SAP: Study Aide-memo

Revision: http://www.flashcardexchange.com/cards/terp10-sap-erp-unit-1-erp-basics1406590

http://www.erptips.com/Learn-SAP/What-is-SAP/Introduction-to-SAP.asp

1|Page

Table of Contents
Introduction: ....................................................................................................................... 3 Background: ................................................................................................................... 3 Timeline: ........................................................................................................................... 3 Core Principles:............................................................................................................... 4 Architectural Structure: ..................................................................................................... 6 SAP Module List: ................................................................................................................. 7 Financial Accounting (FI) .............................................................................................. 7 Financial Supply Chain Management (FSCM) ........................................................ 10 Controlling (CO) ........................................................................................................... 11 Materials Management (MM) .................................................................................... 13 Sales and Distribution (SD) .......................................................................................... 14 Logistics Execution (LE) ................................................................................................ 16 List of Common SAP Acronyms:..................................................................................... 18 SAP Dictionary: ............................................................................................................. 22

2|Page

Introduction:

Background:
Founded in 1972, SAP is the recognized leader in providing collaborative business solutions for all types of industries and for every major market. Headquartered in Willdorf, Germany, SAP is the world's largest inter-enterprise software company, and the world's third largest independent software supplier overall. SAP employs over 28,900 people in more than 50 countries SAP professionals are dedicated to providing high-level customer support and services.

Timeline:
1972: Five former IBM employees launch a company called SAP - Systems Analysis and Program Development. Later this was known as SAP - Systems Applications and Products. Names: (1) Dietmer Hopp (2) Hans-Werner (3) Hasso Plattner (4) klaus Tschira (5) Claus Wellenreuther 1973: 1980: SAP MOVES TO Max-Planck-Strasse in an industrial park in Walldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany. 1981: SAP R/2 is widely accepted. R stands for Real time and 2 stands for two tier. R/1 system is created: R stands for Real Time and 1 stands for one tier.

3|Page

1986: SAP moves outside Germany, Austria. Revenues reach DM 100 million around U.S. $52 million) earlier than expected. 1988: SAP GmbH becomes SAP AG. Nov 4, 1.2 million shares are listed on Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges. 1992: SAP R/3 is unleashed in market.

1996: 1,089 new SAP R/3 customers have been won.

1997: SAP celebrates it's 25th anniversary and now employs around 12,900 people.

1998: SAP stocks now trades on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

1999: In May Co-Founder, Co-Chairman and CEO Hassao Plattner announces the mySAP.com strategy. 2000: More than 10 million users work with SAP solutions. There are now 36,000 installations.

Core Principles:
SAP's products focus on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which it helped to pioneer. The company's main product is SAP ERP. The name of its predecessor, SAP R/3 gives a clue to its functionality: the "R" stands for release the number 3

4|Page

means it's the 3rd release, which also happens to relate to a 3 tier clientserver architecture (database layer-application layer-presentation layer) 3tier architecture: database, application server and client (SAPgui). R/2, which ran on Mainframe architecture, was the first SAP version. Other major product offerings include: Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO), Business Information Warehouse (BW) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Supply Chain Management (SCM) Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Exchange Infrastructure (XI) Enterprise Portal (EP) SAP Knowledge Warehouse (KW).

o o o o o o o o o o

The APO name has been retired and rolled into SCM. The BW name (Business Warehousing) has now been rolled into the SAP NetWeaver BI (Business Intelligence) suite and functions as the reporting module.

The company also offers a new technology platform, named SAP NetWeaver which replaces SAP Business Connector for Integration/middleware capabilities and offers a systematic approach to Enterprise SOA solutions with a collection of products.

While its original products are typically used by Fortune 500 companies, SAP is now also actively targeting small and medium sized enterprises (SME) with its SAP Business One and SAP All-in-One.

SAP officials say there are over 100,600 SAP installations serving more than 41,200 companies in more than 25 industries in more than 120 countries

5|Page

Architectural Structure:

6|Page

SAP Module List:

SAP's solution includes a number of functional modules, which support transactions to execute key business processes, such as:

Financial Accounting (FI)

7|Page

The Financial Accounting (SAP FI) module in SAP is designed to capture organizations business transactions in a manner that will satisfy external reporting requirements.

Local legal considerations are pre-delivered with the system and the ability to manage and report on multiple companies in multiple countries with multiple currencies is part of standard functionality.

Integration with Sales and Distribution, Purchasing and Materials Management allows for the ability to select any financial transaction and "Drill Down" to the originating transaction whether it is a purchase Order, Sales Order or material movement.

Financial Accounting includes the following sub-modules: o o o o o o o o General Ledger (FI-GL) Accounts Payable (FI-AP) Accounts Receivable (FI-AR) Bank Accounting (FI-BL) Asset Accounting (FI-AA) Funds Management (FI-FM) Travel Management (FI-TV) Special Purpose Ledger (FI-SL) (I am not sure this is really considered a module anymore)

The flexibility of the Finance modules organizational structure gives the module the ability to handle any economic situation. Whether a smaller organization with a single legal entity or a large organization with numerous companies, consolidations and varying legal requirements, the FI module can support and automate most financial postings and reporting.

Below is a listing of the main organizational elements in the Finance module: Company Code - Represents a legal reporting entity. There can be numerous company codes within an organization. Each has its own balanced books and reports itself as a single economic entity. Credit Control Area - If credit management is being used, this sets the general parameters for how credit is managed. The credit control area can control 8|Page

credit for a single company code representing a decentralized credit management approach or multiple company codes representing a more centralized credit management approach. Chart of Accounts - The system supports single or multiple charts of accounts providing the ability to record transactions and report financially in many different regulatory environments. A chart of accounts can support multiple Company Codes if necessary. The Finance Module is designed to record financial transactions in a manner consistent with external reporting. External reporting must be in compliance with a country's accounting principles and is required for public entities, regulatory agencies and information required by banks and other lenders. The module also handles legal consolidations, receivables, payables, fixed assets as well as banking functions if required.

9|Page

Financial Supply Chain Management (FSCM)

The Financial Supply Chain Management module (SAP FSCM) includes the following information and processes: o o o o o Credit Management Cash and Liquidity Management Collections Management Dispute Management Treasury and Risk Management

FSCM provides the ability to have a better view of your corporate cash flow, manage disputes with your customers, and add efficiency to your billing processes.

10 | P a g e

Controlling (CO)

The purpose of the Controlling (CO) module in SAP is to provide organizations with a method of slicing and dicing data to view costs from an internal management perspective and provide a view of profitability beyond that of basic financial reporting. T This allows the organization to create information in a manner that is tailored to their specific business measurements needs. Controlling allows an organization to: o Plan and track overhead costs within the company's specific organizational structure. o Track costs related to specific projects or events and either capitalize those costs or charge them to appropriate departments upon completion. o o Perform "Activity Based Costing". Perform Product Costing, measuring production cost and variances. 11 | P a g e

Report profitability by product line, division, or other internal measurement. Report sales and gross profitability by external measures such as market segments or customer groups.

Controlling consists of all master data, configuration, and reporting required to analyze both spend and revenues, both within and across organizations.

This includes the following master data: o o o o o o Cost Elements - cost and/or revenue accounts Cost Centers - departmental units Profit Centers - business lines, product lines or divisions Internal Orders - projects or events Functional Area - Cost of Sales Accounting Statistical Key Figures - non financial statistics for allocating or measuring financial costs o Activity Types - Labor or other activity costs

12 | P a g e

Materials Management (MM)

The Materials Management module (SAP MM) consists of all master data, system configuration, and transactions to complete the Procure to Pay process. This process map spans from MRP generated procurement proposals through final invoice receipt and verification.

SAP Materials Management Components or Sub-Components: o o o o o o Vendor Master and Material Master data Consumption Based Planning Purchasing Inventory Management Evaluation of Materials Invoice Verification

13 | P a g e

Subcomponents of the SAP Materials Management (SAP MM) Module: Purchasing Inventory Management Logistics Invoice Verification Physical Inventory Material Valuation Material Requirements Planning (MRP) External Services Management

Sales and Distribution (SD)

The Sales and Distribution (SAP SD) consists of all master data, system configuration, and transactions to complete the Order to Cash process.

14 | P a g e

It includes the following information and processes: Customer Master and Material Master data Sales Orders Deliveries Pricing Billing Credit Management

Subcomponents of the SAP Sales and Distribution (SAP SD) Module: Master Data Sales Support Pendulum List Indirect Sales Sales Shipping and Transportation Billing Empties Management Credit Management Foreign Trade/Customs Sales Information System

15 | P a g e

Logistics Execution (LE)

16 | P a g e

1.

Production Planning (PP)

2.

Quality Management (QM)

3.

Plant Maintenance (PM)

4.

Project System (PS)

5.

Human Resources (HR)

17 | P a g e

List of Common SAP Acronyms:

AA - Asset Accounting ABAP - Allgemeiner Berichts-Anwendungs-Prozessor (SAP's proprietary programming language) ALE - Application Link Enabling AG - Aktiengesellschaft (corporation) APO - Advanced Planning and Optimization ASUG - Americas' SAP Users' Group (www.asug.com) BI - Business Intelligence (former reporting) BObj - Business Objects (SAP Business Objects) BPR - Business Process Redesign

18 | P a g e

BSP - Business Server Pages BW - Business Warehouse ByD - By Design (SAP By Design) CAF - Composite Application Framework CASE - Computer-Assisted Software Engineering CM - Content Management CRM - Customer Relationship Management (CRM) DMS - Document Management System EHS - Environment, Health, and Safety EP - Enterprise Portal EPM - Employee Process Management ERM - Employee Relationship Management ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning ESA - Enterprise Services Architecture FI - Financials FICO - Financials and Controlling FIN - Financials (Applications) FSCM - Financial Supply Chain Management GL - General Ledger GRC - Governance, Risk and Compliance GUI - Graphical User Interface HCM - Human Capital Management

19 | P a g e

HR - Human Resources ICM - Incentive and Commission Management KPI - Key Performance Indicator LE - Logistics Execution MM - Materials Management MRP - Material Requirements Planning OM - Organizational Management PA - Personnel Administration PCD - Product Design Center (former name of SAP UX - Visual Design) PLM - Product Lifecycle Management PLM - Production Line Management PM - Plant Maintenance PM - Product Management POS - Point of Sale PP - Production Planning PS - Project Systems QM - Quality Management R/3 - Name of SAP's ERP software, no longer used REM - Real Estate Management SAP - Stands for Systems, Applications, Products (German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte) SAPPHIRE - name of an annual SAP conference www.SAPPHIRENOW.com SCM - Supply Chain Management

20 | P a g e

SCN - SAP Community Network www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn SD - Sales and Distribution SDN - SAP Developer Network www.sdn.sap.com SEM - Strategic Enterprise Management SM - Solution Management, Solution Manager SOA - Service-Oriented Architecture SRM - Supplier Relationship Management UCD - User-Centered Design UI - User Interface UP - User Productivity (former name of SAP UX) UR - Unified Rendering (UI rendering technology at SAP) UWL - Universal Worklist (see POWL) UX - User Experience (SAP UX = SAP User Experience) VC - Variant Configuration WD - Web Dynpro WF - Workflow WM - Warehouse Management WSDL - Web Services Description Language (www.w3.org/TR/wsdl) xApp - Stands for "Cross Application" - SAP's version of Packaged Composite Applications (PCAs) XDG - SAP's xApp Design Group xEPM - SAP xApp for supporting Employee Process Management (EPM) xERM - SAP xApp for supporting Employee Relationship Management (ERM)

21 | P a g e

XHTML - Extended HTML; HTML standard based on XML XML - Extended Markup Language (see XHTML, HTML)

SAP Dictionary:
http://help.sap.com/saphelp_46c/helpdata/en/e1/8e51341a06084de10000009b38f8 3b/frameset.htm

22 | P a g e