whitepaper-getting the most from your sap production reports

7/24/2019 Whitepaper-Getting the Most From Your SAP Production Reports

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Getting the most from yourSAP production reports

www.symtrax.comJune 2010 - Copyright - Michel Gaertner, Software Technologies Department at Symtrax Corporation

WH

ITE

PAPER

Background

Within each SAP module there are hundreds of predened production reports. Many of

these are not used or under used because they are not available in the desired format,

poorly formatted and cannot be easily broken into smaller reports and delivered to the

appropriate users automatically. Converting them into the appropriate format basedon users needs has traditionally required the time and skill of an ABAP or SapScript

programmer. Consistently evolving requirements due to ongoing changes in corporate

needs often creates a bottleneck within IT departments. Skilled IT resources tend to be

scarce and report modication often gets overlooked.

By providing the IT team with an ecient solution to cope with various Reports, Lists,

Forms and their distribution, users requests can be satised more eciently, more

frequently and with a smaller drain on resources. This white paper is a guideline for

improving the rendering and eciency of the complete SAP production reporting

system. It will discuss how to leverage the value of your existing production reports,

and how to deliver timely, properly formatted reports.

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Employing an Output Management System

Output Management Systems (OMS) not only burst and route output les to selected printers based on criteria,

they also oer multiples ways to leverage their content and enhance their presentation. Often you are better served

delivering content electronically rather than printing it. In many cases an OMS allows you to replace printing with PDF,

Excel or XML format, then use Email, SOAP or publishing/archiving for delivery.

End users technologies, such as SMS, the iPad, Oce 2007, 2D BarCodes, etc. evolve faster than common businesspractices, such as purchase order procedures or customer balance reporting. Supporting these technologies from a

centralized ERP structure that is not easily or often upgraded is a dicult, time consuming eort. Good external Output

Management Solutions that can be easily and often upgraded are better suited to interact with these ever changing

technologies and are often a better solution as long as they provide interoperability and traceability.

Enhancing Existing Production Reports VS Building New Ones

Most existing production reports, created real time by transaction or interactive menu, or by background jobs, contain

a wealth of detailed and valuable information; most often they include all the data necessary to support their associated

business function. It is their structure and format that makes them inecient for direct utilization.

Sorting, reformatting, bursting, and automatically delivering their content are the missing ingredients. Even if you

did spend the time and resources necessary to recreate them, you would still face the challenge of automation and

adapting them to new technologies.

Allocating ABAP or SapScript IT development resources to adapt to changing report requirements is often not be the

most ecient approach. Before creating new OTF, SMART or LIST spool les from scratch, consider leveraging existing

ones with new technologies. Advanced Output Management Systems are designed to handle these types of requests,

and have proven to be an ecient way for an IT team to satisfy evolving end-user needs.

Delivering Reports without aecting SAP System WorkloadA major concern when delivering expected IT services is to not overload the SAP system. Response times for inter-active

users depend on this and might be aected by additional system workloads. When being asked to deliver production

reports data in the right format, to the right place with the right media it is important to consider how this will aect

system workload. Whether its formatting, emailing, faxing, or archiving, each step requires processing time. Each

mechanism for processing these tasks aects workload in dierent ways.

Windows platforms hosting OMS solutions are better suited to handle output processing than centralized ERP systems,

requiring signicantly less CPU resources while providing better response times.

O loading the main SAP system from external tasks such as report bursting or forms delivery requires a distributedarchitecture where these tasks are allocated to a separate window based OMS working hand in hand with the SAP

system. The workload remaining on the SAP system will be exchanging raw spool data only.

Routing spools to specied printers is integrated into an OMS. O loading SAP systems from printer drivers and routing

table management is quite common in IT shops. When you take into consideration the increased spool processing

time required to support users requirements, the benets of using an OMS become even more apparent.

Getting the most from your SAP production reports

www.symtrax.comJune 2010 - Copyright - Michel Gaertner, Software Technologies Department at Symtrax Corporation Page 2/8


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What to Look for in an Output Management Solution

Some production reports can be very large at 1000 characters width, or very long with over 10000 pages. They should

be considered for reformatting by an OMS. Systems oering buering techniques, or BC-XOM protocol, allow access

to the SAP spool system and can handle the job.

The ability to analyze page content and address each Unicode character by line/column position provides the power

and exibility of the reformatting features of an OMS. For example, to burst a report into parts, it requires conditionedprocesses based on identied variables in the document.

Querying a database to add content to documents with missing information, such as an email address, is critical,

especially during distribution. The ability to include external les, such as an RTF le with terms and conditions, gives

you the exibility to complete the terms and conditions on an invoice, even if those terms change based on items sold

or customer sold to.

Reformatted: Named Excel spreadsheet, with vendor

name, sorting orders and gathering on a single lineinformation spread over multiple lines, while adding

an intermediary calculated eld

E.G. Production Report ME2L

Purchase Orders by Vendor

Output Management Solutions Architectural Considerations

SAP created the BC-XOM protocol to facilitate external communication with output management systems, a tacit

acknowledgment that the SAP output management system can benet from third party augmentation. Most vendors

have based their solution on this protocol which is an industry standard, however some OMS solutions use Virtual

Printers and others connect more directly to the Spool system. For example Symtrax, Inc. has chosen to oer threedistinct protocols to communicate between a SAP system and their external OMS. Each one may be implemented

independently from others, or may be combined to achieve specic goals.




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Enterprise ReportingSolutions

www.symtrax.com

External OMS implementation modes, Architecture & Benets

Active Method benets and features

Uses an ABAP package installed on the SAP server that communicates with the OMS, providing high security and

eciency.

Works directly within the spool system thereby compatible with all printer protocols. Has access to the complete list

of Spool parameters & attributes. Provides advanced IT Spool Administration: Single access point to multiple SAP

instances & systems. Handles centralized printing parameters. Provides a complete mapping of the existing output

devices, no changes are required to the output device set up.

BC-XOM Method benets and features

Uses a standard SAP recommended protocol. Has RFC Call Back communications providing true bidirectional

information ow. Has enhanced communications allowing better visualization of the printing process from within

the SAP environment. Status information is available for printers and print requests. Provides a comprehensive spool

parameters list. Externalizes Printing Management simplifying the print process and allowing a reduced number of

output device denitions. Has easy conguration through Extended Admin by dening ROMS & LOMS. Access Method

E. Device Type SAPGOF.

May 2010 - Copyright - Michel Gaertner, Software Technologies Department atSymtrax Corporation - Page 5 of 7

Virtual Printer Method benets and features

Uses TCP/IP protocol. Extremely simple installation and rapidly available for use. Uses only access Method U.

Device Type SAPGOF. Provides an incomplete parameter list. Print status returned to SAP are Waiting, Processing, andCompleted.




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Advanced BC-XOM implementation

Users are assigned an External BC-XOM printer, no driver installed on SAP system as systems use SAPGOF device

type, no hard coded printer instead Aliases are used for dening the actual printers. OMS handles Print or ReFormat /

Distribution using SAPGOF interpreters and Routing techniques. This provides high exibility, ecient administration

and ease of maintenance of the printer network.

To some extent, all users may be assigned to a unique output device.

Regular BC-XOM implementation

Users are assigned types of printers, drivers are installed on the SAP System, routing handled by OMS. One Output

device is created for each model of printer.

Standard SAP Printer Management: Printer denition and routing on SAP System

Users are assigned printers, drivers are installed on the SAP System, and each ABAP or SAPScript pgm refers to a printer

address. As many output devices are created as there are physical printers.

All Events Logged in the External OMS are sent back to SAP to acknowledge Print/Reformat/Distribution processesusing RFC Call Back. See details using SPAD---Events, Spool Request and Output Request. Printer management can be

very tedious for the Basis Team. When an ABAP Pgm or SapScript mention a printer name, any printer changes aects

those existing programs.

BC-XOM Implementation modes




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Enterprise ReportingSolutions

www.symtrax.com

Major Benets of Enhancing SAP Production Reports

For an example of the benets of enhancing SAP production reporting with todays latest technologies, lets consider

some MM purchasing departments commonly requested needs:

Purchase Order notication by SMS Secure PDF Purchase Order with Digital Signature

Enhance existing POs with 2D Bar Code Labels

Send POs in XML format and post them on a Vendor published Intranet with SOAP

Archive Purchase Orders on Companys intranet and send Publishing link to Vendor

Have all Purchase Orders available through web to Tiers for easy follow-up

Sort most recent orders for a specic vendor on a Procurement iPad

Sort Year to Date Orders by PO number and item, burst them by Vendor and deliver in Excel

Implement PO traceability with native properties.

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Existing MM production reports are candidates for such business improvements. These type of business functionalities

can be implemented quite quickly using an External OMS without the need for ABAP or SAPScript resources and without

adding to the SAP systems workload. Allowing ABAP resources to focus on important projects.

Clearly the exibility of a windows based OMS solution produces tangible benets that far outweigh its cost.

The Importance of a Global Production Reporting Strategy to an SAP based Company

Think for a moment what it would mean to your business to have no more le format constraints, no more reader

dependency, no more delivery support prerequisites, no more security and integrity concerns, no more late distribution,

all this is possible.

What if you could turn all production reports into XML format referring to DTD (Data Table Dictionary) for consistency

& CSS (Cascade Style Sheet) for better presentation then make them available to any employee at anytime anywhere

in the world?

The future of reporting is likely to be the XML format combined with CSS. It is the most exible format currently

available allowing you to control the reports look and layout and is readable by both humans and machines.

May 2010 - Copyright - Michel Gaertner, Software Technologies Department atSymtrax Corporation - Page 5 of 7




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Standard preview of existing Purchase Order OTF or Smart

form on SAP.

Content of the Spool is transformed into XML format,

including a digitalized signature, and sent to the Vendor byemail or posted on their web server using SOAP protocol.

Simultaneously an identical document in a user friendly

format is created and archived to be accessed and opened

by any browser.

These are but a few examples of how you can take advantage of new and emerging technologies to improve business

performance.




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All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Symtrax Corporation. Whilst every care is taken to ensure theaccuracy of the information contained in this material, the facts, estimates and opinions stated are based on information and sources which, whilewe believe them to be reliable, are not guaranteed. In particular, it should not be relied upon as the sole source of reference in relation to the subjectmatter. No liability can be accepted by Symtrax Corporation, its directors or employees for any loss occasioned to any person or entity acting orfailing to act as a result of anything contained in or omitted from the content of this material, or our conclusions as stated. The ndings are Symtraxscurrent opinions; they are subject to change without notice. Symtrax has no obligation to update or amend the research or to let anyone know ifour opinions change materially.

Symtrax. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited.

This report is a licensed product and is not to be reproduced without prior permission

Symtrax USA(West Coast)Tel: 001 310 216 9536 - Toll free: 800 627 6013 - [email protected]

(East Coast) Tel: 001 617 728 9910 - Toll free: 866 640 9615 - [email protected]

Symtrax France:[email protected] - Tel: +33 (0) 4 66 04 54 05

Symtrax Europe:[email protected];

NL: +33 4 66 04 54 19 - GE: +33 4 66 04 54 22 - SP: +33 4 66 04 54 23 - EN: +33 4 66 04 54 05Symtrax UK:

Tel: +44 (0)207 533 6616 - [email protected] APAC:

Tel: +91 22 4076 5503 - [email protected]

About the author

Michel Gaertneris the Director of Symtrax Corporations Software Technologies Department and has over 15 years

experience in software development. In recent years Michels primary focus has been the enhancement of electronic

document distribution solutions for various system platforms including SAP, JDE, IBMs iseries and MicrosoftWindows.

His responsibilities keep him in close touch with both software developers and end users, providing him with a

comprehensive understanding of both business needs and development technologies.



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