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If you’re a curious reader eager about studying extra about SAP knowledge fashions, you’ve come to the proper place!
Whats up Medium readers! I’m excited to share some learnings from a latest challenge the place I dived into the complexity of SAP’s knowledge fashions.
For confidentiality causes, I’m unable to share all of the challenge particulars 🤫. Nonetheless, I’ll talk about a problem I confronted concerning the complexity of SAP knowledge fashions: what does the SAP knowledge structure seems to be like and the way does every part match right into a coherent knowledge mannequin that is sensible for enterprise customers?
On this challenge, my major focus was to combine knowledge into an analytics/mining platform utilizing SAP enterprise knowledge on procurement processes. As I progressed, a number of questions come up concerning knowledge modeling and discovering my manner via the assorted tables of SAP’s database.
My objective was to create a coherent knowledge mannequin able to effectively powering future dashboards, experiences, and different analytical outputs deliberate within the subsequent steps. To attain this, I needed to totally perceive SAP knowledge structure fundamentals, tables mapping and so forth. It was not a simple process however I managed to know this new data 🚀
1) SAP, a software program chief in Entreprise Ressource Planning
As a lot of you recognize, SAP is among the many main suppliers of ERP software program, alongside others similar 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 additionally outward-looking, as an example on the client aspect (CRM) and the provider aspect (SCM). It’s made up of various modules masking all of the wants of an organization: Gross sales, Manufacturing, Logistics, Finance, Human Sources, After Gross sales Service.
It’s a software program package deal that consolidates all enterprise processes right into a single database. It additionally routinely considers the interdependencies between completely different processes. In different phrases, SAP or ERP softwares on the whole, function the guts of enterprise processes, powered by an unlimited quantity of information and transactions.
For knowledge analytics and course of optimization tasks, we will solely say that it’s useful to combine knowledge 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 knowledge organized? In short, a number of tables in SAP Database retailer all the info generated by SAP transactions, similar to making a vendor or a purchase order order within the case of procurement features. It’s additionally necessary to notice that whereas some tables stay secure over time, others retailer knowledge capturing particular enterprise occasions essential for each day operations. The instance of making a vendor or a purchase order order in SAP illustrates this level properly.
Let’s take into account as an example an organization within the automotive sector. This firm would have a vendor desk itemizing these they regularly work with to buy the supplies wanted to fabricate vehicles and different gadgets. The creation of a brand new vendor on this desk is a uncommon occasion which will solely happen a couple of instances per yr. This desk is known as a Grasp Desk, which solely shops Grasp Knowledge.
In the meantime, creating a purchase order order is an operational process. Buying groups inside the similar firm regularly use MM (Materials Administration) transactions to create buy orders (e.g. tens of millions of buy orders). Consequently, the desk storing all these buy orders is known as a Transaction Desk, and such a knowledge is named Transaction Knowledge.
Each tables in SAP ECC and S/4 HANA have particular names. The Vendor Grasp Desk is named the LFA1 desk, whereas Buy Orders are discovered within the EKKO Desk. For somebody working with SAP tables for the primary time, it is probably not instantly clear what every desk represents primarily based on its title. As an illustration, if I point out the names MCHA, MSEG, BSEG, and many others., you’d 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 necessary to map this knowledge for fast comprehension.
3) Knowledge Mapping of SAP Procurement Tables
An extra problem that you may face in such a 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 useful 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 principle objects dealt with in a procurement course of.
To simplify, procurement is the method of buying one thing, which might be uncooked supplies, companies, instruments, and many others., from a vendor. This course of includes receiving the bought gadgets, verifying their situation, after which initiating the fee course of, also known as the Accounting Payable course of. Nonetheless, we is not going to cowl this course of in our scope.
All through this course of, procurement groups undertake numerous 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 circulation 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 embrace detailed details about the gadgets to be purchased, the amount, the seller who ought to obtain the PO, and different related knowledge.
- Items Receipt: Upon receiving the products talked about within the PO, a items receipt is supplied 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 appropriate and as per the acquisition order. It’s regularly used to provoke the fee course of to the vendor.
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’s one other layer of complexity to contemplate in SAP Tables: the idea of header and merchandise paperwork.
In SAP, an object or doc similar to a purchase order order has two ranges of illustration: the header degree and the merchandise degree. It is because, conceptually, a doc is all the time created with two ranges of data. The header comprises common and aggregated knowledge, whereas the gadgets correspond to particular traces inside the similar doc.
For instance, think about you might be shopping for a PS5, The Final of Us 2, and a headset.
Your closing order will embrace a header together with your deal with and order quantity. The gadgets you’re buying, together with their amount (on this case, one in every of every merchandise) and worth, will likely be listed individually in line gadgets
Then, a typical query is: does the EKKO desk signify the header knowledge or the merchandise knowledge? The proper reply is the header knowledge. The merchandise knowledge 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 could have one desk for header knowledge 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 knowledge, I wanted to establish the suitable tables to extract and perceive their relationships to construct a corresponding knowledge mannequin. The mapping I did to visualise how these knowledge parts interconnect is detailed beneath:
Clearly, the mapping I’ve finished primarily focuses on the basic transaction tables of the procurement course of. Further tables, similar to grasp tables and different transaction tables — for instance, these storing modifications to buy orders — might 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 contains the fields that type the first key of every object.
Understanding the function of every desk and the potential relationships may be time-consuming. Nonetheless, quite a few assets can be found to help, similar to those who helped me create this high-level procurement knowledge mapping. When you’re eager about studying extra about SAP tables, take into account visiting this web site. It offers an in depth overview of every SAP desk, together with major keys, fields, potential values, and many others. You solely must sort the title of the desk you’re in search of, for e.g. MSEG and you’re going to get extra particulars in regards to the desk’s construction and kind of saved info:
Lastly, if this text bought you extra inquisitive about SAP knowledge fashions for different enterprise features, don’t hesitate to test SAP Group web site. You’ll find some fascinating content material, as an example the identical high-level knowledge mapping for finance features:
A Relationship (primary) of MM and FI tables — SAP Group
I hope you preferred this starter information to SAP knowledge fashions! Be at liberty to depart a clap 👏, a remark 🗨️ or to share 📨 this text together with your colleagues.
Thanks for studying and don’t neglect to observe me for extra articles 🚀
My First Steps into Mastering SAP’s Knowledge Fashions was initially printed in In direction of Knowledge Science on Medium, the place individuals are persevering with the dialog by highlighting and responding to this story.
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