material master workflow

Sun Nov 24 07:34:02 EST 2002

Loren, Maria Luisa,

that means I'd have to write those 5 pages still... I guess the best =
way to
deal with my laziness is to start small again, and let you ask =
questions on
more specific issues.

Generally you can consider the following scenarios:

1. Material data being collected into some sort of request that's =
approved,
then used to create the material master
2. Material master being created on the system, completed on the system
(with workflow requesting completions), then released.

Case 1. involves much more development, case 2. can lead to duplicate
material records created for the same material. In general my =
recommendation
would be a hybrid solution, with some data collected in the request =
before
material creation, and if the approval is fine -- creating the material
master, then requesting its completion + approval. Workflow can be used =
to
support the entire process (from request creation to material release).

Business decisions need to be made on:
- fitting the material creation process into other master data creation
processes -- e.g. specifications, BOMs, recipes & routings etc. Expect
dependencies here!
- in wider context -- fitting the materials creation process into the
materials lifecycle (Product Lifecycle Management). Consider the use of
Engineering Change Management -- it can prove quite helpful too.
- material locking -- to prevent non-released materials from being =
used,
usually by using the plant-specific or plant-independent material =
status
- view completions outside of workflow -- should they be captured and =
should
the workflow react to them, or should they be ignored?

Having done this you can check how the materials creation is organized =
right
now in your company, how it could be streamlined , how your workflows =
should
be structured to handle it. Then proceed to the high-level design of =
your
workflow scenarios. Please bear in mind that the process can get quite
complex and have a lot of different variants (depending on material =
type,
material group, plant etc). To deal with them try to design your =
workflow as
flexibly as possible, involving as much additional customizing as seems =
fit,
working with responsibility-based agent determination etc. You'll =
definitely
have more changes to the flow than you can expect at the first sight. =
My
strategy is to provide a general template for the process and use
customizing tables to control the sequence of view creations. This
generalization pays off very quickly.

>From a technical point of view you can use the business objects =
BUS1001006
and MOFF to construct your workflows. To see them in action you can =
follow a
sample materials creation process on the system (manually creating the
views), and observing the tables MSTA and MOFF for the newly created
material. Having a look at the customizing of material types in the IMG =
will
not hurt either.

As a final hint: never ever forget about the reporting requirements. =
Your
users will want to know where the process is now, who is processing the
items now -- and your bosses will want to see statistics too. Make logs =
as
readable as possible, excluding the tasks that don't have clear =
business
meaning. Make sure you can jump into the logs from the "Services for =
object"
in the material master -- this will help a lot too.

Huh -- not quite 5 pages yet, but I'll be happy to elaborate on any =
part you
wish.

Kind regards,
Tomasz

-----Original Message-----
From: Fortuna, Marialuisa [mailto:marialuisa.fortuna at spcorp.com]
Sent: Friday,22. November 2002 17:36
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: material master workflow

Hello all,
I am interested also!

Best regards,
Maria Luisa

-----Original Message-----
From: Loren Huffman [mailto:LHuffman at sunsweet.com]
Sent: venerd=EC 22 novembre 2002 17.26
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: material master workflow

Hello Tomasz,

I would be greatly interested in the full deal email about this. I =
couldn't
find a wizard concerning this subject and any help would really be
appreciated.

Kind Regards
Loren

>>> Tomasz.Zmudzin at nestle.com 11/21/02 09:29PM >>>
Hello Wim,

the requirements you've provided (a simple approval) is somewhat =
different
from what your colleagues specified (creation of additional views,
approval). Please describe what you think you'd need, from the business
perspective.

The materials creation / approval processes are quite common, and I'll =
be
happy to provide you with specific information. But I don't want to =
bother
you all with a five-page e-mail of which you'll need 4 lines...

Kind regards,
Tomasz

-----Original Message-----
From: Wim Hilven [mailto:wim.hilven at cmg.com]=20
Sent: Thursday,21. November 2002 17:44
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU=20
Subject: Re: material master workflow

Hello,

Two of my colleagues are looking for information about workflow =
'Creation of
material master'.
If a material is created (and it is a dangerous good), a workflow =
should be
triggered, and send an approval request to someone.

Can anyone send some information to them?

Thanks a lot,

> Wim Hilven
> SAP HR Consultant
> CMG Belgium
> Uitbreidingstraat 80
> 2600 Berchem - Antwerpen
> Tel.      +32 3 200 42 11
> Fax      +32 3 200 42 99
> E-mail   wim.hilven at cmg.com=20
>
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-----Original Message-----
From: Safeer Hussain Shah [mailto:s_safeer at ppl.com.pk]=20
Sent: donderdag 31 oktober 2002 6:02
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU=20
Subject: material master workflow

Hi Loren,

If person A is the boss then I don't think so that he need to change =
some
screen , If he want to do this then put him in the last and Material =
Master
is not a transaction document and why you need approval for this, if =
you
want to restrict Material Master then you can control if with =
Authorization
.
If you need some How to do type document (on Material Master change
(workflow task) I can send it over to you.

Regards,

Safeer Shah

SAP TECHNICAL SPECIALIST

-----Original Message-----
From: Loren Huffman [mailto:LHuffman at sunsweet.com]=20
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 1:26 AM
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU=20
Subject: material master workflow

Hello everybody,

I have been the EDI guy for a couple of years and now I also get to do =
the
workflow projects. I am a real rookie at workflow - never done one, so =
any
hand holding or help would be greatly appreciated. The first one I get =
to do
is for material master - create or change. Person A will do some =
screens
then person B will do some then person C will do some and finally =
person A
will approve it all. I did not see a template for this. Anyone have any
ideas on how I get started?

Thanks very much

Loren Huffman
Application Systems Analyst
Sunsweet Growers Inc.
phone: 530-822-2815
fax: 530-751-5392
email: lhuffman at sunsweet.com

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