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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 2.3 3.1 3.2 3.2.1 3.3 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3 3.3.4 3.4 4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.2 4.3 4.4 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.4 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.4.3
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Motivation............................................................................................................... 7 Features ................................................................................................................... 8 Data Needed by Workflow ................................................................................... 10 What Data Already Exists?................................................................................... 10 Making the Most of the Data ................................................................................ 10
2 BUSINESS PROCESS
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Workflow Management System ........................................................................... 12 Event Driven Process Chains (EPCs) ................................................................... 16 Modeling Rules of EPCs 16 Technical Principles of SAP Business Workflow ................................................ 17 Business Process and Work Items. 17 Workflow and workflow definition 17 Tasks 18 Object types and objects 18 Modular Architecture of Business Workflow....................................................... 19
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Automatic Workflow Customizing....................................................................... 21 Configuring a Client specific RFC Destination. 22 Scheduling background jobs 22 Setting an active plan version 22 Maintaining a workflow system administrator 23 Start Verification workflow .................................................................................. 23 Workflow Scenarios.............................................................................................. 23 Customizing for Tasks and Workflows ................................................................ 24
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Introduction........................................................................................................... 25 Features ................................................................................................................. 25 Working with SAP Business Workplace. ............................................................. 26 Worklist 27 Work Item Preview 27 Work Item Delivery .............................................................................................. 27 Inbox Features 27 Work Item Text 28 Work Item Functions 29
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6.1 Understanding Agent Assignment ........................................................................ 31 6.2 Agent Assignment using the Organizational Structure......................................... 34 6.2.1 The Basic Organizational Plan 35 4
SAP Business Workflow 6.2.2 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.3.1 7.3.2 7.3.3 7.3.4 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 8.1 8.2 8.3 9.1 9.2 9.3 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.3.1 10.3.2 10.4 10.5 10.6 11.1 11.1.1 11.1.2 11.1.3 11.2 11.3 11.4 Without an Organizational Plan
7 CREATING WORKFLOWS
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Introduction........................................................................................................... 38 Features ................................................................................................................. 38 The Work Flow Builder ........................................................................................ 39 Feel of Workflow Builder 39 Building the First Workflow 42 Step Types and Their Symbols 43 Dead Line Monitoring 46 Creating a Task ..................................................................................................... 46 Creating Container Elements ................................................................................ 48 Binding Definition ................................................................................................ 53 Linking workflow within or Between Systems .................................................... 56
8 BUSINESS OBJECTS
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Basics of Business Objects ................................................................................... 57 Business Objects in Workflow.............................................................................. 58 Business Object Tools........................................................................................... 59
9 EVENTS
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Web flow Function ............................................................................................... 68 Defining the Web Server ...................................................................................... 68 WF-XML .............................................................................................................. 71 Features 72 Configuring the System 72 SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)............................................................... 74 WSDL (Web Service Description Language)....................................................... 75 Business Document Navigator.............................................................................. 75
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Sales and Distribution Module.............................................................................. 77 Overview 77 Organizational Structures 78 Customers and Business Partners 78 Creating a Sales Order .......................................................................................... 79 Linking the Workflow to the SD Module ............................................................. 81 Implementation of WF-XML in SD Application.................................................. 83
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ABSTRACT
This report discusses the Architectural Design of SAP Business Workflow and its role implementation in the SAP Sales and Distribution Functional Module (SD).In my projects, SAP Business Workflow uses the existing transactions and functions in the SD module of the SAP System without changing them to form new business processes. The main aim of my thesis was therefore to utilize the workflow tools and its components in order to automate SD functions in the real time business process.
INTRODUCTION
SAP Business Workflow/Web Flow/Intelligent ERP is a part of SAP R/3 Basis and has been designed as a cross-application tool enabling integration of transactions beyond the limits of applications. It enhances ready-made standard application software and its is used in particular, to adapt the standard functionality of the SAP R/3 system to the specific requirements of a company and provide technologies and tools for processing and controlling cross-application processes automatically. 1.1 Motivation SAP Business Workflow is intended to manage business processes automatically or semiautomatically by controlling the sequences of activities. It integrates and complements the available comprehensive business functionality of the R/3 System and provides the infrastructure and tools that enable to manage the businesss processes efficiently. It gets the data quickly to the right person - even if that person is in a different office or location, and makes it easy for approvers to deal with the transaction and send it on to the next step.
Workflow enables to define business processes according to the company-specific rules, models or organizational standards. One can monitor the Workflow and view information on the current status of a task or work item at any point. With SAP Workflow, approvers can indicate total or partial approval of transactions in the same approval process. Competitive factors such as high quality, quicker delivery times, and greater customer orientation require modern companies to have a flexible and process-oriented organizational structure. However, there are some historical problems and weaknesses in conventional office and administrative processes such as: High cycle times due to extensive time spent waiting and in transport. Inadequate process transparency related to extensive division of labor Traditional task assignments (limitation of responsibility and functionally oriented areas of responsibility)
Employees are integrated in the automated processes, eliminating the need to perform redundant, manual functions. Up-to-date information and access to required documents at any time increases employee productivity. SAP Workflow capitalizes on the investment made in the SAP System and exploits the capabilities and benefits of the architecture, services, and integrated applications to facilitate the automation of business processes. Whenever there is a change to the organization, the changes are automatically reflected in Workflow. And since SAP Workflow is position-based, instead of person-based, there is no need to update the Workflow routes every time an employee changes jobs 1.2 Features Business Workflow provides a number of tools for defining and analyzing workflows as well as for monitoring operation. The Workflow Builder for displaying and making changes to workflows. There are several Workflow Wizards to support the definition of workflows, with which creation of specific parts of a workflow is easy. The Business Object Builder is used to define and analyze the business object types, which further make the functions of the SAP System available to the workflow. Workflow Triggering Events are used and triggered automatically by the SAP System if a pre-defined situation arises. Web Flow Functions can be used to execute workflows between different companies and the data required can be sent as XML documents. Business Workflow can also respond to suitable inbound XML documents. The end user receives information about the activities that they carry out in their Business Workplace or in the Workflow Inbox Mini App or in the iView Universal Work list of the enterprise portal. Simplifies continuous business engineering and process change management with user-friendly tools for defining and dynamically changing Workflow tasks. Conforms to the Workflow standards of the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC).
BUSINESS PROCESS
Business Process is A collection of activities that takes one or more kinds of input and creates an output that is of value to the customer. Or A group of business activities undertaken by an organization in pursuit of a common goal.
Sales Associate
Finished Product Delivery (3rd Party) Design and Production Team Customer
Gathering requirements for a workflow is very much similar to gathering requirements for a business process. Many individual pieces of data may be used across a workflow, but there are often close relationships among them. In particular, much of the data is related directly to the entities involved in the business process In-fact in workflow terminology these entities are called as business objects. However, before starting to collect data into the business objects we need to know what data is needed by the defined workflow.
Data may be used for a variety of purposes in a workflow .For example considering the workflow that controls the follow-on processing of a sales order, a lot of data related to the particular sales order is supposed to be gathered for processing. Data used in performing tasks. When a workflow is started, the triggering mechanism usually passes some key information to the workflow, for example an order number to a workflow when a order is created or changed in the SD functional module. The workflow then passes this information on to each task to be performed. Data used to determine who should perform the task. For the workflow to be executed a particular person (agent) is responsible for the business process to continue .For example for displaying or making changes in the sales order created earlier, a person is chosen in the organizational unit depending on his or her position Data used to determine escalation times. If the workflow has to be completed within one week after order creation date/time, order creation date and order creation time must be made available to the workflow.
2.2
Workflows provide some data by default which includes: Workflow system information, such as the workflow initiator, that is the person who triggers the process. Details of the tasks just executed, such as who executed it, start and finish times. 2.3 Making the Most of the Data
From the data perspective, when considering a task related to a particular customer in the sales transaction the customers customer number, name address and contact details are very much important. SAP has defined Business objects which collect the data, encourages consistency and ensures reusability. In-fact collected data into the business objects is more than just a matter of convenience.
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Implementation of a Workflow System should only happen after process have been fully optimized. The workflow life cycle places the Implementation of workflows into a larger cyclical relationship as show in the fig below: Workflow Implementation Process Analysis & Optimisation Workflow Evaluation Workflow Usage
.Identification of process
An abstract view of a workflow is when business objects are processed in a previously defined specific sequence and the processing is done in different steps and by different users.
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Workflow is: Software that integrates business rules and people, independent of the triggering event, to enable and control access to knowledge and information while coordinating all the roles in a business process, including internal workers, customers, suppliers, software agents and applications.
3.1
Workflow Management System (WFMS) is a generic software package used to build a Workflow System (WFS).More than 250 workflow management systems are available. However, workflow management systems facilitate workflow management efforts (analyze/change) lead to concrete concepts and terms. process optimisation which leads to high speed, security and transparancy. The basic concept of the Workflow Management System is as show below:
DBMS
Execution(task orientation)
Applications
Figure:3.1. Basic Concept of Workflow Management System [GITN] Separation of control and execution
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Process Definition
Object/ Method
Runtime
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From the below figure 3.2 the basic building blocks of the SAP Business Workflow are shown: During the Build time process of the Work Flow (WF). Actual design/blueprint of the workflow is implemented in the WFMS. The roles are accomplished by Process Blueprint Group or WF Architect. During the Runtime Process The operation of the WF is under control of the WFMS The roles are accomplished by the WF. Administrator or the WF User who is an Occasional User. The components of the SAP Business Workflow are: Workflow Definition Tool Helps in Creating, Displaying and Processing the Design of the workflow. Handles different versions of workflows. Often uses EPCs. Stores the WF Processes in Libraries and later they are tested and Simulated.
Workflow Engine Controls the execution of the WF Definition: Helps in Creating/Maintaining the Work list and data transfer between individual steps of a workflow definition. Provides initial data for a workflow Calculates the deadline for steps in a workflow definition Execution of container operations, process controls and event creators Evaluates the conditions
Work Flow Handler: It is a very important component of the Business Workflow where it Controls the processing of individual steps Monitors the deadlines for individual steps Assigns agents for those individual steps Logs all the activities executed on a step in the workflow log
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There are many applications in the SAP system, but the workflow only Access the functions of the applications The APIs & The objects, its methods and related events.
Organization Unit. It is a structural unit of a particular organization where Tasks are assigned to roles, positions, jobs of the organization Simultaneous consideration of organizational definition/changes are processed Automatic routing adjustments are made for employee changes or reassignments Automatic substitutions are done like e.g. illness, vacation
User Interface. It is an Easy to use tool from the business and success point of view. There are many possible User Interfaces like the Build in GUI of the WFMS. Special Forms (Web forms, Smart forms). Hand-helds may contain SAP Portal Soft wares. Mail system (e.g. Outlook, Lotus notes).
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What Object and Event? Triggered by System/User? Time Aspect? What Step Type? ApplicationTask
Process
Structure
Dataflow
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User Decision Condition Loop What Object and Method? Responsibility Time? Media?
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