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Question: Review a Concise History of SAP.
Source: https://community.sap.com/ (Hasso Plattner, Klaus Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther, Dietmar Hopp and Hans-Werner Hector).
SAP = "System, Applications, and Products in Data Processing".
The Germany-based Company was founded in 1972 with the purpose to provide a standard software solution for managing business processes in real time. The company's mission was and still is to help businesses around the world to work more efficiently and use business insights more effectively.
Answer: A Brief History or Milestone of the SAP software company:
https://store.sap.com/dcp/en/news-blogs/announcements.jpg)
The history of SAP's user interface (UI) Milestones worth mentioning are the following:
Answer: A Brief History or Milestone of the SAP software company:
- 1972 to 1980s - Five former IBM engineers started SAP in April 1, 1972 in Mannheim, Germany. In 1973, founders released SAP R/1, which was an integrated financial accounting system (FI). This software was revolutionary for its time, allowing companies to process data in real-time and share information across departments.
- 1980s - ABAP or Advanced Business Application Programming which is the proprietary language of programming for the SAP system until today was released in this period and also where SAP release SAP R/2. In R/2, SAP expanded its capabilities to support manufacturing (PP), sales, and distribution processes (SD). The foundation of the SAP system that includes FI, MM, PP, SD as an integrated system between Accounting and Logistics became the initial backbone of the SAP software system. At this time, SAP is still running only on Mainframe-based system.
- 1990s - The era where Client-Server Architecture flourished is also where SAP introduced its R/3 System in 1992. The R/3 (or Release 3) provided a "more flexible and user-friendly interface", allowing further integration of Financials and Cost Accounting (FICO) with Logistics (MM, PP, SD), and Human Resources (HR). It is also a time where supporting modules like Warehousing (WM), Plant Maintenance (PM), Quality Management (QM) etc was introduced as SAP takes the lead from MRPII system to ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning). So far, SAP is still a "ONE Software" company from R/1 to R/3.
- 2000s - The internet bloom sees SAP introduced "MORE software" for Advanced Solution option as well as Connecting to other Software. In 2004, SAP introduced ECC 5.0 (Enterprise Centric Component) that replaced R/3 where the "Backend Software of FICO, MM, PP, SD, WM, PM, QM, etc) will be integrated to the "NEW software" solutions where some of them can also be sold separately. These "NEW Software" solutions include SRM (Supplier Relationship Management), APO (Advanced Planner & Optimizer), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), SEM (Strategic Enterprise Management) etc. AND in 2006, SAP released ECC6.0 which became the SAP Backend Solution until 2015 and even today. It is important to note that it is in the early 2000 that SAP introduced Life-Cache Technology (LCT) which is the SAP proprietary memory-resident object management technology that enables higher levels of performance in business processing and initial intention is for the APO (Advanced Planner and Optimizer) Solution (or Advanced PP that is to use Optimization Engines for Planning and Scheduling).
- 2010s - This is the era where software companies began the shift to "Cloud Computing". The more than 10 years of Life-Cache Technology (LCT) experience consolidated into SAP HANA which was released in 2012. (HANA = Hyper Performance Analytical Application) is and improved in-memory database platform that allows for real-time advanced analytics and higher speed transactions in a software system. AND in February 2015, SAP released S/4HANA (interestingly instead of R/4HANA), and the "S" of S/4 is consistently being referred as abbreviated letter of the word "Simplification". SAP S/4HANA can be scaled UP or scaled OUT (all the way to 48TB as of today by using multiple servers in a cluster, or by using cloud storage. AND because such advanced storage capabilities, SAP then included some of the Advanced Solutions Embedded into the single S/4HANA instance which include part of the APO system called Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PPDS), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM), or Transportation Management (TM). AND not just that, Industry solutions like IS-Automotive etc have also becoming Embedded into the S/4HANA system. The "sudden" rapid shift from Traditional IT management to Cloud Computing (which originally dates back to the 1940s and 50s) is now no longer a "Technology gimmick" but achieved mainstream adoption to organizations world wide since the early 2010s. So, besides the S/4HANA solution, SAP embark on its next journey to create Cloud Solution like the "Integrated Business Planning" (IBP) which is a Cloud solution for Demand Planning and Forecasting (previously the Demand Planning (DP) component of the APO system) which was release in mid 2014.
- 2020s - The increased use of smartphones in the workplace has prompted SAP to further introduce Fiori with "User Experience (UX)" capabilities. BUT this is the ear where SAP is leading the charge for "Industry 4.0" in helping organizations to leverage the latest technologies to transform into Intelligent Enterprises. One of the next focal point of software direction is to use "Cloud Computing", "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and "Machine Learning (ML) to create Solutions that perform Predictive Analytics and "Generative AI Co-Pilot" that will revolutionizes how users interact with the SAP business systems etc.
The future of SAP will be an ever more "Connected" systems and a "Smarter" system that help businesses work faster and more efficiently. This can be send by SAP's focus on Cloud-based solutions and AI-driven technologies to more towards that vision.
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Question: What are the official web resources on SAP.
Answer: Official SAP references:
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Question: A basic illustration of the SAP User Interface screens in SAP for 50 over years since 1972:
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The history of SAP's user interface (UI) Milestones worth mentioning are the following:
- 2000s - onwards : Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with colors and push buttons
- 2015s - onwards : Evolution of the SAPUI5 framework into FIORI Apps
Answer: Some blog posts related to SAP Fiori Apps:
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2022/04/s4-discover-fiori-applications.html
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2022/04/s4-discover-fiori-applications.html
https://froggysap.blogspot.com/2022/04/s4-fiori-some-settings.html
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Question: The following is a depiction of the Enterprise Structure used to support the Standard Material Management Process.
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CO, FI, MM, LO are module names in SAP:
Finance
- CO is Controlling module (Basically for Cost or Management Accounting processes)
- FI is Financials module (Basically for Financials Transactions and Reporting)
Logistics (LO is Logistics module) which contains many other "sub" modules
- MM is Material Management module (for managing processes of purchasing for stock and services etc, plus stock management and capture supplier invoices for goods delivered to us)
- PP is Production Planning module (for planning and production of sub assembly and final assembly to be sold to the customers)
- SD is Sales & Distribution module (for captures customer orders in both products and services to be sold, then work with LE (Logistics Execution module) for delivery of the products to the customer and finally created Billing Document for the Customers.
Human Resource
- HR is Human Resource module (for
Enterprise Structure relevant to support the MM Process:
- Controlling Area - In SAP, a controlling area is an organizational unit that is used for cost accounting and managing costs and profits. In the academic representation, it can be called Cost Accounting or Management Accounting which is for Internal Accounting. The Controlling Area is the Enterprise Structure in the SAP Controlling module (CO module).
- Company Code - Since CO is for Internal Accounting, the Financials module (FI module) is for External Accounting. The components of the FI modules contains but not limited to the following of General Ledger (GL), Accounts Payable (AP), and Accounts Receivables (AR). While AP is to track all Invoices to-be-paid to the Supplier, AR is to track all billing documents to customer and managed the payment from the Customers.
- Purchasing Organization - In SAP, a Purchasing Organization is an Enterprise Structure that handles a company's purchasing transaction processing. It's responsible for procuring of materials and services, and negotiating purchase conditions with supplier (or vendors).
- Plant - In SAP, a Plant is a branch or operating area within a company. It's a logistics-based Enterprise Structure that's used to manage procurement, production, warehouse, maintenance, and materials planning. In this case, a Plant can be a Ship, a Warehouse, a Port, a Service Center, a Production Facility etc.
- Storage Location - In SAP, a Storage Location is a physical location within a plant where stock or inventories are kept.
Answer: See the following links to SAP screens for the introduction to the MM Enterprise Structure:
(5) Storage Location
Answer: See the following links to SAP screens for the introduction to the MM Basic Process from Master Data to an example MM Process:
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Question: Review of the Material Management (MM) basic steps.
(5) Create Logistics Invoice Verification
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