how to significantly reduce oriented project costs whitepaper · whether you are new to sap or...

WH

ITE

PA

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How to significantly reduce

SAP Business Document

oriented project costs

How an advanced Output Management System

offering document design and distribution

capabilities improves IT efficiency by a factor of 10

Background Whether you are new to SAP or already creating business documents using ABAP,

Sapscript, Smartform, Adobe Form Builder or Idocs, an advanced external output

management system (OMS) leverages what you already have while reducing ongoing

document project costs, timeframes and complexity.

ERP systems focus on supporting all necessary high level business functions, these

functions can remain stable over time. However, specific end users communication

technologies such as SMS, QRCode and machine to machine communication such as

XML or SOAP are constantly changing and will be for the foreseeable future. Smaller,

nimble, dedicated systems, such as an OMS, working hand in hand with the ERP can

more easily adapt to these new technologies.

In this whitepaper we offer an overview of the options available for generating business

documents from SAP and how using an OMS can improve IT efficiency of document

oriented projects by a factor of 10. Whatever option you are currently using, integrating

a cutting edge OMS will make your IT system more flexible, reducing project cost and

providing highly professional communications with your vendors and customers.

As an example, we will explain in detail how to create and deliver production orders,

using the latest technologies, as requested by manufacturing line.

June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited www.symtrax.com /11

How to significantly reduce SAP Business Document oriented project costs

Overview of various ways to create business documents in SAP system

All SAP modules produce business documents which may be created individually through an interactive print/send

menu or processed as a batch by a background job. Whatever the method, the following graphic illustrates the options

available.

SAP Tables/fields ABAP print program reads and processes

data, it launches formatting program

Formatting program handles the layout

of the output and delivers either

graphical spool such as OTF or Smart

or PDF, or data only spool such as RDI,

XSF or XFP.

ABAP Interactive or ABAP Interactive or

Background Job Background Job

SapScript (RDI/OTF) Application Layer (ALE)

Or iDOC

SmartForm (XSF/Smart)

Or

Adobe Form Builder (PDF,XFP)

ABAP print program reads and

processes data, it launches

interchange program Interchange document (iDoc) creation.

Standard data structure for electronic

data interchange between SAP

application and external program

BC-XOM protocol, SAPGOF, PDF, PCL,

Business Document is created in an DeviceOutput

Postscript, RDI, XSF, iDoc. Folder Output Device as a spool

Business Document is

created in a Folder as a file

Folder C:\usr\sap\SapID\...

C:\usr\sap\SapID\... Graphical Business Document

(OTF, Smart, PDF) is sent to printer with print driver

instructions PCL, Postscript

Print External OMS SAP

creates or improves

business documents

and distribute them

How does an OMS integrate with SAP

In addition to the standard way to generate an output and send it to a printer, SAP provides specifications for the

communication protocol BC-XOM. An External OMS that is BC-XOM compatible is able to interchange documents

and instructions, including feedback, with an SAP system.

Based on this protocol, an External OMS process is secure and reliable. It includes acknowledgement, call back, data

protection, and DMS feedback.

SAP output devices configured with Access Method “E” indicate the windows system hosting the OMS they want to

communicate with. This external OMS communicates with SAP through a standard and secure protocol BC-XOM. It’s

a very easy set-up since no change or add-on needs to be installed and maintained on the SAP system.


How to significantly reduce SAP Business Document oriented project costs OMS processes output documents which are data or graphics only files along with their properties. Multi-level

verification & processing options may be set for each business document:

In addition to improving automatic delivery and distribution of business documents, this seamless integration helps IT

department operations by:

- Monitoring printing processes. Handling error notifications and enabling the re-synchronization of the printing

process when necessary.

- Providing real-time printing status. Messages are sent directly to the SAP user session interface assuring the

document delivery to the recipients.

- Load balancing & scheduling. Helping to prevent printing & distribution delays, and distributing large batch printing

among several printers.

- Using digital signature for high-level authentication during business document exchange. - Processing encrypted or encapsulated xml data over SSL, HTTPS or SOAP protocols. - Backing-up printers for fail-safe critical business processes such as package labels. - Adding OCR or Barcodes on documents to enable indexing by DMS link.

Based on a project’s technical specifications, what is the easiest way to

integrate with an OMS You are interested in reducing the timeframe and effort needed to build business documents, and when considering

an External Output Management solution based on SAP BC-XOM protocol, you may wonder where to plug this

external system into SAP’s existing output process. Below are questions, whose answers determine how to best

connect your system with an OMS: June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited www.symtrax.com /11


What is the best strategy to use if planning a new project from scratch

Beyond creation or customization of application functions and users interfaces, a significant part of projects

requirements are to adapt to existing business documents standards and formats.

Multiple challenges are faced when setting up SAP built-in forms. They go from programming for small issues like

alignment or pagination, or including a Barcode, to using a digital certificate signature on the document for distribution

using internet technologies and web services.

10 mn to create this Purchase Order from scratch Business Document creation may involve a single process, one print program generating one document such as a

Purchase Order, or may involve multiple processes and multiple print programs delivering several documents such as

a Production Order. Whatever the complexity, delegating forms design and distribution to intuitive, drag and drop

OMS template builders requires less effort.

June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited

www.symtrax.com /11

How to significantly reduce SAP Business Document oriented project costs For all of the above situations limiting forms related ABAP development saves time. It is better to take advantage of

the many predefined reports provided standard with SAP system, and to handle as much designing, printing and

distributing as possible through an OMS.

How does it fit in an SaaS or a Cloud installation? SAP provides SAP business ByDesign for Cloud services, and gives access to PDF or XML output through a standard

solution named Print Queue Web Services. All business documents produced in the cloud are accessed either by a

SAP Business print manager or by an External OMS by connecting to this web service. The Print Queues Web Services allow external output management systems to handle business documents to be

printed or distributed and used by Office or Web Technologies. The main benefits for an Enterprise are: • Ability to use and maintain existing Enterprise printing architecture. • Flexibility offered by outsourcing printing processes over the web. • High availability is enabled using printer load balancing and automatic backup. Centralized printer management . • Leverage existing enterprise infrastructure such as Exchange, SharePoint, Intranet, etc… • Monitoring business document production and distribution using Web-based management technologies such as

iPads, Smartphones etc …

A Practical Example: Quickly enhancing production order documents to

match new manufacturing line specifications Within this example project specifications require a redesign of production orders documents. Manufacturing line

users explain the following:

• Existing SAP standard forms are insufficient due to a new QRCode bar code requirement. • Existing report parts such as time ticket, job ticket, pick list, goods receipt slip, and object list need to be reorganized

& revamped according to Q&A recommendations.

• Some headers need to be updated for various native languages, and additional notes are required because of new

safety regulations. Some sensitive parts should stand out by using highlighted text or larger fonts.

The manufacturing line is looking to improve its efficiency by employing latest technologies. • Shop managers are using portable tablets or mobile devices to monitor new orders. High priority orders need to be

given precedence in the form of high priority SMS’s. New production orders should be compatible with Tablets.

The IT manager faces common concerns such as existing ABAP resources being assigned to other projects and a

short project deadline required by the manufacturing line. The IT manager would like to make minimum changes in

SAP. The production order module consists of 10+ ABAP programs interlinked, therefore any changes in a single

program need to be extensively tested & re-programmed as required. Management, after considering all the above,

decides that handling manufacturing’s requirements using an Output Management Solution will be more efficient than

using ABAP to redevelop the existing reports.

Below demonstrates how quick and easy the implementation occurs, requiring 3 distinct steps. Using this approach

requires the knowledge of an SAP Analyst or Consultant, but not the expertise or time of an ABAP Developer.


How to significantly reduce SAP Business Document oriented project cost Step1: Convert existing SAP production order output into RDI format

Using RDI/XSF output instead of regular spools gives more flexibility and adds the power of tagged data. This is

accomplished by changing the parameters in the sapcript to generate the RDI spool files in place of OTF spool files.

Transaction SE38, to copy original print program & simply change or insert RDI parameter (Changes in an original print program is not recommended by SAP) ABA Program

Transaction SE71, to activate the RDI parameter (The same authority as ABAP developers to edit or copy a print program, is required by SAP IT Analyst to activate the

RDI parameter. SAP_ALL & SAP_NEW roles are assigned to the ABAP developers to generate the RDI files.)

SAPSCRIPT – RDI FLAG ACTIVE June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited www.symtrax.com /11


Transaction SPAD, to create an UCPLAIN or PLAIN output device ( SAP recommends to use UCPLAIN or PLAIN output devices for RDI

printing) RDI FILE GENERATED

Transaction SPAD, to setup a BC-XOM monitoring to pass RDI Data to an External Output Management ( SAP created the BC-XOM protocol for this purpose)

Step2: Build advanced format templates applicable to SAP production order documents

SAP IT Analyst uses an interactive and advanced graphical OMS interface to build 12 templates applicable to 12

documents generated simultaneously as parts of production order. ( PRT overview, Object list, Operation control

ticket, Job ticket, Kanban ticket, Pick list, Goods issue slip, Inspection chart list, Time ticket, Confirmation slip,

Document links, Document Distribution). June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited www.symtrax.com /11


SAP IT Analyst matches each data element of the RDI file with parts of final document. He can easily handle all

manufacturing line specifications such as : • Formatting each document to be professional looking and easy to understand • Designing multiple dynamic tables and aligning objects • Integrating QRCodes based on contextual variables • Inserting text notes based on selective variables • Emphasizing some parts of text using windows fonts • Inserting comments reflecting new regulations • Adding some local Unicode language text using parameters • Merging & printing the multiple documents into a single large production order file • Sending selective parts of the production order to manager’s iPad • Sending SMS alerts to prioritize orders when applicable



Step3: set up process automation The production order cycle consists of major phases such as creation, processing & collective release of the

production order once all the tasks are achieved. The OMS automation component associates business documents templates with production orders coming from

immediate or scheduled jobs. It is able to identify the various documents based on meta-data such as job number for

merging and printing several documents. The OMS identifies & captures the production order RDI files by reading

metadata of the RDI files such as print program name, document name and user responsible for the print job.

While handling multiple production orders at the same time, the OMS automation component can easily identify the

priority flags & assist the floor manager to schedule the goods production in timely manner using mobile messaging.



Summary of Example Results: This example demonstrates how an enhanced and intuitive Output Management System is capable of reducing

business document processing & dispatching implementation cost and timeframe by a factor of 10. This example

demonstrates that high quality results can be obtained without the need for high end ABAP developers,. A typical well

designed OMS can be used by almost anyone in the technical staff. Below are timetables with estimates comparing some of the individual tasks encountered in the above project when

done using an OMS versus ABAP programming:

Conclusion Business Documents need to match ever changing Users and Business needs. They reflect to the outside world how

professional and timely the Company is by improving communication and efficiency. IT departments save time and

resources by providing ABAPers and other technical staff with a reliable productivity solution that easily handles

business document creation and changes. The BC-XOM protocol was created by SAP to secure and control communication with external systems that

constantly adapt to ever changing distribution media and formats. The solution described above of employing an OMS

fits firmly in line with this strategy. Whatever SAP project you may face, improving business document creation and distribution will help ensure timely,

less costly solutions.

June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited

www.symtrax.co.uk page10/11

http://www.symtrax.co.uk/


About the Author

Shashank Palai is a Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited and

provides support to Asia Pacific and Australian Countries customers. He has been involved

in multiple service & consulting projects related to Output Management since 2007. He has a

degree in Computer Information Systems and has acquired significant experience as a SAP

NetWeaver technology Consultant for internal projects. His direct interaction with Customers

in various industries have grown his expertise in many areas, such as document printing &

distribution and device printing infrastructure, involving forms development for Finance ,

Insurance and Industrial groups.

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June 2012 - Copyright © - Shashank Palai, Technical Team Leader at Symtrax Software Private Limited www.symtrax.co.uk /11