Concept of Content Management !!

By S.Suren

In this article I thought I’ll discuss on the concept of Content Management and how ERP Vendors are looking to add this to their solution offering. The term they give for it is “Enterprise Content Management Solution”.

Every business has data, for which they need a database to hold it in, a network to share it among the organization and a software to make sense of it all. Just like that, the organization would also want to keep track of the legal paperwork involved in the business transaction, and to do this we need to link document contents to business context and this is where content management solutions comes into the picture.

There are many Content Management Solution out there, that cater specifically to this requirement of managing contents within the organization in the most efficient and effective manner, and most of these solution providers are already working with large ERP vendors in order to build the solution into the ERP itself. A good example of this would where OPENTEXT (ECM Vendor) has partnered up with SAP to provide an integrated solution. SAP will offer for resale the Open Text Extended ECM for SAP under the name of "SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management".

Just like this there are many other ERP Vendors also working with ECM Vendors to come up with integrated solutions.

Listed below are a few benefits that a Content Management Solution could bring to an organization:

• Track business process with information contained in the content

• Better informed decision making due to the available of important documents shared company wide

• Centralized visibility – Get a consolidated view of all information relevant to a transaction on one screen

• Improve operation’s efficiency and productivity

• A complete view of documents involved in a particular business context

• Extract relevant information from the integrated solutions working with the ECM solution

• Reduction in maintenance and invisible costs associated with keeping track of manual documents

• Improve service delivery by integrating disparate systems and processes to increase speed-to-market

• Capture your organization’s ideas, experience and knowledge that drive best practices—from inception to archiving to retrieval—for sustained, steady growth

• Integration with the existing environment – Implement the application quickly with the assurance of linkage with all relevant data and functionality in your existing software

These are just few of the benefits that a company can achieve with Content Management solutions. Hope you found this post informative.

Have a nice day!!

ssurenlk@msn.com

Cloud Computing and its silver lining !!

By S.Suren

In my previous article I had spoken about various software architectures such as SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), SOCA (Service Oriented Component based Architecture) , SaaS (Software as a service) and WOA (Web Oriented Architecture) and how these are beginning to play an impact on the way software’s and hardwares are going to be distributed in the future.

However, just like anything else, things change and that’s what keeps the world moving forward. So here we go a new term, Cloud Computing, this is new thing around the corner. Many ERP Vendors are talking about, experts are brainstorming if this is the right way forward and then there are those daring companies that have already taken the step forward and doing very well at it.

The concept of cloud computing incorporates many different architectures in it such a Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS) and others that work on some kind of common business application online.

In laments term, cloud computing can be referred to where resources are rented from a third-party provider and billed accordingly to a consumption measure, i.e. more of a variable cost (OPex) than a Fixed Costs (CAPex). This has been the primary reason for its growing acceptance by customers worldwide.

Sun Microsystems, IBM, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are some of the major cloud computing service providers. It is being adopted by individual users through large enterprises including General Electric and Procter & Gamble : Source: Wikipedia.

Columbia law student and tech blogger Luis Villa, identified that Cloud Computing can be observed in 4 kinds of clouds, namely:

· hosted elsewhere (Salesforce.com);
· services involving data that can't (yet) be managed locally (Google Maps);
· services that make creation of new data technically or economically feasible (Wikipedia); and
· Services offering computing and storage, rather than data (Amazon Web Services, or AWS).

So there we go, this new system architecture looks very much feasible in many different aspects and looks like it’s here to stay, but then like I said previously , there is always one better just around the corner, but then how far away are we from the corner is the question !!

Stays informed and stay ahead of these terms, as a consultant in the ERP Field these things come in very handy during discussion with clients and colleagues alike.

Hope you found this post informative and interesting.

Feel free to drop me any queries, suggestions or feedback to ssurenlk@msn.com

Have a nice day!!

Who doesn’t like Green??

By S.Suren

Many of you have probably heard the Green term. First Green Planet, Green Energy, then came Green House Manufacturing and now, Green ERP??!! First question in everyone’s mind would be how can we expect an ERP System to be green and contribute to our planet’s green environment?

I did some research on this matter and this is what I have come to unearth (green talk). I am sure you have all at some point of time seen those IBM Ads that talk about providing a green system and help the environment; well this was my starting point.

Though people term it as Green ERP what it really means is how the ERP provides different industry specific solution that provides the information necessary for the management to help with their strategic green initiatives. Some of the best industry solutions that the ERP Vendors would need to look at to be able to term their ERP as Greener than others, would be industries associated with transportation and manufacturing.

Simply put, the better functionalities available in the system to be able to track and monitor the logistical operation with a financial view point, will help identify those processes that are not value adding and at the same time have a high consumption of non-renewable resources, and by identifying and eliminating these will help towards the achievement of being a more green company.

Some examples (without going into too many details):

1. Take for instance a manufacturing company that often only ships goods, however if their production takes more time than anticipated, they would have to airfreight them adding to more fuel consumption per unit of the good transported as opposed to sea freight, so there you go with an ERP they could plan better and meet their deadlines and in turn contribute to the environment, evidence of Green ERP!!

2. By using an ERP systems functionality to select the best routes possible for a transportation company, will help reduce their fuel consumption, this was actually practiced by a well known company that helped it reduce their fuel bills by upto 30% and thereby contribute to their global green strategy.

3. In the service sector perhaps by identifying the resource requirements of personals involved will help to better plan their time, so if its identified that the service personal has no need to travel anywhere for a particular day, maybe the management could ask him to work from home, this would save on his/her travelling time and thereby help reduce whatever little fuel he/she might use in getting to work. After all, the energy saved at work by that person working from home is also likely to contribute to a green initiative, and did you know, studies show that employees working from home put it more productive hours than they would at office.

4. With the new software solution model architectures such as “SaaS”, means that hosted solution by the ERP Vendor will help the client’s costs in terms of energy and related costs associated with having to maintain their own server rooms, infrastructure etc. When looking at these implications at a larger scale it does seem to point out that there is a green impact that software model architectures like these have.

5. Not to forget the paperless office that an ERP System can bring to an organization. Less paper means more trees saved which in turn helps in lowering temperatures, filtering dust, and absorbing ozone, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, and by of course releasing oxygen, and there we go a direct connection on how an ERP can be Green!!

The above list is not exhaustive; there are many more examples that can be given, but for now this is it, perhaps in the future I shall posts more!!

Have a nice day!!

Your comments, suggestions and questions are welcomed at: ssurenlk@msn.com

Keeping an EYE OUT !!

By S.Suren

There are a few products being churned out by leading ERP and IT Vendors, with the intention to make the most out of the rebound in the economy. As industry consultants it would be advisable to keep an eye on these softwares and be updated with happening in the industry. Following are few of the products that are worth tracking :

SAP Business Suite 7 - With Business Suite 7, SAP is delivering packaged process-oriented solutions targeted at achieving business value through best practices.

SAP Business Suite Themes represent key business value-generation models. For example, a company may focus on a strategy, or theme, such as Operational Excellence, Superior Customer Value or achieving Product and Service Leadership to differentiate themselves in the market.

Read more

SAP Business ByDesign - There has been a lot of speculation about this software, initially SAP was blamed for putting too much resources into it, later they were praised for adapting the SaaS approach and now with CLOUD Computing being the buzz word, industry analyst feel SAP could do well with this. However, SAP has given out signals that they are looking to market this product even more agreesively to make the most out of the business that would be available in the rebound.

ORACLE Fusion Applications : Oracle Fusion Applications is said to leverage industry standards and technologies to transform organizations into next-generation enterprises. Oracle Fusion Applications are service-enabled, enterprise applications that can be easily integrated into a service-oriented architecture and made available as software as a service.

Read more

Fujitsu's new G2 ERP System : The ERP is available world wide today and its main focus is as a production management ERP for the manufacturing industry.

Read more

There are other products from leading IT Vendors such as SAGE and IBM that have been introduced as well. It always useful to keep an eye out on these and be upto date with whats happening with the industry, especially during these times.

All the best !!

Queries, suggestions can be sent to ssurenlk@msn.com.

ERP, where it all started…and its connection with the Apparel & Footwear Sector… !!

By: S.Suren

In this article I thought I’ll discuss a bit about an interesting topic that is common to all ERPs.I am certain most of us are aware of what an ERP is and its role in businesses, but have you ever thought of how this came into being and what was its initial purpose.

With this mind, let’s take a look at where it all began. Like everything else, ERP too had to come through an evolution.

Inventory Management

Initially at the very beginning, businesses concentrated more on the tangible products they had. The product that could be seen and touched was the final product and businesses were concerned about how best they could monitor these to do business efficiently. In order to do this, the business needed to be aware of their physical stocks and how best to maintain them in the most efficient manner. This needed a system in place and hence the term “Inventory Management”. A very famous term that came with the introduction of the Inventory Management and production system is what we now refer to as BOM (Bills of Material).

The BOM is a very significant term in the AFS Industry as well, simply because of the complexities that come with being up-to-date with the latest fashion trends puts a considerable strain on the proper definition and structure of a BOM.

Material Requirement Planning (MRP)

With the inventory management systems in place, it provided businesses with a track on their stocks, after this the attention moved on towards requirement planning to cater to the needs of production. With the finished goods in mind, there needed to be a system that would help in planning the material requirements in order to produce what was needed and in the most efficient manner.

Hence the term, Material Requirement Planning. In the SAP AFS Solution MRP plays a key role, since it is used in determining the requirements of a finished product based on the BOM and generating the purchase requisitions and planned production orders.

This task was considered cumbersome during the 1970, but as we all know now, with solutions such as SAP AFS it’s just a matter of executing a single transaction and the raising of purchase requisitions and planned orders are taken care of automatically.

Manufacturing Requirement Planning (MRP 11)

Continuing from the previous process of calculating the material requirements in order to start manufacturing the finished goods, the next significant operation would be the manufacturing process. With the complexities involved with Manufacturing came the need to build systems that would interface with the various operations outside the manufacturing framework such as planning, procurement and distribution with the operations of manufacturing itself.

Given the nature of the AFS Industry, it’s understood that there are many stages involved before the completion of the finished product, and it is a requirement that the nature of the product in these stages are known at given point of time to enable the efficient planning of subsequent operations such as delivery & billing and consequently planning the next production cycle.

Finally…. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Most of the previous processes we looked at were more often than not concentrated on production operations, this was realized during the 1990 and so came the need to have systems to cater to the requirement of efficiently carrying out backend and value adding operations as well. These operations are none other than what we now know as, Financials, Marketing, Human Resource, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Corporate Performance Management (CPM) etc.

The need to cater to these brought into the existence of systems that were designed to specialize in these separate areas and then to integrate it all into one package, and hence the name ERP.

However, its not safe to make any assumption that this would be the final term used when referring to systems that integrate all aspects of business operation into one single package since the gaining prominence of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Software as a Service (SAAS), Cloud Computing etc, could very well have an impact on the next term we all would be using instead of ERP.


Hope you found this article informative. Have a nice day!!

mySAP FI NEW GL - Useful Info

Less known functional enhancements in New G/L

Coding Block

User specific account assignment object (e.g. “Region” to support geographic segment reporting) can be created in FI using the Coding Block concept. One of my previous post explains this area: Click Here.

However, they cannot be posted to directly in other application components (Logistics, Controlling) è need to define automatic derivation rules.

Post Processing

Post processing of work lists now becomes relevant (similar to, for example, CATS transfers) as transfer posting errors may arise (e.g. if the FI period is closed when the CO entry is posted) – use transaction FAGLCOFIFLUP

Hide the Old G/L Node

Once you have become familiar with the paths for New General Ledger Accounting, you can run

Program “RFAGL_SWAP_IMG_OLD” to hide the classic Financial Accounting paths.


Segment Derivation

When using Segments in New G/L, the segments are picked from the profit center to which it is assigned. If there is not assignment the segment account assignment does not trigger.

But a custom development can be done using a user exit (BadI): FAGL_DERIVE_SEGMENT

Drill-down Reporting

Transaction FGI0 displays a list of defined program variants, which you can then run instantly.

Technical Info on New G/L

A new totals table is now available which can be used as a template in creating user specific totals tables as well.

FAGLFLEXT – Totals Table

With SAP New G/L, line item entries (ledger specific) are updated in a new set of tables:

FAGLFLKEXA – Actual Line Item

FAGLFLEXP – Planned Line Item

A new table is used to capture the documents posted in relation to the selected parallel ledger valuations carried out at the year-end closing.

BSEG_ADD

Useful Notes in New G/L

If at any time there is (though there never should be) a balance in the “Zero-balance clearing account” when document splitting is used, the following note needs to be implemented:

New GL Clearing Account Balance – 1049224

For any queries you can mail me at ssurenlk@msn.com

Authorization Group usage in SAP Financials !!

Introduction

This post details out the steps to cater to the requirement of a client to be able to control the duties of accounting clerks to a specific vendor.

E.g.

Accounting Clerk 1 should be able to access only Vendor 1 (e.g. VENDSTY)

Accounting Clerk 2 should be able to access only Vendor 2

Process

We can use the Authorization group concept available in the vendor master in order to do this.

Step 1

Define an Authorization Group

1. Go to SE54
2. Enter the table “LFA1”
3. Select the radio button “Authorization Group”

4. Click on “Create/Change”
5. Create a “New Authorization Group”
6. Save

Step 2

Enter the relevant Authorization Group in the Vendor master.

1. Go to XK02
2. Enter the Vendor No, select the tab “Accounting Info”
3. Enter the “Authorization Group”

4. Save

Step 3

Enter the relevant Authorization Group in the role that is assigned to the Accounting Clerk

1. Go to PFCJ
2. Enter the Role that has been assigned to the relevant Accounting Clerk

3. Click on “Change”
4. Go to “Authorization Tab”
5. Click on “Change Authorization”

6. Go to “Financial Accounting -> Vendor : Account Authorization”
7. Specify the Activity “Change”
8. Specify the “Authorization Group ”

This means that the Accounting clerk attached to this role can only change the vendor account whom have been assigned this “Authorization Group” in the master (as shown in Step 2 above), do the same for the other roles of the other Accounting Clerk with their respective Vendors Authorization Group.

For any queries or feedback, drop me an email at : ssurenlk@msn.com

Have a nice day !!

Preparing for the rebound !!

By S.Suren

Looks like there are some companies already planning to dish out some new offerings once the economy begins to show signs of recovery.

• SAP has its eye on going all out with its SaaS oriented Business ByDesign solution very soon, though they wouldn’t specify a date the experts predict it should be rolled out in the near future.

• ERP Consulting companies believe that there could be a growing demand for ERP solution in parts of Latin America very soon and have begun investing in these regions.

• Large ERP vendors are spending more time to work on the technology changes to their system architecture right now, to make sure that their products are up, running and available to the markets that most need it once the investment dollars are back in business.

It’ll be interesting to see the products that are to be dished out, my prediction is there is going to be a price war when things begin to look up and these could well mean that there are lot of bargains to be enjoyed by customers, so if you are one make it count!!

Have a nice day!!

ssurenlk@msn.com

Positive from the recession!!

Well, we’re still in recession and it doesn’t look like improving anytime soon, but then there are still some good that has come out of this recession.

• Scammers who thought they could always get away with Ponzi scheme now believe that someday they will have to pay for it.

• People who have been laid off have taken on to do their own little businesses with which they feel more secured and begin to realize their entrepreneurship skills.

• A shift in attitudes, everyone is open to take on all kind of odd jobs to survive this recession and in the process begin to appreciate that any job can bring satisfaction.

• Everyone is more interested in the financial markets now than they were before the recession, their interest is only likely to grow during recovery and beyond, which means more involvement in the financial markets are likely in the post-recovery period which could lead to a closely monitored market that cannot be influenced only just by few corporate or individuals.

• More stringent government policies have been put in place in controlling the activities of large corporate (so I’ll like to think).

• From now on not every tom, dick and harry would be appointed as CEO of large corporates since now everyone realizes how their incompetence could lead to far reaching consequences. This means only those who have a genuine interest, understanding and the right attitude would also take on the job.

• People spending less on unimportant stuff and getting to better understand how much they could have saved in the first place.

• For those who have been laid off and who have been spending more time with their family, begin to realize on an emotional level what they have been missing while they were at work. From here on they will see things differently when it comes to balancing work life with personal life.

Those were just some of the good, I’m sure there are many more that can be considered, for instance, imagine the positive impact on the environment due to the fall in demand in the travel industry, carbon emitting production plants that are out of business etc., however this is something only most conversationalist will agree with, I guess. Related topic: GREEN ERP.

Hope you found this post interesting.

SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) and SAP AFS !!

By: S.Suren

In my previous post I listed out a few important things about SCM and the basics that need to be followed to build a efficient Supply Chain Management model. In relation to that post I would like to discuss the importance of SRM (Supplier Relationship Management). This is not a very widely spoken about subject simply because CRM has taken the spotlight away from this since the golden rule “customers are king” is more prominent in any industry and thats why the sources of supply have not been given that much of attention than the receiving party, the customer.

However, the impact of a good SRM model would definitely help in providing world class customer service. So then, let’s look at SRM in a little more detail in the context of the Apparel Industry.

SRM is more likely to play a vital role in the manufacturing companies and especially those that have very complicated products, and this is exactly what the AFS Industry is all about. Given the unique fashion needs of each and every individual it’s only apparent that this leads to complex BOM Structures that go into producing the garments that caters to these needs.

Given that fact, it’s likely that there are many suppliers that the manufacturing company will need to work with in the most efficient manner to make sure that they receive the right materials at the right quantity and quality to be able to produce quality garments and deliver them to the market at the right time.

In the AFS Industry even a simple BOM (Bill of Material) Structure for a garment would have many different components in it, for example, the button, the thread, the elastic, the embroidery material, the fabric, the embellishments etc etc.

So then how does that SAP Standard R/3 and AFS Solution caters to these needs, below is a listing of some of them:

• Sorting and Vendor ranking criteria – This option in SAP AFS proposed the best vendor to assign the purchase requisition to , based on the criteria’s specified in here.

• AFS Specific Criteria for Vendor Ranking: These include criterias such as Factory Status, Complexity Factor and Lowest ‘FOB’.

• Ability to use Fixed Criterias (AFS Enhancement available) – Using this option you can also rank and maintain the best vendor to buy from taking into account criterias such as , vendor capacity, quotas the vendor is subject to and political restrictions placed on vendors that are from a particular region.

• Complexity Factors – using this option you can judge the extent to which the vendor has the ability to be able to produce a material that requires complex production steps.

• Route Determination (AFS Enhancement available) – Even the move time, lead time and shipping types can be maintained.

• Subcontracting – With the inclusion of being able to set preference sub. Indicator for those vendors who use provision components in the material that is supplied to you.

So there you go, these are just some of the functions available. It can be argued that the information from transactions done with suppliers can be retrieved and reported in tools available in modules such as BI and FI. Perhaps in my future posts I shall discuss on these aspects.

Hope you found this post informative. Feel free to contact me on ssurenlk@msn.com if you have any queries.

For more information of features avaible on supplier management, click here.

Have a nice day!!

SAP FI Coding Block Config !!

Coding Blocks

In the coding block of the system you can create your own fields. The new coding fields can then be used in FI General Ledger accounts, MM Inventory Management and MM Purchasing, and are also updated in the line items created in the Controlling applications.

These fields can then be used to input data you want to record when entering documents in SAP.

Activity Edit Coding Block
Path IMG -> Financial Accounting (NEW) -> Financial Account Basic Setting (New) -> Ledgers -> Fields -> Customer Fields (OXK3)

In the below example, we are going to be adding a field to record the “Users HR ID”. This will be updated by the user when entering the document in the user, with his/her own HR ID.

Note : It is vital that the fields to be added in the Coding Block be decided before hand and the relevant modification made before other customization efforts, since adding a new field will update the tables in SAP.

Step 1 : Add Field

Step 2 : Enter the Development Class and the Field attributes.

Step 3 : Execute in “Test Run” to check for any errors.

Step 4: Create a Coding Block Field and save the Transport Request ID. This would be a workbench request.

Step 5 : Next make the FIELD as Optional/ Mandatory in the Field Status of the Posting Key and the Field Group.

And that’s it, now you would get this field every time you enter a transaction for this posting key and the account with the field status group to which this field has been made available.

Hope this you found this post informative. Feel free to drop me an email on the below address for any quick clarifications.

Have a nice day !!

suren@erparena.com

Are we coming out of it ??!!

By S.Suren

Yes, it’s about the economy. After almost a year in recession, are we beginning to see some signs of improvement ?

With the economic environment stabilizing for 2 worst hit sectors in the UK, things there could be looking up, though not a recovery at least the economy for these sectors have begun to stabilize.

It has been mentioned by many experts that Japan’s economy could be the first to look up. The signs for these are beginning to show in the Nikkei. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.4% and the Japan's industrial output rose in May for the third straight month indicating improvement in its manufacturing sector, but this does not necessarily indicate that it’s an improvement; experts say we are still a long way away from that.

There seemed to have been a recovery in the Asian stock markets as indicated by a 35% rebound in the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index, and the investment banks in Asia have seen a rise in fees in the second quarter which rose 37% over the last quarter to their highest quarterly level in a year.

We could perhaps interpret these as good signs of things to come. Let’s just hope that everything turns back to normal again, and then make sure that a framework is setup for trading of financial instruments and avoid having the entire world economy depend on the inability of a few organizations to practice proper trading of their financial instruments.

But then if we had read the signs from the first time it happened, this wouldn’t have happened again...so whats to say it won’t happen again..maybe not as a direct consequence of “Toxic Debt” but perhaps something even more noxious!!

Peace out!!

Figures as at 29th June 2009.

suren@erparena.com

SAP AFS Split Valuation

By S.Suren

What is Split Valuation?

Split Valuation means managing a material as several partial stocks. Each partial stock is valuated separately.

Split Valuation in AFS

In the apparel industry one of the main reasons behind using Split Valuation would be to valuate the RMs differently based on their SKU levels.

For instance, the various sizes of men’s pants have significant differences in their material input (e.g. zippers). Therefore, the large, medium and small sizes should be valuated and costed separately.

Activate Split Valuation

Path : IMG -> Material Management -> Valuation & Account Assignment -> AFS Split Material Valuation

TCode :OMWC

AFS uses its own special valuation category X for split valuation. Valuation types are not maintained in Customizing but separately for each material in the material master´s AFS Valuation view.

Quick 3 Steps Setup Process

1. Define the global valuation type

2. Define the global categories - This is where we mention which valuation category is to be linked to which valuation types as default.

Note: Activate the valuation type to valuation category.

3. Assign the Valuation Category: Valuation Type combination to Category to Organisational Unit.

Note: Activate the valuation category to the plant.

And thats it, those are the simple steps to setup split valuation characteristics and definition. Once this is done you need to maintain the material master accordingly, this is detailed out

below :

Steps to use Split Valuation in SAP AFS Material

1. Create a Material with a Grid and specify the ”Valuation Category“ as “X“ in the Accounting 1 tab.

2. In the “AFS Valuation“ tab you need to now enter the “Valuation Type“ code for the relevant “SKU“ .

In the above example, my requirement is to valuate the material based on 3 main sizes, i.e. XS, M and L.

Using the Preferred SKU option, I have decided that :

• Size XS and S will be valued similarly

• Size M will be valued seperately

• Size L,XL and XXL will be valued similarly.

3. Save.

Thats about it. Now you could valuate materials different based on their special characteristics, known as Valuation Types in Split Valuation.

Hope you found this post informative. For any queries, suggestions and comments feel free to email me on suren@erparena.com.

Have a nice day !!