E

Best Practice for Solution Operations
Manage Operations for Service Parts

Planni ng with SAP SCM
Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 16
D-69190 Walldorf
CS STATUS
external final
DATE VERSION
August 5th, 2009 1.1
SOLUTION MANAGEMENT PHASE SAP SOLUTION
Operations & Continuous Improvement Best Practices for Solution Operations
TOPIC AREA SOLUTION MANAGER AREA
Application & Integration Management Business Process Operation
Manage Operations for SAP APO: Service Parts Planning
2010 SAP AG page 2/2
Table of Contents
Management Summary 5
1.1 Goal of Using this Best Practice 5
1.2 Alternative Practices 5
1.3 Staff and Skills Requirements 5
1.4 System Requirements 6
1.5 Duration and Timing 6
1.6 How to Use this Best Practice 6
1.7 Best Practice Procedure 6
1.7.1 Preliminary Tasks 6
1.7.2 Monitoring Concepts 6
1.7.3 Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager 7
1.7.4 Monitoring Types for Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager 8
1.7.4.1 Application Monitor 8
1.7.4.2 Background J ob 9
1.7.4.3 ABAP Dump Collector 10
1.7.4.4 Dialog Performance 10
1.7.4.5 Update Errors 11
1.7.4.6 Due List Log 12
1.7.4.7 Application Log 13
1.7.4.8 Other CCMS Monitors 14
1.7.4.9 Analysis and Monitoring Tools 15
1.7.4.10 Monitoring Activities 17
1.7.4.11 Notifications 17
1.7.5 Business Process Monitoring Process 18
2 Business Process Monitoring for Service Parts Planning 20
2.1 Sample Scenario 20
2.2 Business Process Service Parts Planning 20
2.2.1 Business Process Step 1: Capture Demand History 21
2.2.1.1 Description 21
2.2.1.2 Monitoring Requirements: 22
2.2.1.3 Monitoring Objects in SAP Solution Manager 23
2.2.1.4 Monitoring without SAP Solution Manager 25
2.2.1.5 How to Find Meaningful Thresholds for Each Monitoring Object 25
2.2.2 Business Process Step 2: Stocking and De-stocking 25
2.2.2.4 Further Monitoring Objects 26
2.2.3 Business Process Step 3: Manage Demand History 27
2.2.4 Business Process Step 4: Forecasting 29
2.2.5 Business Process Step 5: Economic Order Quantity & Safety Stock 32
2.2.6 Business Process Step 6: Surplus & Obsolescence Planning 34
2.2.7 Business Process Step 7: Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) 37
2.2.8 Business Process Step 8: Procurement Approval (DRP Approval) 40
2.2.9 Business Process Step 9: Deployment 44
2.2.10 Business Process Step 10: Inventory Balancing 47
3 Further Information 51
3.1 Troubleshooting 51
3.2 Related Best Practice Documents 51
3.3 Literature 51
3.4 Feedback and Questions 52
4 Appendix 53
4.1 Examples for recommended Monitoring Objects 53
4.1.1 Example Background J ob Monitoring 53
4.1.2 Example Dialog Response Time Monitoring 54
4.1.3 Example Data Consistency 55
4.2 Available Monitoring Objects for scenario Procure-to-stock 57
4.2.1 Overview Procure-to-Stock 57
4.2.2 Monitoring Business Process Procure-to-Stock 58
4.2.3 Business Process Steps executed in SAP SCM APO Service Parts Planning and Monitoring
Objects 59
4.2.4 Business Process Steps executed in SNC and respective Monitoring Objects 59
4.2.5 Business Process Steps executed in ECC/ERP and Monitoring Objects 60
4.2.6 Business Process Steps executed in EWM and respective Monitoring Objects 61
4.2.7 Business Process Steps executed in the Supplier System and respective Monitoring Objects 63
4.3 Background J obs 64
Management Summary
1.1 Goal of Using this Best Practice
This Best Practice will help you to set up a Business Process Monitoring concept for your SAP solution in the
automotive area. The concept aims to define procedures for business process oriented monitoring and error
handling, and escalation procedures for Service Parts Planning with SAP SCM. These procedures are
intended to ensure a smooth and reliable flow of this core business process so that your business
requirements are met.
This Best Practice offers guidance to define suitable application-oriented monitoring objects to detect any
irregularities or deviations from an ideal business process flow, or to detect error situations concerning a core
business process at an early stage.
This Best Practice contains the recommended approach from SAP which uses the SAP Solution Manager for
the Monitoring functionalities whenever possible. However, even if you do not use the SAP Solution Manager
we recommend that you follow the procedures described in this document as much as possible in to ensure a
smooth and reliable flow of your business processes as well as an appropriate response in case of
unforeseen errors.
Additional information on how to monitor the end-to-end cross-system scenario Procure-to-stock can be
found in the Appendix of this document.
1.2 Alternative Practices
You can have SAP experts deliver this Best Practice on-site by ordering an SAP Solution Management
Optimization (SMO) service for SAP Business Process Management (BPM). This service is exclusively
available within SAPs support engagements SAP MaxAttention and SAP Safeguarding. If your company
currently does not have any support engagement with SAP, it is also possible to get assistance by SAP
experts from SAP Consulting. If this case, please contact your local SAP Consulting representative.
1.3 Staff and Skills Requirements
To implement this Best Practice, you require the following teams:
Application Management Team
This team creates the ERP Business Process Monitoring concept and consists of experts from several areas
of your company:
Business department
Solution support organization (for example the Basis Support or the Application Support)
Implementation project team
Business Process Operations Team
The Business Process Operations team will be responsible for applying the resulting procedures derived from
implementing this best practice. They include the following groups:
Persons designated to perform business process-oriented monitoring and to ensure that the process
runs smoothly (for example, the Business Process Champion for each business process)
All parties in your Solution Support Organization and IT department involved in monitoring focused
on the application aspects (Application Support, Development Support, J ob Scheduling
Management)
SAP Technology Operations Team
All parties in your Solution Support Organization and IT department involved in monitoring focused
on the system administration side (Program Scheduling Management, Software Monitoring Team,
System Administration Team including the System Administrator)
Business Process Champion
The Business Process Champion is the person in the business department who is responsible for
the successful execution of the business process. He/she coordinates all activities necessary for the
business process. Therefore, he/she is usually responsible for the escalation paths in case of
problems. Often, he/she is a second level in the escalation procedure, if the application monitoring
team needs to escalate an issue.
More information about roles and responsibilities of these teams can be found in the super-ordinate Best
Practice General Business Process Management, which you can obtain through SAP Solution Manager or
the SAP Service Marketplace, quicklink /BPM.
Necessary or Useful Trainings
SM300 Business Process Management and Monitoring
E2E300 End-to-end Business Process Integration and Automation Management
1.4 System Requirements
To monitor business processes running in your SAP solution via SAP Solution Manager, the SAP Basis
Release of the systems to be monitored have to be at least 4.6C. To have all described monitoring objects
available in SAP Solution Manager, the add-on ST-A/PI01L has to be installed on the SAP ECC systems.
1.5 Duration and Timing
Duration
Creating a Business Process Monitoring concept could take around one week per business process.
Implementing the Business Process Monitoring concept might take approximately an additional week in total.
Timing
The best time to apply this Best Practice is during the planning phase or during the implementation phase of
your SAP solution.
1.6 How to Use this Best Practice
Here you find a brief description of how you should proceed in using this document:
Read through the General Business Process Management Best Practice, available on the SAP
Service Marketplace. This document explains the procedures you should use to create a general
Business Process Management concept. This includes the definition and documentation of the core
business processes, definition of monitoring objects, definition of monitoring activities including error
handling procedures, monitoring tools and monitoring frequencies, the definition of communication
and escalation procedures and the assignment of responsibilities.
At the beginning of section 2, you will find a typical flow chart of the core business process explained
in this Best Practice. It is intended to be used as a guideline for writing down your company specific
process documentation.
In section 1.7.4, you find further information that is relevant for more than one scenario. If information
from the generic part is relevant for a specific business process step in one of the scenarios, you will
find a clear link to the corresponding chapter in the generic part.
1.7 Best Practice Procedure
1.7.1 Prel iminary Tasks
Before performing this Best Practice, ensure that you perform the following preliminary tasks or checks in the
system:
Complete all installation and post-installation actions and procedures including customizing
Ensure that the initial data load has been successfully executed
Apply all SAP recommendations from SAP Service Sessions and any SAP recommendations
resulting from customer problem messages
Implement all current SAP Support Packages upon availability
1.7.2 Monitori ng Concepts
The monitoring procedures proposed for each business process step are the core of this Best Practice. The
monitoring procedures help you to ensure that the technical processes meet the requirements for stability,
performance, and completeness. These procedures cover monitoring for the five areas:
Error monitoring
Performance monitoring
Throughput monitoring
Backlog monitoring
Data Consistency Monitoring
For each of the business process steps, you will find the following information:
A detailed functional description of the process step
Identified monitori ng requirements for the process step
Defined moni toring obj ects, alerts and selection criteria
Description of error handling procedures and restartability
General monitoring activities that are valid for all or most scenarios are described in the generic part in
section 1.7.4. Recommendations for performance monitoring can also be found in this chapter. The
performance of the most important steps of your core business processes should be monitored on a regular
basis. The monitoring procedure for performance monitoring of all steps that are executed in an SAP solution
used for Spare Parts Management is generally the same. Therefore, you will only find specific performance
monitoring recommendations on selected business process steps.
1.7.3 Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager
Business Process Monitoring (BPMon), as part of Solution Monitoring means the proactive and process-
oriented monitoring of the most important or critical business processes including the observation of all
technical and business application specific functions that are required for a steady and stable flow of the
business processes.
The core business processes that are implemented in an SAP system or other software and operated by a
company are of particular importance. Business Process Monitoring is intended to ensure a smooth and
reliable operation of the business processes and, thereby, that the core business processes meet a
companys business requirements in terms of stability, performance, and completeness. SAP Solution
Manager provides a graphical view to visualize a companys (distributed) system and solution landscape and
all related business processes. By using Business Process Monitoring, it is possible to define and customize
alert situations from a basic set of configurable monitoring objects provided by the SAP Solution Manager.
These resulting alerts are then visualized by green, yellow, and red alert icons for each individual business
process step in the graphical business process representation. The goal of Business Process Monitoring is to
detect and respond to critical situations as early as possible so you can solve problems as quickly as
possible.
In addition, SAP Solution Manager offers extended functionality for error handling and problem resolution. By
the definition of contact persons and escalation paths, Business Process Monitoring can be integrated into
the companys overall strategy for Business Process Management and Solution Management within their
Solution Support Organization.
In general, Business Process Monitoring includes the solution-wide observation of:
Business process performance (Key Performance Indicators)
Background jobs (J ob Scheduling Management tasks)
Business application logs (such as any error log, general application log, due list logs, and so on)
Data transfer via interfaces between software components
Data consistency
Technical infrastructure and components which are required to run the business processes
Required periodic monitoring tasks
For further details on Business Process Monitoring please refer to http://service.sap.com/bpm.
1.7.4 Monitori ng Types for Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager
Monitoring Types are part of the functional scope of Business Process Monitoring as it is available in the SAP
Solution Manager. This chapter provides a short overview of available monitoring types for reference
purposes only. The available Monitoring Types are:
Application Monitor (Throughput and Backlog Indicators, Data Consistency Checks, Mass Activity
Monitors, Due List Log, MRP key figures, User Exit, Interface Monitoring)
Background J obs (J obs running on SAP Systems with an SAP Basis)
Dialog Performance (Dialog transaction performance)
Update Errors (V1 and V2 update errors from SM13 for specific transactions and programs)
Due List Log (messages for deliveries and billings)
Application Log (messages from the Application Log SLG1)
Document Volume (based on table call statistics in ST10)
Other CCMS Monitor (all alerts that are configured in the CCMS Alert Monitor)
Depending on what is executed during a specific business process step, the relevant Monitoring Types must
be selected. To receive detailed information on how to set up the Monitoring Objects in SAP Solution
Manager, please refer to the documentation that is available under http://service.sap.com/bpm.
One prerequisite for setting up Business Process and Interface Monitoring in the SAP Solution Manager is
that all business processes and business process steps are maintained in the respective solution that
contains all affected system components. If you want to learn more about how to set this up, see (URL
http://help.sap.com) SAP Solution Manager Basic Settings.
1.7.4.1 Application Monitor
The Application Monitor is just one of many different Monitoring Types within Business Process Monitoring.
The latest monitoring objects are only provided if the latest ST-A/PI plug-in is installed on the satellite system.
The Service Tool for ST-A/PI is available via the SAP Service Marketplace Quick Link /installations Entry
by Application Group -> Plug-Ins SAP Solution Tools ST-A/PI.
Ensure that the ST-A/PI is installed on the SAP Solution Manager system and on the respective satellite
system. In case of problems, refer to SAP Note 915933.
The Throughput and Backlog Indicator functionality available as of ST-A/PI 01J * is only working
properly with ST-SER 700_2007_1. This is due to changes in the underlying architecture.
More detailed information about the different Application Monitor functionalities and a detailed description on
how to define self-written monitoring collectors for the user exit are explained in the documents Setup Guide
Application Monitoring and Setup Guide - User Exit respectively (URL http://www.service.sap.com/ Alias
BPM Media Library).
1.7.4.1.1 Throughput and Backlog Indi cators (TBIs)
As of ST-A/PI 01H, a completely new set of Application Monitors has been introduced. While the already
established monitors are all evaluating specific logs or performance data these new monitors are considering
(un-)processed documents in the SAP system and provide Throughput and Backlog Indicators.
These TBIs should especially provide
Automated and early detection of application error situations and backlogs in the core business
processes
Automated error and backlog analysis tools
For ERP Logistics, the following monitors are available:
Sales and Services (for example, Sales Documents, Invoices)
Warehouse Management (for example, Transfer Requirements, Transfer Orders)
Inventory Management (for example, Goods Movements)
Logistics Execution (for example, Deliveries, Shipments)
Procurement (for example, Planned Orders, Purchase Requisitions, Purchase Orders)
Manufacturing (for example, Planned Orders, Production or Process Orders, Autom. Goods
Movements posted with error, Confirmation Pool errors)
Plant Maintenance (for example, PM/CS Notifications, PM/CS Orders)
For further information on the different TBIs refer to the document Setup Guide - Application Monitoring
(URL http://www.service.sap.com/BPM Media Library).
1.7.4.1.2 Data Consistency Checks
The DCC collectors are a subset of the Application Monitors used to retrieve a stored comparison result from
data comparison check reports for SAP systems.
There are certain consistency check programs that are able to not only output their check result to a list or
into the spool, but can also permanently store a summary in database tables. Corresponding monitoring
objects can be configured to retrieve the number of found inconsistencies out of the stored summary
information and display them as alerts within the SAP Solution Manager Business Process Monitoring
(Consistency Monitoring).
For further information, refer to the document Setup Guide Data Consistency Monitoring (URL
http://www.service.sap.com/ ->Technical Information).
1.7.4.2 Background Job
The background job monitoring should be part of a J ob Scheduling Management concept (go to
http://service.sap.com/solutionmanagerbp Topic Area Business Process Operations to find a Best
Practice document Job Scheduling Management). Because of several restrictions regarding background job
scheduling, for example, time restrictions, restriction of hardware resources (CPU, main memory, ) or
existing dependencies between different activities (for example, invoices can only be created after the
corresponding goods issue is posted, or Back Order Processing and Material Requirements Planning should
not run at the same time) it is very important to ensure the stable running of background jobs. A cancelled
background job should be identified as soon as possible so you can react as quickly as possible. Therefore, it
is also necessary to define restart procedures and escalation paths.
1.7.4.2.1 Monitori ng Objects and Alerts
Before setting up monitoring, the monitoring objects must be clearly defined. A monitoring object is a single
background job or a group of background jobs. There are four different possibilities to identify a special
background job or a group of background jobs. This information needs to be maintained in the sub-node
Background J ob below a business process step.
A more detailed description (than provided in this document) on the subject of what kind of alerts make sense
or what kind of alerts are possible are discussed in the Best Practice document Background J ob Monitoring
with SAP Solution Manager, which can be found on the SAP Marketplace
http://service.sap.com/solutionmanagerbp Topic Area Business Process Operation.
1.7.4.3 ABAP Dump Collector
This provides monitoring features for alerting on occurrences of ABAP dumps of specified runtime errors or to
collect statistical data of ABAP dumps for reporting reasons.
The monitoring object is an ABAP runtime error. This runtime error can be specified via the runtime error
name, the user who is responsible for the runtime error, the Client on which the runtime error occurs, or the
Program which leads to the runtime error.
The following alerts are available:
- Number of ABAP Dumps (Delta) (all dumps since the last collector run)
- Number of ABAP Dumps (Reporting) (all runtime errors of specified type, client and program for this day or
for the previous day)
1.7.4.4 Dialog Performance
Dialog Performance implies the monitoring of the dialog transaction performance of any transaction in the
SAP System. This could be a standard transaction or a self-developed transaction.
1.7.4.4.1 Monitoring Objects and Alerts
The monitoring object is the transaction itself. The customizing has to be done in the node Dialog
Performance. In the table Transactions, all transactions that are already configured to that business process
step are listed. The relevant transactions need to be selected for monitoring. It is also possible to add or to
remove transactions within table Add/Remove Transactions. The monitoring can be performed for each SAP
instance. Therefore, the respective instances have to be selected in table SAP Instances. All instances
that are maintained for a system are listed there. Table Alert Types shows the dialog response time
and all parts of the response time, like queue time, load and generation time, database request time, and the
front-end response time, which can be monitored. Those times that are relevant for monitoring have to be
selected.
After saving this node, a sub-node Performance Alerts will appear where the threshold values have to be
entered.
Monitoring Objects Di alog Performance
Each table in the sub-node Performance Alerts corresponds to an alert type chosen in the higher-level node,
and lists the combinations of the specified transaction code and SAP instance.
For each combination of transaction code and instance that should be included in the monitoring, the
threshold values resulting in alert messages for changes from GREEN to YELLOW, from YELLOW to RED,
back from RED to YELLOW, and back from YELLOW to GREEN have to be specified.
Since the Monitoring Object for Performance Monitoring is created on the satellite system, it might be
possible that the object already exists there. Therefore, you can load the current threshold values from the
respective systems via the button "Load thresholds from XYZ", where XYZ represents the SID.
If successfully retrieved for an SAP instance, the values are filled in columns. If no active settings for the
threshold values were found for a certain transaction code, default values are set (indicated in column
"Default"). To transfer the threshold values for a single line from right to left, the copy icon can be used. To
transfer all at once (all thresholds for all columns and tables), there is an additional button "Copy all".
Monitoring Alert s - Dialog Perf ormance
1.7.4.5 Update Errors
Changes to the data in an SAP system caused by a business process should be written to the database in full
or not at all. If the operation is canceled while the transaction is being executed, or if an error occurs, the
transaction should not make any changes to the database. These activities are handled by the SAP update
system.
The SAP System makes a distinction between primary, time-critical (V1) and secondary, non-time-critical (V2)
update errors. This distinction allows the system to process critical database changes before less critical
changes.
V1 modules describe critical or primary changes; these affect objects that have a controlling function in the
SAP System, for example, order creation or changes to material stock.
V2 modules describe less critical secondary changes. These are pure statistical updates, for example, result
calculations.
Monitoring of Update Errors can be configured for online transactions and/or ABAP programs relevant in a
business process. This is the object type. The name of the object is the name of a transaction or the name of
the ABAP program itself. If desired a user executing the transaction or the ABAP program can be specified.
If no user is specified explicitly, all users (represented by '*') will be considered in monitoring data evaluation.
Monitoring Objects - Update Errors
Since update errors are usually very critical, the default configuration is to raise a yellow alert as soon as one
update error occurs. This is valid for V1 and for V2 update errors. To raise a red alert for a V1 or a V2 update
error, a threshold must be specified.
1.7.4.6 Due List Log
A due list is a list that contains several entries (documents) depending on selection criteria. There are
different types of due lists in an SAP system, of which the following three are most important: delivery (L),
billing (F) and picking (K). The delivery due list can be accessed directly via transaction V_SA, and the billing
due list via transaction V.21. In the case of a billing due list, the list contains, for example, a number of sales
documents that need to be billed. If the billing due list was processed previously and it is important to know
which billing documents were created from this billing due list, it can be displayed in the due list log for this
billing run.
The monitoring object is the respective due list type. That can be Delivery, Billing, or Picking. If a certain
user is processing the due list, the name of the user can be specified here. If it is user independent, a wild
card * can be used. The aggregation level needs to be defined. This could be per day, per hour or per
log.
For the monitoring of due list log messages, four different alert types can be used:
1. DocumentCreation refers to the status of the document creation itself. The alert rating (YELLOW or
RED) will be raised if no documents were created during a Due List run.
2. MinQuantityDocs refers to a minimum number of documents that should be created during a Due
List run. The threshold values for the number of documents that result in a change from GREEN to
YELLOW (or back) and from YELLOW to RED (or back) must be maintained.
3. TotalQuantityMsgs refers to the total number of message created during a Due List run.
4. The threshold values for the number of messages that result in a change from GREEN to YELLOW
(or back) and from YELLOW to RED (or back) must be maintained.
5. DLLogMsgs refers to specific due list log messages. The message type, the message ID and the
number can be specified. It is also possible to use wild cards. The threshold values for the number of
messages that result in a change from GREEN to YELLOW (or back) and from YELLOW to RED (or
back) must be maintained.
1.7.4.7 Application Log
The Application Log provides an infrastructure for collecting messages, saving them in the database and
displaying them as a log. Situations can arise at runtime in application programs that must be brought to the
attention of the user in some way. These are usually errors. It can also be useful to report a successful
completion. The information that arises is called a message. The set of messages is a log. A log usually also
has header information (log type, creator, creation time, and so on). A transaction can generate several logs.
The Application Log is not written consecutively but as a whole at one point in time.
The Application Log allows an application-oriented or object-oriented recording of events. An object, and any
subobject that belongs to it, classify each event. The analysis of the logs is similarly object (or sub-object)
oriented. The name of an object (and/or subobject) can be found in transaction /nSLG1 together with all other
specific information to that log.
Monitoring Objects and Alert s - Applicati on Log
It is possible to monitor for the total number of messages belonging to an object. Therefore, the number of
messages that raises a YELLOW alert and the number of messages changing from a YELLOW to a RED
alert must be maintained.
It is also possible to monitor specific messages that are considered as critical in table CriticalMsgs. To
configure the monitoring of critical application log messages, the relevant object-sub object combinations
need to be selected. For each of these combinations, the message type, the message ID, the message
number and the threshold values for the number of critical messages that are supposed to result in changes
from GREEN to YELLOW and from YELLOW to RED can be specified. It is also possible to use wild cards.
Monitoring Alert s - Applicati on Log / Crit ical Messages
1.7.4.8 Other CCMS Monitors
With other CCMS Monitors, it is possible to assign any CCMS monitoring tree element (MTE) to a business
process step. Therefore, it is necessary to call transaction RZ20 in the Satellite System and to open a monitor
that contains the required alert(s).
The name of the monitoring tree element (MTE) can be found by choosing F1. The MTE name needs to be
copied into the corresponding column of the table below (See screenshot Other CCMS Monitors below).
Under column Monitor Name, it is possible to assign an individual name.
The MTE used for monitoring should be an MTE on the lowest leaf-level, that is, on attribute level. If
an MTE of a higher branch-level (collective MTE) is chosen, then the current and open view in the
graphics will show the right alerts but it isnt possible to process these alerts within the Business
Process Monitoring session as the alerts are not replicated there.
In order to load the threshold values that are currently valid in the corresponding system, the button
can be used.
If successfully retrieved, the values are filled in the right-hand columns. If no active settings for the threshold
values were found these columns remain empty.
To transfer the thresholds values for a single line from right to left, double-click the copy icon.
Other CCMS Monitors
Unlike all other Monitoring Types the Other CCMS Monitoring provides the opportunity to assign MTEs from other systems
than the one system the actual business process step is assigned to.
As an example, you could be interested in monitoring the availability from a Portal system that possesses no
CCMS but is included as one business process step in your business process. Now, you could use one MTE
in the CCMS of the SAP Solution Manager to monitor the heartbeat of the Portal. You could then assign the
corresponding alert via Other CCMS Monitoring to business process step running on the Portal system.
1.7.4.9 Analysis and Monitoring Tools
It is possible to specify analysis transactions or URL addresses (including file directories) per monitoring
object. In the case of analysis transactions, these should be used to analyze errors or problems either locally
in the SAP Solution Manager system itself (Call Option 1), or directly in the respective satellite systems (Call
Option 2). By default, some standard transactions are maintained, for example, transaction SM37, that
provides a job overview in an SAP System, is maintained for Background J obs or transaction SLG1 to have a
look into the application log.
It is also possible to add new transactions; this could be standard transactions or customer self-written
transactions.
Analysis & Monitoring Transacti ons
On the second tab strip, it is possible to specify a URL which should be called to further analyze the given
problem. This is especially interesting if you have some knowledge documents linked to a portal. You define a
Short text and the URL to be called.
For web pages to be called, specify the full URL, for example, http://help.sap.com. For content
available on file servers specify the full file path, using the nomenclature: file://\\\<server>\..., for
example, file://\\\server1\operations_documents\operations-handbook.txt
Analysis & Monitoring URL
The specified transactions or URLs will be available in the form of buttons within a business process step
when using the monitoring later on inside the Business Process Monitoring Session. By pressing these
buttons (for example, ), the user will jump directly into the corresponding
transaction either in the SAP Solution Manager system (here: SAT) or the connected satellite system (here:
CT1) for further analysis. For URLs, the button (for example, ) contains the short text
(limited to 20 characters) from the set-up session and leads the user to the defined URL in a newly opened
browser window.
1.7.4.10 Monitori ng Acti viti es
Monitoring activities should be set up for every Monitoring Object within a business process step. All
monitoring objects defined within a business process step are listed here. To ensure effective monitoring and
efficient problem resolution, the responsibilities should be assigned and problem resolution procedures
should be defined as described in the following table. Some information is taken from the previous node
Solution Support Organization.
Monitoring Team Defines the team that is responsible for monitoring the relevant
Monitoring Object. Use value help [F4].
Person Resp. Defines the Person who is responsible for monitoring the Monitoring
Object. Use value help [F4].
Frequency Describes how often the responsible person should process the required
monitoring activity.
Start Time Describes at which time the responsible person should process the
required monitoring activity.
Problem Indicator A description about what indicates a problem.
Error Handling Describes how to react on problems or errors, that is, how to solve the
problem/correct the error.
Escalation Path Describes the escalation path in case that the person responsible could
not solve the problem. Persons who can be contacted should be
maintained here.
Additional information related to this business process step can be entered in the tables Monitoring
Activities, Error Handling, Restart of Step and Escalation Path. This information would be valid for the
whole business process step and helps users who have to carry out the monitoring and who are not so
familiar with that particular business process.
1.7.4.11 Noti ficati ons
Notifications can be set up for the whole business process or for each business process step individually.
There are two types of notifications: Workflow notifications and Support notifications. Workflow notifications
allow sending messages in case of alerts to a specified Recipient. This could be an e-mail or an SAPOffice
mail.
Support notifications allow the setting up of a service desk message in case of an alert. The information
entered for the service desk message serves as a template. The service desk message can be created
manually or automatically.
On business process level, it is possible to define notifications for the whole business process, that is, as
soon as the business process gets an alert status, notifications will be triggered. Alternative notifications can
be defined for every Monitoring Type individually, for example, all alerts related to all background jobs of the
business process are forwarded to a defined e-mail address.
Notifications defined on business process step level will overrule the configuration made on business process
level for this particular step.
1.7.4.11.1 Workflow Notification
Sender Must be a user within in the monitoring client of SAP Solution Manager. This
user can be even a system user without any roles or profiles, but the user
must have a valid e-mail address that is known by the used mail-server
Recipient Depending on the Recipient Type the recipient name is required. This could
Address be any e-mail address, an SAP user name in the same system, a Remote
SAP name or a shared distribution list. In the case of an SMS, you need to
enter SMS:<cell phone or pager number>
Reci. Type There are currently 5 different Recipient Types: U (e-mail), K (for SMS and
Pager), B (SAP user name), R (Remote SAP name) and C (shared
distribution list).
No. of Yellow
Alerts
The number of YELLOW alerts that may occur before an automatic
notification is triggered
No. of Red Alerts The number of RED alerts that may occur before an automatic notification is
triggered
Max Wait Time
[h]
Once the maximum wait time [hours] has elapsed, a notification is created,
even if the thresholds are not exceeded
RED Only To restrict this mechanism only to red alerts, the flag in column 'RED Only'
must be set.
Detailed Triggers a long text for e-mails or SAPOffice mails, for example, name of the
solution, name of the business process step, )
1.7.4.11.2 Support Notifications
Priority Defines the priority of the Support Notification.
Queue Defines the support component on which the message is put. This
component must exist within the service desk.
Processor Defines a default processor who should process the message. The
processor must be known within the service desk and must be an SAP user
name that is defined as a Business Partner with the role Employee.
Text Template Text templates can be defined that will then be available for service desk
messages manually created for alerts.
Automatic Support Notifications will be created automatically depending on the alert
thresholds.
Reporter Necessary when service desk messages are created automatically. Must be
an SAP user name who is defined as a Business Partner with the role
General.
Num. of YELLOW
Alerts
Necessary when service desk messages are created automatically, for
example, after 10 yellow alerts a service desk message should be created.
Num. of RED
Alerts
Necessary when service desk messages are created automatically, for
example, after 5 red alerts a service desk message should be created.
If, in addition to queue, processor, priority, and reporter, either one of the columns Num of YELLOW
Alerts or Num of RED Alerts is filled with a value the automatic Support Notification creation is
configured. If both columns are filled with a value, the automatic Support Notification creation works
with a logical OR operation. Hence, with the figures in the table above the system would create a
Support Notification if either more than 9 yellow alerts OR more than 4 red alerts exist, for which no
Support Notification has been created yet.
1.7.5 Business Process Monitoring Process
For a successful and efficient implementation of a Business Process Monitoring concept, a process for the
execution of the monitoring concept has to be defined. This includes the definition and assignment of the
roles and responsibilities involved. It has to be defined who is supposed to carry out which activity within the
process and how communication between the different roles within the support organization is supposed to
take place.
A Business Process Monitoring concept has to be tightly integrated with the support organization. This
includes the integration with the Incident/Problem Management process and the Change Management
process. These processes have to be adjusted to the Business Process Monitoring concept so that
communication and escalation procedures are adequate to support the Business Process Monitoring concept
including the final communication of open alerts to SAP.
Wherever communication connected with Business Process Monitoring happens outside these support
processes, separate communication and escalation paths and procedures have to be defined.
Please see the above mentioned separate Best Practice for General Business Process Management for
further details.
2 Business Process Monitoring for Servi ce Parts Planning
Service Parts Management (SPM) is a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for supporting and managing the
extended service parts network. It encompasses the entire range of service parts management activities,
including planning, procurement, warehousing, order fulfillment, collaboration and analytics.
The SAP solution for service parts management was developed in a system landscape containing SAP ECC,
SAP CRM, SAP SCM (including SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO) Service Parts Planning
(SPP)), SAP Supply Network Collaboration (SNC), and SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)),
SAP GRC Global Trade Services (GTS) and SAP NetWeaver (including SAP Process Integration (SAP PI)
and SAP Business Information Warehouse (SAP BI)).
This section will show you, based on an example scenario, what business process monitoring for Service
Parts Planning (SPP) with SAP SCM APO should look like. It will introduce you to generic thoughts and ideas
how to identify a business process step you could keep an eye on and makes you familiar with how to choose
the most promising monitoring possibilities from the available ones.
To make this clearer to you, we have situated the example process in the fictional company AutoMan.
2.1 Sample Scenario
AutoMan is a car service parts provider. Its main business is to sell service parts of cars. AutoMan gets
service parts from different suppliers, distributes them through its supply chain network warehouses at
diverse levels, and provides them finally to customers car dealers.
To improve the service level and optimize its operation costs, AutoMan needs a planning tool to enable its
service parts distribution network:
to forecast parts demand
to derive optimal stocking levels for each location based on installed base and service levels
to plan parts replenishment and
to rebalance the inventory within the network
The planning tool AutoMan uses is Service Parts Planning (SPP). The following chapter takes you step by
step through the 10 core business processes steps, explaining where and how you can identify focus points
for Business Process Monitoring. For each business process step, the most effective way for Business
Process Monitoring in the context of the example is highlighted.
2.2 Business Process Service Parts Planning
The graphic below shows the standard 10 steps in SPP process.
SPP is a component of SAP SCM APO. It receives sales order data from SAP CRM. This data is maintained
as demand history in the BI (Business Intelligence) part of APO. It is used to plan inventory for products at
locations (step 2 and step 5) and to calculate forecasts (step 4). With these results, SPP can evaluate surplus
or obsolete stocks (step 6). Further, DRP run (step 7) organizes replenishment planning within a bill of
distribution (BOD) distribution network for a product. The planned procurement will then be approved and
sent to SAP ECC, where the procurement can be executed. The results return to SPP and then deployment
(step 9) controls the distribution of incoming goods within the BOD on the basis of current demand.
Afterwards, inventories within a BOD are balanced. The planned stock transfers are sent to ECC for
execution.
In SPP, Planning Service Manager (PSM) is used for planning in background in general. Users can schedule
the planning services, which are needed for a business process, in a planning profile. The PSM then runs this
planning profile in the background according to the settings. The program for PSM is /SAPAPO/PE_EXEC,
transaction /SAPAPO/PE_RUN, the results can be reviewed in PSM application log (transaction:
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP).
Note: Each section about a business step will be structured in the following way, where the X stands for the
Business Process Step number:
2.2.X.1 Description
2.2.X.2 Monitoring Requirements
2.2.X.3 Monitoring Objects in SAP Solution Manager
2.2.X.4 Further Monitoring Objects (if applicable)
2.2.X.5 Monitoring without SAP Solution Manager
2.2.X.6 How to Find Meaningful Thresholds per Monitoring Object
2.2.X.7 Background J ob Scheduling Requirements (if applicable)
SPP Business process
Please note that this chapter only focuses on describing Business Process Monitoring for the steps carried
out in SAP APO as shown in the graphic above. Business Process Monitoring for the steps executed in SAP
CRM or SAP ECC is not part of it.
Available Monitoring objects for the scenario Procure-to-stock (using further solutions like SNC, EWM and
ERP) are briefly described in section 4.2 in the Appendix of this document.
2.2.1 Business Process Step 1: Capture Demand History
2.2.1.1 Descripti on
General Information:
AutoMan uses SAP CRM to manage customers. With the BI workbench (transaction: RSA1) in APO, the
system extracts SAP CRM sales order data to SAP APO BI and saves it in the DataStore object
0CRM_SALO. The InfoSource 80CRM_SALO takes its data from this DataStore object. This data transfer
between CRM and APO uses standard IDOCS with RFC connection. Then the system uses update rules to
SAP APO
(1) Capture Demand History
Host - MOBILE
Sales Orders
Stock Transfer
Execution
Procurement
Execution
SAP CRM SAP ECC
(2) Stocking and De-
Stocking
(3) Manage Demand History
(4) Forecasting
(5) Economic Order Quantity
& Safety Stock
(6) Surplus & Obsolescence
Planning
(7) Distribution
Requirements Planning
(8) Procurement Approval
(9) Deployment
(10) Inventory Balancing
process and check the data, and saves it as demand history in the InfoCube 9ADEMAND, together with the
raw data in the DataStore object 9ARAWDAT (also see step 3).
The system captures the demand history in the InfoCube 9ADEMAND as follows:
- The system aggregates the demand in weeks.
- The system aggregates the demand in months.
- The system aggregates the demand in posting periods.
- The system aggregates the demand along the BOD.
In doing so, the system captures both the demand history of a product at each stockholding location and at
each entry location. However, the system only uses the demand history of the stockholding location for
forecasting.
The system creates the yearly demand history that both phase-out planning and surplus and obsolescence
planning require. To do so, the system uses the data in the InfoCube 9ADEMAND and extracts it into the
InfoCube 9ADEMANN.
Specifi c Information
As an alternative to the process described above, you can also load sales order data from other sources,
such as from a flat file or a CSV file, or from SAP ECC. If the sales orders come from an external flat or CSV
file, the InfoSource 9A_SPP_CD_CSV_LOAD is used instead of 80CRM_SALO.
AutoMan processes sales orders loading at a monthly base, always at the beginning of a month. In RSA1, the
processes can be scheduled as background job.
2.2.1.2 Monitori ng Requirements:
Error Monitoring:
It is important to monitor if the data from CRM are loaded to APO BI successfully. That means if the data
loaded is complete and if all data is correct.
Performance Monitoring:
The data load should be finished in a timely manner. Whether performance monitoring is necessary depends
on the individual business requirements. It depends on the data volume and the time window for the load.
Usually, the initial load takes the most time. Later, if the data load only aims to update, the load time could be
much shorter.
Data Consistency Requi rements:
The data loaded to APO BI should be consistent to the original data in CRM.
2.2.1.3 Monitoring Objects in SAP Solution Manager
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Alert Analysis Tool on
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
IDoc Monitoring
(IMIDOC01)
(For data exchange
between CRM and
APO BI via IDoc)
On obj ect l evel:
Direction, Port,
Partner number,
Partner type,
Partner function,
Message type,
Basic type,
Message code,
Message function,
IDoc age. (in hours)
On key-fi gure
l evel :
Status number(s),
Status message
qualifier, Status
message ID, Status
message number,
Status age (in min)
(IDoc types are
RSREQ, RSSEND
and RSINFO)
Delta monitor:
number of suitable
IDocs since the last
data collection
Total number
monitor: number of
suitable IDocs for
the last x days
BD87, WE05 DeltaCheck: every
two hours
Total Check for
erroneous Idocs:
Daily before data
processing in BI
starts with a
considerable time
frame between the
Data Collector run
and the start of data
processing in BI in
order to have
enough time to
solve any errors
Monitoring might
detect
qRFC Monitor
(IMQRFCMO)
(Status Monitoring
of the queue set up
for data exchange
between the CRM
system and the BI-
part of SAP APO)
(The queue names
start with CF*)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of entries
with critical status in
group
Age of oldest
critical status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in critical state
Number of entries
with interim status in
group
Age of oldest
interim status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in interim state
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59
Hourly (or even
more often)
qRFC Monitor
(IMQRFCMO)
(Backlog Monitoring
of the queue set up
for data exchange
between the CRM
system and the BI-
part of SAP APO)
(The queue names
start with CF*)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of
individual queues in
group
Total number of
entries in all queues
of group
Average number of
entries per queue in
group
Maximum number
of entries per queue
in group
Age of oldest entry
in group
Combination of
"Total entries" and
"Oldest age"
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59
Hourly (or even
more often)
BI Query Alert
Collector - KPI in BI
Query (BOBIQUAC)
(To check data
stored in APO BI)
RFC Destination
(from managed
system to BI
system), Info
Provider (of BI
system), BI queries
(of that Info
provider),
Description of the BI
query
KPI in BI Query
(single value), KPI
in BI Query (max.
values), KPI in BI
Query (#of values)
Once per day
BI Consistency
Check Result
Collector
(DBICCRC)
Compare Result
DSO, Fieldname
and Select-Options
for Filter 1 - 3
Differences in result
column 1,
column 2,
column 3,
column 4,
column 5,
Age of last
consistency check
result
Once per day
File Monitoring
(BOFILMON)
(If flat files are used
to load sales order
data into APO BI)
File Path, File
Name, Pattern, User
(File Creator)
Creation Time of
File, File Size, File
Age (in min)
AL11 Once per day (or
more frequently
depending on the
business
requirements how
often data from flat
files is imported)
Background J ob
Monitoring for all
processes
scheduled in
transaction RSA1 in
the APO BI system
(J ob names starting
with BI_*)
Background J ob
Name, Variant,
Event Parameter
and Event ID (in
case process chains
are used)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Data Collectors to
be scheduled to run
only during
timeframe of
planned J ob
Execution and to
run every 5 minutes
during this time
frame
2.2.1.4 Monitoring without SAP Solution Manager
If IDoc transfer is used, you should use transactions BD87 and WE05 to check for erroneous messages at
least every two hours.
The status, runtime, and job logs of Background J obs can be analyzed using transaction code SM37 in the
managed system.
If you are using qRFC for data transfer, the status of your qRFC queues can be monitored using transaction
codes SMQ1 or SMQ2. In case of problems with the setup of your qRFC connection, use transaction SM59 to
check the setup of the respective RFC Connection.
If you use Flat Files to import data into your system, you can also use transaction code AL11 to check the
files directories on your SAP system.
2.2.1.5 How to Find Meaningful Thresholds for Each Monitoring Object
The definition of meaningful thresholds for each Monitoring Object needs to be done in close cooperation with
your business department. It is important that you clearly define what data the data collectors measure, how
often they run, and what the business requirements are for the analyzed part of the business process step.
Furthermore, it is important to review the defined thresholds on a regular basis to ensure that they are set
according to the business requirements that might change over time.
2.2.2 Business Process Step 2: Stocking and De-stocking
The planning services Stocking and Destocking make a to stock or not to stock decision for each location
product at the start of inventory planning. The result of these planning services is to set a replenishment
indicator on each location product. According to the indicator, the system orientates itself in the further
planning: to keep stock or not.
During these planning services:
The system checks the demand of all customer-facing locations. If a customer-facing location has a high
demand, it is advisable to make a Stocking decision. For low demand, a Destocking decision is advisable.
The Destocking decision service checks if there is an exclusion reason for the corresponding location
product. If so, the Destocking decision does not perform any more checks and sets the Not Stocked, Locked
indicator, as well as the blocking indicator for the corresponding location product. This means that the system
cannot build up stock of this location product, and the Destocking service cannot change the replenishment
indicator.
The system checks the entries in the decision tables. Based on these entries, the system then decides
whether to plan stocking or Destocking for each location product.
For the locations for which the system plans stocking according to the decision tables, the stocking
service checks whether this stocking is also allowed according to the exception rules.
The system transfers the Stocking and Destocking decisions made for the customer-facing locations to
the corresponding parent locations.
These planning services are carried out in PSM - either in background or interactively. A planning profile
needs to be defined for the service.
Specifi c Information:
Additional triggers for the stocking service can be demanded at a non-stock location or changes to the virtual
locations for consolidated ordering.
Important settings:
Servi ce Profiles control the definition of the stocking and de-stocking decisions (in Customizing)
Decision tables define criteria according to which the system decides to either stock or to de-stock
(transaction: /SAPAPO/SPPINVPDEC)
Location exclusion rules responsible for the exclusion reasons for the locations (in customizing &
transaction: /SAPAPO/PINV_EX_MAIN )
Error Monitoring:
It is necessary to check if these planning services run successfully in PSM. The results of these planning
services can be seen in the PSM application log (transaction: /SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP). And the run status
of a run in PSM can be seen in background job log.
If a fixed time window is defined for these planning services, you need to monitor the performance of
corresponding PSM run.
In our experience, the access to historical data in APO BI takes quite a long time.
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Dialog Performance
Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/PE_RUN)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Code (Value 2), Call
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
STAD, ST03N Every two hours
Background J ob
Monitoring for
program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
profile is visible in
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently in case
this job is executed
more than once per
day), Data
Collectors to run
every 5 minutes
during job execution
2.2.2.4 Further Monitoring Obj ects
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Results of planning
services in PSM
application log
Subobjects
(Services), Date and
Time of Planning
Run, User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
The Dialog Response Time of transaction code /SAPAPO/PE_RUN can be checked in transaction code
STAD or ST03N.
managed system.
2.2.3 Business Process Step 3: Manage Demand History
In this step, the system adjusts the captured demand history according to the requirements of SPP.
The manual adjustment of demand history can be executed in the system with transaction
/SAPAPO/SPPDMDH.
To ensure that the demand history reflects changes, the system also adjusts the demand history
automatically when various events occur and realigns the data.
The system initiates data realignment of the demand history either with triggers or you have to have
scheduled it as a regular service in the Planning Service Manager (PSM). The following table provides an
overview of the events for which data realignment is necessary and which planning services perform this
realignment:
Event Pl anning Service Technical Name of Pl anning Servi ce Triggered by
Change to
location
determination
procedure
SPP: Data
Realignment for
Loc.Det.Schema
SPP_PDEM_SERPAT_RLG ---
Stocking or
Destocking
decision
SPP: Data Real. For
Stocking/Destocking
SPP_PDEM_STOCKING_RLG SPP_REPL_INDI_CHANGE
Change to
TPOP status
SPP: Data
Realignment for
TPOP
SPP_PDEM_TPOP_RLG SPP_NON_TPOP
and
SPP_TPOP
Assignment of
future BOD to
product
SPP: Create Demand
History Future BOD
SPP_PDEM_BOD_ASSIGN SPP_NEW_BOD_ASSIGN
Deletion of
future BOD
assignment
SPP: Delete Demand
History Future BOD (
SPP_PDEM_BOD_DELETE SPP_BOD_DELETE
Future BOD
becomes valid
SPP: Data
Realignment for BOD
Change
SPP_PDEM_BOD_VALID ---
Suppression SPP: Data
Realignment for
Suppression
SPP_PDEM_SUPERSESSION_RLG ---
Promotion SPP: Data
Realignment for
Promotion
SPP_PDEM_PROMOTION_RLG ---
Change to final
demand
SPP: Adjustment of
Demand History
SPP_PDEM_OVR_RLG
Error Monitoring:
It is necessary to check the results of the realignment. The status of the realignment can be reviewed with
transaction /SAPAPO/PDEM_RLGSTEP, and the process of realignment can be reviewed in PSM application
log or with general application log list (transaction SLG1).
If the performance of data realignment needs to be monitored depends on the frequency of this services and
the fixed time window.
The update of the demand history only takes place in SCM APO, the original data in SCM CRM do not need
to be updated accordingly.
Monitori ng Objects:
Triggers need to be activated for regeneration of the demand history (SPP_BOD_DELETE,
SPP_NEW_BOD_ASSIGN, SPP_REPL_INDI_CHANGE) and for setting the planning services for demand
history creation (SPP_RLG_DONE, SPP_RLG_DONE)
Monitoring Object Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Dialog Performance
Monitor (BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/SPPDMDH)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Application Log
(Transaction Code
SLG1) for Object
/SAPAPO/PE and
corresponding sub-
objects
Object, Sub-Object,
User, Transaction,
Program
Total number of
messages, number
of critical messages,
Runtime, Planning
Scope, Planning
Results
SLG1 Every two hours
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Results and status
of realignment
Info Provider,
Realignment Status,
Validity Date,
Author, Last
Changed by,
Generated
Realignment Step,
Generation Program
Status of
realignment steps
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PDEM_RLGSTEP
Every two hours
Realignment
processing
Subobjects
(Services), Date
and Time of
Planning Run, User
that triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
The Dialog Response Time of transaction code /SAPAPO/SPPDMDH can be checked in transaction code
STAD or ST03N respectively.
The general application log can be viewed in transaction code SLG1.
often they run and what the business requirements are for the analyzed part of the business process step.
Furthermore it is important to review the defined thresholds on a regular basis to ensure that they are set
2.2.4 Business Process Step 4: Forecasti ng
The forecasting service covers the whole life cycle of a product from phase-in planning for new products,
through various types of product interchangeability, to phase-out planning for products in discontinuation. The
forecasting service is flexible in reacting to changing demand, and uses various forecast models to plan
individually for future demand for products that have differing sales behavior.
You can either schedule the forecast run as a regular PSM planning service or you can start it manually on
the Interactive Forecasting screen (transaction: /SAPAPO/SPPFCST). During the forecast run, the system
calculates the forecasting results at location product level. If you are not satisfied with the results, you can
make manual corrections or adjustments to the demand history, forecast profiles (transaction
/SAPAPO/SPPFCSTPRF), and PSM service profiles, and then restart the forecast run.
The results of forecasting are stored in key figure Final forecasts in TSDM (database).
Composi te Forecast
There are various functions available within the forecast service. If you want to use several of these functions,
you must schedule the forecast service more than once and assign a different service profile each time.
To achieve a better quality for the forecasts, PSM can execute the functions in figure above in a fixed
sequence. This is called composite forecasts. AutoMan uses composite forecasts.
Its functions include:
Model Evaluation (Automatic Model Evaluation): consists of Triggs tracking signal and tripping. Triggs
tracking signal checks whether the forecast model is still optimal or whether there is a systematic
forecasting error. Tripping reinitializes basic values and the deviation of an existing forecast model and
shortens the demand history used for forecast creation.
Model Selection (Automatic Model Selection): You can use it to automatically determine the forecast
model best suited to a specific location product.
Smoothing Parameter Tuning (Rough Tuning): For the forecast models that consider smoothing factors
during forecast creation, you can automatically optimize these smoothing factors by this function.
Forecast Calculation (Forecast Approval): calculates the final forecast for each location product and
checks which forecast results require manual approval according to rules that you define. The system
automatically approves all other forecast results and provides these results to other SPP planning
services. Forecast approval is realized as a PSM planning service. However, the system also performs
forecast approval when you save the forecast results on the Interactive Forecasting screen manually.
Additional information:
Besides the above mentioned functions, forecast services also include the following functions:
Historical Forecasts: to ensure an exact planning, the system records all calculated forecast results as
historical forecasts. You can also schedule the PSM planning service Recalculation of the Forecast in
the Past. If the forecast model changes, the system triggers this planning service so that it creates
historical forecasts for the new combination of location product and forecast model.
Phase-In Planning: uses values based on experience to calculate forecast values for new products that
do not yet have any historical data. Phase-in planning is realized as a PSM planning service.
Phase-Out Planning: calculates forecast values at entry location level for products in discontinuation.
Phase-out planning is realized as a PSM planning service.
Error Monitoring:
It is important to check the results of forecasts. They can be reviewed in the Interactive Forecasting screen
(transaction: /SAPAPO/SPPFCST) or application log of PSM. If the results are not satisfying, planning
parameters and forecast models can be modified, and further forecasts run can be started manually or
scheduled via PSM.
Whether the performance of forecasting needs to be monitored depends on the frequency of these services
and the fixed time window. Especially for composite forecast includes several services and it run time should
be controlled strictly.
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Background J ob
Monitoring for program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently in case
more than once per
day), Data
Collectors to run
every 5 minutes
Dialog Performance
Monitor (BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring response
time of transaction code
/SAPAPO/SPPFCST)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Dialog Performance
Monitor (BOPERFMO)
/SAPAPO/SPPFCSTPRF)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Forecast results in
PSM application log
Subobjects
Time of Planning
Run, User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
Forecast results in
Interactive
Forecasting Screen
Detailed forecast
results
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPPFCST
Daily
The Dialog Response Time of transaction codes /SAPAPO/SPPFCST and /SAPAPO/SPPFCSTPRF can be
checked in transaction code STAD or ST03N respectively.
managed system.
2.2.5 Business Process Step 5: Economi c Order Quantity & Safety Stock
General information:
In this step, the system plans the economic order quantity (EOQ) purchase order, and safety stock (SFT)
together, to optimize the stockholding and purchasing costs, as well as to ensure target service level. This
planning can either be carried out manually in transaction /SAPAPO/SPPINVP, or planned as a service in
PSM (service name: SPP_EOQSFT_SERVICE). The results are stored in key figures economic order
quantity and Locations own safety stock in TSDM.
The system calculates the EOQ and SFT with mutual dependence. As a basis for the combined calculation,
the system chooses whether to use normal distribution or Poisson distribution as the calculation model for
each location product depending on its sales behavior. Normal distribution is suitable for products with
constant demand and Poisson distribution is suitable for products with intermittent demand. The model
selection for a location product is made with transaction /SAPAPO/PINV_MS_MAIN.
For normal distribution, the system uses the forecast values for demand in pieces as the basis for the
combined calculation of EOQ and SFT. For Poisson distribution, the system uses the forecast values for the
number of order items as the basis, and then calculates the demand in pieces using the average demand
size per order item.
The system also decides whether to plan the stock of each location product constantly or not constantly.
Constantly means that the planned EOQ and SFT are the same for each period. Not constantly means that
results vary for each period. This is defined in customizing.
Important settings:
Servi ce Profile Service profile for EOQ/SFT calculation.
Forecast Strategy Forecast types and decides whether they are to follow constant or non-constant
planning
Master Data
In the location product master data on the SPP Inventory Planning tab:
EOQ/SFT Calculation field: indicates whether the system is to use Normal or Poisson distribution as the
statistical calculation model for the combined calculation of EOQ and safety stock
Fix EOQ Period field: you can choose between EOQ Manually Locked, EOQ POD Manually Locked, and
Unlocked
Min. EOQ Per. and Max. EOQ Per. Fields: to indicate the minimum and maximum number of days that an
EOQ period may last.
Safety Stock field: the system considers your manual entry until the next planning run, otherwise this is
automatically filled
SFT Parent Loc. Field: the inventory planning service enters the proportion of safety stock of the parent
location that is to be forwarded to the location
Addl. Safety Stock field: number of days of demand for which the system is to schedule additional safety
stock.
OT-Dep. Sfty St. % field: proportion of safety stock that must be reserved for emergencies
Minimum PO Quantity field: minimum purchase order quantity of the supplier (in pieces)
- In the location product master data on the SPP Inventory Balancing tab:
Maximum RP (Days) field, reorder point range of coverage
Error Monitoring:
It is important to check the results of EOD and SFT planning. They can be reviewed with transaction
/SAPAPO/SPPINVP or application log of PSM.
Performance moni toring:
Whether the performance of EOD and SFT planning needs to be monitored depends on the frequency of
these services and the fixed time window.
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Dialog Performance
Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/SPPINVP)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Background J ob
Monitoring for
program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently in case
more than once per
day), Data
Collectors to run
every 5 minutes
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Results of service in
PSM application log
Subobjects
Time of Planning
Run, User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
Results of EOD and
SFT planning
Detailed results of
EOD and SFT
planning
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPPINVP
Daily
The Dialog Response Time of transaction code /SAPAPO/SPPINVP can be checked in transaction code
STAD or ST03N.
managed system.
2.2.6 Business Process Step 6: Surplus & Obsolescence Pl anning
During surplus and obsolescence planning, the system identifies surplus and obsolete stock within a bill of
distribution (BOD). If the warehouse stock and the stock in transit of a product within a BOD are greater than
the probable demand during a certain time period, this part of the stock of a product is described as surplus
stock. If a product fulfils the following conditions, it is described as obsolete stock: The product is a service
part of a product that you no longer produce and whose mandatory retention period has elapsed, and the
demand for this product is below a certain limit value.
The planning process is consisted of following steps in sequence:
1. Surplus Determi nation Service
This service determines the products within a bill of distribution (BOD) that could be surplus. It firstly selects
products according to whether or not it is to perform surplus determination for them. The system then
determines the total surplus quantity as well as the surplus quantities per location. Based on the surplus
quantities per location, the system suggests surplus quantities and retention quantities, and checks whether it
can automatically approve these surplus quantities for scrapping, or whether it must forward them for manual
approval.
You can either schedule this service regularly, for example every year or every six months, as a planning
service via PSM (service name: SPP_SOS_SURPLUS_DETERMINATION), or process it manually, for
example if you need more warehouse space or if you want to reduce the stock value in your warehouse
(transaction /SAPAPO/SPPMSP).
2. Surplus Approval
Following the surplus determination service, the planner can then approve each of these surplus quantities
manually by assigning a surplus decision code to the corresponding location product (transaction:
/SAPAPO/SPPSOR). Each planner has a product-specific budget for the approval. If the value of the surplus
quantity exceeds this budget, a planner that has a higher budget must then issue the approval to proceed.
The system triggers a scrapping for the approved surplus quantities in the ECC and EWM systems.
3. Obsolescence Check Servi ce
This service checks whether the stock of a product marked as obsolete is completely used-up, if yes, it marks
the product with the Obsolete indicator and sends an alert (in Alert Monitor) to inform planner, and changes
the replenishment indicator according to your settings in Customizing. You can only remove the product from
your assortment if this is the case.
You can schedule the obsolescence check service as a regular planning service, for example monthly in the
PSM (service name: SPP_SOS_OBSOLESCENCE_CHECK).
4. Surplus Reporting
You can generate reporting for each surplus quantity and surplus value for which you have approved
scrapping or another follow-on activity. These quantities and values are entered in the report for both the
whole BOD and the individual locations.
Surplus reporting is an automated process initiated by approving surplus quantities. The Infocube 9ASORPL
is a virtual Infocube for surplus reporting, so you can use this to display reporting data in BI (Transaction
RSA1), or you can create some queries for Business Explorer.
Important settings:
Customizing Implementation Guide (IMG) for Advanced Planning and Optimization Supply Chain
Planning Service Parts Planning (SPP) Surplus and Obsolescence Planning:
Make General Settings for Surplus and Obsolescence Planning
Define Surplus Decision Code
Define Surplus Decision Reason Code
Define Service Profile for Surplus and Obsolescence Planning
Master Data Surplus and Obsolescence Service area fields at:
product master data, on the Properties SPP tab;
location product master data, on the SPP Inv. Balancing/Surplus tab; and
location master data, on the SPP tab.
Error Monitoring:
To fulfill the service function it is necessary to make sure that all the relevant settings in customizing and
master data are correct for the planning purpose.
Normally there should be no problem with the performance of this service. But if the business situation only
allows short time window for this step, the performance should be monitored.
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Dialog Performance
Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/SPPMSP)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
STAD, ST03N Daily
Dialog Performance
Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/SPPSOR)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
STAD, ST03N Daily
Background J ob
Monitoring for
program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
(For both the
Surplus
Determination
Service as well as
for the
Obsolescence
Check Service.)
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Monthly (or even
less frequent in
case this job is
executed less than
once per month),
Data Collectors to
run every 5 minutes
during job
execution.
BI Query Alert
Collector - KPI in BI
Query (BOBIQUAC)
(To check data
utilized in the
Surplus Reporting)
RFC Destination
(from managed
system to BI
system), Info
Provider (of BI
system), BI queries
(of that Info
provider),
Description of the BI
query
KPI in BI Query
(single value), KPI
in BI Query (max.
values), KPI in BI
Query (#of values)
Daily
BI Consistency
Check Result
Collector
(DBICCRC)
Compare Result
DSO, Fieldname
and Select-Options
for Filter 1 - 3
column 1,
column 2,
column 3,
column 4,
column 5,
Age of last
consistency check
result
Daily
Background J ob
Monitoring for all
processes
scheduled in
transaction RSA1 in
the APO BI system
(J ob names starting
with BI_*)
Background J ob
Name, Variant,
Event Parameter
and Event ID (in
case process chains
are used)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Data Collectors to
be scheduled to run
only during
timeframe of
planned J ob
Execution and to
run every 5 minutes
during this time
frame
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Results of planning
services in PSM
application log
Subobjects
(Services), Date
and Time of
Planning Run,
User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Monthly
Alerts in Alert
Monitor
Alerts pointing to
products marked
with the Obsolete
indicator
Alert Monitor in Shortage
Analysis Interface
(Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPP_CUSTOMER)
Monthly
The Dialog Response Time of transaction codes /SAPAPO/SPPSMP and /SAPAPO/SPPSOR can be
checked in transaction code STAD or ST03N.
managed system.
2.2.7 Business Process Step 7: Distribution Requi rements Pl anning (DRP)
2.2.7.1 Description
Distribution requirements planning (DRP) organizes replenishment planning within bills of distribution (BODs).
DRP determines the new demands of all locations in BOD, rounds them, and aggregates them along the
BOD to the entry location. On this basis, it creates scheduling agreement releases and purchase requisitions.
DRP also allows for efficient checking of the planning results and a multilevel release process as required.
The detailed DRP steps are as following, these steps can be run in sequence as a DRP service in PSM
(SPP: DRP Service (SPP_DRP):
1. The system calculates the not-rounded net demand for a location product. The results for a location
product can be displayed with DRP matrix (transaction /SAPAPO/SPPDRPM) which contains key figures with
the demand, supply and inventory information. It is possible to simulate the DRP run, but the result cannot be
saved - it is not possible to perform an interactive planning in the DRP matrix.
2. Then, the system rounds the net demand calculated in step 1. The rounding rules are defined in rounding
profile via customizing.
3. Then, the system aggregates the net demands along the BOD from the child locations via the parent
locations to the entry location. The net demands of the child locations are thus dependent demands of the
parent location.
4. Afterwards, the system performs backwards scheduling over the procurement lead time.
5. The system checks whether it can perform product group procurement for the product to optimize the total
ordering and stockholding costs.
6. The system then creates DRP stock transport requisitions, scheduling agreement delivery schedule lines,
and purchase requisitions, these values are stored as orders in liveCache.
Important settings:
Customizing Implementation Guide (IMG) for Advanced Planning and Optimization under Supply Chain
Planning Service Parts Planning (SPP) Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP)
Planning profile: Definition in Customizing for SCM Basis under Planning Service Manager Define
Planning Profile: the planning profile should contain planning service SPP: DRP Service (SPP_DRP).
Packaging Speci fi cation Define packaging specifications for rounding:
SAP Easy Access Advanced Planning and Optimization Service Parts Planning (SPP) Environment
Packaging Specification Maintain Packaging Specification.
Master Data In the location product master data on the SPP Inventory Planning tab:
Procurement Lead times - Different time spans that are defined between certain planning times in Service
Parts Planning (SPP).
DRP Stability rules - determine the conditions between the individual DRP Horizons, and which activities are
allowed during them.
Consolidated Ordering - for location products whose locations are geographically close and that have a low
demand.
Pre-Season Safety Stock Shift - shift the safety stock for location products with seasonal demand.
Supplier Shutdown - considers supplier shutdowns, such as vacation times, during planning.
Stockholding Costs - calculated by the procurement costs multiplied by this factor.
Planning-Relevance/Planning Lock - DRP does (or not) consider this location product during planning.
Rounding - special rounding rules to avoid internal costs that are higher than the value of the purchase order.
Anticipated Demand Coverage - to smooth seasonal demand patterns.
Error Monitoring:
It is important to check the results of DRP, if the stock transport requisitions, scheduling agreement delivery
schedule lines, and purchase requisitions are generated correctly.
It is important to make sure that the DRP service finishes within the defined time window, so that further
business processes can go on, and the supplier can receive the orders timely.
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Dialog Performance
Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/SPPDRPM)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Background J ob
Monitoring for
program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently in case
more than once per
day), Data
Collectors to run
every 5 minutes
Application Monitoring
(Throughput and
Backlog indicators) for
Purchase Requisitions
(KSPUR001)
Location,
Prod.Planner,
Product ID, Planned
/ Unplanned, Start
(x days past), End
(x days future),
Older than x days
PR Items created,
PR Items open, PR
Items overdue for
conversion
Daily
Consistency Check
LiveCache APO DB
(For Procurement
Scheduling
Agreements and for
user-defined key
figures)
User performing
analysis, Execution
mode of the
analysis
No of inconsistent
Procurement
Scheduling
Agreements, User
defined key figure,
Age of last
consistency check
result
/SAPAPO/OM17 Daily
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Results of planning
services in PSM
application log
Subobjects
(Services), Date
and Time of
Planning Run,
User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
Detailed results of
the DRP-Service
DRP Run Detailed results of
the DRP-Service
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPPDRPAPPR
Daily
STAD or ST03N.
managed system.
The status of qRFC queues can be monitored using transaction codes SMQ1 or SMQ2. In case of problems
with the setup of the qRFC connection, use transaction SM59 to check the setup of the respective RFC-
Connection.
Specific to the CIF-Interface between APO and ECC, you can also use the transactions /SAPAPO/CQ (SCM
Queue Manager), /SAPAPO/CW (qRFC Monitoring for Outbound Queues) and /SAPAPO/CQINW.
2.2.8 Business Process Step 8: Procurement Approval (DRP Approval)
The process procurement approval is also called DRP Approval. It approves the scheduling agreement
delivery schedule lines, purchase requisitions, and purchase orders suggested by Distribution Requirements
Planning (DRP).
Based on approval rules, the system either forwards the results of the DRP run after the mass approval to the
supplier automatically via CIF, or it creates an alert. In the case of an alert, the DRP planner can change the
planning results and then release or reject them manually.
The system prepares the DRP results to be evaluated by the DRP planner in SAP Business Intelligence in
the "Ad Hoc Reporting". The DRP planner can then view the results of the last DRP run for which he or she is
responsible at location and product level, for example, via transaction /SAPAPO/SPPDRPAPPR. With the
same transaction, the DRP planner can either approve or reject the planning results for which he or she is
responsible. If the planner rejects the results, a new DRP run is triggered.
There are two possibilities to schedule the DRP mass approval:
1. Scheduled the "SPP: DRP Approval Service" (SPP_DRP_APPROVAL) planning service in the Planning
Service Manager (PSM).
2. Define DRP approval as part of the DRP service. To do so, you need to choose the Integrated DRP
Approval entry in the DRP Appr. field in Customizing for the DRP service profile. In this case, you do not have
to schedule the "SPP: DRP Approval" planning service; it is sufficient to schedule the "SPP: DRP Service"
(SPP_DRP) planning service.
At regular intervals, the system automatically transfers all approved scheduling agreement releases and
purchase requisitions, and triggers the creation of scheduling agreement releases and purchase orders to
ECC via CIF. In addition to automatic transfer, you can also create scheduling agreement releases and
purchase orders manually.
Important settings:
Master Data In the location product master data on the SPP Inventory Planning tab:
Approval/Releasing - system either forwards the results of the DRP run after the mass approval to the
supplier automatically, or it creates an alert.
Business Intelligence
You have selected and activated the Business Content for DRP approval in the Business Intelligence system
for SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO). The Business Content for DRP approval is located
in the SPP: DRP Approval InfoArea (9ADRPA). You have selected and activated the following objects in this
InfoArea:
InfoCube SPP: DRP Run Ad Hoc Analysis (9ADRPA) with the corresponding InfoObjects
The following queries:
DRP Results (Active Version) (9ADRPA_Q0000)
DRP Results (All Versions) (9ADRPA_Q0001)
DRP Results (Acc. To Selection) (9ADRPA_Q0002)
DRP: Biggest Deviations (Active Version) (9ADRPA_Q0010)
DRP: Biggest Deviations (All Version) (9ADRPA_Q0011)
DRP: Biggest Deviations (Acc. to Selection) (9ADRPA_Q0012)
Customizing
You have activated the required approval rules in Customizing for Advanced Planning and Optimization under
Supply Chain Planning Service Parts Planning (SPP) Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) DRP
Approval Define DRP Approval Rules
Error Monitoring:
In the case of mass approval, it is important to make sure that the DRP approval runs successfully and the
stock transport requisitions, scheduling agreement delivery schedule lines and purchase requisitions are
transported to suppliers correctly.
It is important to make sure that the DRP approval finishes within the defined time window, and the stock
transport requisitions, scheduling agreement delivery schedule lines and purchase requisitions are
transported to suppliers timely.
You should ensure the consistency of stock transport requisitions, scheduling agreement delivery schedule
lines and purchase requisitions at both SPP and supplier side.
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Application Monitoring
(Throughput and Backlog
indicators) for Purchase
Requisitions
(KSPUR001)
Location,
Prod.Planner,
Product ID, Planned
/ Unplanned, Start
(x days past), End
(x days future),
Older than x days
PR Items created,
PR Items open, PR
Items overdue for
conversion
Daily
BI Query Alert Collector - KPI
in BI Query (BOBIQUAC)
(To check data stored in APO
BI)
RFC Destination
(from managed
system to BI
system), Info
Provider (of BI
system), BI queries
(of that Info
provider),
Description of the
BI query
KPI in BI Query
(single value), KPI
in BI Query (max.
values), KPI in BI
Query (#of values)
Once per day
BI Consistency Check Result
Collector (DBICCRC)
Compare Result
DSO, Fieldname
and Select-Options
for Filter 1 - 3
column 1,
column 2,
column 3,
column 4,
column 5,
Age of last
consistency check
result
Once per day
Background J ob Monitoring
for program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant,
User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently if this job
is executed more
than once per day),
Data Collectors to
run every 5 minutes
Dialog Performance Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
/SAPAPO/SPPDRPAPPR)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Code (Value 2),
Call Type, User
Pattern, Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Background J ob Monitoring
for program
/SAPAPO/RDMCPPROCESS
(Data transfer from APO to
ECC via CIF-Interface)
Background J ob
Name, Variant,
User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently if this job
is executed more
than once per day),
Data Collectors to
run every 5 minutes
qRFC Monitor (IMQRFCMO)
(Status Monitoring of the CIF-
queues between ECC and
APO)
(The queue names start with
CF*
For example:
CFEP* for purchase orders,
CFHE* for release schedules,
CFTO* for stock transport
orders)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of entries
group
Age of oldest
critical status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in critical state
Number of entries
with interim status
in group
Age of oldest
interim status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in interim state
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59,
/SAPAPO/CQ,
/SAPAPO/CW,
/SAPAPO/CQINW
Hourly (or even
more often)
qRFC Monitor (IMQRFCMO)
(Backlog Monitoring of the
CIF-queues between ECC
and APO)
(The queue names start with
CF*
For example:
CFEP* for purchase orders,
CFHE* for release schedules,
CFTO* for stock transport
orders)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of
group
Total number of
of group
Average number
in group
Maximum number
in group
Age of oldest entry
in group
Combination of
"Total entries" and
"Oldest age"
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59,
/SAPAPO/CQ,
/SAPAPO/CW,
/SAPAPO/CQINW
Hourly (or even
more often)
CIF
Comparison/Reconciliation
for Transaction Data (Data
Consistency Monitoring
between APO and ECC)
Name for Save Number of
inconsistent
scheduling
agreements,
Number of
inconsistent
purchase
requistions, Age of
last consistency
check result
/SAPAPO/CCR Daily
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Results of planning
services in PSM
application log
Subobjects
(Services), Date
and Time of
Planning Run,
User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
Alerts in Alert
Monitor
Alerts generated
during Mass
Approval
Alert Monitor in Shortage
Analysis Interface
(Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPP_CUSTOMER)
Daily
Results of the Mass
Approval
DRP Run Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPPDRPAPPR
Daily
The Dialog Response Time of transaction code /SAPAPO/SPPDRPAPPR can be checked in transaction
code STAD or ST03N respectively.
managed system.
with the setup of the qRFC connection, use transaction SM59 to check the setup of the respective RFC
Connection.
The consistency check between SAP APO and SAP ECC can be executed using transaction code
/SAPAPO/CCR.
2.2.9 Business Process Step 9: Deployment
In this process, the system determines the distribution of goods within a bill of distribution (BOD). Based on
the current demands determined by distribution requirements planning (DRP), deployment decides how to
distribute the available goods and, if necessary, initiates this within the BOD. Goods that are not distributed
by deployment stay at the parent location.
Deployment is either triggered by goods receipt at a parent location (push deployment), or by current
demand during the replenishment lead time of a child location (pull deployment).
You can schedule the following services in the Planning Service Manager (PSM) for deployment:
- SPP: Deployment Service (SPP_DEPL), this service makes decisions about the stock transfer of goods
within a bill of distribution (BOD).
- SPP: Push Deployment from Supplier (SPP_DEPL_FROM_SUPPLIER), this service plans that the supplier
does not ship the goods to the entry location, but to the second level of the BOD.
During the deployment service, the system mainly performs the following steps:
1. The system adds up the net demand of the locations during the replenishment lead time and checks
whether the demand is greater or less than the distributable quantity.
2. If the net demand is greater than the distributable quantity, the system distributes this quantity according
to priority tiers that you can define in Customizing. The system then performs fair-share distribution.
If the distributable quantity is greater than the net demands of the locations, the system immediately performs
fair-share distribution.
3. The system rounds to pack sizes during demand determination. In doing so, it determines the demand
while considering the smallest permissible pack size. After fair-share distribution, the system rounds once
again. The aims of rounding are to obtain order and delivery quantities that make processing easier at the
supplier, when packaging, during transportation, and for storage, and to achieve pack sizes that are as large
as possible.
4. The system distributes the remaining quantities. If rounding to a certain pack size occurred, remaining
quantities may be left over.
5. Finally the system creates stock transport requisitions store them as orders in liveCache.
The results of deployment can be reviewed with the transaction /SAPAPO/SPPDEPL under Deployment
Log. With the same transaction under STO Approval, you can also release stock transport requisitions to
ECC via CIF, if you have defined manual approval for them in the master data.
Important settings:
Configuration for DRP Servi ces refer to Business Process step 7 (above)
Customizing Implementation Guide (IMG) for Advanced Planning and Optimization under Supply Chain
Planning Service Parts Planning (SPP) Deployment and SCM Basis, under Planning Service Manager
Define Planning Profile/ Make General Settings for Deployment/ Define Priority Tiers and Sequence
Rules
Master Data In the location product master data:
Deployment Indicators - control the location product that pushes or pulls deployment is to consider during
planning.
Express Shipment - to prevent backorders, deployment can decide to deliver certain location products by
express shipment.
Stock Transport Orders - define how many stock transport orders can be issued per day.
Procurement Lead Times - number of days that the review time and the time between deployment runs
should be.
Remaining Quantities controls what to do with potential remaining quantities at push deployment.
Time-Related Supply Limit (TSL) - limits the goods quantity that you can deliver to one location.
Virtual Child Location controls whether a location is also a virtual child location.
Error Monitoring:
It is important to make sure that the deployment runs successfully and the stock transport requisitions are
generated and released correctly.
It is important to make sure that the deployment run finishes within the defined time window, and the stock
transport requisitions are released in a timely manner.
Throughput Monitoring:
In the master data of location product, Stock Transport Orders define how many stock transport orders can be
issued per day.
It is important to make sure that the data keeps consistent before and after the deployment run.
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Dialog Performance
Monitor (BOPERFMO)
/SAPAPO/PE_RUN)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Background J ob
Monitoring for program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently in case
more than once per
day), Data
Collectors to run
every 5 minutes
Dialog Performance
Monitor (BOPERFMO)
/SAPAPO/SPPDEPL)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
qRFC Monitor
(IMQRFCMO)
(Status Monitoring of the
and APO)
(The queue names start
with CF*)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of entries
group
Age of oldest
critical status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in critical state
Number of entries
group
Age of oldest
interim status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in interim state
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59,
/SAPAPO/CQ,
/SAPAPO/CW,
/SAPAPO/CQINW
Hourly (or even
more often)
qRFC Monitor
(IMQRFCMO)
(Backlog Monitoring of the
and APO)
(The queue names start
with CF*)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of
group
Total number of
of group
Average number of
group
Maximum number
in group
Age of oldest entry
in group
Combination of
"Total entries" and
"Oldest age"
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59,
/SAPAPO/CQ,
/SAPAPO/CW,
/SAPAPO/CQINW
Hourly (or even
more often)
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Deployment results
in PSM application
log
Subobjects
Time of Planning
Run, User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
Deployment log Detailed log of the
deployment run
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/SPPDEPL ->
Click section
Deployment log
Daily
STAD or ST03N respectively.
The status, runtime, and job logs of of Background J obs can be analyzed using transaction code SM37 in the
managed system.
Connection.
Furthermore, it is important to review the defined thresholds on a regular basis in order to ensure that they
are set according to the business requirements that might change over time.
2.2.10 Business Process Step 10: Inventory Balancing
The inventory balancing service calculates excess and shortage of a product for all locations in the BOD in
the existing areas, and corrects the stock imbalance. However, inventory balancing only occurs if the benefits
of a stock transfer are greater than the costs. In this way the inventory balancing service ensures that existing
stock is evenly distributed.
The system can decide to balance stock within an inventory balancing area only. An inventory balancing area
is part of a bill of distribution (BOD) and consists of locations that can balance stock with one another. One
location can thus belong to several inventory balancing areas. However, within an inventory balancing area,
parent locations cannot release stock to their direct or indirect child locations. Inventory balancing from a child
location to a parent location is possible.
The system sorts the recommended stock transfer requisitions in descending order according to quantity and
checks the maximum number of stock transfer orders per day from every location that releases stock. The
system then creates stock transfer orders and releases them to ECC immediately or forwards them for
manual release to ECC via interface CIF.
Inventory balancing can be executed as a service in PSM.
The following triggers also lead to inventory balancing: Suppression, De-stocking, Reduction of storage space
at a location, unfulfilled pull deployment requisition, increased demand within the limited freeze horizon.
Important settings:
- Create inventory balancing areas by creating a location of type Geographic Area (1031) in the location
master data.
- Define packaging specifications for rounding in the SAP Easy Access menu under Advanced Planning
and Optimization Service Parts Planning (SPP) Environment Packaging Specification Maintain
Packaging Specification .
Customizing Implementation Advanced Planning and Optimization Customizing, under Supply Chain
Planning Service Parts Planning (SPP) Inventory Balancing and
SCM Basis, under Planning Service Manager Define Planning Profile
Error Monitoring:
It is important to check the results of inventory balancing, if the stock transfer orders are generated and
release successfully.
It is important to make sure that the inventory balancing service finish within the defined time window, and the
stock transfer orders are released timely.
2.2.10.3 Monitori ng Objects in SAP Solution Manager
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
qRFC Monitor
(IMQRFCMO)
(Status Monitoring of
the CIF-queues
between ECC and
APO)
(The queue names
start with CF*
For example:
CFEP* for purchase
orders, CFHE* for
release schedules,
CFTO* for stock
transport orders)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of entries
group
Age of oldest
critical status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in critical state
Number of entries
group
Age of oldest
interim status in
group
Combination of
"Entries" and "Age"
in interim state
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59,
/SAPAPO/CQ,
/SAPAPO/CW,
/SAPAPO/CQINW
Hourly (or even
more often)
qRFC Monitor
(IMQRFCMO)
(Backlog Monitoring
of the CIF-queues
between ECC and
APO)
(The queue names
start with CF*
For example:
CFEP* for purchase
orders, CFHE* for
release schedules,
CFTO* for stock
transport orders)
qRFC direction,
RFC destination,
Queue group,
Command string of
SMD qRFC backlog
coll., Command
string of SMD qRFC
status coll.
Number of
group
Total number of
of group
Average number of
group
Maximum number
in group
Age of oldest entry
in group
Combination of
"Total entries" and
"Oldest age"
SMQ1, SMQ2,
SM59,
/SAPAPO/CQ,
/SAPAPO/CW,
/SAPAPO/CQINW
Hourly (or even
more often)
CIF
Comparison/Reconcili
ation for Transaction
Data (Data
Consistency
Monitoring between
APO and ECC)
Name for Save Number of
inconsistent
scheduling
agreements,
Number of
inconsistent
purchase
requisitions,
Number of
inconsistent
purchase orders,
Age of last
consistency check
result
/SAPAPO/CCR Daily
Consistency Check
LiveCache APO DB
(For Procurement
Scheduling
Agreements and for
user-defined key
figures)
User performing
analysis, Execution
mode of the
analysis
No of inconsistent
Procurement
Scheduling
Agreements, User
defined key figure,
Age of last
consistency check
result
/SAPAPO/OM17 Daily
Dialog Performance
Monitor
(BOPERFMO)
(For Monitoring
response time of
transaction code
/SAPAPO/PE_RUN)
Transaction Code
(Value 1), Function
Type, User Pattern,
Instances
Total Response
Time, Database
Response Time,
Total Response
Time (Data vol.-
depend.)
Background J ob
Monitoring for
program
/SAPAPO/PE_EXEC
Background J ob
Name, Variant, User
(Note: The planning
the job log)
Start Delay, End
Delay, Out of Time
Window, Maximum
Duration, J ob
Cancellation, J ob
Log Messages, J ob
Log Content
SM37 Daily (or more
frequently in case
more than once per
day), Data
Collectors to run
every 5 minutes
Monitori ng
Object
Sel ecti on
Criteri a
Satellite System
Monitori ng
Frequency / Data
Collection
Deployment results
in PSM application
log
Subobjects
(Services), Date
and Time of
Planning Run,
User that
triggered Log
PSM Application
Log Content
Transaction Code
/SAPAPO/PE_LOG_DISP
Daily
STAD or ST03N.
managed system.
Connection.
The consistency check between SAP APO and SAP ECC can be executed using transaction code
/SAPAPO/CCR.
The consistency between Live Cache and the SAP APO database can be checked using transaction
/SAPAPO/OM17.
3 Further Information
3.1 Troubleshooting
If executing this Best Practice did not produce the desired results
Search for related notes in the SAP Service Marketplace.
Open an SAP Customer Message describing your problem (please see the respective component in
section Error Handling, Restartability and Escalation of every step).
3.2 Related Best Practice Documents
There are several other Best Practice documents available on the Service Marketplace under
https://service.sap.com/solutionmanagerbp that relate to this Best Practice document. These documents are:
General Business Process Management: This document explains the procedures you should use to
create a general Business Process Management concept. This includes the definition and
documentation of the core business processes, definition of monitoring objects, definition of
monitoring activities including error handling procedures, monitoring tools, monitoring frequencies,
the definition of communication and escalation procedures and the assignment of responsibilities.
ALE Monitoring: This Best Practice helps you set up an Interface Monitoring concept with the focus
on ALE Monitoring for your SAP solution. This document will outline possibilities on how to optimally
monitor ALE-based interfaces manually as well as automated by using SAP Solution Manager. Both
monitoring approaches aim to detect any irregularities or deviations or to detect error situations at an
early stage.
Job Scheduling Management: This Best Practice provides a detailed description what SAP
recommends as a standardized formal process to support a job request process, including an end
user job request form and an approval process. This integrated process will avoid error-prone and
time intensive manual processes of copying redundant data from one data source to another (for
example, MS excel to MS Excel or MS Excel to job scheduling tool).
SAP Business Process Management for ERP Logistics: This Best Practice helps you set up a
Business Process Monitoring concept for your SAP ERP solution. The concept aims to define
procedures for business process oriented monitoring and error handling and escalation procedures
for your companys ERP core business processes. These procedures intend to ensure a smooth and
reliable flow of the core business processes so that your business requirements are met.
Background Job monitoring with SAP Solution Manager: This Best Practice will help you to set up
background job monitoring properly in the framework of Business Process Monitoring in the SAP
Solution Manager.
Note that these documents are also available in the SAP Service Marketplace using alias RunSAP
RunSAP Best Practices.
3.3 Literature
For detailed information on how to administer an SAP R/3 system, see the book:
Liane Will, SAP R/3 System Administration, 2003
For information on how to monitor and tune the general system performance, see the book:
Thomas Schneider, SAP Performance Optimization Guide, 2006
For information on how to monitor your business processes using the SAP Solution Manager, see the
book:
Thomas Schroeder, Business Process Monitoring mit dem SAP Solution Manager, 2009
(currently only available in German)
For information on how to set up general system monitoring using the SAP Solution Manager, see the
book:
Corinna Weidmann, Lars Teuber, Konzeption und Einrichtung des Systemmmonitorings mit dem SAP
Solution Manager, 2009
(currently only available in German)
3.4 Feedback and Questions
Send any feedback by formulating an SAP customer message to component SV-SMG-MON-BPM. You can
do this at http://service.sap.com/message.
4 Appendix
In the following section you find examples on how you can set up the Monitoring within the SAP Solution
Manager.
4.1 Examples for recommended Monitoring Objects
4.1.1 Example Background Job Monitoring
This section shows how to set up Background J ob Monitoring for Background J ob /SAPAPO/PE_RUN in SAP
Solution Manager. The setup for the other J obs is quite similar - except for the J ob specific parameters.
1. Call the SAP Solution Manager (trx DSWP or SOLUTION_MANAGER).
2. Choose your solution.
3. Go to 'Operation Setup' and navigate to 'Solution Monitoring' =>'Business Process Monitoring'.
4. Choose Setup Business Process Monitoring.
5. Check 'Business Processes': select a business process for application monitoring.
6. Check for your chosen business process: choose process steps to monitor.
7. Check for your chosen step: Choose type of monitor, here 'Background J ob'.
8. Enter the information to be used to identify the job in this case the J ob Name
S_PRD001_UK_STOCKING_/SAPAPO/PE_RUN_1000_M
9. Choose the key figures J ob Cancellation and Maximum Duration to monitor the runtime of the job.
10. In check Maximum Duration you can enter thresholds that would raise a yellow or a red alert
respectively when exceeded.
11. In check J ob Cancellation you can decide whether a yellow or a red alert should be raised when the job
is cancelled.
12. Once you have entered all relevant information for the monitoring objects, generate the monitoring
customizing and activate the monitoring within the Business Process Monitoring session.
4.1.2 Example Dialog Response Time Monitoring
The Dialog Response Time of transaction code /SAPAPO/PE_RUN can be monitored utilizing the respective
Data Collector.
1. Call the SAP Solution Manager (trx DSWP or SOLUTION_MANAGER)
3. Go to Operation Setup and navigate to Solution Monitoring ->Business Process Monitoring.
4. Choose Setup Business Process Monitoring
5. Check Business Processes: Select a business process for Application Monitoring.
6. Check for your chosen business process: Choose process steps to monitor
7. Check for your chosen step: Choose type of monitor; here Application Monitor.
8. In the next check Application Monitoring, choose the Dialog Performance Monitor (BOPERFMO) in
column Monitor Name. You can additionally enter a short text in column Monitoring Object Name
9. In the next check that carries your entered short text as name choose the key figures that you want to
monitor for example, DB Response Time and Total Response Time and also enter the Monitoring
Schedule.
10. The following procedure is the same for all key figures set up for this data collector: On tab <key figure>
(for example, DB Response Time), double-click the field in column Counter and enter data as follows:
In addition, you can also enter a function code you want to monitor in field Value 2 and a User Pattern (for
example, US* for all user IDs starting with US) in field User Pattern. If you are interested in certain
instances, you can also enter their names in field Instances.
The field Proc.Intervals refers to the process of data collection from the managed system. Refer to the
instruction text in the Business Process Monitoring Setup Session for more details.
11. Now you can enter thresholds values in the fields Threshold for YELLOW (ms) and Threshold for RED
(ms).
4.1.3 Example Data Consistency
You can monitor the consistency between the SCM system and the ECC system using the CIF Delta
Report, which can be scheduled and run in transaction /SAPAPO/CCR in the APO-system.
The setup example described here has as a prerequisite that a variant of the CIF Delta Report is scheduled
in the managed system.
1. Call the SAP Solution Manager (trx DSWP or SOLUTION_MANAGER)
3. Go to Operation Setup and navigate to Solution Monitoring ->Business Process Monitoring.
4. Choose Setup Business Process Monitoring
5. Check Business Processes: Select a business process for Application Monitoring.
6. Check for your chosen business process: Choose process steps to monitor
7. Check for your chose step: Choose type of monitor; here Application Monitor
8. In the next check Application Monitoring, choose the CIF Comparison/Reconciliation for Transaction
Data (DCAPOCCR) in column Monitor Name. You can additionally enter a short text in column
Monitoring Object Name
9. In the next check that carries your entered short text as name on tab Key Figures choose the key
figures that you want to monitor for example, Number of inconsistent purchase requisitions. Also enter
the Monitoring Schedule on tab Monitoring Schedule. On tab Detail Information, double-click field
001 in column counter. A pop-up appears where you should enter a Name for Save. This Name for
Save is similar to a variant name and is the name for the setup variant of the CIF Delta Report in the
managed system.
10. In the next check that carries the name of your key figure enter the threshold values for YELLOW and
RED.
4.2 Available Monitoring Objects for scenario Procure-to-stock
4.2.1 Overview Procure-to-Stock
SCM-EWM - Q1P
Create InboundDelivery
NotificationNotification
(24)
(25)
Putaway (31.6)
SCM-ICH - Q1P
Update ASN / SDPR /
Inbound Monitor (21)
Alert Handlingwith
Notification(18)
Create, Change andsend
ASN (15)
Create SA Release,
Update SDPR/Inbound
Monitor (8)
Update ASN / Inbound
Monitor (33)
Update ASN / SDPR /
Inbound Monitor (29)
Receive ASN (20)
ECC 6.0 - Q4L
Receive/Validate ASN
(17)
Create OutboundDelivery
(13)
Create Stock Transport
Order (12)
Create SA Release / PO
(9)
Update Document Flowof
InboundDelivery (37)
PostingChange from
ROD to AFS (35)
Update InboundDelivery
+Post Goods Receipt
(32)
Update PO (30)
Update InboundDelivery
(28)
(19)
SCM-APO- Q1P
Receive InboundDelivery
(22)
Extract forecast relevant
(historical) data (2)
Issue SA Release (6)
Update Planning(36)
Update Planning(34)
Update PlanningData
(23)
PlanningService
Management Run(3)
SPM Supplier - SUP
SendASN (16)
Create Customer Order
(11a+11b)
CRM OM / GTS - Q5U
Extract forecast relevant
(historical) data (1)
Generate andApprove
SA Schedule Lines (4)
Create Purchase Order(7)
Create Pos (10)
Create
Confirmation
Create
Confirmation
Create Putaway
warehouse task and
execute inboundprocess
usingprocess oriented
storage control (31)
Create POs
Set Status inYard(27)
Create Stock Transport
Order
IM Update
Create SA Release (5)
<Followonactions>
Receive SA conf.
Create vehicle (26)
Move HU to work center
and
performdeconsolidation
Move HU to work center
and
performvalue added
General Description:
Procure-to-Stock includes processes such as Parts Demand Planning, Parts Inventory Planning, Parts
Supply Planning, Parts Distribution Planning, Parts Monitoring and External Procurement either with
purchase orders or schedule releases. These processes help companies maximize their return on assets by
matching service parts demand with all types of supply and increase collaboration by linking various business
partners across the entire service network
Service parts planning enables the service parts network to forecast parts demand, derive optimal stocking
levels for each location, plan parts replenishment, and rebalance the inventory within the network. To be
replenished parts are ordered from suppliers for example, using the Supply Network Collaboration solution
for communication of relevant information (critical parts, confirmations, ASNs). The physical goods receipts
and the follow-on processes like put away are supported with SAP SCM Extended Warehouse Management.
General Remark:
All qRFC errors that might appear in this process appear in inbound queues.
Business Process Description:
The business process has two possible starting points. One is the Create/Update/Delete Sales Order on
CRM, the other one is the Upload Sales History, inventory and open order on APO.
REMARK: In case that the PPF or any other automatic monitoring is used it needs to be ensured that the next
enforced monitoring step can close open steps of the same instance.
4.2.2 Monitori ng Business Process Procure-to-Stock
Monitoring APO:
Please turn to chapter 2 of this document to receive detailed information.
Monitoring SNC (Supply Network Collaboration):
For guidance on monitoring Business Process Steps executed in SNC/ICH, please turn to the respective
sections for PI in the Setup Guide Interface Monitoring with SAP Solution Manager that can be accessed in
the SAP Service Marketplace under http://service.sap.com/bpm ->Business Process Management ->Media
Library ->Technical Information
Monitoring ECC/ERP:
Please turn to the document SAP Business Process Management for ERP Logistics that is available
under https://service.sap.com/solutionmanagerbp.
Additional information on Monitoring the Business Process Steps in ECC/ERP described here can be found in
the SAP Service Marketplace under http://service.sap.com/bpm ->Business Process Management ->Media
Library ->Technical Information in document Setup Guide Application Monitoring and in the section
Customer Information in document Business Process and Interface Monitoring Part 2, that contains a list
of all available Monitoring Objects.
Monitori ng EWM:
Information on Monitoring the Business Process Steps in EWM described can be found in the SAP Service
Marketplace under http://service.sap.com/bpm ->Business Process Management ->Media Library ->
Customer Information in document Business Process and Interface Monitoring Part 2, that contains a list
of all available Monitoring Objects.
In addition to the monitoring objects suggested in section 4.2.5 the following monitoring objects are available
for EWM:
Alert Type Selection-Options
Waves
# of overdue waves
Warehouse Number, Wave Type, Wave
Category, Overdue in hours
Warehouse Orders
# of overdue warehouse orders
Warehouse Number, Queue, Activity Area,
Overdue in hours
Warehouse Tasks
# of overdue warehouse tasks
# of overdue replenishment tasks
Warehouse Number, Warehouse Process Type,
Warehouse Process category, Overdue in hours
Inbound Deliveries
# of inbound deliveries overdue without
Warehouse Task
# of inbound deliveries overdue without
Goods Receipt
Warehouse Number, Document Type, Overdue
in hours
Outbound Deliveries
# of outbound deliveries overdue without
Warehouse Task
# of outbound deliveries overdue without
Goods Issue
Warehouse Number, Document Type, Overdue
in hours
Monitori ng the SUPPLIER system:
In the detailed description below IDoc Monitoring is mentioned when it comes to monitoring the SUPPLIER
system.
To obtain information on IDoc Monitoring, see the respective sections in the Setup Guide Interface
Monitoring with SAP Solution Manager that can be accessed in the SAP Service Marketplace under
http://service.sap.com/bpm ->Business Process Management ->Media Library ->Technical Information
4.2.3 Business Process Steps executed in SAP SCM APO Servi ce Parts Pl anning and Monitoring
Objects
See section 2 of this document to receive detailed information describing steps 1-7 of the Procure-to-Stock
scenario
4.2.4 Business Process Steps executed in SNC and respective Monitoring Obj ects
Step 8: Create SA Release / Update SDRP/Inbound Monitor (SNC)
The released scheduling agreements are replicated to the SNC system. This system is available for smaller
suppliers that do not have their own EDI server. These suppliers can access the SNC and check whether
new requests have come in.
The data is transferred via IDOC using XI.
The IDOC type is DELINS/DELFOR02
XML outbound in XI/PI: DeliveryScheduleNotification_In
Monitoring: IDOC monitoring in SCM and XI inbound. XML Monitoring in XI outbound.
Step 15: Change and send ASN (SNC)
The supplier who can satisfy the request for the customer can now send an advanced shipping notification
(ASN) to the ECC system. If this is a small supplier without its own EDI sever, this happens via Supply
Network Collaboration (SNC). This is done via transaction /SCA/ICH and /SAPAPO/SPP. The data transfer
happens via XML, which XI converts into an IDOC of type DESADV.DELVRY05 (Despatched Delivery
Notification)
Monitoring: Response time and update error for transactions /SCA/ICH and /SAPAPO/SPP, XI
monitoring
Step 18: Alert Handling with Notification (SNC)
A notification is sent in any case. If the ASN has been rejected on ECC side or if there are problems with the
processing of the ASN, this is indicated in the IDoc.
Monitoring: IDOC DELINF/DELVRY05
Step 29: Update ASN/SDPR/Inbound Monitor (SNC)
With the arrival of the material in the yard the Inbound Monitor on SNC is updated again (as it is every time
the delivery on ECC is updated). This happens via IDOC DELINF via XI.
Monitoring: IDOC DELINF (monitored at several places in this process)
Step 33: Update ASN/Inbound Moni tor (SNC)
The ASN/SDPR/Inbound Monitor is again updated on SNC (as it is every time the delivery on ERP is
updated). This happens via IDOC DELINF via XI.
Monitoring: IDOC DELINF (monitored at several places in this process)
4.2.5 Business Process Steps executed in ECC/ERP and Monitori ng Objects
Step 9: Create SA Release and Purch. Req (ECC)
The release of the scheduling agreement is replicated to ERP. The data transfer to ERP happens via qRFC in
queues CFHE* (Note 786446 contains the queue names).
Monitoring: qRFC monitoring in queues CFHE*
Step 10: Create Purchase Order (ECC)
Created purchase orders are replicated to ERP. The data transfer to ERP happens via qRFC in queues
CFEP* (Note 786446 contains the queue names).
NOTE: For PO (incl. STOs) creation, 2 queues are triggered (PReq & PO =1 LUW).
Monitoring: qRFC monitoring in queues CFEP*
Step 12: Create Stock Transfer Order (ECC)
As a result of Deployment runs STOs might be created in APO. Via qRFC queues CFTO*, the Stock Transfer
Order is created in the ECC system.
Monitoring: qRFC monitoring for queues CFTO*
Step 13: Create Outbound Delivery (ECC)
The outbound delivery creation for STOs can be triggered automatically (depending on Customizing):
Monitoring: Transaction Code v_sa
Step 17: Recei ve/Validate ASN (ECC)
The IDoc is received in ERP and automatically processed. Validation here can reject the IDoc if, for instance,
there is a wrong material in the IDoc. If the IDoc is accepted, the inbound delivery is created.
Monitoring: inbound monitoring of IDOC DESADV.DELVRY05
Step 28: Update Inbound Delivery (ECC)
The Inbound Delivery with status In Yard is updated on ERP via qRFC DLVS*.
Monitoring: qRFC monitoring for inbound queue DLVS*
Step 30: Update Purchase Order (ECC)
With the update of the delivery in ECC the Purchase Order is also updated in ECC.
Monitoring: --
Step 32: Update Inbound Delivery and post Goods Receipt (ERP)
With posting GR in EWM the GR in ECC is replicated and the Inbound delivery in ECC is updated. This
happens via inbound queue DLVS*.
Monitoring: Inbound qRFC monitoring for DLVS*.
Step 35: Posting Change from Received on Dock (ROD) to Available for Sal es (AFS) (ERP)
With the posting change in EWM from stock type F1 (ROD) to stock type F2 (AFS =available for sales) the
stock in ERP will be posted from storage location ROD to storage location AFS (incl. IM Update). This
happens via inbound queue DLVS*.
Monitoring: Inbound qRFC monitoring for DLVS*.
Step 37: Update document flow of Inbound Delivery (ERP)
After the final putaway, the document flow in the Inbound Delivery is updated in ERP again via qRFC DLVS*.
If the delayed delivery update has been configured this is not done immediately.
Monitoring: RFC inbound queue DLVS*
4.2.6 Business Process Steps executed in EWM and respective Monitoring Obj ects
Step 24: Create Inbound Deli very Notifi cation (EWM)
The inbound delivery in ERP is also replicated to EWM via qRFC DLVMSAVEREPLICA*_7* or DLVS* as an
inbound delivery notification
Monitoring: Inbound monitoring of RFC queues DLVMSAVEREPLICA*_7* or DLVS*
Step 25: Create Inbound Deli very (EWM)
The inbound delivery notification could be converted into an inbound delivery manually or via PPF action.
Monitoring: PPF Monitoring, Action: /SCDL/IDR_TRANSFER
Step 26: Create vehicl e (EWM)
With creating the ID in EWM, a vehicle can be created manually or via PPF action.
Monitoring: PPF Monitoring, Action: /SCWM/PRD_CREATE_VEH
Based on customizing settings (MTR) the relevant number of transport units will be created.
Step 27: Set Status In Yard (EWM)
Once the transportation unit arrives it is registered as IN YARD manually via transaction /SCWM/PRDI or
automatically PPF action.
Monitoring: PPF Monitoring, Action: /SCWM/MSG_PRD_SEND
Step 31: Create Putaway Warehouse Task and execute Inbound Process using process oriented
storage control (EWM)
(For example:
Sub-Step 1: Unloading
Sub-Step 2: Move HU to work center for deconsolidation
Sub-Step 3: Deconsolidation
Sub-Step 4: move HU to work center for performing value added services
Sub-Step 5: Value Added Service
Sub-Step 6: Putaway)
If using process-oriented storage control, the system determines for which step the first HU warehouse task
will be created. If unloading will be processed with warehouse tasks (complex unloading) the first step in
process oriented storage control could be unloading.
Also, an inactive product warehouse task can be created including the final destination bin (point of time can
be defined in customizing).
Step 31.1: Unloading (EWM)
HU Warehouse Tasks are created for Unloading (in case of complex unloading). The confirmation of the
unloading warehouse tasks is executed via transaction /n/SCWM/TO_CONF in a paper driven environment
or via transaction /SCWM/RFUI in RF driven environment. With the confirmation of the last unloading
warehouse task the status UNLOADED will be set. With the confirmation of each unloading HU WH task
partial goods receipt can be posted (Customizing).
Monitori ng of warehouse task creation for unloading:
PPF Monitoring, Dialog Performance Monitoring, Update Error.
PPF Action: /SCWM/PRD_IN_TO_CREATE (Action Profile: /SCDL/PRD_IN) =>Unloading WT
Monitoring possible using inbound qRFC WRCF*.
Monitori ng of warehouse task confirmati on for unloading:
Using desktop: Performance and update errors for transaction /SCWM/TO_CONF.
Using RF: Performance and update errors for transaction /SCWM/RFUI
Monitoring of posting goods receipt after unloading:
Performance and Update Errors for /SCWM/UNLOAD, PPF SCDL/MSG_PRD_IN_GR_SEND
The relevant stock will be posted GR to stock type =F1 (ROD=received on dock).
Step 31.2: Move HU to Work Center for Deconsolidation (EWM)
Deconsolidation could be needed and the relevance will be determined via customizing. Deconsolidation
takes place at specific work centers in the warehouse. With confirming the WT for unloading, it is possible to
create WT to the Deconsolidation work center automatically (customizing).
Monitoring:
Using desktop: performance and update for transaction /SCWM/TO_CONF or
Using RF: Performance and update errors for transaction /SCWM/RFUI and for monitoring creation
of HU-WT from staging area to WC using queue monitoring EWMP*
Step 31.3: Deconsolidation (EWM)
The user performs deconsolidation by using the transaction /SCWM/DCONS. The deconsolidation
step will be confirmed by closing the relevant HUs.
Monitoring:
Using desktop: performance and update for transaction /SCWM/DCONS or
Using RF: Performance and update errors for transaction /SCWM/RFUI and for monitoring creation
of Product-WT for deconsolidation using queue monitoring EWMTP_*
Step 31.4: Move HU to Work Center for Value-Added Servi ces (EWM)
Value added services (VAS) could be needed, for example, some anti-rust protection is necessary to prepare
the product suitable for storage. The process is designed that value added services are performed at a
special work center. The HU warehouse task to move the HU from deconsolidation work center to VAS work
center can be created automatically via customizing in process oriented storage control or manually with
transaction /SCWM/ADHU.
Monitoring:
Using RF: Performance and update errors for transaction /SCWM/RFUI and for monitoring creation of
HU-WT from WC for Decons. to WC for VAS using queue monitoring EWMP*
Step 31.5: Value-Added-Services (EWM)
The relevant VAS Order can be generated with creation of the ID (see point 21) (Customizing). The value
added service activities regarding to VAS order will be confirmed, for example, using transaction
/SCWM/VASEXEC.
Monitoring: performance and update for transactions /SCWM/VASEXEC
Step 31.6: Putaway (EWM)
In our example, the last step in process-oriented storage control is the putaway step. With confirmation of the
value added service activities the inactive product warehouse task for putaway will be activated for execution
to move the product to the final destination bin. With confirmation of the warehouse task a posting change will
be executed (customizing) for the relevant stock from ROD to AFS (available for sale).
Monitoring:
Using RF: Performance and update errors for transaction /SCWM/RFUI and for monitoring activation
of Product-WT for putaway using queue monitoring EWMP*
4.2.7 Business Process Steps executed in the Suppli er System and respective Monitoring Objects
Step 11a: Create Customer Order (SUPPLIER)
For larger suppliers the SA release is sent directly to the suppliers EDI server. This happens directly via IDoc
(no usage of XI) of type DELINS (basic type DELFOR02).
Monitoring: IDoc monitoring
Step 11b: Create Customer Order (SUPPLIER)
For larger suppliers the PO is sent directly to the suppliers EDI server. This happens directly via IDoc (no
usage of XI) of type ORDINT.ORDNTF01.
Monitoring: IDoc monitoring
Step 16: Send ASN (SUPPLIER)
Bigger suppliers who have their own EDI server can send their advanced shipping notifications directly (not
via XI) to the ERP system. IDOC type is again DELINF.
Monitoring: n.a.
4.3 Background Jobs
Certain jobs must run periodically in any production system - for example, deleting obsolete jobs or spool
objects. If these periodic jobs do not run, system performance may get worse over time. Unfortunately, there
is currently no easy-to-use support for such jobs in Basis Customizing. Therefore, the jobs must be scheduled
manually. For more information, see SAP Note 16083. Note that a daily monitoring of the job log using
Solution Manager is recommended.
Error Handling Procedures for Batch Jobs
In case one of the scheduled jobs fails, if one of the necessary jobs is not scheduled, or even if a
scheduled job has finished, check for the current job status (refer to the SAP ECC documentation,
component BC-CCM, chapter background processing) and proceed as follows:
In the case of status scheduled, the job steps have already been defined, but the start condition
has not yet been defined. Contact the program scheduling management in order to clarify when
the job will be fully defined.
In the case of status released, the job has been fully defined including a start condition and waits
for the condition to fulfill.
In the case of status ready, the start condition of a released job has been met. A job scheduler
has put the job in line to wait for an available background work process.
In the case of status acti ve, the job is currently running and cannot be modified or deleted
anymore. Check if the job is within the given timeframe, depending on the data volume to be
processed. Check for particular dependencies on other jobs. If the job exceeded the given
timeframe, contact the software monitoring team.
In the case of status fi nished, all steps that make up this job have completed successfully.
Program scheduling management has to check whether the job ran in the given timeframe, and
software monitoring team and/ or application support have to check the respective job results
(such as spool output lists, message logs, updates, etc.).
In the case of status cancelled, the job has terminated abnormally, which can happen in two
ways. If an administrator intentionally cancelled the job, clarify why he did so and whether (and if,
when) the job has to be re-run.
If a program in a job step produced an error such as issuing an E or A error message, contact
the software monitoring team and investigate why the error occurred. In case of an SAP standard
program search for appropriate notes in the SAP Service Marketplace and create a customer
message if you cannot solve the problem.
Job Restartability
In case of the cancellation of a background job, possible succeeding jobs or dependencies on other jobs
must be considered when restarting the aborted job. The start of succeeding jobs might be also delayed due
to the restart of the aborted job.
Escalati on Procedures
If it is not possible for any of your support levels to provide a solution for a particular problem, it is
recommended to open an SAP customer problem message.
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