SAP BW Tips and Business Information Warehouse Discussion Forum
SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) is SAP�s Data Warehouse solution. It
has been specially developed to allow you to gather and analyze all kinds of
statistical information in the best possible way.
The SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BW) is a core element of
mySAP.com. SAP BW is an enterprise-wide information hub that enables data
analysis from R/3 and other business application, including external data
sources such as databases and the Internet. SAP BW also offers easy integration
with other mySAP solutions, such as mySAP Supply Chain
Management (mySAP SCM), mySAP Strategic Enterprise Management (mySAP SEM), and
mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM).
SAP BW is a comprehensive end-to-end data warehouse solution with optimized
structures for reporting and analysis. To help knowledge workers quickly mine an
enterprise�s business data, SAP BW is equipped with preconfigured information
models and reports, as well as automatic data extraction and loading methods.
With an easy-to-use Microsoft Excel-based user interface, you can create,
format, and analyze reports, and publish those reports to the web. Built for
high performance, SAP BW resides on its own dedicated server. Online Transaction
Processing (OLTP) and reporting activities are therefore separated, and system
performance is not compromised.
If you have any SAP Business Information Warehouse queries, please feel free
to raise it in the SAP BW Forum.
SAP APO Tips and SAP Advanced Planner/Optimizer Discussion Forum
Listed here are practical and helpful SAP APO Stuff to assist those
supporting the SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer Modules. If you have any
SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer questions, please feel free to raise it in
the SAP APO Forum.
SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer is a component of the mySAP Supply Chain
Management solution that you use for planning and optimizing supply chain
processes at a strategic, tactical, and operational planning level.
- With APO - Simultaneous Material & Capacity Planning is possible, as
against R/3 PP
- APO Planning is capable of taking all the constraints into consideration with
Planning for Capacities/Scheduling
- APO Resource (workcenter in R/3) does a Capacity availability check before
scheduling an activity, if capacity is not available, it finds the immediate
next available slot & schedules the activity there. This is not possible
with R/3
SAP Business WorkFlow Tips and WF Discussion
Forum
Practical and helpful SAP WORK FLOW Stuff to assist those who seek to know
more about the SAP Business Workflow.
SAP Business Workflow can be used to define business processes that are not
yet mapped in the R/3 System. These may be simple release or approval
procedures, or more complex business processes such as creating a material
master and the associated coordination of the departments involved. SAP Business
Workflow is particularly suitable for situations in which work processes have to
be run through repeatedly, or situations in which the business process requires
the involvement of a large number of agents in a specific sequence.
You can also use SAP Business Workflow to respond to errors and exceptions in
other, existing business processes. You can start a workflow when predefined
events occur, for example an event can be triggered if particular errors are
found during an automatic check.
SAP provides several workflows that map predefined business processes. These
workflows do not require much implementation.
The SAP HU is used for tracking the handling units used by the materials.�
Some common handling units are packagings materials like cartons, pallets etc.
In the SAP system, the handling unit (HU) expands on the shipping unit.
Handling units can be nested and you can also create new handling units from
several handling units as often as you like. At the material item level, HUs
contain the complete material identification, the quantity, and, in the case of
serial numbers, the respective object list. Handling units have unique,
scannable identification numbers that can be developed according to
standards such as EAN 128 or SSCC.
Handling units contain all inventory management information of the materials
they contain that are maintained in Inventory Management. There are also status
messages that you can call up at any time that indicate whether a handling unit
is only planned or if the ship-to party has been notified of the arrival of this
handling unit, or whether it is in the warehouse or has already been posted to
goods issue. The integrated history function also records each business process
in the life cycle of each handling unit, meaning that you can track the
handling unit�s path and development at any time. Refer to : Logistics -> Central Functions -> Handling Unit
Management
In HU-managed storage locations, all goods movements are executed through the
specification of the respective HUs, and Inventory Management is performed
through the handling units. If you are working without HU-managed storage
locations, you can work with handling units (without stock information) as
before in the delivery and in the shipment.
In HU-managed storage locations, materials can be managed in HUs only. Mixed stock made up of packed and non-packed materials within the
same storage location are not supported. HUs can also be managed in
interim storage types. Unpacking a material from a HU means that the stock of
the material is posted to a storage location that is not HU-managed.
If you call up normal material movements in connection with an HU-managed
storage location, a delivery is created, rather than a direct material posting,
which has been the procedure up to now.
Please note that if you want to use 311 to move the
material already in stock, but in a non HUM Storage Location and you want
to transfer those materials into a HUM Storage Location
304.� If this is the case you can use the transaction VLMOVE with the destination plant and storage location.
Before that you have to create the HU with the transaction code HU02 Storage location: where the material is and the
status: in stock.
Handling units are unique at client level in at least one system. Using an
indicator at client level, you can control whether you are going to work with
the HU functions. Since the handling unit is a physical unit, the central
logistics processes are controlled through the input of the handling unit
identification. These processes include putaway, picking, and stock transfers,
as well as goods receipts and goods issues.
A handling unit�s mobility can be limited if quality checks are active.
Changes in the stock category caused by a quality inspection are made using a
posting change in the handling unit.
There is also a report available that you can use to find and display
handling units using different selection criteria such as material, packing
instruction, or storage location.
Although the handling unit is basically a unit that remains constant in the
system, you can change it by repacking the materials it contains. All the
packing functions, such as packing, repacking, and unpacking, are completely
supported by the handling unit functionality. In this way, handling units can be
created in production, during goods receipt, or in the packing areas of the
warehouse. If you have automatic packing, the handling unit is created from the
packaging proposals defined in the system (from the packing instructions, for
example).
SAP DMS - Document Management
System
SAP DMS are for storing documents such as CAD drawings, Materials pictures
etc.
With the document management system, users will be able to view the documents
with ease within their SAP systems. �
Installing the SAP DMS requires a little bit of planning on how you want to
do it.
You have to give a little thoughts to stuff such as :-
1.� The total numbers of documents that will be store monthly.
2.� The average file size of each documents.
3.� The capacity of your present R/3 system.
4.� Your present network bandwidth.
5.�� Document Archiving Strategy.
6.�� Backup and Recovery Plan. �
Additional purchasing of hardware are required, especially if you have large
amount of documents to stored. �
With this in mind, you can then decide on how you want to do it.
You can do this in a few ways :-
1.� Import the documents into the R/3 system.
2.� Use an external document server.
3.� Have a dedicated PCs where all the documents are stored. �
Most companies that intend to used DMS will opt for Option 2 as they does not
want to overstretch the R/3 database. �
Options 1 requires you to setup the conversion interface.�
The conversion interface allows R/3 to automatically covert your files and
import it into the R/3 database. �
Here is a simple example of storing documents into your PCs, just to have a
feel how the SAP DMS works:-
For those using Citrix, you have to set this at the Citrix Server where the
SAPGUI is located.
Configure SM30 - V_TDWE_C1
Put this command in your autoexec.bat
SET HOSTNAME=PC1234
Restart your pc. �
You can create/manage your documents in transaction code CV01N / CV02N �
Assigning Documents to a Material Master Record
Access a material master record in Create or Change mode, and select Basic
Data.�
To create links to documents, choose Additional data
-> Document data.
The Link to Documents dialog box appears.
Assign one or more documents to the material.�
If you do not know what the document number is, you can search for it using
the search help or by choosing Find document.
When assigning a document to a material, you have the following options:
1. Viewing the document by choosing it in the Link to Documents dialog box.
2. Viewing any originals of the document by positioning the cursor on the
document and� �� choosing Display originals in the Link to Documents dialog
box.
To return to the Basic Data screen, choose Continue.
Save your data.� �
Best regards, SAP Basis, ABAP Programming and Other IMG
Stuff
SAP Data Migration with
LSMW
No ABAP effort are required for the SAP data migration.� However, effort are
required to map the data into the structure according to the pre-determined
format as specified by the pre-written ABAP upload program of the LSMW.
The Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW) is a tool recommended by SAP
that you can use to transfer data once only or periodically from legacy systems
into an R/3 System.
More and more medium-sized firms are implementing SAP solutions, and many of
them have their legacy data in desktop programs. In this case, the data is
exported in a format that can be read by PC spreadsheet systems. As a result,
the data transfer is mere child's play: Simply enter the field names in the
first line of the table, and the LSM Workbench's import routine automatically
generates the input file for your conversion program.
The LSM Workbench lets you check the data for migration against the current
settings of your customizing. The check is performed after the data migration,
but before the update in your database.
So although it was designed for uploading of legacy data it is not restricted
to this use.
We use it for mass changes, i.e. uploading new/replacement data and it is
great, but there are limits on its functionality, depending on the complexity of
the transaction you are trying to replicate.
The SAP transaction code is� 'LSMW' for SAP
version 4.6x.
For those with the older SAP version (4.7 and below), the data migration
programs might not have been pre-loaded.
You can download the LSMW at no cost from SAPNet under Services, SAP
Methodology and Tools, category Tools.
If you are an existing SAP customer with an OSS ID, you can access the SAP
Service Marketplace to download the� LSWM for your Basis teams to install to
your SAP system: http://service.sap.com/lsmw
The LSM Workbench carries out the following tasks:
Reads the transfer data from one or more files (for example, spreadsheets,
sequential files etc.)
Converts the data from the source format into the target format
Note that with background processing, the input file must not be
located in the presentation server. Access to presentation server files is only
possible when you are working online.
SAP CATT - Computer Aided Test
Tool
Just sharing my experiences with CATT (although, I have not used this feature
in the last 2 years or so !).
Simply, any one in SAP can use this tool as long as you can access to the
tcode.� I used CATT atleast in 3 different SAP modules.� Typically, in SAP
projects, CATT execution is a favorite task for "technical" associates.� When
the technical resources are either not available immediately or their plate is
full with other important tasks, functional associates can simply jump into this
activity, since there is no coding or programming involved.� This tool has been
a great gift from SAP since I am a functional person and could not do coding !�
I can remember at least 30 or 40 occassions where I used CATT to get this and
that done.
Below find few examples: 1. Created multiple sales orders (excess of 200)
in a matter of minutes for the purpose of end user training 2. Created
multiple purchase ordes (excess of 200) in a matter of minutes for the purpose
of end user training 3. Created Deliveries for the sales orders in a matter
of minutes for the purpose of end user training 4. Created config. entires,
if the volume of records is large.� I remember once I entered 900 records.
5. Extensively used in preparing the transactional data for the purpose of
archiving.� It worked impeccably. 6. Loading of master data (example:
material groups)
Note: Upon execution of CATT, it is very possible that some records will
fail, which have to be addressed manually.� SAP really needs to further enhance
this area of CATT because, there is no easy way of identifying the failed ones,
it has to be done manually.� One workaround is simply download the result into
an Excel and using sort feature of Excel, identify the failed ones and deal with
them manually
