SAP S/4 HANA Logistics

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The focus of my blog is on the business aspects of what S/4HANA is offering, the topics today is S/4 HANA Logistics (formerly known as SAP Simple Logistics).

Core logistic processes like Procure to Pay, Plan to Produce, Order to Cash, Request to Service remain unchanged, but new trends are changing the way processes is executed. All type of mobile devices are used in the process; laptops, tablets, smartphones, watches, and augmented reality is now available where tasks or instructions are presented via glasses.

Barcodes, RFID tags, QR codes and sensors captures information, which can be stored on the HANA Cloud Platform, and data can be used for trigging and performing business processes as well as analytics. The HANA Cloud Platform is able to store large amount of data (BIG DATA) and this allows for predictive analytics.

SAP/4HANA supports the digital transformation to new business models with direct impact on the outcome, and connects to business, social networks, and Internet of Things.

Overview

SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management represents our foundational core solution – the digital core - covering all mission-critical business processes of an enterprise, natively built on the SAP HANA platform and designed with SAP Fiori. SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management is designed for enterprises across industries that need a deep and broad level of functionality combined with a high degree of flexibility.

The term ‘Simple Logistics’ was a temporary placeholder name, covering several lines of business across SAP S/4HANA and has therefore been renamed to reflect this – SAP S/4HANA Supply Chain, SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing, S/4HANA Sourcing and Procurement and SAP S/4HANA Sales.

Details

SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management allow redesign of business processes from PUSH to PULL, with options for performing simulations and queries on the fly.

A simplified data model in Inventory Management eliminates redundancies and aggregates, and ensures a simple and high-performant reporting - both for quantities and values. 24 aggregate tables are eliminated and only four tables are remaining, including one document table merging header and item data. The simplified data model allows a clear separation of master data and transaction data.

The data model in Sales is simplified, where status tables and redundancies in document tables are eliminated. Furthermore has changes been made to the pricing data model (valid for both sales and procurement), both in terms of simplification and expansion of possible accesses from 99 to 999.

With Fiori as the user interface, the user is getting a role-based, responsive and simple experience to get the job dome from anywhere. This is true both for business transactions, like display of the demand & supply situation after running MRP, and for business cockpits, like MRP Controller Cockpit. 

Wrap-up

In my next posts will I discuss specific topics in S/4HANA Enterprise Management. In the meantime, please check out details about SAP S/4HANA on http://discover.sap.com/S4HANA