OR Soft - Solutions for SAP Best Practices

How to get started

1. Install the demo scenario for your SAP Best Practices package

The Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP has been tested with the demo scenarios from the following packages:

(*) OR Soft has not been involved in the making of SAP Best Practices for Pharmaceuticals V1.470, however the building block P63 for V1.500 has also been tested on the data model for V1.470 and SAP has entitled OR Soft to deliver it on request.

2. Order a demonstration CD for the Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP using this order form

3. Test drive the Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP using the demo scenario

4. Contact OR Soft to prepare a live demonstration for your specific data scenario.

The solution is licensed on a cost-by-workplace basis by OR Soft. The solution can go life and be used in a productive way within a matter of days using OR Soft telephone support.

[Please click on the pictures to enlarge.]

Motivation

The idea of Best Practices is to provide templates for a specific industry sector to mid-size industry customers that enable them to rapidly implement the ERP system SAP R/3 resp. SAP Business Suite.

Some current SAP Best Practices Industry Packages contain an optional building block "Advanced Planning Board" with installation and configuration guide as well as a description of the business procedures for the advanced planning board. This allows customers that use a SAP Best Practices Industry Package to get a first idea about the functions of the advanced planning board and its integration into the business processes and production scenarios of the package.

OR Soft delivers a CD with a preconfigured demo solution of the Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP and a program for analysing a production model. You can explore the functions of the Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP using the tools provided on this CD and the demonstration data provided as part of the respective SAP Best Practices Industry Packages. There is also a standalone demo version that does not need a live SAP system with Best Practices but uses model data that has been captured from the respective industry package scenario. The analysis program can be used with your own operational data to prepare information that allows OR Soft experts to customize a version for your data and send you a customized setup CD or arrange for a live demonstration. You can setup and configure the Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP for use with your own operational data as a SAP GUI extension after obtaining a license key from OR Soft.

Function List

The following functions are provided to support the Advanced Planning Board building block:

• Enhanced user interface and overview:
• Analyse and evaluate a production schedule
• Execute Dynamic ATP check for process orders
• Call of SAP ERP Transactions
• Simple scheduling functions:
• Schedule planned orders at basic dates or interactively and convert into process orders
• Reschedule scheduled planned orders and process orders
• Unschedule scheduled planned orders
• Publish, unschedule or remove simulated data
• Complex planning functions to replace the MRP run:
• Plan predecessor products
• Execute MRCP run -single or multiple level - from PIR or from Materials Cockpit

To implement more complex procedures or use other scheduling strategies you can upgrade from the Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP to the full-featured OR Soft SCHEDULE++ Scheduling Suite (provides planning cockpits, dynamic pegging etc.) or to the Business Package for Manufacturing Workbench ("powered by NetWeaver").

Key Points

The Advanced Planning Board for SAP ERP allows to:

• schedule and reschedule planned and process orders with simultaneous consideration of resource allocation, capacity and material requirements
• create technologically feasible process orders from planned orders
• carry out „what if“ examinations based on a copy of the production model and create simulated data objects
• convert simulated objects into SAP ERP objects
• get overview over MRP elements in spreadsheet-like grids
• permanently calculate and present planned future stock levels, material availability and range of coverage even for large scale data models
• carry out batch transactions.

The advanced planning board supports the detailed production and execution scheduling (APS, MES) as well as the planning of the in-house supply chain. It can be used as a simplified user interface for the SAP ERP system with regard to production logistics. Additionally it can be used as a platform for individualisation of higher level functions.

User Interface Elements

The following user interface elements are provided:

• Views combine various time-phased graphical displays for selected resources and materials, the standard includes:
• Gantt chart (displays bar graphs for the allocation of operations to resources on a horizontal time scale, enhanced with color coding and auxiliary text display for relevant data)
• Histogram (displays the stock changes of materials, tanks and containers on a horizontal time scale, with the possibility to take into account the storage capacity restrictions)
• Browser (displays most important fields of master data or transactional data in a grid-based, spreadsheet-type window with editable text cells, calculated text or graphic interpretation cells and functions for sorting, searching, filtering and selection of data objects).

Potential Benefits

Potential benefits of using the advanced planning board result from the easiness of getting an overview (transparency of the planned production process) and from the enhanced usability (scheduling and rescheduling of orders).

Assessment

The planning capabilities of the SAP ERP system are enhanced without the need for additional infrastructure, terminology or data extension.