Who and / or what is SAP? How popular is it? Wow!

SAP the company was founded in Germany in 1972 by five ex-IBM engineers. In case youre ever asked, SAP stands for Systeme, Andwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung which translated to English means Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing. So now you know! Being incorporated in Germany, the full name of the parent company is SAP AG. It is located in Walldorf, Germany which is close to the beautiful town of Heidelberg. SAP has subsidiaries in over 50 countries around the world from Argentina to Venezuela (and pretty much everything in between). SAP America (with responsibility for North America, South America and Australia go figure!) is located just outside Philadelphia, PA. The original five founders have been so successful that they have multiplied many times over such that SAP AG is now the third largest software maker in the world, with over 17,500 customers (including more than half of the worlds 500 top companies). SAP employs over 27,000 people worldwide today, and had revenues of $7.34 billion and Net Income of $581 million in FY01. SAP is listed in Germany (where it is one of the 30 stocks which make up the DAX) and on the NYSE (ticker: SAP). There are now 44,500 installations of SAP, in 120 countries, with more then 10 million users! So what made this company so successful? Back in 1979 SAP released SAP R/2 (which runs on mainframes) into the German market. SAP R/2 was the first integrated, enterprise wide package and was an immediate success. For years SAP stayed within the German borders until it had penetrated practically every large German company. Looking for more growth, SAP expanded into the remainder of Europe during the 80s. Towards the end of the 80s, client-server architecture became popular and SAP responded with the release of SAP R/3 (in 1992). This turned out to be a killer app for SAP, especially in the North American region into which SAP expanded in 1988. The success of SAP R/3 in North America has been nothing short of stunning. Within a 5 year period, the North American market went from virtually zero to 44% of total SAP worldwide sales. SAP America alone employs more than 3,000 people and has added the names of many of the Fortune 500 to its customer list (8 of the top 10 semiconductor companies, 7 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies etc). SAP today is available in 46 country-specific versions, incorporating 28 languages including Kanji and other doublebyte character languages. SAP also comes in 21 industry-specific versions. SAP R/3 is delivered to a customer with selected standard process turned on, and many many other optional processes and features turned off. At the heart of SAP R/3 are about 10,000 tables which control the way the processes are executed. Configuration is the process of adjusting the settings of these tables to get SAP to run the way you want it to. Think of a radio with 10,000 dials to tune and youll get the picture. Functionality included is truly enterprise wide including: Financial Accounting (e.g. general ledger, accounts receivable etc), Management Accounting (e.g. cost centers, profitability analysis etc), Sales, Distribution, Manufacturing, Production Planning, Purchasing, Human

Resources, Payroll etc etc etc. For a full description of the modules included in SAP, see the related articles. All of these modules are tightly integrated which as you will find out is a huge blessing but brings with it special challenges. SAP are maintaining and increasing their dominance over their competitors through a combination of - embracing the internet with mySAP.com (a confusing name we believe) to head off i2 etc - extending their solutions with CRM to head off Siebel - adding functionality to their industry solutions Who is it made for? Why might I need it? We have all heard about the large (and very large) companies who have implemented (or are still busy implementing) SAP R/3. But SAP is gaining acceptance by smaller companies too. There are many reasons a company selects and implements SAP some are good and some are bad. The good ones include replacing an out-dated and inefficient IT Architecture (including the CIOs nemesis the burning platform), enabling business process change, and to gain competitive advantage. The bad ones are too numerous to go into here but would include the why are we the only semiconductor company without SAP question. More on the good reasons follows: 1. Replacing an out-dated and inefficient IT Architecture: In the beginning, computer systems were developed by individual departments to satisfy the requirements of that particular department. When someone finally realized that benefits could be had by linking these systems together, interface heaven was born. There are some companies today with literally thousands of interfaces, each of which needs to be maintained (assuming of course that there is someone around who understands how they work!). Sweeping them away and replacing them with an integrated system such as SAP can save much money in support. Of course, if you have a burning platform as well the question becomes even easier. 2. Enabling business process change From the start, SAP was built on a foundation of process best practices. Although it sounds absurd, it is probably easier (and less expensive) to change your companies processes to adapt to SAP than the other way around. Many companies have reported good success from combining a SAP implementation with a BPR project. 3. Competitive advantage The CFO types around have heard this old saying from the CIO types for many years now. The question still has to be asked can you gain competitive advantage from implementing SAP? The answer, of course, depends on the company. It seems to us, however, that:

 being able to accurately provide delivery promise dates for manufactured products (and meet them) doesnt hurt and being able to consolidate purchase decisions from around the globe and use that leverage when negotiating with vendors has gotta help and being able to place kiosks in stores where individual customers can enter their product specifications and then feed this data directly into its production planning process is pretty neat etc etc SAP Modules and Solutions Overview SAP now are moving away from describing their system as a set of modules, and now are using the term solutions, which is much better. If you visit SAPs website (as we urge you to do) you will find that they have structured their Solutions tab as follows: 1. Financials 2. Human Resources 3. Customer Relationship Management 4. Supplier Relationship Management 5. Product Lifecycle Management 6. Supply Chain Management 7. Business Intelligence If youre still looking for that list of modules, here they are: FI Financial Accounting essentially your regulatory books of record, including 1. General ledger 2. Book close 3. Tax 4. Accounts receivable 5. Accounts payable 6. Consolidation 7. Special ledgers CO Controlling basically your internal cost/management accounting, including 1. Cost elements 2. Cost centres 3. Profit centres 4. Internal orders 5. Activity based costing 6. Product costing AM Asset Management track, value and depreciate your assets, including 1. Purchase 2. Sale 3. Depreciation 4. Tracking

PS Project Systems manage your projects, large and small, including 1. Make to order 2. Plant shut downs (as a project) 3. Third party billing (on the back of a project) HR Human Resources ah yes, people, including 1. Employment history 2. Payroll 3. Training 4. Career management 5. Succession planning PM Plant Maintenance maintain your equipment (e.g. a machine, an oil rig, an aircraft etc), including 1. Labour 2. Material 3. Down time and outages MM Materials Management underpins the supply chain, including 1. Requisitions 2. Purchase orders 3. Goods receipts 4. Accounts payable 5. Inventory management 6. BOMs 7. Master raw materials, finished goods etc QM Quality Management improve the quality of your goods, including 1. Planning 2. Execution 3. Inspections 4. Certificates PP Production Planning manages your production process, including 1. Capacity planning 2. Master production scheduling 3. Material requirements planning 4. Shop floor SD Sales and Distribution from order to delivery, including 1. RFQ 2. Sales orders 3. Pricing 4. Picking (and other warehouse processes)

5. Packing 6. Shipping CA Cross Application these lie on top of the individual modules, and include 1. WF workflow 2. BW business information warehouse 3. Office for email 4. Workplace 5. Industry solutions 6. New Dimension products such as CRM, PLM, SRM, APO etc

Lets look at a few of the common buttons and controls in the SAP system: On any screen in SAP, the green check mark means enter. If you prefer, you can also use the enter key on your keyboard. The green arrow (back) button will take you back one screen in the application in which you are currently working. If you are at the initial application screen, the green arrow will return you to the SAP Easy Access menu. The yellow up arrow (exit) button will take you back to the SAP Easy Access screen. Occasionally, if the application you are using has more than one level, the yellow exit arrow will only exit you from the application you are currently in, and place you in the higher level application. This might seem confusing, but you will understand as soon as you encounter such an occurrence. The red X button (cancel) will cancel the application you are currently using, and return you to the SAP Easy Access menu with a single click The create session button will open a new SAP session in addition to the one currently in use. While it is not necessary to have more than one session open, it can be very helpful. Many users will have at least two sessions open at a time, one to change or create system data, and another to look at other areas for reference. The help button can be very, well, helpful. When used properly it can give fast, relatively easy to understand, definitions of user actions. To use the button, position your cursor on the object you wish to know about, and click the help button. An information screen will be displayed describing the object The local layout customization button is used to change individual user display. The last section in this guide will cover these functions.

This is the dropdown menu button. You will encounter this button connected to any textbox which has pre-populated values to choose from The session information button is the small triangle located at the bottom right of the screen.

SAP System Architecture

The SAP System Architecture follows a three tier architecture containing Presentation, Application and a database layer. Each of these layer has its own software component. With this setup, the overall system can be distributed among a range of computers or it can also be in one system like MiniSAP which has all these components in one computer. A common configuration includes where in the database and the application server run concurrently in a single large computer. All the other application servers run on their computers. Lets explain all these three components further so that you can develop a better understanding of the SAP system architecture.

SAP System Architecture So what makes a SAP System Architecture? Its made up of three layers: Presentation layer, Application Layer & Database Layer.

Presentation Layer
This is the view you see when you login into SAP from your computer. This is presentation layer that has been generated. The SAP GUI Software components ensure that the SAP system user interface is shown and that the users actions are passed to the application server for further processing.

Application Layer
The application layer is the one where the entire work is carried out for your. All your actions are processed at this place. This software component can have one or more than one based on the requirements and the processing needs of each and every organization. The application server provides a range of services for the operation of the SAP system. The application servers processes are carried out through work processes. This is defined at the start of the SAP system. The work processes are components that are able to execute an application. One thing to note here is that each work process is registered as a user in the database system for the entire runtime of the SAP system.

Database Layer
Each SAP System Architecture will have a central database in which the entire data is stored. Everything, like the customer records, programs, just about anything which needs to be stored is maintained at this level. In a nutshell, any actions you do on the presentation layer is passed to the application layer for processing which would retrieve any relevant data from the database layer and the application layer processes the data and presents it to you via the presentation layer. This similar SAP System Architecture is followed by any ERP system. Here is a brief overview of most of the modules and there processes in SAP. This should give you a brief outline of what each module is about and also makes you understand as to what each module does. Materials Management (MM) The grouping of management functions supporting the complete cycle of material flow, from the purchase and internal control of production materials to the planning and control of work in process to the warehousing, shipping, and distribution of the finished product. Sales and Distribution (SD) This module includes the business processes used to sell and deliver products and services to customers and business partners. Information about the product and customers (both of which are stored in the master data) is used in SD. Production Planning (PP) This module supports functions for the overall level of manufacturing output and other activities to best satisfy the current planned levels of sales (sales plan or forecasts), while meeting general business objectives of profitability, competitive customer lead times as expressed in the overall business plan. One of its primary purposes is to establish production rates that will achieve managements objective of satisfying customer demand, by maintaining, raising or lowering inventories or backlogs, while usually attempting to keep the workforce relatively stable.

Plant Maintenance (PM) Supports the planning, processing, and completion of plant maintenance tasks Allows for planners to schedule routine maintenance in a way that is least disruptive for manufacturing and sales requirements

Quality Management (QM) Supports the quality inspection aspects of the business, including purchasing, research, and sales Allows for buyers and manufacturing personnel to track inspection lots and test results Financial Accounting (FI) Designed for automated management and external reporting of General Ledger (GL), Accounts Receivable (AR), Accounts Payable (AP), and Asset Management (AM) with a user-defined chart of accounts. External reporting, such as income statement and balance sheet Represents cost and revenue flows throughout the organization Aids in organizational decision making Supports internal reporting such as cost center reports Asset Accounting (AA) AA provides tools to acquire, depreciate, evaluate, and retire assets. The kinds of assets covered are fixed, low value, leased, and real estate. Low value assets depreciate in the year they are bought and are often aggregated as a single asset master record. Depreciation often needs to be tracked (for more than one reason), so SAP R/3 allows you to depreciate the same piece of equipment in several parallel ways. Human Resources (HR) Takes care of payroll, time recording, applicant administration, and organization data. It supports the planning and control of personnel activities. Industry Solutions (IS)

IS is scaleable and flexible, and can be tailored to the specific needs of each business. Examples are: SAP Aerospace and Defense SAP Automotive SAP Banking SAP Chemicals SAP Consumer Products SAP Engineering and Construction SAP Telecommunication

SAP Utilities SAP Service Provider

Work Flow (WF)

Links the integrated SAP R/3 application modules with cross-application technologies, tools, and services, including e-mail. Work flow allows you to set up the followings: Maintain your companys organization structure according to responsibility. Link the predefined standard tasks with the authorized agents in your company. Activate existing event receiver links between triggering events and consuming workflow tasks. Name a technical person responsible for each standard workflow template.

Project System (PS)

Helps you to plan, manage, control, and figure the cost of R&D projects, and so on. The common tasks revolve around allocation of people, resources, and money within the framework of schedule and task relationships.

What is ABAP?
Well, ABAP stands for Allgemeiner Berichts-Aufbereitungs-Prozessor. I know its kind of difficult to understand. But thats the german standing of it. It means General report creation processor, Made it a little simpler, isnt it. Okay, The actual english version of it is Advanced Business Application Programming. Its a high level programming language created by SAP and has a syntax similar to Cobol and is based on Fourth Generation language. The ABAP Programming language was originally invented by SAP for developers to develop SAP R/3 and is primarily used to develop custom functionality on SAP like Creating Reports, Smart forms etc.

Types of ABAP Programs

We have various types of ABAP Programs like Reports, BDC, Subroutine Pools, Function Modules, Includes, Type Pools, Class Pools, Interface Pools & Classes.

ABAP Workbench
This Workbench contains different tools for editing repository objects. These tools allow to develop and complete almost everything and some of the objects include ABAP Editor, ABAP Dictionary, Screen and Menu Painter, Function Builder and Class Builder.

Data Types - Refer the image below for all the Data Types.

SAP Project Reference Object (SPRO) Configuration Manuals

Working with SPRO (SAP Project Reference Object) in SAP can be very complicated just because of the complex nature of the SAP System. Here are some different SPRO Configuration manuals on Sales and Distribution, Finance and Controlling, Working with CIN (Country India Version) configuration and One big Complete SAP Configuration Guide.

Complete SAP Configuration Manual (9858) Country India Version - SPRO Configuration Manual (4014) Sales & Distribution SPRO Configuration Manuals (5947) Finance (4805) & Controlling (4247) Configuration Manuals

For this purpose, the model of the configurable product should automatically provide all required information, for example: 1. Determine all required parts 2. Trigger all resulting requirements 3. Create procurement elements Production order including the appropriate processes and components, for example Purchase requisition and purchase orders for external procurement, for example

Characteristics Characteristics are created to map the different variants of the configurable product. You create such a characteristic for each property of the configurable product for which multiple variants are supposed to be available. The characteristics are created without prior reference to the material master. Variant class The characteristics are collected in a so-called variant class. Variant classes are specific classes that allow you to configure sales orders, for example, via the characteristics that are assigned to the class. The variant class is directly linked to the material master via the classification. Configuration profile You create a configuration profile for the configurable material master. Configuration profiles are always object-specific. They contain essential control settings for the configuration process and object dependencies for the sales configuration (also called interactive configuration or high-level configuration). Pricing In the standard version, pricing is set specifically for each material. In the default setting, the pricing condition records that are specifically available for Variant Configuration (so-called variant conditions) are material-specific, too. Material BOM

The material BOM generally also requires a material master. Regarding content, the material BOMs in Variant Configuration are super BOMs. That means that they contain all possible required components. In addition to using the default options, a material BOM for a configurable material also enables you to assign classes and object dependencies. Routing The routing is created with reference to the material master as well. The link material master routing is not as strict as the link material master BOM. Similar to the BOM, it is also a super task list with regard to content. Also similar to the BOM, you can assign object dependencies here. These dependencies are then evaluated for a configurable material. Object dependencies Object dependencies control the value assignment in the Sales and Distribution document (SD document), for example. The BOM and routing explosion also uses object dependencies. Object dependencies address characteristics and their values. You can also address the variant class, the material master, and objects from the BOM. You can assign object dependencies to the following levels: Characteristics and values Configuration profiles BOM and routing elements Characteristic maintenance 1. The characteristic maintenance doesnt require model maintenance steps in Vari ant Configuration. Class maintenance 2. The class maintenance requires the existence of characteristics. Material master maintenance 3. Like the characteristic maintenance, the material master maintenance doesnt require model maintenance steps in Variant Configuration (at least with regard to the steps described above). Configuration profile 4. The configuration profile requires the existence of the configurable material master, specific classes (of the variant classes), and the link material master variant class (classification). Pricing 5.

At least in the standard version, the pricing settings require the existence of the material master. Bill of materials 6. The BOM requires the existence of the material master. Routing 7. Before you create routings, the material master and BOM are usually already available. This is not mandatory, however. Object dependencies 8. The maintenance of the object dependencies requires that all objects that are addressed in the syntax have already been created. Otherwise you cannot release the object dependencies. These objects include: Characteristics with their values (mandatory)
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Material master
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BOM and objects at the item level (material master, class, and document) During the configuration in the SD document, you have read and write access to the following tables: SDCOM: SD communication structure VCSD_UPDATE: Update structure for some VBAP fields SCREEN_DEP: Structure for changing the behavior of characteristics for the value assignment During the configuration in the SD document, you have read access to the following tables only: VBAK: Header of the sales and distribution document
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VBAP: Item of the sales and distribution document

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VBKD: Commercial data

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MAEPV & MAAPV: Material master fields

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VEDA: Contract data

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VBPA_AG, VBPA_WE, VBPA_RE, VBPA_RG: Contract partner (sold-to party, shipfi E

to party, bill-to party, and payer) Lets take a look at the configuration in the purchasing document. During this configuration, you have read and write access to the following tables:

MMCOM: MM communication structure

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SCREEN_DEP: Structure for changing the behavior of characteristics for the value
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assignment During the BOM and routing explosion, you have read and write access to the following tables: STPO: Fields of the BOM item
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PLPO: Fields of the operation in the routing

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PLFH: Fields of the assignment of production resources and tools

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PLFL: Fields of the sequence detail screen