Overview
With the release of SAP Service and Asset Manager, we lay the foundation of a unified native mobile solution for Enterprise Asset and Field Service Management, with persona centric multi-persona support and standardized technology stack using SAP Business Technology Platform Mobile Services.
SAP Service and Asset Manager is developed based on SAP Asset Manager code line, therefore for SAP Asset Manager customers, it is a standard technical upgrade to start with SAP Service and Asset Manager. A separate license is required to run SAP Service and Asset Manager in production. Customer can convert SAP Asset Manager license or acquire new license for SAP Service and Asset Manager.
Multi-Persona Support Benefits
- SAP Asset Manager is primarily a single persona app for asset maintenance execution, SAP Service and Asset Manager comes with a set of standard personas that will support an expanded list of Asset and Service Management related business processes.
- Simplified custom enhancement, testing, and deployment process. Standard SAP Asset Manager Components are merged into SAP Service and Asset Manager standard app. Customer can use feature toggle configuration in the SAP backend system to activate/deactivate functionalities provided by those components.
- Each standard persona is designed with optimized user experience, data model and performance improvement. A user can be assigned multiple personas at the same time, and switch between personas easily through application profile persona toggle from the device.
- New licensing model based on Full Use Equivalent (FUE) Usage Type. Standard SAP persona can be classified as either Professional Persona (1 FUE) or Standard Persona (0.5 FUE). Refer to blog SAP Service and Asset Manager 2205 What’s New, and Configuring Features and Personas in SAP Service and Asset Manager for more information.
Note:
You can find the same information about persona strategy and benefits in the Field Service Technician persona blog.
Persona Introduction – Inventory Clerk Technician
The Inventory Clerk Persona enables a store room operator to receive, issue or transfer stock. It also supports issue and receipt of Batch Managed, Serialized and Valuated Materials. It supports Inventory Management process of both SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC backends.
The Inventory Clerk Persona supports the following functions
- Goods Receipt
- Goods Issues
- Stock Transfer
- Stock Lookup
- Physical Inventory
Note:
- Currently, there is no support for Special Stock, Reversals and Transfer Postings.
UX Highlights
Based on inputs and feedback from customers, the Inventory Persona has been designed to adopt the new SAP Fiori Horizon Theme.
Some of the highlights include
- Ability to download document directly from the Overview Page via Search Bar
- Scan friendly UI design enables you to quickly and efficiently complete Goods Movements, Counts with minimal clicks and screen navigations and minimal data entry by defaulting data from document or user parameters.
- Support for download of Serial Number with option to Accept All Serial Numbers or click/scan to confirm serial number.
- Access to frequently used actions such as Sync via Side Menu
Overview Page
Process Flow
The picture provides a high-level process for the Inventory Clerk Persona.
Goods Receipt
The following functions are supported as part of the Goods Receipt process
- Goods Receipt for Purchase Order
- Goods Receipt for Stock Transport Order
- Goods Receipt for Inbound Delivery
- Other Goods Receipt without Reference (Movement Type 501)
Goods Issue
The following functions are supported as part of the Goods Issue process
- Goods Issue for Reservation & Work Order (planned)
- Goods Issue for Stock Transport Order
- Goods Issue for Outbound Delivery
- Other Goods Issue
- Cost Center (Movement Type 201)
- WBS Element/Project (Movement Type 221)
- Work Order (Movement Type 261 - unplanned)
- Network (Movement Type 281)
Stock Transfers
The following functions are supported as part of the Stock Transfer
- Plant to Plant Transfer (Movement Type 301)
- Storage Location to Storage Location Transfer within Plant (Movement Type 311)
Note:
- Please verify the filters on the Plants and Storage Location OMDOs to ensure the appropriate filters are configured. For Ex: PLANT filter on SAM2205_PLANT is not restricted to User Parameter WRK.
- Please note that the OMDO is shared across Personas, so consider the impact on other Personas and the performance implications when changing the filters.
- You can use Mobile User Attributes or Filter handler for requirement where you need to support multiple plans and storage locations.
Stock Lookup
The following functions are supported as part of the Stock Transfer
- Offline Stock lookup
- Online Stock lookup
From the results of the stock lookup, the user can perform the following functions:
- Stock Transfer
- Goods Issues for Cost Center, WBS Element, Work Order and Network
Note:
- The stock lookup only supports the unrestricted stock at the Storage Location. Special stock or batch stocks are not currently supported.
Physical Inventory
The following functions are supported as part of the Physical Inventory
- Download Physical Inventory Document and perform Counts on Mobile Client
- Create Physical Inventory Document on the Mobile Client
Note:
- The Physical Inventory counts are limited to the company’s own stock and there is no support for counting of Special stock.
- There is no support for Creation of Physical Inventory document with Group Type (Bin or Material Type) or with Special Stock Indicator.
- There is no support for Creation of Cycle Count Document
Movement Types supported
The following table provides list of Goods Movements supported:
| Process | Feature | Movement Type | Comments |
| Goods Receipt | Purchase Order | 101 | Download of Serial Numbers |
| Goods Receipt | Inbound Delivery | Download of Serial Numbers | |
| Goods Receipt | Stock Transport Order (STO) | 101 | Download of Serial Numbers |
| Goods Receipt (Ad hoc) | Goods Recipe Other (501 w/o PO) | 501 | Support for Multiple Material Per Document |
| Goods Issue | Reservation | 201, 221, 261 & 281 | |
| Goods Issue | Outbound Delivery | ||
| Goods Issue | Stock Transport Order (STO) | 351 | |
| Goods Issue (Ad hoc) | Cost Center | 201 | Support for Multiple Material Per Document |
| Goods Issue (Ad hoc) | Work Order | 261 | Support for Multiple Material Per Document |
| Goods Issue (Ad hoc) | Network Operation | 281 | Support for Multiple Material Per Document |
| Goods Issue (Ad hoc) | WBS Element | 221 | Support for Multiple Material Per Document |
Note:
- There is support for Serialized Material. Serial Number assigned to Purchase Order, Inbound Deliveries etc. are downloaded and available if offline mode
- There is support for Batch Managed Material. Batch Number field is enabled for scanning.
- There is support for Split Valuation. Valuation Type is downloaded and is also available for input on Ad hoc transactions.
- There is no support for Special Stock and Transfer Postings
- Reason for Movement field is not available for input on the screens; however, the Entity Type is available from backend so for additional scenarios requiring this field customers can take advantage of this.
Implementation Considerations
Prerequisites for Using the Inventory Clerk Persona
- The user must have the authorization to create material documents, perform inventory counts and edit deliveries.
- A plant must be assigned to the user via user parameter WRK (or User Attributes).
- You must assign the inventory clerk persona to the user. Please refer the Configuring Personasprocedure in the SAP Asset Manager Configuration Guide for additional details.
Assigning Inventory Clerk Persona to User
SAP Service and Asset Manager supports multiple personas to be assigned to a User. When the user is assigned more than one persona, they can switch personas on the Mobile Client via Profile Settings.
However, when you want to restrict a user to a specific Persona you can assign only 1 Persona. There are 2 options to Assign (restrict) SAP User to Inventory Clerk Persona:
- Assign via Authorization Profile and User Roles (recommended)
There is a standard authorization object /MERP/SIC delivered for Inventory Clerk Persona. Define a Authorization Profile or User Role with the standard authorization object and assign to the users.
- Alternate way to Assign Persona at runtime via Admin Portal (TCode: /SYCLO/ADMIN)
Optionally you can also assign Inventory Persona to user assignment via /SYCLO/ADMIN.
Within the Mobile Application Integration Framework (MAIF) Administration Portal use the User Administration to search for specific user and assign the Persona Assignment.
Control the Mobile Application behavior via Configuration settings
You can control Mobile App behavior by adjusting the configuration settings in MAIF ConfigPanel (TCode /SYCLO/CONFIGPANEL) and Mobile Application Parameters.
- online (Y/N) – allows you to Enable/Disable the automatic backend search via Overview Page Search Bar
- minimum.characters (1 to 10) – This Mobile Application Parameter is dependent on the search.online and determines the number of characters after which the backend search should be triggered
- auto.navigate (Y/N) - This Mobile Application Parameter is dependent on the search.online and if set automatically launches the Document Details Page.
For Ex:
When you scan/enter a Purchase Order or Reservation Number in Overview Page Search Bar
- if search.online = Y, then a backend search is triggered if a document is not found locally on the device
- if search.minimum.characters = 5, then the search is triggered after user enters 5 characters
- if search.auto.navigate = Y, then if the search returns a Document, the Document Details Page is opened automatically
The product offers a lot of configuration options, please refer the SAP Service and Asset Manager Configuration Guide for additional details.
In Conclusion
SAP Service and Asset Manager Inventory Persona has been designed, developed with a lot input from customers. The App features scan friendly UI design that enables the inventory clerk to quickly and efficiently complete Goods Movements, Counts with minimal clicks and screen navigations.
The 2205 app is also available to download from the App Store or Google Play store with built in pre-loaded demo data, allowing you to check out the new Inventory Clerk persona as well as new innovations for Maintenance technician and Field Service personas.
Please check out the product roadmap for future innovations in this space. You can provide input and influence the future functionality via the SAP Customer Influence portal by voting on the existing features or put in a request for new feature. Please refer the KB Note 3033176 on how to submit product feature request.
Finally, feel free to provide your feedback, comments or suggestions that will help us make the product even better.
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