Q: Why do I need SAP IBP when SAP S/4HANA seems to meet my needs of demand and supply planning? I need no AI/ML/IoT. In principle I have no constraints in Production, handling and storage. A: If that is the case you do not need IBP. As long as you can live with basic product...
Q: How do you really teach ‘Internet of Things’ to a supply chain guy? Without losing them at “Smart” and “Connected”? A: Beyond generalities, it does not mean much to a ‘Supply Chain Guy’. As in a functional consultant or manager or a planner. To him it simply means some ‘information’ coming from somewhere and...
Q: My ‘Group’ has multiple wholly owned ‘Subsidiaries’. Each with their own ERPs of different make and vintage incl. some on SAP ECC. How can I ‘consolidate’ them all into SAP S/4HANA? A: Tall Order. A multiyear project. First ‘consolidate’ is not the right word here. Perhaps standardization of ERPs is a better word. The...
I want to see the % of Sales Orders whose cycle time (Order to Cash) deviated by more than 10% of ‘acceptable’ cycle time. Where can I see it? 1) Write a simple ABAP report using information from VA05 and FBL5N. Any developer can do this for under 50$ and 1 day. 2) Develop a...
Q: How do I circumvent SAPs Digital Access License? A: Ethically you can’t. Technically you can use SFTP. Upload CSV files via AL11 and create whatever documents you want to. Ensure the jobs are scheduled by a dialog user. (just a way of saying a human did it as an act of ignorance) Q: What...
Q: Why should I use SAP TM? (Transportation Management) when I have basic shipping capabilities in SAP ERP / S/4HANA? A: It depends on – What you are selling and shipping – Your desperation to shave an extra cent off shipping costs. – How competent and resourceful is your 3PL. If you are selling soaps...
Q: What Options Exist in SAP to implement Spare Parts Supply Chain ‘planning’ (planning and replenishment) solution? A: Perhaps a combination of IBP, IoT, Predictive Maintenance (PMS) and MRP/MM can be used to build a working solution. or if you are still using APO SPP, and it works well. The trouble with Spare parts demand...
Q: My current ‘machine efficiency’ is almost 75% (available 75% of the time). I have 15 SKUs (identical by content) in all to make and sell with a total Daily demand of about 20000 units with a standard deviation/demand variability of 0.2. The available capacity is 30000 units/day. What will be my practical best-case capacity...
Q: My Production is often delayed. Every time they (the ‘factory guys’) have an answer at the nth hour. They blame me for bad planning. I am just a new joiner post my MBA. How can I analyze the ‘bottlenecks’ on my own? A: For a start your production order itself may have been scheduled...
How did VW Europe end up with so much inventory? – Is it really that bad? – What were the Supply Chain Pundits in this and that Tech with 300-page resumes doing? For a start they were hoping the demand at least returns to pre-covid19 levels ~16 million cars but the sales declined. Not their...