Key Strategies to Make SAP® Data

Key Strategies to Make SAP® Data Management People-Ready Summary This white paper describes how SAP® customers can use the Winshuttle People-Ready solutions to automate the transport of enterprise data into SAP transactions. Winshuttle solutions empower information workers to speed data integration, manage their own data, becoming stewards of their own data. This paper is written for business decision makers (BDMs) in medium or large enterprises who want to know more about how Winshuttle software can improve business productivity. Published: November, 2007 Applies To: Winshuttle® transactionSHUTTLE™ Co Authored by: Microsoft Corporation & Winshuttle, Inc. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com Contents Executive Summary Introduction Data Management Challenges Manual Data Entry Automation Challenges The Winshuttle Solution Advantages and Customer Value Advantages Minimum Requirements Customer Value Winshuttle Business Scenarios Winshuttle Roles Winshuttle User Scenarios Data Migration Data Maintenance Data Synchronization Winshuttle transactionSHUTTLE transactionSHUTTLE Desktop transactionSHUTTLE Three-Step Process Creating a New SHUTTLEfile 1 — Record the Business Process 2 — Map SAP Data without IT Intervention 3 — Load and Run Records CASE STUDY: Hubbell ─ transactionSHUTTLE Advances SAP Data Quality Conclusion 3 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 12 15 © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 2 Executive Summary Information Technology (IT) enables companies to operate and perform well in highly competitive business environments. IT applications ensure that business processes meet critical requirements, perform to expectations, and provide timely information efficiently. When companies want their entire organization to perform consistently across business perspectives, many businesses choose SAP® Business Suite industry solutions, the leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, to fulfill their business needs, end-to-end. SAP ERP applications are integrated with Microsoft technologies such as Windows, .NET, and SQL Server to enable companies to realize significant value. For over 15 years, SAP and Microsoft have maintained a strong, long-term relationship that is driven by customer satisfaction. The goal of the Microsoft People-Ready initiative is to have the “right” software and tools ready to empower people to work more efficiently, minimize costs, and to create a competitive edge for the company. PeopleReady solutions integrate Microsoft technologies with SAP Business Suite, making this important tool more effective. People-Ready solutions improve productivity, by bridging the gap between structured business processes and the SAP internal users’ familiar work environment. For more information, go to http://www.microsoft.com/business/peopleready/default.mspx Winshuttle, Inc. is one of the fastest growing providers of People-Ready business productivity solutions for SAP customers. Winshuttle People-Ready data quality and integration products greatly simplify the automated recording, mapping, and running of SAP ERP transactional data using the Microsoft Office Excel and Access applications. These innovative software products include transactionSHUTTLE, runSHUTTLE™, and tableSHUTTLE™. This white paper describes how SAP customers can use the Winshuttle People-Ready solutions to empower information workers to speed data integration, manage their own data, and become “data stewards”. This paper is written for business decision makers (BDMs) in medium or large size enterprises who want to know more about how they can use Winshuttle software to improve business productivity. The paper assumes that the reader has at least a general understanding of SAP ERP solutions and Microsoft Office applications. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 3 Introduction Many companies are challenged to address the daily, ongoing effort of moving critical information in and out of data-intensive ERP applications. It is imperative for businesses to find convenient ways to reduce the enormous amount of time and cost expended to perform data entry and other repetitive tasks. This includes the manual input of data from external sources and the manipulation of data stored in nonstandard digital formats. Information workers in finance, accounts payable, accounts receivables, purchasing, human resources, production planning, and other departments want to control and manage the data in their SAP transactions. Spreadsheets, such as Microsoft Office Excel application, are typically the tool of choice for performing data management across the enterprise. Excel offers a convenient way to create, update, and transfer large amounts of data. For example, information workers stage the data for SAP transactions in Excel because it provides a full view of the data, rather than navigating through multiple screens, with each screen giving only a partial view of the data. However, transferring data from Excel spreadsheets (and Access databases) to SAP® Business Suite applications is an important step to most organizations. (Note that Microsoft Office is the pervasive frontend for SAP data.) This includes data for: • Record-to-Report. Vendor invoices, journal vouchers, budgets, and asset postings • Order-to-Cash. Sales orders, pricing changes, customer master, material master, and inventory change • Procure-to-Pay. Purchase orders, material master, and vendor master • Hire-to-Retire. Organizational management, payroll, and time recording Information workers need a convenient way to automate the uploading of large amounts of data in Excel spreadsheets or an Access database to the SAP system-of-record. Downloading may also be required to extract and fix data. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 4 Data Management Challenges Ensuring that the data in SAP applications is accurate and consistent is an essential aspect of data management. The data entered in SAP transactions is interconnected and is used in cross-organizational business processes — one error can result in many problems. For example, if incorrect data is entered to place an order, it can cause a “ripple effect”, where the error is propagated in the material master, inventory, shipping, and in other parts of the process such as accounting and sales. Errors in master data are particularly problematic since they propagate downstream and effect many transactions. This problem is well publicized — one report shows that errors in master data can lead to an up to 15 percent decrease in profitability. The primary challenges for data management are manual data entry and the inherent difficulties in automating business processes, as described in the following sections. Manual Data Entry Manual data entry for day-to-day transactional data, such as sales orders or credit memos, is a resource-intensive and costly activity. Typically, manual data entry consists of entering a large numbers of line items that involve multiple transaction screens. In addition, manual entry of new master data such as the customer master or material master, or changes to existing master data, requires entry in several dozen fields on dozens of screens. Manual data entry is time-consuming and error prone. Often, the process of verifying the data and re-entering it into SAP solutions manually to make corrections introduces errors. Moreover, much of this manual data entry into SAP solutions is entirely avoidable since the data being entered is already available in spreadsheets and other tools. This includes the entry of data from external sources and the manipulation of data stored in nonstandard digital formats. However, information workers requesting technical assistance from IT typically experience: • Delays required to correct errors or to verify incomplete data derived from custom programs because IT defined the business requirements inaccurately. • Delays due to the lack of availability of insufficient or overcommitted IT technical resources, often resulting in the business, rather than IT, having to manage the technical work. Most IT departments are typically backlogged, which makes them slow to respond to business users, without the capability to fully support the requests for automation, and unable to respond to changes and other maintenance requirements. Together, these factors result in a solution that is not PeopleReady, creating a situation where normal business processes become tedious and inefficient, delays are common, and productivity breaks down. Companies want a solution that eliminates redundant data entry and significantly reduces custom programming efforts. They want to avoid having to wait long periods of time for their data upload and for tasks to be automated by IT technicians. Automation Challenges The automated entry of SAP data from spreadsheets can improve the speed of the upload. Yet, many SAP information workers do not have the technical knowledge or the authorization needed to create data entry scripts. This automation typically requires internal IT technicians and consultants to create and maintain customized code for the SAP solutions uploading process. “SAP Insider Webinar,” “Simplifying the Integration Steps around SAP Deployments,” December 14, 2006. Written by: Bill Swanton of AMR Research, John Evans of IBM, and Christian Mueller of SAP AG. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 5 The Winshuttle Solution Businesses want a convenient, timely, manageable, and maintainable People-Ready solution that resolves the challenges of uploading transactional data to data-intensive applications. Winshuttle software automates the integration of enterprise data for SAP transactions using either an Excel spreadsheet or an Access database. Winshuttle software empowers information workers to manage, create, and update the data in SAP modules independently. It eliminates the costly, resource-intensive activities associated with manual data entry and it significantly reduces IT custom programming efforts. Winshuttle software does not require IT resources for support or maintenance unlike some of the technical tools available today. Winshuttle software resides outside the core SAP system. It is very easy to install and maintain without server-side support. Winshuttle software is simple to use — end users can learn and deploy it themselves within a matter of hours. This software connects easily to SAP solutions and synchronizes Excel or Access data with SAP business processes seamlessly. Winshuttle software uses standard SAP authorization profiles to restrict user access, preserving SAP security standards. Winshuttle software requires SAP user authentication each time the software is used to run data uploads. Advantages Winshuttle software delivers these advantages: • Empower SAP information workers and analysts providing control over their own data, making them more self-sufficient and reducing dependence on others. • Handle mass uploads and data maintenance tasks instantaneously saving over-subscribed SAP support and implementation teams time and resources. • Eliminate redundant double-entry of data and hand-keying errors, saving data entry resources. • Reduce or eliminate custom programming efforts significantly saving IT technical resources. Minimum Requirements • No programming or coding in SAP solutions, Excel, or Access. • No changes to your standard SAP Business Suite solutions. • Adheres to SAP authorization and authentication services. Customer Value Winshuttle software provides high value to SAP customers: • Supports People-Ready enterprises. Empowers information workers to become data stewards and simplifies business processes. • Faster and better error handling. Shortens the data entry and uploading cycle and allows users to become stewards of their own data. • Allows for “data shuttling”. Automates the data entry process, thereby reducing manual data entry requirements, resources, and costs. • Reduces resources and costs. Managing data no longer requires IT intervention, which creates greater efficiency with fewer resources. Advantages and Customer Value The typical payback period with Winshuttle software is an average of 45 days for most customers. The estimated savings for a Winshuttle customer is over $600,000 per year in reduced data entry time and reduced IT resource requirements. Winshuttle software delivers further important advantages and customer value as described in the following sections. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 6 Winshuttle Business Scenarios Winshuttle software can provide substantial support to SAP data management teams in a number of key business scenarios. The following sections present a generic view of the business roles and scenarios that transactionSHUTTLE resolves. Winshuttle Roles Winshuttle business scenarios are performed using these business roles: • SHUTTLEproducer. Business super users or business analysts in the SAP support and implementation teams who are responsible for creating Winshuttle Excel and Access templates. • SHUTTLEprocessor. End users in different business departments who are knowledgeable about use of SAP data including its dependencies and format, and are responsible for loading and running SHUTTLEfile recordings. • SHUTTLEreporter. These business users extract information from multiple tables within SAP systems in order to analyze and process information that optimizes business decision-making. Winshuttle User Scenarios Winshuttle software supports three business scenarios with SAP solutions — Data Migration, Data Maintenance, and Data Synchronization (also called transactional data staging). Each user scenario is described in the following sections. Data Migration In the Data Migration scenario, a large volume of master or transactional data records gathered from legacy or external systems needs to be transferred to SAP solutions, as shown in Figure 1. For example, data migration activities include an initial implementation such as after a corporate merger and acquisition, and routine transfers of data to SAP solutions from other operational systems. Figure 1. Data Migration scenario In the Data Migration scenario: 1. Data is gathered from legacy or external systems. 2. The data is downloaded to an Excel spreadsheet or Access database, which is used as for intermediate data formatting where the data is prepared and staged. 3. The SHUTTLEproducer uses transactionSHUTTLE to record and map the data to the SAP business process and application. The SHUTTLEproducer also creates transactionSHUTTLE templates for Excel spreadsheets and Access databases. 4. This volume data is uploaded to SAP Business Suite by the SHUTTLEprocessors using the pre-defined templates. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 7 Data Maintenance In the Data Maintenance scenario, a large volume of master or transactional data records in SAP solutions need to be changed as the result of some business event, as shown in Figure 2. An example of this type of data maintenance activity would include a price change for thousands of materials in the SAP system. Figure 2. Data Maintenance scenario In the Data Maintenance scenario: 1. The SHUTTLEreporter uses tableSHUTTLE to download current SAP data into Excel or Access files where the required changes to the data are made. 2. The SHUTTLEproducer uses transactionSHUTTLE to record and extract SAP business processes, master data, or transactional data to an Excel spreadsheet or Access database. The SHUTTLEprocessors use the SHUTTLEfile recording (TxR file extension) to make the required changes to the Excel or Access file, and then upload the new or corrected data to SAP solutions by running the SHUTTLEfile recordings. 3. This volume data is uploaded to the SAP Business Suite by the SHUTTLEprocessors. The combination of transactionSHUTTLE and tableSHUTTLE is ideal for SAP data handling including data correction, clean up, update, and other en-mass changes to SAP data such as business processes, master data, and transactional data. Some examples of type of data maintenance include mass changes to the MRP controller in the material master, mass changes to customer master records, or mass changes to purchase order delivery dates. Data Synchronization In the Data Synchronization scenario, a large volume of transactional data or master data is received or created in Excel spreadsheets, as shown in Figure 3. The Excel data needs to be synchronized with the SAP system. In this scenario, SAP transactional data includes journal voucher postings and reversals, vendor invoice creation, purchase order creation, and customer orders. Figure 3. Data Synchronization scenario © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 8 In the Data Synchronization scenario: 1. SAP transactional data is staged to an Excel spreadsheet or Access database, where the data is prepared and formatted for upload into the SAP transaction. An example of the type of data used in this scenario includes sales orders and credit memos received from customers. 2. The SHUTTLEproducer uses transactionSHUTTLE to make recordings of the business process, along with its companion Excel or Access template. The template and SHUTTLEfile recordings are distributed to the SHUTTLEprocessors who populate the Excel or Access files. 3. This volume data is uploaded to SAP Business Suite by the SHUTTLEprocessors who run the recordings. In order to ensure business process standardization, the SHUTTLEprocessors do not create or modify the recordings. Note that the run-time only version of transactionSHUTTLE, called runSHUTTLE, can be used to run the recordings. Winshuttle transactionSHUTTLE Winshuttle transactionSHUTTLE software greatly simplifies the automated recording, mapping, and running of SAP ERP transactional data using Microsoft Office Excel and Access. It allows information workers to maximize the opportunities for data integration and it improves data quality. The Winshuttle end-to-end solution architecture is built using the Microsoft® .NET™ Framework, as shown in Figure 4. SAP Business Suite Microsoft Office Excel transactionSHUTTLE Access runSHUTTLE Sharepoint SAP .NET Connector WINSHUTTLE SAP SCM SAP ERP SAP CRM SAP SRM Figure 4. Winshuttle architecture The Winshuttle solution architecture synchronizes Microsoft Office Excel, Access, or SharePoint with SAP transactional data for any SAP module via a SAP .NET connector. transactionSHUTTLE Desktop Winshuttle transactionSHUTTLE desktop software provides a rich, People-Ready user experience. The transactionSHUTTLE Home screen is simple. It contains just two options – New and Open, as shown in Figure 5. The lower portion of the screen displays a collection of the Most Recent Files & Favorites that is immediately available for selection. Figure 5. transactionSHUTTLE Home screen © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 9 transactionSHUTTLE Three-Step Process Data loading from transactionSHUTTLE to SAP solutions is very similar to manually entering the data into the SAP Business Suite. The transactionSHUTTLE user is considered just another SAP user who is entering data at a very fast pace. Selecting New starts the process of creating a new SHUTTLEfile recording, as shown in Figure 6. 1 — Record the Business Process On the Record screen, you enter the SAP transaction code such as MM02 to connect to the SAP Business Suite and begin a new recording. You logon to transactionSHUTTLE using standard SAP authorization profiles. transactionSHUTTLE preserves SAP security standards. Once connected, you can record the transaction and create a SHUTTLEfile recording (.TxR file extension). The recording indicates the way in which transactionSHUTTLE runs the SAP transaction including which screens to use and which fields to populate. Figure 6. Create New File screen This example shows a recording that uses the MM02 transaction to create a new Material Master record in SAP solutions There are three screens — The Change Material (Initial Screen) and two views of the Change Material screen for material number “100-101”. These samples show the Basic data 1 tab on the initial display, and then the changed Gross Weight field, Net Weight field, and Old Material Number field in the same tab, as shown in Figure 7. Figure 7. Example of SAP MM02 transaction screens © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 10 2 — Map SAP Data without IT Intervention When the recording is completed, you would select Create Mapping to map the SAP data fields captured. This makes the mapping process simple and intuitive. The Map screen with the Basic tab contains all of the fields that were touched during the recording, as shown in Figure 8. The bottom of the screen contains a preview of the Excel mapping for the SHUTTLEfile. Figure 8. Create New Mapping screen (Basic tab) This Map screen has two modes – a Basic tab and an Expert tab. The screen also has a Properties slide-in and a Filter option that allows you to choose many other features. 3 — Load and Run Records The Run screen lets you run the SHUTTLEfile recording using the SAP fields that were mapped to Excel, as shown in Figure 9. Each run can execute the recorded SAP transaction one time or thousands of times, depending on the number of rows in the Excel spreadsheet or Access database. In order to ensure secure access to SAP applications, transactionSHUTTLE requires user authentication each time the SAP transaction is accessed such as to run data uploads. The Run screen contains Advanced Run Options and a built-in scheduler. When the scheduler is used, transactionSHUTTLE automatically connects to the SAP Business Suite using secure authentication, runs the transaction as scheduled, and closes the connection with the SAP system when complete. Figure 9. Run screen (Note that the run-time only version of transactionSHUTTLE, called runSHUTTLE, can be used to run the recordings). The MM02 data records in the Excel spreadsheet are uploaded to the SAP Business Suite using the transactionSHUTTLE recording, as shown in Figure 10. Figure 10. Example of a MM02 data upload using Excel If errors are encountered, transactionSHUTTLE continues to upload data for the remaining records. Any success and error messages returned from the SAP module are logged into a user-specified Excel column, with one log per record, making this a selfdocumenting file. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 11 CASE STUDY: Hubbell ─ transactionSHUTTLE Advances SAP Data Quality “We were impressed with transactionSHUTTLE’s ease of use and how quickly it corrected large volumes of master data. Shortly thereafter, we signed a license agreement.” Paul Cahill, Director of Information Technology, Hubbell Wiring Systems Situation Hubbell, Incorporated is an international manufacturer of quality electrical and electronic products for the residential, commercial, industrial, utility, and telecommunications markets. Based in Orange, Connecticut, the company operates manufacturing divisions and subsidiaries in the United States and worldwide. Hubbell is organized across five business “platforms” — Hubbell Wiring Systems, Hubbell Electrical Products, Hubbell Lighting Systems, Hubbell Power Systems, and Hubbell Industrial Technologies. In 2006 Hubbell had $2.4 billion in revenues. In October, 2004, Hubbell Wiring Systems (HWS) was the first platform to implement SAP R/3®, followed by their other four platforms, ending in 2006. In addition, HWS encountered delays from their Central Information Technology (IT) group. Any request to the Central IT group for master data typically required a number of days to process. Solution “transactionSHUTTLE gives us the ability to do things we weren’t able to do before. Our information workers can now automatically upload master data, as well as easily manipulate data already in SAP. This has improved data quality, and significantly reduced our manual data entry costs, reduced our overall headcount, and minimized the burden on our IT resources.” Paul Cahill, Director of Information Technology, Hubbell Wiring Systems In 2005, HWS introduced Winshuttle “transactionSHUTTLE”, formerly “TxShuttle”, software at one of its plants in Puerto Rico — one year after going live with SAP solutions. HWS found that transactionSHUTTLE was simple to install and use, and information workers were able to upload data to SAP solutions easily including error handling, and download data conveniently. Because transactionSHUTTLE loads data using Microsoft Excel, HWS users quickly became proficient in using this software, thereby limiting the need for manual data entry and for IT intervention. In addition, transactionSHUTTLE uses standard SAP authorization profiles to limit user access, and provides a complete audit trail of all updates and activity. HWS initially deployed transactionSHUTTLE for master data uploads including customer information updates such as the sales hierarchy and partner functions, material creations and updates, vendor updates, pricing creation and updates, and employee updates. Then HWS expanded its use of transactionSHUTTLE to include transactional data including inventory, receivables, purchase orders, production orders, and quote updates. Challenge The first challenge Hubbell (HWS) faced was the need to improve the quality of data going into the SAP Business Suite. In particular, they experienced a higher level of maintenance and data quality issues with their customer and vendor information. When the SAP Business Suite was implemented at HWS, it required the day-to-day migration of data from 16 different systems to the SAP Business Suite. HWS hired temporary workers to manually key-in and correct the master data. They also utilized a mass transaction tool, but information workers could not use the tool effectively. They discovered much of the data going into the SAP Business Suite was of poor quality, which created an adverse impact on the integrity of customer, material, vendor, and pricing conditions data. HWS also encountered a number of master data challenges including mass updates. HWS wanted to empower information workers to own and maintain their own data, but they were unable to find a practical solution due to the large amount of errors occurring with the hand-keying of data, and the difficulty in finding the “right” tool for data migration. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 12 Since its initial deployment of transactionSHUTTLE across all five platforms, Hubbell has realized substantial benefits. The company has enjoyed a dramatic increase in the overall quality of data by eliminating the need for manual data entry and IT support. transactionSHUTTLE has allowed HWS to create a faster, responsive SAP data management process that provides improved service levels accross the entire organization. “Our initial deployment of transactionSHUTTLE has grown and now every platform across Hubbell is utilizing this software. The four other platforms have benefited from what we learned and all went live with transactionSHUTTLE when they went live with SAP.” Paul Cahill, Director of Information Technology, Hubbell Wiring Systems. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 13 Conclusion Businesses want a convenient, timely, manageable, and maintainable People-Ready solution that streamlines the uploading transactional data to data-intensive SAP modules. Winshuttle People-Ready solutions automate the integration of enterprise data for SAP transactions, empowering information workers to speed data integration, manage their own data, and become “data stewards”. Winshuttle software resolves the primary data management challenges with the SAP Business Suite and supports a number of key business scenarios — Data Migration, Data Maintenance, and Data Synchronization. It eliminates the costly, resource-intensive activities associated with manual data entry, and it addresses the inherent difficulties in automating business processes including IT custom programming efforts. Winshuttle transactionSHUTTLE software greatly simplifies the automated recording, mapping, and running of SAP ERP transactional data using Microsoft Office Excel and Access. It allows information workers to maximize the opportunities for data integration, improve data quality, and increase their productivity. For more information about transactionSHUTTLE, go to the Winshuttle Web site at: www.winshuttle.com You can also request a 15-day trial of Winshuttle software. Please go to the link below to fill out a request form and a Winshuttle representative will promptly send you a link to download and install the software: www.winshuttle.com/resources/resources_downloads.htm © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 14 About Winshuttle Winshuttle, Inc. is a software company that has been providing user-enabled SAP® data shuttling applications for SAP users worldwide since 2000. Winshuttle is one of the fastest growing SAP solution providers ranking 124 of the Inc. 500 (Inc. magazine’s) fastest growing companies for 2007, and only the 5th in Washington State. More than 250 Global 2000 companies are using the Winshuttle solutions including Hubbell, Inc., Apotex, Inc., Cutter & Buck, Inc., Canada Post, Medtronic, Inc., and Coca Cola Bottling Company Consolidated. Winshuttle software is simple to learn, simple to use, and simple to deploy, especially because they do not require any programming or utilize IT resources. Winshuttle software empowers information workers in Order-to-Cash, financials, and human capital management to easily automate the incorporation of Excel data into any of the SAP Business Suite modules, transforming business processes across the enterprise. Contact Information For more information, please contact: 1-800-711-9798, or visit our Web site at: www.winshuttle.com Copyright Notice This White Paper is for informational purposes only. WINSHUTTLE MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Winshuttle, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter contained in this document. © 2007 Winshuttle, Incorporated. All rights reserved. transactionSHUTTLE, runSHUTTLE, and tableSHUTTLE are trademarks of Winshuttle, Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. © 2007 Winshuttle, Inc. All rights reserved. www.winshuttle.com 15