An Introduction to SAP

SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf, Germany. It stands for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing. Over the years, it has grown and evolved to become the world premier provider of client/server business solutions for which it is so well known today. The SAP R/3 enterprise application suite for open client/server systems has established a new standards for providing business information management solutions.

SAP product are consider excellent but not perfect. The main problems with software product is that it can never be perfect.

The main advantage of using SAP as your company ERP system is that SAP have a very high level of integration among its individual applications which guarantee consistency of data throughout the system and the company itself.

In a standard SAP project system, it is divided into three environments, Development, Quality Assurance and Production.

The development system is where most of the implementation work takes place. The quality assurance system is where all the final testing is conducted before moving the transports to the production environment. The production system is where all the daily business activities occur. It is also the client that all the end users use to perform their daily job functions.

To all company, the production system should only contains transport that have passed all the tests.

SAP is a table drive customization software. It allows businesses to make rapid changes in their business requirements with a common set of programs. User-exits are provided for business to add in additional source code. Tools such as screen variants are provided to let you set fields attributes whether to hide, display and make them mandatory fields.

This is what makes ERP system and SAP in particular so flexible. The table driven customization are driving the program functionality instead of those old fashioned hard-coded programs. Therefore, new and changed business requirements can be quickly implemented and tested in the system.

Many other business application software have seen this table driven customization advantage and are now changing their application software based on this table customizing concept.

In order to minimized your upgrading costs, the standard programs and tables should not be changed as far as possible. The main purpose of using a standard business application software like SAP is to reduced the amount of time and money spend on developing and testing all the programs. Therefore, most companies will try to utilized the available tools provided by SAP.

What is Client? What is the difference between Customization and Configuration?

The difference between cutomizing and configuration is:
- CONFIGURATION: we will configure the system to meet the needs of your business by using the existing data.
- CUSTOMIZING: we will customise or adapt the system to your business requirements, which is the process of mapping SAP to your business process.
- CLIENT: A client is a unique one in organizational structure, can have one or more company codes. Each company code is its own legal entity in finance.

Configuration vs. Customization
When considering enterprise software of any type, it is important to understand the difference between configuration and customization.The crux of the difference is complexity. Configuration uses the inherent flexibility of the enterprise software to add fields, change field names,modify drop-down lists, or add buttons. Configurations are made using powerful built-in tool sets. Customization involves code changes to create functionality that is not available through configuration. Customization can be costly and can complicate future upgrades to the software because the code changes may not easily migrate to the new version.Wherever possible, governments should avoid customization by using configuration to meet their goals.Governments also should understand their vendor's particular terminology with regard to this issue since words like "modifications" or "extensions" often mean different things to different vendors. *-- Sivaprasad, Sonali Sardesai

What is SAP R3?
We know that SAP R/3 is software, it particular it is client-server software. This means that the groups/layers
that make up a R/3 System are designed to run simultaneously across several separate computer systems.

When you install Microsoft Excel on your PC, each component of Excel (printing components, graphing components, word processing components, and etc.) is stored, managed, and processed via the hardware of your PC. When a company installs SAP’s software each component (or "layer” in R/3’s case) is stored, managed, and processed via the hardware of separate and specialized computer systems. Each of the various layers is capable of calling upon the specialty of any of the other installed layers in order to complete a given task.

Those components/layers that are requesting services are called “clients”, those components/layers that are providing services are called “servers”. Thus the term - “client/server”.

standard Text T.Code

Use SO10

getting useful t-codes from sap

Goto Transaction SE84 --> Other Objects --> Transactions
--> In the Transaction Code enter 'RS*' those are all the BW transactions used.

Useful Transaction Code

MC23 Display InfoStructure
OMO1 Updating InfoStructures SD
OMO2 Updating InfoStructures Purchasing
OMO9 Updating InfoStructures Inventory Controlling
OLIS Implementation Guide LIS
BALE ALE Inbound IDOC . ALE manual processing
CMOD SAPEnhancements : Project Management
SNUM Number Ranges Object Maintenance
SPAM SAP Patch Manager
SCC4 Display View "Clients": Overview
SE38 ABAP Editor Programs
SALE ALE Cofiguration
SE37 ABAP Editor Function Modules
SE01 Transport Organizer
SE10 Customizing Organizer
SE11 Dictionary
SE16 Data Browser
SE91 Check error messages
SM04 Ovwerview of Users
SM12 Select Lock Entries
SM30 Maintain Table Views: Initial Screen
SM31 Table maintain
SM37 Job Overview
SM38 Define Job
SM59 Display and maintain RFC Destinations
SM62 Display/Edit Events
SU01 Create User Profile
SWU3 check error message
WE07 IDOC-Statistics
WE20 Partner Profiles
WE21 WF-EDI Port Definition
DB02 Table Space Monitoring
SM66 Processes on all application servers
SM50 Process on current application server
ST22 tRFC-Queue
BWMD Some Check programs on OLTP
RSO2 Generic Extraktion
BALE ALE Inbound IDOC . ALE manual processing
CMOD SAPEnhancements : Project Management
ListCube InfoCube table content
ListSchema List of InfoCube dimensions and characteristics
RSA1 Administrator Workbench
RSD1 Edit InfoObject
RSDCube System Settings - Edit InfoCube
RSDCubem Edit InfoObject
RSDIOBCM Edit InfoObject Catalog
RSDDV Aggregate Maintenance
RSIS InfoSource (Transaction Data)
RSRT Report Monitor
RSU2 Update Change Rules
SNUM Number Ranges Object Maintenance
SPAM SAP Patch Manager
SCC4 Display View "Clients": Overview
SE38 ABAP Editor Programs
SALE ALE Cofiguration
SE37 ABAP Editor Function Modules
SE01 Transport Organizer
SE10 Customizing Organizer
SE11 Dictionary
SE16 Data Browser
SE91 Check error messages
SM04 Ovwerview of Users
SM12 Select Lock Entries
SM30 Maintain Table Views: Initial Screen
SM31 Table maintain
SM37 Job Overview
SM38 Define Job
SM59 Display and maintain RFC Destinations
SM62 Display/Edit Events
SU01 Create User Profile
SWU3 check error message
SAPBWNEWS Documentation
WE07 IDOC-Statistics
WE20 Partner Profiles
WE21 WF-EDI Port Definition
DB02 Table Space Monitoring
RSB1 Check program for InfoSource / InfoCube
RSMD
RSFH
RSD5 Edit Technical Info Objects
FILE Anlegen von logischen Dateinamen
RSIMG BW Customizing Implementation Guide
RSRTRACE OLAP-Tracing für Queries
RSRV InfoCubes überprüfen
RSSB Scheduler im Batch-Betrieb
RSSM Berechtigungsobjekte Reporting pflegen
RZ11 SSO Profiel Parameter
RSBBS Jump Query

SAP R/3 implementation and Maintenance

What is SAP R/3
Advantages of SAP
Modules of SAP R/3
Basis Component
Cost of SAP
Before Implementing
Methodologies
Post-Implementation Success
ABAP Codes
Production Support Outsourcing
SAP Workflow

What is SAP R/३

SAP will change everything. That’s the gospel according to everyone who knows anything about this integrated software system. What exactly is the beast? And why does the thought of it throw people into a dither?
Ask an information-technology specialist, and you’ll get something like: "SAP is a completely integrated, enterprisewide information system that replaces legacy systems with a series of software modules that communicate with each other seamlessly, replacing current business processes with best practices."
In layperson’s terms, SAP software is a total information system that weaves together all the data from manufacturing with all the data from inventory with all the data from purchasing with all the data from accounting with all the data from sales......ad infinitum. If your company makes jars of glop, SAP allows you to find out how much glop you’ve made, how much you’ve got on hand, who bought it, when they are picking it up, when they intend to pay for it, how much more glop they may buy in the future and so on... until you run out of questions about glop.
Yes, you might be able to find the answers to all those questions using your company’s current information system, but chances are you’d be hunting in a crazy quilt of databases. With SAP, all that data is integrated. That’s why "integration" is the buzz in SAP circles. Everything is interconnected by a series of relational databases: What Frank in accounting enters into the system directly affects what Dave in purchasing sees on his materials management reports and what Sarah in inventory planning uses to make decisions.
What does that mean to Joe Blow on the production floor? Probably that Joe’s job will be analyzed, dissected, reassembled and reconfigured so that it follows processes prescribed by SAP software. These prescriptions have been developed by SAP based on "best practices" in companies that have already implemented SAP. So if SAP forces you to reshape a function or process, it’s often because a lot of companies have discovered that’s the best way to reengineer that function. This software affects so many departments - from accounting to inventory to production to human resources - that a lot of people will be force-fed into the system and spat out with new jobs, new titles, and even new departments.
The integrated nature of SAP forces employees to understand how other functions in the company operate. For example, employees who take customer orders will have to understand the sales cycle because the information they enter into the system can directly affect decisions the sales people will make. If, for example, a sales rep looks at the database and finds out his client placed an order yesterday, he knows he doesn’t have to visit that customer today; instead, he can send a thank-you note.
Prior to SAP, a production worker decided where to put a finished product in the warehouse. After SAP, that decision shifted to the person in-charge of the warehouse, who now has access to information about what orders are due, which customers are coming to pick up which products, which customers need to see accounting about paying bills, and which customers have priority.
It may be perfectly logical that the warehouse person should make those decisions. Trouble is, a lot of your existing business processes may not stand up to the logical scrutiny that SAP imposes on your company. A lot of clients, says Miller, questioned about why they do things a certain way, only shrug and confess, "That’s the way we’ve always done it."
Now, where something gets put in the warehouse may not seem like a big deal, but SAP software is changing who makes decisions about what in hundreds, sometimes thousands, of tasks. And those decisions are being made by people with access to more information about how the company works than they’ve ever had before.
With this software, information is entered into the system once: No entering and re-entering or checking and double-checking. Once the information is in, it becomes part of the entire organization’s central nervous system. That capability makes for enormous efficiencies, of course, but it also has its downside. That is, every action you take has a consequence.
You have to realize that every change you make to the system is immediately available, and used and treated as gospel by perhaps a hundred other people. So you don’t muck around. The information entered into SAP’s system, gets used by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other people in ways that the person entering the data can’t possibly imagine.
SAP R/3 has taken the software industry by storm, selling its rather pricey software to 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
How pricey exactly? Depending on how many employees you have, the cost ranges from $1.5 million to $5 million. And after buying the software, most companies then shell out anywhere from $10 million to $100 million on consulting fees to get the system up and running.
And if the direct costs aren’t intimidating enough, there’s the time it takes to implement SAP software. Most projects are measured in years, not months. "Converting to SAP is a long, arduous process. One company calls it Project Infinity," says Bill Stetar, president of Performance Technology Group Inc.
SAP’s R/3 software isn’t the only player in the game, but it took an early lead and is the predominant package on the market. Other software companies that compete with SAP include Oracle, PeopleSoft and Baan. They all sell software touted as total information systems, and the consequences of implementing them are similar.
If you think you’ll escape all the hubbub because you work for a midsized company (between $50 million and $200 million in revenues), think again. SAP is coming out with a version called Certified Business Solutions for the middle market, so you’ll likely run into one of these systems sooner or later.
SAP software is paradoxical: It changes your business processes dramatically, but it’s also infinitely customizable. In other words, you can force the software to mimic your current practices - though it takes a lot of force - or you can adopt the SAP way of doing things. If you customize it extensively, most experts agree, you lose some of the money-saving, time-saving advantages of the software. Nevertheless, you can’t just take SAP out of the box and install it on your network server. It must be customized somewhat to work at all.
Nancy Bancroft, author of Implementing SAP R/3 and president of Bancroft, Brite and Associates, a consulting firm in Denver, cites another paradox: "The value of SAP is that it is totally integrated; and the downside of SAP is that it’s totally integrated." Every bit and byte and factoid pumped into this collection of software modules creates ripples throughout the organisation. If the information is right the first time, the need for paper-shuffling dramatically decreases. If it’s wrong, however, decisions based on misinformation can directly affect the bottom line.
By eliminating the existing, isolated information systems in individual departments, this software mashes everyone together, forcing them to deal with people they barely knew before and to make decisions that affect other departments. Sometimes this forced interaction is beneficial, says Jennifer Jackson, a principal with Elliot Jackson Communications, a SAP consulting firm in Calgary, Alberta. "But sometimes it can be rather explosive."
Ideally, of course, your company is already integrated and cross-functional। If not, SAP will force those issues in ways that TQM, teamwork and reengineering never did.

Aerospace and Defense
Media
Automotive
Mill Products
Banking
Mining
Consumer Product
Oil and Gas
Chemicals
Pharmaceuticals
Engineering and Construction
Public Sector
Financial Service Provider
Retail
Healthcare
Service Providers
Higher Education and Research
Telecommunications
High tech
Utilities
Insurance
Beverage
Apparel and Footwear

Advantages of SAP R/3

Functionality
The R/3 System offers you a software solution that covers all commercial processes and transactions commonly occurring in a company or group of companies.

Integration
All work processes within a company or group of companies are linked through data and functions using the R/3 System.

User Friendlyness
The R/3 System has a uniform graphical user interface for all application areas.

Individual Solutions
System-controlled customizing procedures allow you to create solutions from a wide variety of prepared application variants to satisfy individual requirements.

Flexible Structure
Whether in a departmental organization or on the warehouse or factory floor, change is the only facet of your business that will not vary. Adaptability must be universal, and the R/3 System’s flexible structure and extensive integration helps make that easier.

Enterprise-Wide Integration
SAP’s enterprise-wide R/3 System solutions meet the needs of constantly changing, continually evolving businesses. The R/3 System’s application components are fully integrated. Transaction-related process chains trigger the next activity as needed from engineering to materials management, to production planning, to sales and distribution. The R/3 System’s full integration pulls your enterprise together, promoting data access, flexibility, and productivity. No other product or suite of products provides the R/3 System’s functional links between processes that multiply the power of each person’s work.

Real-Time Information
The R/3 System’s ability to “drill down” to whatever level of detail you need is legendary. More than any other product, the R/3 System provides up-to-the-minute, real-time information wherever and whenever you need it.

Mission-Critical Business Processes
SAP has more than 20 years of experience designing sophisticated application software for backbone and mission critical business processes. Nine of the top ten Fortune 500 companies use SAP software. SAP developed most of the R/3 System’s functionality in close cooperation with these customers. Consequently, it has integrated the best business practices of the world’s most successful companies into the R/3 System. The R/3 System’s business processes are flexible, pragmatic and well documented. Today they form a widely acknowledged standard for Business Process Reengineering (BPR).

Best of Breed
Users want standard software as well as standard business processes and guidance on how to implement them successfully. With the R/3 System you get the “best of breed” for all common business processes. You do not need to compromise on flexibility. If you need or want to fine tune or tailor your R/3 System, the capability is there.

Enterprise-wide three-tiered architecture
The R/3 System remains the only enterprise-wide, three-tiered architecture. The R/3 System’s three-tiered client/server architecture separates the system into areas devoted to database, application functionality, and desktop presentation. This structure promotes maximum flexibility, freedom of application component choice and the ability to change and add to the system as your organization grows. The development of the Internet, including the World-Wide Web, promises to make dramatic changes in communications between businesses and customers. SAP is working with several partners to develop enhanced Internet extensions for the R/3 System. For additional information, see SAP’s Web pages at: http://www.ext.sap.com

Concurrent engineering
Concurrent engineering cuts time-to-market by stacking up business processes whenever functions can take place concurrently rather than consecutively. The R/3 System’s flexibility and integration help you form the realtime workflow application links required for concurrent engineering.

Lean Implementation
The R/3 System promotes lean implementation through its modular structure. By

selecting key portions of the R/3 System for first-time implementation, and minimizing customization, new users bring the full power of the R/3 System to address their business issues with great speed, at a reasonable cost. Once running, the R/3 System makes it easy to add more functional pieces. Tools on various system levels allow you to fine tune all R/3 System functional modules. Gradually adding functionality makes core solutions available sooner without sacrificing long-term application muscle.

Desktop Integration
Desktop integration in the R/3 System means that whenever you want data moved into a desktop PC application, it is a mouse-click away. Download or export a file to your PC’s hard drive and then open it in your favorite spreadsheet or word processor. No awkward or failure-prone communications between hardware or to hinder hinders your productivity

Online Integrated Graphics
Online integrated graphics in the R/3 System save you time and effort, while making your information more meaningful. From most locations in the R/3 System, you can instantly create full-color 2-D or 3-D graphics from your data. If you change any data, you can instantly see it affect the graphics you have selected. You can also use your mouse to change graphics manually.

Functionality
The R/3 System offers you a software solution that covers all commercial processes and transactions commonly occurring in a company or group of companies.

Integration
All work processes within a company or group of companies are linked through data and functions using the R/3 System.

User Friendlyness
The R/3 System has a uniform graphical user interface for all application areas.

Individual Solutions
System-controlled customizing procedures allow you to create solutions from a wide variety of prepared application variants to satisfy individual requirements.

Flexible Structure
Whether in a departmental organization or on the warehouse or factory floor, change is the only facet of your business that will not vary. Adaptability must be universal, and the R/3 System’s flexible structure and extensive integration helps make that easier.

Enterprise-Wide Integration
SAP’s enterprise-wide R/3 System solutions meet the needs of constantly changing, continually evolving businesses. The R/3 System’s application components are fully integrated. Transaction-related process chains trigger the next activity as needed from engineering to materials management, to production planning, to sales and distribution. The R/3 System’s full integration pulls your enterprise together, promoting data access, flexibility, and productivity. No other product or suite of products provides the R/3 System’s functional links between processes that multiply the power of each person’s work.

Real-Time Information
The R/3 System’s ability to “drill down” to whatever level of detail you need is legendary. More than any other product, the R/3 System provides up-to-the-minute, real-time information wherever and whenever you need it.

Mission-Critical Business Processes
SAP has more than 20 years of experience designing sophisticated application software for backbone and mission critical business processes. Nine of the top ten Fortune 500 companies use SAP software. SAP developed most of the R/3 System’s functionality in close cooperation with these customers. Consequently, it has integrated the best business practices of the world’s most successful companies into the R/3 System. The R/3 System’s business processes are flexible, pragmatic and well documented. Today they form a widely acknowledged standard for Business Process Reengineering (BPR).

Best of Breed
Users want standard software as well as standard business processes and guidance on how to implement them successfully. With the R/3 System you get the “best of breed” for all common business processes. You do not need to compromise on flexibility. If you need or want to fine tune or tailor your R/3 System, the capability is there.

Enterprise-wide three-tiered architecture
The R/3 System remains the only enterprise-wide, three-tiered architecture. The R/3 System’s three-tiered client/server architecture separates the system into areas devoted to database, application functionality, and desktop presentation. This structure promotes maximum flexibility, freedom of application component choice and the ability to change and add to the system as your organization grows. The development of the Internet, including the World-Wide Web, promises to make dramatic changes in communications between businesses and customers. SAP is working with several partners to develop enhanced Internet extensions for the R/3 System. For additional information, see SAP’s Web pages at: http://www.ext.sap.com

Concurrent engineering
Concurrent engineering cuts time-to-market by stacking up business processes whenever functions can take place concurrently rather than consecutively. The R/3 System’s flexibility and integration help you form the realtime workflow application links required for concurrent engineering.

Lean Implementation
The R/3 System promotes lean implementation through its modular structure. By

selecting key portions of the R/3 System for first-time implementation, and minimizing customization, new users bring the full power of the R/3 System to address their business issues with great speed, at a reasonable cost. Once running, the R/3 System makes it easy to add more functional pieces. Tools on various system levels allow you to fine tune all R/3 System functional modules. Gradually adding functionality makes core solutions available sooner without sacrificing long-term application muscle.

Desktop Integration
Desktop integration in the R/3 System means that whenever you want data moved into a desktop PC application, it is a mouse-click away. Download or export a file to your PC’s hard drive and then open it in your favorite spreadsheet or word processor. No awkward or failure-prone communications between hardware or to hinder hinders your productivity

Online Integrated Graphics
Online integrated graphics in the R/3 System save you time and effort, while making your information more meaningful. From most locations in the R/3 System, you can instantly create full-color 2-D or 3-D graphics from your data. If you change any data, you can instantly see it affect the graphics you have selected. You can also use your mouse to change graphics manually.

Conversion of SAP System to Unicode

What is Unicode?
Unicode is the encoding standard which provides the basis for processing, storage and interchange of text data in any language in all modern software and information technology protocols.
Who Needs Unicode?
Acting in global business requires support of a Global Character Set!
(i)Companies running global business processes like Global HR Systems or Global Master Data Management
(ii) Companies offering Web Services to their customers: Global Master Data containing multiple local language characters.
(iii) Companies using Open Standards: J2EE and .NET integration(JAVA speaks Unicode)
(iv) Collaborative Business: Integration of Third Party Products that run on different code pages

Basic Concept
All Unicode Conversion Paths are based one concept
1. Prepare non-Unicode system.
2. Export non-Unicode database and convert non-Unicode data.
3. Create new Unicode database and import the non-Unicode database.
4. Do post-conversion activities in the Unicode system.


Prepare Non-Unicode System: Transaction SPUMG
In transaction SPUMG you collect and analyze character data without code page information. SPUMG creates control information that will be used during the database conversion.

SPUMG consists of several database scans

􀀟 Consistency Check
􀀟 Tables without Language Information
􀀟 Tables with Ambiguous Language Information
􀀟 Tables with Language Information
􀀟 Reprocess
􀀟 INDX Analysis
􀀟 INDX Repair
read Whole Story Download Pdf :

Learning in pdf :
Unicode SAP System – Why and How
Unicode Conversion Paths – Basic Concept
How to Convert a System
Unicode Conversion Paths
Hardware, Sizing, Downtime
Additional Information
References and Contacts

ABAP/4: Tips for Finding Data in SAP

When learning to program in SAP with ABAP/4, it can sometimes be difficult to find the right tables and fields to work with (don't worry, it gets pretty easy). Here are some tips to help locate data:

Go to an SAP report or program that does something similar to what you want to do, and:
Click on the screen fields, and use F1->Technical Info to find the field & table names
Trace the program with ST05 (SQL Trace) and ST01 (System Trace)
Follow the program with the debugger (enter /h in the command line)

Use the Table Contents utility to verify that the tables have the data that you think they have (SE80 -> Dictionary Objects (press Edit), enter the name of the table you want to see, and press Display. Go To Utilities -> Table Contents).

Look for a logical database that sounds like what you're looking for. Analyze its structure and program to understand how its data is processed, and where the data is being kept.

Discrete Manufacturing - The Made To Order Cycle

In sap there is specific transaction flow for a particular Mfg. Process.it all depends upon the req. of client and process.
Here is the basic flow of transactions which is req. for creating master data, planning and order processing...
The Made TO Order Cycle:
The sale department passes on the Made to order-Sales Order to the Material department so that material requirement is analyzed. This is done in SAP by carrying on an MRP Run for all the levels of the product BOM. This MRP Run would create Planned Orders for the shortages. Here the planned orders for fert sub assemblies, Components etc, are created. This planned orders for materials produced in house are converted in to Production order and planned orders for materials procured from outside are converted in to Purchase order. The creation of Production order through the planned orders will convert all the dependant requirements in to dependant reservations.
The dates of production or purchase are decided through the total replenishment time mentioned in the material master, If it is, in-house production, then the Route times precede over the total replenishment time entered in the material master. And the availability of all the components is ruled by the availability checking rules and by availability checking scopes. Thus whenever the system declares a product to be ready or available by a date it implies that the system has checked the availability of the material with respect to the Ware house stock, in coming stock (Receipts) and all other planned orders already existing for the product or material.
In the Made to order production, sales order produced for Fert and Sub assemblies are converted in to production order during MRP run. The production orders created have a specific quantity, specific Basic start date and a specific Basic Finish Date, a set of operations and a set of component attached from the BOM. In course of production the quantities produced in the operation for an order should be confirmed so that the current status of work is available in real time situation. The components required for production are issued to the production order through goods issue by a movement type 261 and the issue is always made to the reservations or to the order, thereby clearing the reservations. Issues of unplanned components are made as new items issue and not as order issue. The quantities, for an order which are produced completely are the put in to stock i.e. a Goods Receipt is done.
Thus the made to order cycle starts with the sales orders and converting them to Production Orders through MRP Run and there off confirming produced quantities for an order and finally putting the order in to stock.
The Cycle of Made to order: Steps: MTO Scenario
1. Material Creation (Made To order Material with major changes of: Item Category: 0004-make to order/assem.,or 0001-make to order)

2. Route Creation

3. Creation of BOM

4. Sales order

5. Production order Scheduling, Costing, Release and Save

6. Production order Quantity confirmations for operations, Parallel task of material issue to order or to reservations (261)

7. Fully Produced Production Quantities will be put into stock (GR)

8. Delivery against sales order

9. Invoicing.

Difference Between Cancellation and Reversal

What is the difference between cancellation and reversal?
Canellation means total purchase item or a part of it can be cancelled when we feel it is not required and material has not yet been received by the company. Reversal means Purchase Return when the material has reached your company and you want to return it back due to some reason then you can go for reversal.
While doing migo, we can use cancellation and as well as reversal, what is the diference between the two?
The reversal method for both Cancellation and Reversal are the same although the meaning are different.
Movement Type102 in MIGO will reverse the Goods Receipt for PO and the same will happen for Cancellation also...... Movement Type 122, is for Return delivery to Vendor and this won't come under Reversal or Cancellation concept...
In SAP MM, 102 is the reversal mvt. type of 101. Every mvt. type has its reversal counterpart. The are many reasons to make a reversal of any mvt. type (mostly human mistakes).
Movement Type 161 is used when you make a returns purchase order to a vendor. This is a purchase order with the "returns" flag marked. By the way, 161 has it reversal mvt. type in 162.
It's true that in both cases material is being removed from the stock but for diferent reasons and in diferent bussiness processes.

What Is SEM and BPS

What is sem & bps? Where and why we use those in relation to sap-bw?
Business Planning (BW-BPS) enables you to produce planning applications. You can either develop your own planning application or use the Business Content delivered by SAP. The area of application stretches from simple data input through to complex scenarios with data extraction, automatic planning preparation, manual data input, controlling the planning process, and retracting plan data. The architecture of BW-BPS is structured so that you are able to implement simple scenarios without great effort but are equally able to build sophisticated business-wide planning processes.
Strategic Enterprise Management - Business Planning and Simulation (SEM-BPS) is SAP's new dimension product focusing on Financial Planning. It is intended to replace all financial planning functionality that exists within R/3. SEM-BPS is a BW (Business Warehouse) based application which allows for multi-dimensional planning, complex calculation programming, etc. It allows for multiple types of front-ends. Two of the biggest are the MS Excel front-end and Web enabled planning folders and layouts.
SEM-BPS is a planning system, in which you can record and evaluate aggregated plan data. It is suitable for the collection and maintenance of data from the various functional plan sections in one uniform view.
Business Planning (SEM-BPS) enables you to produce a group-wide strategic business plan. The business plan adds an overall plan to the detailed plans that have been put together using the transaction systems' components. The aim of strategic business planning is to produce a consistent and realistic plan from various perspectives. The plan should improve the efficiency of the enterprise and the management process. Here, the issue is – in contrast to the operational subplans – less the level of detail, but rather planning the enterprise's development over the longer term.
SEM-BPS supports Web-based planning with the help of planning applications and a Status and Tracking System. With these means you can also form planning scenarios in companies with many different branches in different locations, though the technical administrative effort is limited to the availability of an internet connection.

You carry out manual planning using planning layouts. You can configure these planning layouts as you wish. Here, you can use the characteristics and key figures from the data basis, and you can also define formulas for locally-calculated key figures. The planned data is saved bottom-up, which means that data from a lower level is aggregated to the next highest level.
The SEM-BPS planning applications are used to solve standard tasks of business planning, for example balance sheet or profit planning, with as little configuration work possible.

Backward and Forward Scheduling

Backward scheduling is the calculation of deadline dates: the arrival time at the customer site is calculated as the earliest possible goods receipt time at the customers unloading point on the requested delivery date. All four of the delivery and transportation scheduling lead times are subtracted from the customer's requested delivery date to determine if this date can be met.

The transit time, loading time, and pick/pack time are subtracted from the customer’s requested delivery date to calculate the required material availability date.

The system calculates backward scheduling as follows:

Requested delivery date minus transit time = Goods issue date
Goods issue date minus loading time = Loading date
Loading date minus transportation lead time = Transportation scheduling date
Loading date minus pick/pack time = Material availability date

By default, the system will calculate delivery dates the closest day, taking into consideration the working days of the shipping point and a rounding profile. In this case the system assumes a 24 hour work day and lead times can be entered in days up to 2 decimal points. This is referred to as daily scheduling.

Precise scheduling calculated down to the day, hour and minute is supported. This allows the scheduling of a delivery within a single day. It is activated by maintaining the working hours for a particular shipping point.

Backward scheduling is always carried out first. If the material availability date or transportation scheduling date is calculated to be in the past, the system must then use forward scheduling.

Forward scheduling is also done if no product is available on the material availability date calculated by backward scheduling. The system does an availability check to determine the first possible date when product will be available. This new material availability date forms the starting point for scheduling the remaining activities. The loading time, pick/pack time, transit time, and transportation lead time are added to the new material availability date to calculate the confirmed delivery date.

Delete unwanted Objects in QA system

I have deleted unwanted Update rules and InfoSources (that have already been transported to QA system) in my DEV system. How do I get them out of my QA system? I cannot find the deletions in any transports that I have created. Although they could be buried somewhere. Any help would be appreciated.

I had the same problem with you. And I have been told there is a way to delete the unwanted objects. You may request the Basis team to open up test box temporarily to remove the obsolete Update rules and InfoSources. Remember to delete the request created in test after you have removed the Update rules and InfoSources.

When I tried to delete the master data, get the following message"Lock NOT set for: Deleting master data attributes". What I need to do in order to allow me can delete the master data.

Since, technically, the master data tables are not locked via SAP locks but via a BW-specific locking mechanism, it may occur in certain situations, that a lock is retained after the termination of one of the above transactions. This always happens if the monitor no longer has control, for example in the case of a short dump. If the monitor gets the control back after an update termination (regular case), it analyzes whether all update processes (data packets) for a request have been updated or whether they have terminated. If this is the case, the lock is removed.

Since the master data table lock is no SAP lock, this can neither be displayed nor deleted via Transaction SM12. There is an overview transaction in the BW System, which can display and delete all currently existing master data table locks. Via the button in the monitor with the lock icon or via Transaction code RS12 you can branch to this overview.

A maximum of two locks is possible for each basis characteristic:

Lock of the master data attribute tables
Lock of the text table

Changed by, Request number, Date and Time is displayed for every lock. Furthermore, a flag in the overview shows whether locks have been created via master data maintenance or master data deletion.

During a loading process the first update process starting to update data into the BW System (several processes update may update in parallel for each data request), sets the lock entry. All other processes only check whether they belong to the same data request. The last process, which has either been updated or has terminated, causes the monitor to trigger the deletion of the lock.

SAP Memory Vs ABAP/4 Memory

SAP memory is the memory area where all main sessions with in the SAP GUI have the access. We can use SAP memory either to pass data from one program to other within the session, or to pass data from one session to other. Application programs that use SAP memory must do so using SPA/GPA parameters (also known as SET/GET parameters). These parameters can be set either for a particular user or for a particular program using the SET PARAMETER statement. Other ABAP programs can then retrieve the set parameters using the GET PARAMETER statement. The most frequent use of SPA/GPA parameters is to fill input fields on screens.

ABAP/4 Memory

ABAP memory is the memory area that all ABAP programs within the same internal session can access using the EXPORT and IMPORT statements. Data within this area remains intact during a whole sequence of program calls. To pass datato a program which you are calling, the data needs to be placed in ABAP memory before the call is made. The internal session of the called program then replaces that of the calling program. The program called can then read from the ABAP memory. If control is then returned to the program which made the initial call, the same process operates in reverse.