category is ‘Customer Equipment.

22. How can we block service to a customer? It has to be done through the FL since most of the equipment belongs to the company and is loaned to the customer?

Ans: Deactivate the FL. This allows no further creation of transaction data (service orders, etc.). However, the existing orders can be processed and closed. The deactivation can be reversed at a later date.

23. Where is a Service Contract assigned to a piece of equipment?

Ans: The service contract is assigned to a material. Material is assigned to the equipment in the equipment master. This functionality is not intended for managing equipment bought from vendors (where we are getting service rather than providing service).

24. Is purchasing information (Vendor, date of purchase, etc.) copied from MM to the equipment when it is being created?

Ans: Not in the standard system. But it can be done with ABAP batch jobs.

25. When you maintain an assembly in a piece of equipment, is it possible to get the maintenance history of the assembly? Do you have to create it as a piece of equipment?

Ans: As maintenance orders are created for FL/equipment only, maintenance history can only be tracked at that level, not at the assembly level. Assemblies are mere structuring devices to have spare parts linked to equipment in a structured manner. However, in PM orders, you can mention the assembly along with the FL/Eq. Depending on your reporting needs; an ABAPer could use the ‘PM Assembly’ field in PM orders.

26. What is the use of the field “Standing order”? What kind of order is it?

Ans: Standing orders are used to carry out ongoing maintenance jobs and settle them at month-end rather than creating a fresh PM order every time. Using order hierarchies, you could attach sub-orders to the standing order and settle them to the standing order to provide you with a more precise recording of maint costs at the sub-order level as well as a budget monitoring at the standing order level.

27. Explain the integration points between PM and MM/FICO during the PM configuration?

Ans: Below are some integration aspects:
Integration with MM:
1. Material master record for Batch Managed material as Equipment
2. Reservations and Goods Issue for Maintenance Order
3. Material valuation class/types for refurbishment materials as equipment
4. Triggering PR from Maintenance Order

Integration with FICO:
1. Asset/Sub-Asset numbering in Equipment Master Data
2. Activity-based costing for Operations performed through Maintenance Order
3. Settlement of accrued costs in Maintenance Order to G/L Account, Cost Center, Asset, etc.,

28. What is the integration between PM and QM in SAP?

Ans: There are many interwoven activities.
Let us consider one practical issue of Spare Parts purchase.
We prefer to inspect incoming material for compliance of our requirements.
While creating of material master, tick the ‘Post to Insp. stock’ box in the Purchasing Tab.
If we do not want a task list / Result recording oriented inspection, in the Quality tab, choose appropriate selections,
When that Spare is received, it will go to Quality Stock.
Maint. a person can check it and transfer the stock to “Unrestricted Stock” through MB1B via 261 movements, giving a reason as Accepted after Inspection or Rejected.
The above procedure is a practical example of PM QM integration.

29. How to configure the integration of PP and PM, where it is being done in SPRO, what are the pre-requisite, and what are the steps?

Ans: In SPRO – Under Maintenance and Service order —> general data —-> “Create System Conditions or Operating Conditions” –> check the box for PM Reservation.
In the equipment Master,
Under the Location tab, mention the PP work center and
In the Order Header data,
Give the system condition as “0” ie M/C not in operation.