Let's talk SAP- S/4 HANA Logistics.
What is different in SAP S/4 HANA Logistics from SAP SD?
How logistics part of SAP S/4 HANA is better? Why SAP S/4 HANA Logistics?
This article would help you understand how SAP S\4 HANA’s logistics additions have further strengthened SAP’s position in ERP World.
S/4 HANA Settlement management v/s Classic SD Rebates:
Most of us (SAP Consultants) have worked on rebate contracts, VBO1, rebate condition type, complete/partial payment settlement, credit/debit memos, and more. In SAP S/4 HANA, the SD rebate has been replaced by Settlement Management. The question is why did we move to the whole new process of settlement management in SAP S/4 HANA when we had one solution in place already? Here are the reasons:
- Rebate indexes are HUGE and need to be changed every time when updated.
- Not very flexible business volume determination rules.
- Large data volume affects system performance.
- Rebate data is locked when rebuilding.
And these reasons are eliminated in S/4 HANA with a common and generic facility of settlement management for Sales as well as procurement. It is more flexible to accommodate business determination rules which were getting missed in classic SD Rebates. We need not rebuild indexes in case of updates. Data volumes could be handled efficiently with the new HANA database.
Concept of preliminary billing document:
Abbreviated as PBD is an optional intermediary document between the billed reference document and the final billing document. Previously, we used to create a billing document from order/delivery directly, but S/4 HANA 2020 provides functionality to create a dummy billing doc that can not be posted to financial ledgers, but is relevant for output. We all have gone through the hassles of sending out billing documents to our customers which satisfy their business needs and local laws. PBD is created with an intention of negotiations or corrections before sending out critical billing docs. It's an optional yet important addition. There are some prerequisites and process differences in issuing PBD, but it is just a copy of the final billing document. You can create PBD from sales orders, deliveries, or DMR except for CMR (credit memos). PBD, if used, should be converted into a final billing document and have a separate number range.
Introduction of MRP Live aka MD01n:
MRP is an old and important concept of SAP Material procurement revolving around material resource planning. But there were various MRP performance bottlenecks due to slow database processing. With significant improvement in data processing with the HANA database, it was required to redesign efficient ways of performing MRP. Hence MRP Live was introduced. Improved MRP engine is capable to access all requirement elements (For e.g.: Sales order, Production order, Purchase order, Stock transfer order, etc.), calculates the shortages, and creates the planned orders or purchase requisitions wherever required in a single database procedure. That means you are no more required to use three different Tcodes (MD01, MD02, MD03) like in SAP SD. Cross plant planning is possible in the same MRP run. However, there are some scenarios that can't use MRP Live, i.e. Make-to-order, Multilevel sale order, or project-based planning.
Fiori based user interface:
One of the transformational changes which came up with HANA is the introduction of Fiori. Operating SAP applications on mobile phones is a dream come true for business analysts. Now you are literally a few seconds away to take your next big decision with Fiori-based GUI. Fiori only works on SAP’S HANA database. There are already ready-made Fiori applications to make your life easy. Although SAP Classic GUI would still be there for SAP Consultants for complex tasks or reports like order summary, open orders, or posting billing docs.
EMBEDDED EWM: Until 2016, EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) was available only as a standalone module which may or may not be integrated with SAP ECC but now it comes embedded in the SAP HANA suite. Basic EWM functionalities are embedded with S/4 HANA Suite, while advanced features can function with an additional license. Now, users can leverage the In-memory database (SAP HANA) and speed up their warehousing processes. It's not only the application efficiency that improved, but also the array of new functionalities added to optimize warehouse management.
Tag along with Business Partners: Everyone in the HANA world is your BP. The redundant approach of having customers, vendors, and contacts separately is not supported in S/4 HANA anymore. BP is the single point of contact for all master data-related queries. This optimizes data storage and transaction time. This improves logistics performance overall.
Optimized Carrier Selection Facility: As part of SAP TM, it is present in the Classic SAP ECC suite as well, but then what is different in SAP S/4 HANA? It looks like a small addition but too efficient to be missed. Generally, a carrier is assigned to the default route determined and is also attached with the partner determination profile of freight order. The optimized carrier selection facility provided under Advance SAP TM is automated and can be used in complex scenarios (when we have over one carrier and want a selection based on certain conditions).
I hope this helped you. I am sure I might have missed some points that you would know. Please leave your message in the comments.
Happy Learning :)
