SAP Module Overview

May 4, 2011 5 comments

in General

On this article you will learn about all SAP modules and a simple overview of each one. As you can see in the above picture we have 12 main modules which inside have several sub modules, you will have an

overview of the main module and also links to a more detailed description of each of them. I will try to write this article in the easiest to READ and UNDERSTAND way possible to help the understanding of these basic concepts.

If you think something is missing or want something to be added to this article just leave a comment.

Now lets go back to the above picture, as you may see the center of everything is the R/3 Client. All modules move around this Center which is the client which is also the string that holds all modules together: What is the R/3 Client?

R/3 Client is defined as an independent accountable business unit within an R/3 system. A client can be a company, corporation or even a business unit. The simplest definition of an R/3 system is one database. In one R/3 system, there is only one database. To expand the definition, R/3 is considered to be all of the components attached to that one database. Thats why we have the R/3 in the middle of our SAP world. Learn More.

But below our R/3 Client we have the term ABAP So now our question is: What is ABAP?

ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming, ABAP is an object-oriented programming language used to develop applications for the SAP R/3 system. The ABAP programming language was originally used by developers to develop the SAP R/3 platform and was also intended to be used by SAP customers to enhance SAP applications customers can develop custom reports and interfaces with ABAP programming. The language is fairly easy to learn for programmers but it is not a tool for direct use by non-programmers. Good programming skills, including knowledge of relational database design and preferably also of object-oriented concepts, are required to create ABAP programs. SAP is also combining ABAP with JAVA. Learn More: ABAP VS JAVA. Currently in SAP we have twelve modules; some of them are integrated by the combination of other modules:

Financial Accounting (FI): An important core module, designed for meeting all the accounting and financial needs of an organization. Within this module Financial Managers as well as other Managers within your business can review the financial position of the company in real time. LEARN MORE

Controlling (CO): Represents the companys flow of cost and revenue, offers all the support information needed by Management for the purpose of planning, reporting and decision making. Decision making can be achieved with a high level of information reducing drastically risks. Basically It is a management instrument for organizational decisions. LEARN MORE

Sales & Distribution (SD): The SAP sales and distribution is part of the logistics module that support your customers, starting from quotations, sales order and all the way towards billing the customer. It is tightly integrated with the MM (Material Management) and PP (Product Planning) functional modules. It allows companies to input their customer sales price, check for open orders and forecast etc. LEARN MORE

Material Management: (MM): Is the materials management module of the SAP. This module is used for Procurement Handling and Inventory Management. Materials management (MM) is integrated with other modules such as SD (Sales & Distribution), PP (Product Planning) and QM (Quality Management). Materials management is used for procurement and inventory management. LEARN MORE

Product Planning (PP): The purpose of PP&C (Production Planning and Controlling) is to ensure that manufacturing runs effectively and efficiently and produces products as required by customers. The Production Planning module of SAP takes care of Master data needed like Bill Of Materials, Routings and Work Centers and stores it in one separate component. LEARN MORE

Quality Management (QM): Quality management is a method for ensuring that all the activities necessary to design, develop and implement a product or service are effective and efficient with respect to the system and its performance. Quality management is the comprehensive solution that supports the company throughout the product life cycle and along the supply chain. LEARN MORE.

Plant Maintenance (PM): oriented to cover all maintenance activities, supporting the Planning, Programming and Implementation, with emphasis on the availability of equipment, staff costs and Assurance, guaranteeing so the state of the art of database and optimization. SAPs Plant Maintenance comprises of the following activities such as inspection, to measures and establishes the actual condition of a technical system, preventive maintenance to measures and maintain the ideal condition of a technical system, repair to measures and restore the ideal condition of a technical system and other measures that need to be taken using the maintenance organization. LEARN MORE.

Human Resources (HR): It deals with various activities done in the human resource department of an organization, such as, Personal administration, personnel development, training and event management, payroll etc. This module enables customers to effectively manage information about the people in their organization, and to integrate that information with other SAP modules and external systems. LEARN MORE.

Project System (PS): Created to support the planning, control and monitoring of long-term, highly complex projects with defined goals .Projects are generally part of the internal processes of a company. To be able to control all tasks in project execution, you need an organizational form that is specific to the project and which is shared by all departments involved. LEARN MORE.

Introduction to SAP SD

May 6, 2011 1 comment

in General INTRODUCTION TO SAP SD MODULE

Sales & Distribution (SD) is one of the core and most-used modules of SAP R/3 products beside Financial (FI), Controlling(CO), Material Management (MM), and Production Planning (PP) modules.

The Sales & Distribution (SD) module consists of various components also called sub-modules. Which are known as: (SD-BF) Basic Functions and Master Data in SD Processing. (Also subdivided in several components as: Pricing, Outputetc) (SD-BF-PR) Pricing and Conditions (SD-BF-EC) Extra Charge (SD-BF-CM) Availability Check and Requirements in Sales and Distribution Credit and Risk Management (SD-BF-AS) Material Sorting (SD-BF-OC) Output Determination (SD-SLS) Sales (SD-SLS-OA) Scheduling Agreements for Component Suppliers (SD-SLS-OA) Customer Service Processing (SD-FT) Foreign Trade/Customs (SD-BIL) Billing (SD-BIL-IV) Payment Card Processing (CAS) Sales Support: Computer-Aided Selling (SD-EDI) Electronic Data Interchange/IDoc Interface (LE-SHP) Shipping (LE-TRA) Transportation (SD-IS-REP) Reports and Analyses

The main areas covered by this module and the sub modules are: Pre-sales activities, including Inquiry and Quotation creation.

Sales Order processing, including Sales Order (SO) creation. Shipping, including Outbound Delivery document creation. Billing, including Billing document and invoice creation.

Sales & Distribution (SD) is a module highly integrated with other SAP Modules as FI, CO, MM, PP & more. This can make SD a complex module, so as part of this Introduction we will also try to detail a normal sales process and how the activities integrate and are covered by this module. Pre-sales activities: It starts when a customer or a prospect requests information by any source about a product or service offered by the company. This request is processed through SAP and the the first integration we have is by the creation of a an Inquiry Document or a Quotation Document. At this point of the process we still havent effectively made a sale thats why it is considered as a presale activity.

Sales Order processing: Our quotation document previously created is send to our customer so they can make effective their purchase procedure. At this point they may want to negotiate payment terms, price, dates or any adjustments to the original document created by us.

As soon as we receive a Purchase Order (PO) from our Customer we create a Sales Order (SO) which makes reference to the previously created Quotation Document. Now scenario is adjusted based on the business requirements. In some cases depending on the business Sales Orders (SO) can be made without a previously created quotation document as also in other scenario this can be a requirement.

Inventory Sourcing: The product requirement from the Sales Order at the required date needs to be available by one of the following options: To fulfill the products requirement from an SO at the required date, we can obtain them by one of these options:

o Taking from Available stock at warehouse. At this point the SD module may trigger stock transfers between warehouses.

o Triggering a production order to produce the products in-house.

o Triggering a purchasing order to purchase the products from vendor.

Here is where the integration between Production Planning (PP) and Material Management (MM) starts. Shipping: When the product we sold is available at the warehouse, the sales personnel can start shipping activities by creating an outbound delivery document (Delivery Order/DO). Now this Deliver Order (DO) can be created by referring to our original Sales Order (SO). This will trigger the preparation of the product by the personnel of the warehouse. If the Warehouse Management (WM) module is integrated, a Deliver Order (DO) can trigger a Transfer Order. When the products are ready to be sent, the warehouse personnel will post the Goods Issue (GI) transaction that refers to the DO. The GI transaction will reduce the inventory level of products and then the warehouse personnel sends the products to the customer by transportation mode that has been determined in Sales Order (SO) document. Billing: This whole process will be managed before the delivery date specified in the Sales Order (SO) document. The finance department will generate a billing document and send an invoice form to the customer. The invoice will request the customer to pay the products we have sent at the price condition and terms of payment we have agreed in SO document.

As you can see integration is one of the fundamental aspects of this module so a very good understanding of the process is required by all SD Consultants. This document will continue with a more detailed explanation between all these modules so dont forget to stay tuned.

SAP ERP From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. (May 2011) This article needs attention from an expert in May 2011. (May 2011) This article may contain original research. (May 2011)

ERPDeveloper(s) Written in Type ERP

SAP AG

C, C++, ABAP/4[1]

Website

SAP ERP

SAP AG (Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) is a German multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. SAP ERP is the corporation's Enterprise Resource Planning, an integrated software solution that incorporates the key business functions of the organization.Contents [hide]

1 Overview 2 Development 3 Implementation 4 Deployment and maintenance costs 4.1 Security 4.1.1 Communications 5 ERP advantages and disadvantages 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Overview

SAP ERP is, in the SAP Business Suite software, the name for the modules comprising the former SAP R/3. It contains the following solutions.[2]

SAP ERP Financials: Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Accounting and Financial reporting Risk management Regulatory Compliance Cash Flow Monitoring Travel Management

SAP ERP Human Capital Management: End-user Maintenance[3] HR and Payroll HR Process Management[4] HR Reporting Labor Force Analysis[5] Placement[6] Recruitment and Training Talent Management[7]

SAP ERP Operations: Procurement and logistics Product development and manufacturing Sales and service Operations analytics [edit] Development

SAP R/3 through version 4.6c consisted of various applications on top of SAP Basis, SAP's set of middleware programs and tools. When SAP R/3 Enterprise was launched in 2002, all applications were built on top of the SAP Web Application Server. Extension sets were used to deliver new features and keep the core as stable as possible. The Web Application Server contained all the capabilities of SAP Basis.

As a result of marketing changes and changes in the industry, other versions of SAP have been released that address these changes. The first edition of mySAP ERP was launched in 2003 and bundled previously separate products, including SAP R/3 Enterprise, SAP Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) and extension sets. The SAP Web Application Server was wrapped into NetWeaver, which was also introduced in 2003.

A complete architecture change took place with the introduction of mySAP ERP edition 2004. R/3 Enterprise was replaced with the introduction of ERP Central Component (SAP ECC). The SAP Business Warehouse, SAP Strategic Enterprise Management and Internet Transaction Server were also merged into SAP ECC, allowing users to run them under one instance. Architectural changes were also made to support an enterprise services architecture to transition customers to a services-oriented architecture. SAP HANA which is a combination of In-memory software and hardware can improve data processing at extremely high speeds. [edit] Implementation

SAP ERP consists of several modules including: utilities for marketing and sales, field service, product design and development, production and inventory control, human resources, finance and accounting. SAP ERP collects and combines data from the separate modules to provide the company or organization with enterprise resource planning.

Although there can be major benefits for customers of SAP ERP, the implementation and training costs are expensive. Many companies experience problems when implementing SAP ERP software, such as: failing to specify their operation objectives, absence of a strong commitment or positive approach to change, failing to deal with organizational differences, failing to plan the change to SAP ERP properly, inadequate testing. All these factors can mean the difference between having a successful implementation of SAP ERP or an unsuccessful one.

If SAP ERP is implemented correctly an enterprise can go from its old calculations system to a fully integrated software package. Potential benefits include: efficient business process, inventory reduction, and lead time reduction.

An article in the IEEE Transaction on Engineering Management journal reports an industrial case in which the senior management successfully dealt with a troubled SAP R/3 implementation in an international fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company during 2001 and 2002.[8] [edit] Deployment and maintenance costs

SAP ERP systems effectively implemented can have cost benefits. Integration is the key in this process. "Generally, a company's level of data integration is highest when the company uses one vendor to supply all of its modules." An out-of-box software package has some level of integration but it depends on the expertise of the company to install the system and how the package allows the users to integrate the different modules.[9]

It is estimated that "for a Fortune 500 company, software, hardware, and consulting costs can easily exceed $100 million (around $50 million to $500 million). Large companies can also spend $50 million to $100 million on upgrades. Full implementation of all modules can take years," which also adds to the end price. Midsized companies (fewer than 1,000 employees) are more likely to spend around $10 million to $20 million at most, and small companies are not likely to have the need for a fully integrated SAP ERP system unless they have the likelihood of becoming midsized and then the same data applies as would a midsized company.[9] Independent studies have shown that deployment and maintenance costs of a SAP solution can greatly vary depending on the organization. For example, some point out that because of the rigid model imposed by SAP tools, a lot of customization code to adapt to the business process may have to be developed and maintained.[10] Some others pointed out that a return on investment could only be obtained when there was both a sufficient number of users and sufficient frequency of use.[11][12] Deploying SAP itself can also involve a lot of time and resources.[13] [edit] Security [edit] Communications

SAP systems - including client systems - communicate with each other using SAP-specific protocols (e.g., RFC and DIAG) and the http and https protocols. These systems do not have encrypted communications out of the box; however, SAP does provide a free toolkit for server-to-server communications.[14] With the recent acquisition of relevant parts of SECUDE,[15] SAP can now provide cryptography libraries with SAP ERP for Secure Network Communications and Secure Socket Layer. [edit] ERP advantages and disadvantages Advantages Allows easier global integration (barriers of currency exchange rates, language, and culture can be bridged automatically)

Updates only need to be done once to be implemented company-wide Provides real-time information, reducing the possibility of redundancy errors May create a more efficient work environment for employees[9] Vendors have past knowledge and expertise on how to best build and implement a system Disadvantages Locked into relationship by contract and manageability with vendor - a contract can hold a company to the vendor until it expires and it can be unprofitable to switch vendors if switching costs are too high Inflexibility - vendor packages may not fit a company's business model well and customization can be expensive Return on Investment may take too long to be profitable Implementations have a risk of project failure[9]