In the past when people were discussing SAP, the conversation very quickly boiled down to modules, for example:
SAP�s courses were structured along module lines so that you would attend MM 101, 102 and 103. While at the course you would learn many things about MM, but not much about the rest of the SAP system and how MM fits into it.
A conversation with a SAP recruiter might go something like this:
Recruiter � �which modules do you work with?�
Candidate � �well, I have a lot of purchasing process experience�
Recruiter � �yes, but which modules do you work with?�
Candidate � �well, it�s purchasing functionality � so that would be, umm, MM, FI and CO mainly�
Recruiter � �great I have just the job for you�
Candidate � �fantastic, is it purchasing?�
Recruiter � �well it says here that they want an MM, FI and CO person and that�s you, right?�
Not necessarily! A MM, FI, CO role might include Inventory Management (MM), Accounts Receivable (FI) and Profitability Analysis (CO) � none of which a purchasing person is guaranteed to have.
Many programme teams were organised along module lines, so that you would have a FI/CO, an MM and a HR team, for example. Training courses were (therefore) often prepared and delivered along module lines too. The result of this was that solutions were frequently optimised along module lines, and less often well integratred, and as for users, well, they were pretty much trained up in a module and left to get on with it post go-live. Fortunately those days are mostly passed, and more and more programmes (from design to build to training) are being organised along process lines such as:
Order to Cash (including parts of SD, FI-AR and probably TY as well)
Many programme teams were organised along module lines, so that you would have a FI/CO, an MM and a HR team, for example. Training courses were (therefore) often prepared and delivered along module lines too. The result of this was that solutions were frequently optimised along module lines, and less often well integratred, and as for users, well, they were pretty much trained up in a module and left to get on with it post go-live. Fortunately those days are mostly passed, and more and more programmes (from design to build to training) are being organised along process lines such as:
Order to Cash (including parts of SD, FI-AR and probably TY as well)
Purchase to Pay (including MM-Purchasing and FI-AP)
Record to Report (FI-GL etc)
SAP now are moving away from describing their system as a set of modules, and now are using the term �solutions�, which is much better. If you visit SAP�s website (as we urge you to do) you will find that they have structured their Solutions tab as follows:
Financials
Human Resources
Customer Relationship Management
Supplier Relationship Management
Product Lifecycle Management
Supply Chain Management
Business Intelligence
If you�re still looking for that list of modules, here they are:
FI Financial Accounting (Tutorial) � essentially your regulatory �books of record�, including
General ledger
Book close
Tax
Accounts receivable
Accounts payable
Consolidation
Special ledgers
CO Controlling (Tutorial) � basically your internal cost/management accounting, including
Cost elements
Cost centres
Profit centres
Internal orders
Activity based costing
Product costing
AM Asset Management � track, value and depreciate your assets, including
Purchase
Sale
Depreciation
Tracking
PS Project Systems � manage your projects, large and small, including
Make to order
Plant shut downs (as a project)
Third party billing (on the back of a project)
HR Human Resources � ah yes, people, including
Employment history
Payroll
Training
Career management
Succession planning
PM Plant Maintenance � maintain your equipment (e.g. a machine, an oil rig, an aircraft etc), including
Labour
Material
Down time and outages
MM Materials Management � underpins the supply chain, including
Requisitions
Purchase orders
Goods receipts
Accounts payable
Inventory management
BOM�s
Master raw materials, finished goods etc
QM Quality Management � improve the quality of your goods, including
Planning
Execution
Inspections
Certificates
PP Production Planning � manages your production process, including
Capacity planning
Master production scheduling
Material requirements planning
Shop floor
SD Sales and Distribution � from order to delivery, including
RFQ
Sales orders
Pricing
Picking (and other warehouse processes)
Packing
Shipping
CA Cross Application � these lie on top of the individual modules, and include
WF � workflow
BW � business information warehouse
Office � for email
Workplace
Industry solutions
New Dimension products such as CRM, PLM, SRM, APO etc
