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In case you are a curious reader thinking about studying extra about SAP information fashions, you’ve come to the suitable place!
Hi there Medium readers! I’m excited to share some learnings from a latest challenge the place I dived into the complexity of SAP’s information fashions.
For confidentiality causes, I’m unable to share all of the challenge particulars 🤫. Nonetheless, I’ll focus on a problem I confronted relating to the complexity of SAP information fashions: what does the SAP information structure appears like and the way does every part match right into a coherent information mannequin that is smart for enterprise customers?
On this challenge, my major focus was to combine information into an analytics/mining platform utilizing SAP enterprise information on procurement processes. As I progressed, a number of questions come up relating to information modeling and discovering my approach by means of the assorted tables of SAP’s database.
My objective was to create a coherent information mannequin able to effectively powering future dashboards, studies, and different analytical outputs deliberate within the subsequent steps. To attain this, I needed to absolutely perceive SAP information structure fundamentals, tables mapping and so forth. It was not a simple job however I managed to know this new information 🚀
1) SAP, a software program chief in Entreprise Ressource Planning
As a lot of you already know, SAP is among the many main suppliers of ERP software program, alongside others comparable to Oracle and Infor. At present, two generations of SAP ERP software program exist: SAP ECC and its successor, SAP S/4 HANA.
The elements of each softwares cowl all firm features, which aren’t solely inward-looking, but in addition outward-looking, as an illustration on the client facet (CRM) and the provider facet (SCM). It’s made up of various modules overlaying all of the wants of an organization: Gross sales, Manufacturing, Logistics, Finance, Human Sources, After Gross sales Service.
It’s a software program bundle that consolidates all enterprise processes right into a single database. It additionally robotically considers the interdependencies between totally different processes. In different phrases, SAP or ERP softwares basically, function the guts of enterprise processes, powered by an enormous quantity of knowledge and transactions.
For information analytics and course of optimization tasks, we are able to solely say that it’s helpful to combine information from SAP and mannequin it for front-end use to supply an end-to-end view of enterprise processes and establish inefficiencies. Nonetheless, it may be difficult with out first understanding how the info is organized in SAP.
2) SAP’s Knowledge and Tables Sorts
How is SAP’s information organized? In short, a number of tables in SAP Database retailer all the info generated by SAP transactions, comparable to making a vendor or a purchase order order within the case of procurement features. It’s additionally essential to notice that whereas some tables stay secure over time, others retailer information capturing particular enterprise occasions essential for every day operations. The instance of making a vendor or a purchase order order in SAP illustrates this level nicely.
Let’s take into account as an illustration an organization within the automotive sector. This firm would have a vendor desk itemizing these they ceaselessly work with to buy the supplies wanted to fabricate automobiles and different gadgets. The creation of a brand new vendor on this desk is a uncommon occasion which will solely happen a couple of occasions per 12 months. This desk is known as a Grasp Desk, which solely shops Grasp Knowledge.
In the meantime, creating a purchase order order is an operational job. Buying groups throughout the similar firm ceaselessly use MM (Materials Administration) transactions to create buy orders (e.g. thousands and thousands of buy orders). Consequently, the desk storing all these buy orders is known as a Transaction Desk, and one of these information is called Transaction Knowledge.
Each tables in SAP ECC and S/4 HANA have particular names. The Vendor Grasp Desk is called the LFA1 desk, whereas Buy Orders are discovered within the EKKO Desk. For somebody working with SAP tables for the primary time, it might not be instantly clear what every desk represents primarily based on its identify. For example, if I point out the names MCHA, MSEG, BSEG, and so forth., you’ll know these are SAP tables, however wouldn’t essentially know what info they retailer. Do they include manufacturing orders, monetary accounts, or invoices?
That’s exactly why it was essential for me to conduct analysis, take notes, and memorize the tables inside my challenge’s scope. Extra importantly, I wanted to know the relationships and fields utilized in every desk. At this stage, it’s additionally essential to map this information for fast comprehension.
3) Knowledge Mapping of SAP Procurement Tables
A further problem that you would face in one of these challenge is knowing each the info structure of SAP and the way procurement enterprise processes are outlined. Fortunately, my earlier expertise engaged on course of enchancment tasks with procurement groups was helpful when it got here to procurement processes. Earlier than entering into the SAP Knowledge Mannequin or Mapping of procurement tables, let’s briefly assessment the primary objects dealt with in a procurement course of.
To simplify, procurement is the method of buying one thing, which may very well be uncooked supplies, companies, instruments, and so forth., from a vendor. This course of entails receiving the bought gadgets, verifying their situation, after which initiating the fee course of, sometimes called the Accounting Payable course of. Nonetheless, we won’t cowl this course of in our scope.
All through this course of, procurement groups undertake varied duties: they validate buy requisitions, create buy orders, and ship these orders to distributors. Most of those duties are carried out utilizing ERP software program, particularly the MM (Materials Administration) module in SAP. Throughout this movement of actions, key objects or elements transition from one step to the subsequent:
- Buy Requisitions: These are created internally, typically by manufacturing groups, to tell procurement groups {that a} particular merchandise must be bought for manufacturing functions.
- Buy Orders: These are created by procurement groups and embody detailed details about the gadgets to be purchased, the amount, the seller who ought to obtain the PO, and different related information.
- Items Receipt: Upon receiving the products talked about within the PO, a items receipt is offered by the seller. This receipt is essential for verifying that the products obtained within the warehouse match what was requested within the buy order.
- Bill Receipt: This doc confirms that the obtained items and companies are right and as per the acquisition order. It’s ceaselessly used to provoke the fee course of to the seller.
Every object in SAP has its related Transaction Desk that shops all of the created objects. For instance, as beforehand talked about, Buy Orders are saved within the EKKO Desk. Nonetheless, there may be one other layer of complexity to contemplate in SAP Tables: the idea of header and merchandise paperwork.
In SAP, an object or doc comparable to a purchase order order has two ranges of illustration: the header degree and the merchandise degree. It is because, conceptually, a doc is at all times created with two ranges of data. The header accommodates normal and aggregated information, whereas the gadgets correspond to particular traces throughout the similar doc.
For example, think about you might be shopping for a PS5, The Final of Us 2, and a headset.
Your remaining order will embody a header along with your handle and order quantity. The gadgets you’re buying, together with their amount (on this case, certainly one of every merchandise) and worth, can be listed individually in line gadgets
Then, a standard query is: does the EKKO desk signify the header information or the merchandise information? The right reply is the header information. The merchandise information is saved in a separate desk known as EKPO.
This core idea is important because it applies to nearly all of SAP objects/paperwork. Invoices may have one desk for header information and one other for gadgets, as will items receipts. Nonetheless, buy requisitions are an exception, having solely an gadgets desk.
To combine and analyze SAP procurement’s information, I wanted to establish the suitable tables to extract and perceive their relationships to construct a corresponding information mannequin. The mapping I did to visualise how these information parts interconnect is detailed beneath:
Clearly, the mapping I’ve finished primarily focuses on the elemental transaction tables of the procurement course of. Extra tables, comparable to grasp tables and different transaction tables — for instance, these storing adjustments to buy orders — may very well be included within the mapping.
This mapping additionally highlights the relationships between tables, whether or not they’re one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. Moreover, it consists of the fields that kind the first key of every object.
Understanding the function of every desk and the potential relationships will be time-consuming. Nonetheless, quite a few sources can be found to help, comparable to those who helped me create this high-level procurement information mapping. In the event you’re thinking about studying extra about SAP tables, take into account visiting this web site. It gives an in depth overview of every SAP desk, together with major keys, fields, attainable values, and so forth. You solely have to kind the identify of the desk you’re in search of, for e.g. MSEG and you’ll get extra particulars in regards to the desk’s construction and kind of saved info:
Lastly, if this text bought you extra interested by SAP information fashions for different enterprise features, don’t hesitate to verify SAP Neighborhood web site. You will discover some fascinating content material, as an illustration the identical high-level information mapping for finance features:
A Relationship (fundamental) of MM and FI tables — SAP Neighborhood
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