Session 1203 Case Study: How First Solar achieved real-time analysis of supplier and delivery performance metrics

s using SAP HANA Enterprise solution

Presenters

Allen Blackmore MIS Solutions Architect, First Solar, Inc.

Kiran Yelamaneni Associate Partner, IBM Global Business Services

SESSION OBJECTIVES

At the end of this session, you should be able to Understand :

How HANA Business Value Cases were defined? HANA Technology Review:
Why HANA Enterprise? Why NOT BW on HANA? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (data models, scripting, security, and so on)

How to setup HANA Systems Operations?

Business value benefits Key Learnings

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

About First Solar, Inc.

Premier Provider of Comprehensive PV Solar Solutions: Founded in 1999, First Solar has become the worlds premier provider of fully integrated solar solutions, creating value-driven renewable energy projects that represent the leading edge of utility-scale solar technology and innovation. First Solar delivers clean and affordable solar powerand spans the entire value chain, including module manufacturing; project development, Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC), financing; and Operations and Maintenance (O&M).

Key Highlights: First Solar has a strong workforce comprising more than 6,500 associates worldwide Launched IPO on 17 November 2006; common stock traded on NASDAQ under the symbol FSLR Broke the $1 per watt barrier in 2008 and is the current cost leader at less than $0.75 per watt Became the first PV solar company to produce 1GW in a single year with over 5GW installed to-date Set world records for CdTe PV cell (17.3%) and PV module (14.4%) efficiency certified by NREL Attained the smallest carbon footprint and fastest energy payback time of any PV technology

Agenda
About First Solar

Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

Analytics are important for First Solar

First Solar panels produce power at a cost of $0.75 / watt. This is the ultimate measure of the companys success.

Drive down manufacturing costs

Analyze manufacturing data to glean insights into how yields can be improved and processes optimized Get real-time information related to manufacturing performance by line and by plant, and quickly spot and resolve manufacturing performance problems and implement corrective action Ensure that sales related information is available real-time Empower Finance with the capability of doing rapid variance analysis to quickly understand why costs are higher than expected Improve the overall efficiency through which operational information is disseminated throughout the organization Large volumes of data from services installations must be analyzed to help understand how to maximize power outputs and minimize service disruptions Help predict when failures are imminent

Use real-time tactical information to drive value

Analyze all data sources pertaining to panel performance to maximize output

Link environmental conditions to panel performance and reliability

Several business cases are identified

SCM Analytics

Rapid access to tactical information Enhanced variance analysis and detailed procurement analytics Analyze large volumes of information gathered from the field, pertaining to panel installations Gain an understanding into what conditions affect power output Enable continuous improvement of professionals to perform data analysis against large volumes of manufacturing data quickly and effectively, to drive improved yields and manufacturing efficiency Integrate data from Sales orders, Contracts, Warranties, Rebates, and Manufacturing Gauge the efficiencies in Customer Service, and enable analysis Implement RDS for operational reporting Leverage finance models and bring G/L reporting onto HANA to facilitate faster month-end closing processes Accelerate BPC on HANA Project future potential roadmap for FSLR

Power Generation Data Analysis Continuous Improvement Analysis Customer Service Enablement

Finance Analytics

BPC Acceleration

Supplier metrics were problematic

Past Situation

If I need Procurement Analytics:

Business Perspective

users would have to submit a Service Desk ticket and wait two days it took them one week to get me this data

ECC 6.0
Extract Manipulate in Excel

Time Consuming Inefficient Lacking granularity

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

Why HANA Enterprise ?

Current Solution

HANA Solution
Flexible product, with ability for IT to create and edit models on the fly while allowing end-users to create their own reports. Addresses future needs as a company. Integrated solution across finance, supply chain and HR for cross-functional reporting.

Business users heavily rely on IT to generate ABAP-based report No BW for SCM Limited flexibility. Changes to existing reports are longer time-to-value

Benefits of HANA:
Ability to access large volumes of data in real-time True alternative reporting solution Seamless integration between SAP products: ECC -> SLT -> HANA -> BO HANA Studio is intuitive with an easy-to-use interface

Which SLT Installation Option to Choose ?

SLT on Existing ECC Box

Pros Simplified landscape and administration Performance impact Potential software maintenance dependencies

Separate Dedicated SLT Server

No software maintenance dependencies Flexibility Investment and maintenance effort for separate server / NW instance

Cons

HANA Landscape Design

First Solar HANA System Architecture
SAP ECC DEV DR1 (300) SAP ECC QA QR1 (100) SAP ECC PROD PR1 (100)

Transport

Transport

SLT Server DU1 (100)

Transport

SLT Server QU1 (100)

Transport

SLT Server PU1 (100)

1 box for Dev and QA 1 box for Production Separate SLT Server Implementation of SAP BusinessObjects 4

HANA DEV DH1

DEV Schema QA Schema Transport

HANA PROD PH1

PROD Schema

Transport

Transport

BO Development

BO QA

BO Production

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

Why IBM ?

Innovative Approach
Well defined business value case Validation workshops and not requirements gathering Developed and proposed new 4D methodology Business involvement from week 2

Strong Project Leadership

Exhibited clear understanding of FSLR

objectives Demonstrated adept knowledge on HANA Confirmed strong vendor relationships Assured successful project delivery Worked as single point-of-contact

Right Resource Mix

Good onsite and offshore mix Cost effective proposition Allocated SME time instead of FTEs Selected highly motivated consultants Engaged process experts with right background on SAP ECC functionality along with good HANA expertise

Scalable Platform
Two- system HANA landscape:

X3950 X5, 4X Xeon 10C, E-7-8870, 130W, 2.4Ghz, 512GB (32 x 16GB) Memory Disk 4.8 TB (8x600 GB 2.5in. SAS) Proven backup and restore capabilities Right size HANA systems with scalable options

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

Phase I - Project Scope

Design, develop, and implement pre-defined and prioritized business use cases. Design and implement SAP HANA on top of SAP ECC using SLT. Determine data extraction / replication methods from SAP ECC to HANA. Determine SAP HANA data modeling with SQL and SQL Scripts. Design and implement the integration of SAP HANA with SAP BusinessObjects including design and creation of BO reports (specifically WEBI and Explorer reports), and supporting universes. Provide knowledge transfer to the First Solar team on HANA modeling; system integration, data extraction, and ongoing system administration and management. Provide design documentation, implementation guides, and operating procedures.

16

Implementation Schedule
IBM's 4D Methodology for HANA Projects 1. Define Value cases & Roadmap definition HANA Appliance Requirements BI Analytics & Presentation HANA Systems Operations 2. Design Architecture and Systems Integration HANA Modeling (Schemas, Views,) Security and Access BI Universes and Presentation Formats 3. Develop Configure Schemas, Views Setup SLT and Enable Replication Develop BI Universes and Analytics Develop Security & Authorizations Verify Analytics and Validate Data User Acceptance & PRD Ready 4. Deploy Promote Content Initial Loads & Enable Replication Final Verification & Go-live Stabilization
WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 5 WEEK 6 WEEK 7 WEEK 8 WEEK 9 WEEK 10 WEEK 11 WEEK 12 WEEK 13 WEEK 14 1234512345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345123451234512345

Tight project schedule with first-of-a-kind HANA implementation required innovative and Agile development strategies

Skills and Roles

Partnered with IBM and successfully completed HANA Implementation:

Project Executive (part-time)

SAP HANA Solution Architect

Serve as overall lead for SAP HANA Program Monitor risks (i.e. Technical, Functional, Organizational, Resource related) and take proactive action when needed to drive successful completion of the Project
Architect solution, define data models, systems integration, and analytics Design data models, analytical views and calculation views Configure data models, load data, performance testing, and system tuning Develop transport procedures for the Model Migration Load data and enable replication. Repair Replication Error Install and integrate BI 4.0 with HANA system Configure JDBC connectivity and Kerberos authentication Develop HANA Data Model Based on requirements. Configure Schema Mapping for Single HANA Instance Migrate universes and reports from Rapidmarts to HANA environment Define and develop BI4.0 reports. Design Universes and BO Explorer KPIs. Develop Webi and Dashboards. Develop HANA Model HANA Scripting based on requirement Validate data from ECC Partner with HANA Modeling Architect and design the solution architecture Linux based activity such as HANA Start & Stop, Backup and Scheduling Cron Jobs. Review SQL Script design used for composing the information views Setup SLT server and integrate with ECC and HANA systems In collaboration with architect define background jobs, execute LTR Apply SAP messages, HANA revisions, and Basis related configuration settings

SAP HANA Modeler/ BO Integrator (offshore) SAP BI 4.0 Developer. (offshore) SAP HANA Modeler (offshore) SAP HANA Architect SAP Basis Support

IBM Roles

FSLR Roles

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

FSLR Data Models

First Solar required a supply chain management solution: Transactional Data Models:
Inventory Model: Reflected true value of HANA by handling large volume of data to provide real-time analysis of goods movement. Purchase Order Model: Real-time data reflecting vendor delivery performance, invoice and goods receipt discrepancy, vendor direct spend, open purchase orders, and so on. Purchase Requisition Model: Complex model that provides start-to-finish picture of material requisition to goods receipt including who received it, who created the purchase order, and so on.

Master Data:
Material Model: Built to obtain on-hand quantity, minimum and maximum quantity, stock in transit, and so on. Vendor Model: Vendor across companies, vendor banking details, vendor partner function details, and other classifications, such as payment terms, INCO terms, and so on. Multiple audit and / or ad-hoc reports for additional master data, such as company code, plant, purchasing groups , and so on.

Procurement Data Model

Summary Table (EKBE) SQL Script Distribute Quantity & $ Amount BY Purchase Order Number BY Purchase Order Line BY Purchase Order Schedule Line SUM Quantity SUM $ MAX Date BY Purchase Order Number BY Purchase Order Line

Purchasing Line (EKPO) PK EBELN - Purchase Order Number PK EBELP - Purchase Order Line

Purchasing Schedule Line (EKET) PK EBELN - Purchase Order Number PK EBELP - Purchase Order Line PK ETENR - Schedule Line

Only GR and IR Transactions (1 and 2)

Purchase Order History (EKBE) Purchasing Header (EKKO) PK EBELN - Purchase Order Number PK PK PK PK PK PK PK EBELN - Purchase Order Number EBELP - Purchase Order Line ZEKKN - Accounting Sequence Number VGABE - Transaction/Event Type BELNR - Material Document Number BUZEI - Material Item Number GJAHR - Material Doc. Year

One of the key requirements for Purchase Order (P.O.) reporting is to provide vendor delivery performance by utilizing the delivery date and the schedule line level. In order to provide this, the EKET purchasing schedule line table is used as the foundation as opposed to the EKPO purchasing line table. Goods receipt and invoice receipt for the P.O. document will be included in the data model. Only quantity, dollar amount, and date from GR / IR will be brought into the data model. These values will be summarized at the P.O. number and P.O. line level. A key assumption is if P.O. schedule line has multiple GRs or IRs then the max date will be used for delivery performance. Distribution of GR / IR quantity and dollar amount to the corresponding P.O. schedule line will be based on the earliest requested delivery date. For example, if a P.O. item has 2 schedule lines with line 2 having an earlier requested delivery date than line 1, the goods receipts will be distributed by the earliest requested delivery date first. A SQL script was written to execute the described logic inside a calculative view.

Modeling in HANA Studio (1 of 2)

Views: Attribute Views: Create master data in HANA to be utilized by analytic and calculation views, that is, text for Material, Vendor, Purchasing Org., and so on. Analytic Views: Create a data foundation using simple joins still allowing the creation of calculated attributes and measures, that is, Purchase Requisition Model
Attribute View Analytic View

Created for all master data

Created for Material Created for Purchase Requisition

Modeling in HANA Studio (2 of 2)

Views (continued):
Calculation Views: Define your own data foundation for complex joins using SQL scripts, that is, FSLRs procurement model. These views were created for transactional data using graphical calculation view or script calculation view (SQL Script and CE Functions).
SQL Script Calculation View

Graphical Calculation View

Created for Vendor, Purchase Order and Inventory Analysis

Scripting in HANA Studio

Scripting: For calculation views, SAP recommends the use of Calculation Engine (CE) Functions whenever possible. DDL functions are not allowed within calculation views. SQL Script: Projects can leverage skills widely available in the market. However, a lot depends on how a person writes the specific SQL. CE Function: CE Functions are pre-built functions delivered by SAP that can be used within SQL scripts to replace what you would have otherwise done with simple SQL. They are executed by the Calculation Engine directly, thus providing better performance.
SQL Script INNER JOIN SELECT A, B, Y, SUM(D) from "COLTAB1" INNER JOIN "COLTAB2" WHERE "COLTAB1"."KEY1" = "COLTAB2"."KEY1" AND "COLTAB1"."KEY2" = "COLTAB2"."KEY2" CE Function CE_JOIN("COLTAB1","COLTAB2", [KEY1, KEY2], [A, B, Y, D])

Analytics through SAP BI (1 of 2)

Design Considerations: Flexibility Speed-to-market HANA models were designed to include majority of ECC table elements, while minimizing the exposure in BO Universe Layer. BO Security: Analytical privileges were created in the HANA model based on Process Area. Different generic IDs were created in HANA and utilized in BO based on security needs.

Analytics through SAP BI (2 of 2)

SAP BO Tools: Web Intelligence*Primary Reporting Tool Crystal Reports Explorer
Crystal Report showing real-time inventory movement WEBI report showing purchase orders at schedule line level

Direct connection to HANA view (skipping universe)

True ad-hoc analysis capability through Explorer

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

HANA Systems Operations

Transports: Two HANA instances for QA / Dev and Production increased the cost savings Schema entries were tweaked to handle two instances using Schema Mapping Data Replication: SLT Internal Tables (Similar to BW internal Dimension Tables) Tweaking Internal Table number range; QA and Dev tables should have unique table number range Background Job Definition:
SLT Jobs
Master Job Master Control Job Data Load Job IUUC_MONITER_<ID> IUUC_REPLIC_CNTR_<ID> DTL_MT_DATA_LOAD_<ID>_<2_digit>

Debugging: Repair Runtime Object: Understand the internal tables, (such as RS_ORDER, RS_STATUS both in HANA Studio and SLT Server) Install SAP Provided ABAP Program (You will use it)

HANA Systems Operations

Process
/etc/crontab $INSTANCE_DIR/backup/backup.sh HDBSQL Data Backup Linux Clean Logs HANA DB Automatic Log Backup

O/S Backup Script

Located in $INSTANCE_DIR/backup Uses the HANA client hdbsql command line to initiate backup Sends an email notification upon failure Removes old log file backups
Linux O/S

$INSTANCE_DIR/ backup/data

$INSTANCE_DIR/ backup/log

EMC Avamar Data Store

MSA DR Storage

Client is installed to /usr/local/avamar Connected to central Avamar server pbg1ava01s100.fs.local:

Full O/S backup is scheduled for 12:00 a.m. daily Agent watches for changed blocks at the file system level Uses an advanced de-duplication approach:
Initial DH1 backup found - 40%+ duplicated blocks

HDB SQL
The M_BACKUP_CATALOG and M_BACKUP_CATALOG_FILES views provide backup detail For example:
SELECT TOP 1 * FROM M_BACKUP_CATALOG WHERE ENTRY_TYPE_NAME = 'complete data backup AND STATE_NAME = 'successful' ORDER BY SYS_END_TIME DESC

Agent process is always running Backups are replicated offsite (Daily x 30, Monthly x 12, and Yearly x 2)

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

Real-time Procurement Analytics

With HANA
Business Feedback

ECC 6.0
Real-Time

Prior to HANA, users would have to submit a Service Desk ticket and wait two days, now they can run their own ad-hoc reports. This is great, it took them one week to get me this data, and Im not sure it was right. Now I can get the data right away and Im going to show my manager Explorer! Ive been waiting for this!

Real-time reporting capabilities Granular analysis against large data sets with rapid results

User-friendly tools for business users

Deep-dives into all issues for which PO details are needed

Agenda
About First Solar Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

Why HANA Enterprise? HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner? Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on) HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

Key Learnings

Get familiar with Linux related activities such as scheduling backup, Start/Stop Database, and so on. Clearly define roles:
Understand what the hardware team will do versus the software team Understand who will install HANA patches (Basis or Linux team)

Prepare for new patches: SAP releases at least 2-4 patches a month. At FSLR, we started with patch 36 and completed with patch 42 (in a 3-month timeframe).

Understand you are paving the way when implementing HANA: Limited resources are available. Exploring and experimenting is the best method.
Clearly define Single sign-on requirements (Kerberos authentication) and HANA back-up / restore (EMC Avamar) procedures.

Pay close attention to the naming standards especially on SLT configurations.

Connect multiple ECC systems to a single HANA system. This should be handled carefully especially for SLT replication (number range objects,).

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