Enhance Supply Chain Integration With SAP Workflow

19 Feb Enhance Supply Chain Integration With SAP Workflow

JeffQuinn Jeff Quinn

Complex supply chain processes often involve multiple business functions, a series of transactions and careful coordination to execute in a timely manner.  Too often the desired outcome is either delayed, inaccurate or resource intensive.  A manufacturing client of ours faced these challenges with an Assemble To Order process (ATO).  Customer Service representatives needed real time multi-level Available To Promise (ATP) results to meet customer requirements but had to settle for generic standard lead times because component level ATP is not available during SAP sales order entry.  In fact, the typical process of entering the sales order, running MRP, firming planned orders, creating production orders and then rescheduling sales orders to confirm the shipment consumed 2 days delaying important confirmations back to the customer.

With uncertainty around the actual lead time and component availability, sales orders were routinely committed weeks into the future, slowing sales and disappointing customers.  SAP ECC 6.0 had the base functions to derive the ATP results but the total process took too long and needed to be streamlined to be effective.

Utilizing SAP Workflow and standard SAP ABAP BAPI functions, Phoenix Consultants designed a real time integration between SAP SD sales order entry and SAP PP production order creation.  With the new and improved process, all previous steps were completed in seconds vs. days.  Additional ship to request and ship to promise metrics were recorded to provide better operational insight.  Even special situations were handled via Workflow notifications which helped align Production Control and Sales functions and improved overall customer satisfaction.   In summary, SAP Workflow was critical to improving this clients daily Supply Chain process and has great potential for any SAP enabled continuous improvement initiative.

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