The latest update of SAP Service and Asset Manager introduces many exciting features and configuration options across all supported personas.
New streamlined personas, enhanced meter management, and SAP Dynamic Forms integration elevate mobile maintenance and field service capabilities, alongside powerful new online search capabilities. Improved user interfaces, updates for safety technicians, and advanced inventory management features will ensure precision and accountability across your mobile workflows.
Please read on to learn more.
Key features delivered in the 2405 release
Standard and Professional Personas
The SAP Service and Asset Manager maintenance technician enables detailed end-to-end maintenance execution procedures on a mobile device with access on the backend to configurable features to supplement additional business requirements like vehicle stock, mileage, expenses, etc. However, some customers want a simpler mobile application where technicians and floor supervisors may report and manage maintenance requests with access to asset data and related details
This release introduces new configurations for our maintenance and field service personas, separating them into standard and professional categories. The streamlined standard personas are licensed at ½ FUE, and professional personas at 1 FUE.
Learn more about persona configuration on the SAP Help Portal
Let’s look at each persona separately.
Maintenance technician
- Professional: Same long-standing persona from previous releases; absolutely no change in previously available features or functionality.
- Standard (new): Focused on notification processing with features like core data, measurements, and attachments; does not include advanced features such as supervisor role, signature capture, and expenses, geospatial, nor integrations like linear asset management and routes.
Read more about Maintenance Technician Standard Persona in SAP Service and Asset Manager
Field service technician
- Professional (new): Includes all features and functionality in the standard persona; adds meter management capabilities, technical object bill of materials and classifications, and the ability to create/edit technical objects.
- Standard: Same persona features and functionality available since the 2205 release.
Meter management*
Meter management has been available since the 2.0 release of SAP Asset Manager in 2018 as an add-on component. The component has since been rolled into the core application, enabled via feature flags in the Mobile Application Integration Framework (MAIF).
With this release, meter management has been extended to the field service professional persona since orders associated with meter management can fall into both maintenance and service categories, depending on the specific scenario and how the SAP system is configured.
We improved the user experience of the install/uninstall process. Technicians may now install/uninstall multiple meters from a single work order, and several steps have been combined resulting in few clicks such as updating a meter and recording a reading in a single screen.
Online search for equipment and functional locations†
In our ongoing effort to add more online features, this release introduces an online search for equipment and functional locations. Online search is available on the home page, in the side menu, and from the equipment and functional location list pages.
Having this search provides advantages for businesses and users. The number of technical objects that are downloaded in a sync can be limited only to those most relevant to the technician’s work, this improving sync times. Additional objects then may be downloaded as needed.
Objects can be search by several criteria. A single object can be searched by inputting or scanning the object ID, or retrieve a larger set searching by description, category, plant details, location, work center, and/or status. A list of matching objects is presented to the technician who then may download objects to the device.
SAP Dynamic Forms‡ support
A highly anticipated upcoming addition to our SAP Mobile Service and Asset Management portfolio is SAP Dynamic Forms, a platform for creating and managing digital forms built on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Templates can be designed with form fields and validation rules and then assigned to work orders and operations. As part of the service, the forms may be accessed in a web browser or directly from SAP Service and Asset Manager.
Form instances associated with work orders, operations, and suboperations will be download to the device and may be completed offline during work execution. Technicians may save drafts as they complete their work, submitting the final form and syncing after completion.
Completed forms are synced back to SAP BTP where post-processing can occur, such as mapping captured data to business objects and triggering follow up actions.
Additional features
User experience improvements
The user experience of our application has taken a front seat in our recent releases, and we continue to gather feedback from customers and partners through ongoing research. This release continues this trend with several significant updates.
Detail page enhancements
Throughout the application, work order, operation, and operational item detail pages have been updated to improve efficiency. You will now find scrollable card sections representing operations and parts where common actions may be taken without navigating.
Common objects are represented by new colorful icons to easily differentiate the type, e.g., work order, equipment, functional location, part, etc.†
Documents are now shown individually in a dedicated section on the detail page accompanied by a document preview.† The attachment may be opened and viewed, and new attachments added without navigating to a separate page.
Measurement readings with editable data table
In our last release we introduced the editable data table for completing checklists and inspections. The table format has now been expanded to measurement readings.
Technicians can seamlessly input measurements directly into the table, significantly expediting workflows. A sticky column option facilitates smooth horizontal and vertical scrolling while ensuring crucial data remains visible regardless of navigation.
Users may set their preferences opting for the new table or the traditional list views.
Safety technician features
Introduced a year ago, the safety technician persona ensures the safety of workers by isolating switches, valves, or circuit breakers connected to equipment. We continue to introduce new features desired by our customers.
Ad hoc operational items†
During the isolation process, technicians may identify additional points that may not be reflected on the safety certificate. Being able to add new operational items on the mobile device saves time.
With this release, a technician may view a safety certificate, revoke the prepared status, and add additional operational items to ensure all isolation points are reflected. Details of the new operational item can be recorded such as switching and physical location; operational group; as well as tagging condition, sequence, and comment.
The certificate can be updated to prepared after additional items have been added.
Work permit approval signatures
Signatures can now be attached when approving work permits providing an extra level of accountability to the approval process. The signature is saved as an attachment to the permit and is watermarked with the certificate ID and description, approver ID, date, and time.
This is an optional feature that can be configured on the backend.
Inventory clerk features
This release includes new inventory features devised and designed in collaboration with our stakeholders. Our dual goals are 1) to improve the user experience based on real world scenarios, and 2) to expand support for movement types available in SAP Materials Management (MM).
Goods issue and receipt bulk updates
On the user experience front, we introduce a new tabular mass entry screen for issuing and receiving goods.
When processing inbound and outbound goods, the inventory clerk may choose to issue all or receive all respectively. The order details can be edited before proceeding to the mass entry table where items can be selected/deselected individually. Storage location, quantity, and UOM for each item may be updated in a single screen.
A link is also provided for each item so additional details, e.g., stock type, special stock indicator, storage bin, etc., can be updated optionally.
Attachments and signature
The application now supports attachments and signature for material documents, enhancing the documentation, tracking, and verification processes.
The clerk may take one or more photos of an outgoing or incoming shipment. The images may be cropped, annotated, and resized before syncing. The signature is saved as an attachment on the material document.
Both are optional features that can be configured on the backend.
Additional movement types
Two-step transfers† are useful for tracking the movement of goods when the transfer takes time or when goods need to be accounted for throughout the transfer process. It involves two distinct phases: 1) the removal of stock from the sending location, and 2) the receipt of stock at the receiving location.
We now support movement types 303 (first step) and 305 (second step) used when transferring stock from one plant to another within the same company code.
Additional reversals codes are also supported.
Movement types 262 (reversal of goods issue for cost center) and 282 (reversal of goods issue to project) may be used to reverse a goods issue when there was an error in the initial posting or when the goods were not actually used or consumed. This ensures accuracy in inventory and financial records by correcting or canceling the initial goods issue.
Personalization
Filter persistence†
By default, SAP Service and Asset Manager will now remember the last filtered state of list pages. The user may navigate away from the list page and then return to the same filtered set.
This can be disabled in the profile settings.
Quick action button personalization
Context-aware quick action buttons were introduced in our last release to minimize unnecessary navigation and reduce the number of clicks required to perform essential tasks.
These buttons may now be customized based on user preference. A settings icon appears next to each button set where buttons may be disabled if desired.
ESRI ArcGIS named users
The application now supports authentication for individual users using ArcGIS named user authentication. The user can log in using their unique credentials with the access token securely saved on the client.
Once logged in, users can view authenticated business and reference layers based on their ArcGIS type, role, and privileges.
Release available now
The application is publicly available and includes an offline demo mode for viewing and testing the extensive functionality with maintenance technician, field service technician, safety technician, and inventory clerk personas included.
The application metadata is now available for licensed customers and partners on the SAP Support Portal Software Center and the mobile client may be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Share your ideas
We encourage you to learn more about submitting improvement requests to influence future releases of SAP Service and Asset Manager. Your ideas are the driving force behind our innovation.
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* In scope only for professional and custom personas
† SAP Customer Influence request
‡ Coming soon. SAP Dynamic Forms is included with SAP Service and Asset Manager license with fixed entitlement of 1200 documents per FUE/year; tiered add-on licensing available for blocks or 1000 documents.
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