SAP-ERP- Module 1

Introduction to ERP
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are complete, integrated
systems that manage all aspects of a production-based or distribution
business, aligning financial management, human resources, supply chain
management, and manufacturing or distribution with the core function of
accounting.
ERP systems are used to provide transparency into the entire business
process by tracking all aspects of production or distribution, financials,
and back office. These expansive systems act as a central hub for
end-to-end workflow and data. A variety of departments can view the
information recorded by ERP systems to ensure the correct procedures
are taking place.
1) Why do anyone need an ERP?
Being unable to keep up with customer demand could derail any business
during a key growth phase. Investing in Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) software can help organizations bring together disparate
activities under a single integrated application, thereby streamlining
processes and increasing agility. Here are 5 major reasons why anyone of
should have ERP.
a) Standardization of Software
With an unmanaged system, various business processes within an
organization utilize disparate applications to manage similar operations.
This can lead to chaotic data transfer, time-consuming processes, and
security gaps.
b) Better Accounting and Financial Reporting
Keeping track of your financials is a critical factor in determining your
success through a growth phase, but as your company grows the
complexity of transactions may seem overwhelming without an efficient
centralized system.
c) Faster Response Times
As you start gaining traction in the market and your reputation increases,
your ability to improve your service delivery could act as a key
differentiator from your competition. To deliver better customer service,
your front-line executives and sales team need maximum access to all
information across all departments, the systems need to be integrated
into one centralized unit.
d) Regulatory Compliance and Security
Integrated ERP software can help you ensure that back-office operations
are in sync with the regulatory rules of the manufacturing industry. Most
ERP solution providers monitor compliance and regulatory changes and
keep updating their features to help you meet the new requirements. Not
only does Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software simplify data
processing and streamline your internal processes.
e) Mobility and Flexibility
Through ERP software, data from various departments of an
organization is streamlined into a unified platform. As modern workplace
trends like BYOD become more popular, the need for flexibility in
enterprise software is an essential factor when making software
investment choices.
2)What are the advantages of having ERP

a) Focused IT Costs
Although ERP software is often a large investment, it can unify your IT
costs and improve efficiency. Instead of spending resources on multiple
systems that all need dedicated staff, infrastructure, support teams and
licenses, you can focus all these costs into one ERP system. Additionally,
if you spend more on disparate systems than you would on a centralized
ERP, you might even save on IT costs overall. While an ERP can include
numerous functional areas such as customer resource management
(CRM), accounting, HR management and supply chain management, the
design of the system is to be modular.
b) Total Visibility
This benefit of ERP is one of the biggest selling points for the software. ERP
software allows total access to every important process in your business by
making data from every department easily accessible to you and your senior
management. For example, you can monitor inventory levels on a daily
basis, including future consignments that are yet to be received and
inventory currently in transit.
c) Improved Reporting and Planning
Along with improved visibility, better insight is a major advantage of ERP
software. Implementing an ERP suite across departments means your
organization has a single, unified reporting system for every process. By
having a single source of truth, an ERP system can readily generate useful
reports and analytics at any time.
ERP allows users to access sophisticated reports
like these.
d) Flexible Modularity
One of the biggest advantages of enterprise resource planning software in
the present day is its modular makeup. Most ERP vendors offer several
applications that can be implemented together according to business
needs. Barring a few exceptions, each application is designed to be able to
stand alone or integrate with the larger suite. This way, your company can
pick and choose which components work best and can leave out what you
don’t need. Another aspect involves how the software is implemented. The
two major deployments are on premise and through the cloud.
e) Improved Efficiency
Along with reduced IT and training costs, an ERP can reduce the
time and effort required by your workforce to carry out their daily
activities. Properly implemented, an ERP solution can greatly
reduce or eliminate repetitive manual processes, thus freeing up
team members to focus on revenue-affecting tasks. The system
likewise can aid in the adoption and enforcement of industry
best-practice processes, aligning all actions across the enterprise.
This way, your company can pick and choose which components
work best and can leave out what you don’t need.
f) Data Security and Quality
One of the biggest advantages of an ERP system is data security.
After all, at the heart of the ERP concept is data. Sharing data
across functional silos such as customer service, sales, marketing
and business development enhances collaboration throughout a
company. The other side to widespread data access is controlling
who can see and edit the information.
3)Major ERP packages?
There are many ERP systems some of them are mentioned below.
a) SAP Business One
Increase control over your small business with software designed to grow with
you. Streamline key processes, gain greater insight into your business, and
make decisions based on real-time information – so you can drive profitable
growth.

b) NetSuite
As the world's #1 cloud ERP solution, NetSuite is the first and last business
management solution your business will ever need. NetSuite provides a suite of
cloud-based applications, which includes financials / Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP), HR, professional services automation and Omni channel
commerce, used by more than 24,000 customers in 200+ countries.
c) SAP ERP
Leverage world-class ERP software. Sharpen your competitive
edge and drive growth with enterprise resource planning from SAP.
Leverage role-based access to critical data, applications, and
analytical tools and streamline your processes across
procurement, manufacturing, service, sales, finance, and HR.
d) Sage Intacct
Gain real-time financial and operational visibility throughout your
business. Leverage comprehensive financial controls to ensure
security and compliance. Streamline your business processes
using extensive automation to reduces labor, and save costs.
e) SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA is an intelligent ERP system designed to help you
manage today’s business and capture tomorrow’s opportunities.
Designed specifically for in-memory computing, SAP S/4HANA
enables your entire organization to make better decisions, faster,
with real time insight at the point of action.
f) Tally
Tally is a pioneer in the business software products arena. Since
its inception in 1986, Tally’s simple yet powerful products have
been revolutionizing the way businesses run. Having delivered
path breaking technology consistently for more than 30 years,
Tally symbolizes unmatched innovation and leadership.
4)Introduction to SAP
SAP is a market leader in providing ERP (Enterprise Resource
and Planning) solutions and services. In this chapter, we will try
to understand more on ERP and where it should be used. In
addition, we will learn the implementation techniques of ERP
along with the ERP packages available in the market.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a software that is built
to organizations belonging to different industrial sectors,
regardless of their size and strength.
The ERP package is designed to support and integrate almost
every functional area of a business process such as procurement of
goods and services, sale and distribution, finance, accountings,
human resource, manufacturing, production planning, logistics &
warehouse management.
Business Process Integration
Every business, regardless of the industry they belong to, require
connected systems with efficient information flow from one business
process to another. Business Process Integration (BPI) plays an
important role in overcoming integrating challenges that allows
organizations to connect systems internally and externally.

Business Process Integration (BPI) allows −

• Automation of business processes,
• Integration of systems and services,
• Secure sharing of data across numerous applications, and
• Automation of management, operational, and supporting process.
History of SAP
On April 1, 1972, five former IBM employees – Dietmar Hopp, Hasso
Plattner, Claus Wellenreuther, Klaus Tschira, and Hans-Werner
Hector – started the company System Analyse
Programmentwicklung (System Analysis and Program
Development). Their idea was to create standard enterprise software
that integrated all business processes and enabled data processing
in real time.
SAP ́s founders and employees worked closely with customers –
often sitting side-by-side
with employees in customers’ offices to learn their business needs
and processes.
By 1975,
they had built applications for financial accounting (RF), invoice verification,
and inventory management (RM). Some of their early customers were the
nylon factory belonging to ICI in Östringen, Germany, Knoll, Burda, Linde,
and Schott. The blend of real-time data processing, standardization, and
integration were the basis for SAP’s transformation from a small German
company into a global leader in business software. In 1979, the company
started developing R/2, the second generation of its software. In 1980, SAP ́
s roughly 80 employees moved into their first own office building in Walldorf,
Germany.
In 2011, the first customers started using the in-memory database
SAP HANA. Data analyses that used to take days or even weeks
were now completed in seconds. Four years later, SAP launched
SAP S/4HANA, its latest generation of business software, running
entirely on SAP HANA. In 2019, SAP acquired U.S. company
Qualtrics, a leader in experience management software, placing
SAP at the leading edge of this growing segment. Today, SAP
builds solutions for the Internet of Things and machine learning, for
complex analyses and block chain.
Implementation of Tools
SAP implementation (Systems, Applications & Products implementation)
refers to the name of the German company SAP SE, and is the whole of
processes that defines a method to implement the SAP ERP enterprise
resource planning software in an organization.
The SAP implementation method described in this entry is a generic method
and not a specific implementation method as such. It is based on best
practices and case studies from various literature sources and presents a
collection of processes and products that make up a complete
implementation method to allow any organization to plan and execute the
implementation of SAP software.
The implement of SAP software, such as SAP R/3 is almost always a
massive operation that brings a lot of changes in the organization. The
whole process can take up to several years. Virtually every person in the
organization is involved, whether they are part of the SAP technical support
organization (TSO) or the actual end-users of the SAP software. The
resulting changes that the implementation of SAP generates are intended
to reach high level goals, such as improved communication and increased
return on information (as people will work with the same information). It is
therefore important that the implementation process is planned and
executed using a solid method. There are various SAP implementation
methods. An example of how one company, Robert Bosch GmbH,
implemented SAP R/3 over 10 years is available. This study shows that
designing IT architecture is critical in SAP implementation practices.
Roles and Responsibility of Consultant
An SAP consultant is responsible for analyzing, designing, and
configuring new computer software and systems in agreement with
their clients' or employer's specifications, as well as create
programs, interfaces, and forms. They also check new interfaces to
make sure that system workflows are optimized and work well with
end-users, then make modifications as requested and get feedback.
They have a complex task; thus, an SAP consultant must be patient
and flexible because end-users regularly revise system
requirements.
This SAP Consultant includes the list of most important SAP
Technical Consultant's duties/roles and responsibilities.
• Develop and implement technical specifications.
• Understand functional specifications.
• Develop and implement Program Objects.
• Perform unit testing.
• Support other forms of testing.
• Support functional consultants in designing solutions for the gaps
identified.
Types of Project in SAP
a) SAP Implementation Project. :
Company wants to implement SAP Module( Ex
:HCM/MM/SD/FI/CO etc.) for the first time. In implementation
projects consultant from various modules do configuration based
on company requirements. Role of consultants are configuration,
integration of several modules, Data migration from Legacy
system to SAP system, prepare interfaces/RFC’s to interact with
sap/3rd party system, testing, document preparation, end user
training etc. Methodology suggests by SAP for implementation is
ASAP.
b) SAP Support Project
After implementation of SAP modules customer/business need assistance
of consultants in their day to day business operations using SAP software.
The end user raise their concerns, issues, errors etc. through a ticket
handling tool. A ticket handing tool is must for a support project ,it helps to
track the status of tickets. Basically there is no phases in it. Roles of a
consultant Accept /Acknowledge the tickets, analysis the issue, document
it ,solve, provide solutions to client, Get confirmation from the user & close
the ticket.
c) SAP Roll-Out Project
Company has upgraded/implemented SAP HR & wants to rollout country
specific changes in different countries.
d) SAP Up gradation Project
Customers are moving from the older versions to new versions. It is called
as SAP Migration Projects.
Example : Company migrating from older versions like 4.5,4.6b, 4.6c to
ECC 5.0 / ECC 6.0 . SAP HR EHP3 to SAP HR EHP 5 .