It has been some time since I provided an update on Configuration Management as part of SAP Enterprise Product Development – with this blog I would like to give an update on what has happened since then. In addition we just released a new video on YouTube where we are talking about the updates and our roadmap.
There are two main aspects guiding the development of Configuration Management:
With these two aspects in mind, we have added these additional features to the Configuration Management:
As Configuration Management is constantly enhanced with more and more functionality the need to influence the behavior also increased. We therefor added a new customizing app which offers the following possibilities:
With this new customizing app you can now easily define templates for lifecycle-phases (‘as-engineered’, ‘as-designed’ – but also e.g. ‘Q-Gate 1’, ‘Released for Suppliers’, …). By using these templates you will on the one side speed up the creation of new configuration plans and on the other side also add more governance by reducing typos or own names for lifecycle-phases.
In addition, we also improved the creation of baselines. Depending on the lifecycle-phase you want to either include every object into a baseline or only some aspects - maybe leaving the attached Document Info Records out. And not always a complete explosion of the Bill-of-Material is needed as well. This helps to shape the baseline to exactly the right level of detail as needed for its current lifecycle-phase.
Online-Help
The creation of a baseline requires a lot of information – which product, which date, Bill-of-Material explosion details, lifecycle-phase and so on. With the latest release it is possible to define in the new customizing app default values.
This reduces the amount of information that must be entered manually every time. It is still possible to overwrite the default values in case there is a specific reason for using different input parameters for the creation of the baseline.
Online-Help
During the creation of a baseline there is typically a reviewing and releasing process. Therefore one can assume that the content – the Bill-of-Material, the Document Info Records or the Material Masters – is correct. Why not using this validation for follow-up processes?
We already introduced the integration towards collaborations, and now we added baselines as the starting point for the handover process – where an production engineer is handing over an engineering structure over to a manufacturing structure. When creating a handover activity you can now find the additional option to select a baseline to describe the source Bill-of-Material.
Online-Help
To better support our customers using S/4HANA, public edition now also this integration to Configuration Management is available. This is in addition to the already supported backend systems (SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA, private edition). With this now also BOMs, Documents or Products from there can be baselined. The integration scope item 6U3 contains all the required details.
Online-Help
To define the suppliers of a product in S/4HANA the so-called MPNs are being used. As this is a relevant information for the definition of a product, we now also added this aspect of the product definition into the baselined data.
No additional settings are required for this. During the process of the uploading of a Bill-of-Materials the system automatically searches for available MPNs and is adding them to the baseline. As a result, the MPNs are now displayed in an own tab for better identification.
There are two main aspects guiding the development of Configuration Management:
- Integration with other capabilities to support end-to-end processes
- Access to more aspects from the master data to improve the completeness of a baseline
With these two aspects in mind, we have added these additional features to the Configuration Management:
- New Customizing App for Configuration Management
- Usage of Baselines in the ‘Intelligent Handover’
- Support of ‘Manufacturer Parts Number (MPN)’
- Support of S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
New Customizing App for Configuration Management
As Configuration Management is constantly enhanced with more and more functionality the need to influence the behavior also increased. We therefor added a new customizing app which offers the following possibilities:
- Define templates for lifecycle-phases
- Define the details for the creation of baselines
- Define default values
With this new customizing app you can now easily define templates for lifecycle-phases (‘as-engineered’, ‘as-designed’ – but also e.g. ‘Q-Gate 1’, ‘Released for Suppliers’, …). By using these templates you will on the one side speed up the creation of new configuration plans and on the other side also add more governance by reducing typos or own names for lifecycle-phases.
In addition, we also improved the creation of baselines. Depending on the lifecycle-phase you want to either include every object into a baseline or only some aspects - maybe leaving the attached Document Info Records out. And not always a complete explosion of the Bill-of-Material is needed as well. This helps to shape the baseline to exactly the right level of detail as needed for its current lifecycle-phase.
Online-Help
The creation of a baseline requires a lot of information – which product, which date, Bill-of-Material explosion details, lifecycle-phase and so on. With the latest release it is possible to define in the new customizing app default values.
This reduces the amount of information that must be entered manually every time. It is still possible to overwrite the default values in case there is a specific reason for using different input parameters for the creation of the baseline.
Online-Help
Usage of Baselines in the ‘Intelligent Handover’
During the creation of a baseline there is typically a reviewing and releasing process. Therefore one can assume that the content – the Bill-of-Material, the Document Info Records or the Material Masters – is correct. Why not using this validation for follow-up processes?
We already introduced the integration towards collaborations, and now we added baselines as the starting point for the handover process – where an production engineer is handing over an engineering structure over to a manufacturing structure. When creating a handover activity you can now find the additional option to select a baseline to describe the source Bill-of-Material.
Online-Help
Integration with S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
To better support our customers using S/4HANA, public edition now also this integration to Configuration Management is available. This is in addition to the already supported backend systems (SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA and S/4HANA, private edition). With this now also BOMs, Documents or Products from there can be baselined. The integration scope item 6U3 contains all the required details.
Online-Help
Support of ‘Manufacturer Parts Number (MPN)’
To define the suppliers of a product in S/4HANA the so-called MPNs are being used. As this is a relevant information for the definition of a product, we now also added this aspect of the product definition into the baselined data.
No additional settings are required for this. During the process of the uploading of a Bill-of-Materials the system automatically searches for available MPNs and is adding them to the baseline. As a result, the MPNs are now displayed in an own tab for better identification.
Additional information
- Configuration Management - Online Help
- SAP EPD Community
- LinkedIn Community
- SAP PLM Expert Talk on Configuration Management on YouTube
- SAP Managed Tags:
