conversion service for base unit of measure (1)

SAP Solution BriefSAP ServicesSystem Landscape Optimization Group

Conversion Service for Base Unit of Measure

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The new conversion service saving time and effortAre you looking for a way to change the base unit of measure of your materials without any manual posting activities and without losing your historical data? Or do you intend to adapt your existing unit of measure group? The new conversion service from the System Landscape Optimization group at SAP can help you to execute these changes in a fast, reliable, and cost-efficient way.

New business demands or alignment initiatives may require companies to change the base unit of measure (base UoM) of their materials. The base UoM (in inventory management, the base UoM corresponds to the stock-keeping unit) plays an essential role in managing materials along the supply chain, automatically handling deviations in entered values. The following scenarios can require changes to the stock-keeping unit (SKU):

System mergers resulting from a merger, acquisition, or consolidation

Harmonization initiatives affecting materials used by different subsidiaries, aimed at reducing system maintenance

Setup of a new SKU for material

In the oil and gas, and mining industries, com-panies often need to manage inventory in multi-ple units of measure for a single material. As a result, these scenarios can also trigger the con-version of unit of measure groups (UoM groups).

The new service efficiently tackles conversion needs for both base UoMs and UoM groups.A technology-based approach avoids manual posting procedures. The service ensures the continuity of existing documents, such as sales and purchase orders, and can include historical data within the conversion scope.

The new conversion service saving time and effort

Benefits Quick FactsSolution


Converting SKUs a closer lookIndustries use different ways to manage units of measure. For a consumer products company, exact measurements for all components are vital for efficient manufacturing. For example, suppose you have chosen pounds as the SKU for weight (see Figure 1 on the next page). During the material handling process, however, this might lead to difficulties in warehouse and inventory management when the system uses a nondimensional unit (for example, bags) for handling finished products. This would result in fractional values in inventory (for example, 0.002 bags), cause confusion for the warehouse staff, and require converting values.

One way to tackle these issues would be to shift the base UoM for the affected materials from pounds to bags. Theoretically, to ensure complete data consistency, you would have to adapt all alternate units of measure and stock quantities accordingly. However, once you have posted stock for a material, standard SAP software functionality does not allow to maintain consistency in historical documents for changes to the base UoM. Instead, you would have to first create new materials with the desired SKU and then repost the existing stock from the old materials to the new ones. This manual procedure would be time- consuming, error-prone, and in many cases not appropriate, since it does not support the conversion of historical data.

Converting SKUs a closer look

The conversion service: ensuring consistent and harmonized data

The way forward: defining conversion-relevant data

A special need: converting unit of measure groups

A proven project approach based on best practices

Solution BenefitsObjectives Quick Facts

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Identify database tables and fields that need to be changed

Determine conversion rules between old and new stock-keeping unit

Convert trans- actional and master data on the database

Adapt all alternate units of measure







Figure 1: Sample scenario for converting a base unit of measure

Production WarehouseInitial situation

Applying the conversion service

Successful conversion

1

100bags

20,000 lbs

2 3

Production Warehouse

100 bags

100 bags

New stock-keeping unit

Supplier

Supplier


The conversion service: ensuring consistent and harmonized dataBy augmenting the capabilities of standard SAP software, the new service offering from the System Landscape Optimization group at SAP provides you with an efficient and consistent technology-based solution for realizing all required changes to the base UoM and related data.

Unlike other standard, transaction-based methods, the conversion service operates directly on the database at the level of tables and fields. This approach provides the follow-ing benefits:

Sustained, undisrupted business opera-tions throughout the conversion process

Flexible adaptation of the base UoM and/or to the UoM group in order to quickly respond to business-driven changes







No need for manual posting procedures No need to shut down existing documents (for example, sales orders and purchase orders)

Conversion of all or selected historical data No update of change documents during the conversion process

However, converting the base UoM means not only simply renaming a SKU, but also adapting the related quantities and conver-sion factors. Moreover, UoMs are maintained in various database tables and documents. Therefore, it must be determined exactly which UoMs refer to the specific base UoM and need to be converted.


The way forward: defining conversion-relevant dataSo how does the System Landscape Optimi- zation group help meet your requirements and carry out this conversion in a structured way? The following example illustrates the required selection process.

Suppose you have assigned grams as the SKU for a specific material. On the invoices you send out, however, the sales unit for the material might appear as any alternate unit of measure, such as grams, kilograms, or liters. Now, assume that you have decided to change the SKU from grams into kilograms. Since the invoicing process has to continue working with any alternate unit of measure, you need to analyze which existing database table entries and documents must be changed during the conversion. In this example, only

those tables that contain grams as the defined base UoM but not as an alternate unit of measure would be within the scope for the conversion.

The SAP experts from the System Land -scape Optimization group help you select all conversion-relevant data at the application level. Thanks to the groups long-standing experience in the transformation business and its knowledge of SAP applications gained from thousands of consulting projects, the groups experts can reliably identify the database tables and fields that need to be converted. Based on this information, the experts can then create the corresponding conversion routines.








A special need: converting unit of measure groupsEnterprises in the oil and gas, and mining in-dustries use UoM groups to enable inventory management in multiple units of measure for a single material. The UoM group plays an important role in all stages of the supply chain since it is the basis for quantity conver-sions during goods movements, delivery pro-cessing, and the posting of physical inventory counts. It is important to decide which unit of measure to choose for a given material, and also which additional units of measure to include in the UoM group. Related to your business-driven requirements for changing a base UoM, you may also need to include, or remove, one or more units of measure to existing UoM groups, sometimes frequently.

As an example, suppose an energy provider enters a new market segment whose supply chain is organized differently. In this case, you may have to adapt the existing UoM group by deleting or adding certain units of measure (see Figure 2 on the next page).

However, as with changes to a base UoM, standard SAP software functionality does not allow you to adapt UoM groups after you have posted stock for a material in order to avoid inconsistency in historical documents. By augmenting the standard functionality, the SAP conversion service helps you apply changes to UoM groups efficiently and accurately.







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Figure 2: Sample scenario for converting a unit of measure group

Before conversion

GCL Energy UoM

KMP Volume UoM

MBT Energy UoM

KMA Volume UoM

MCA Volume UoM

MCP Volume UoM

UoMs (to be deleted)

UoMs (to be added)

GCL Energy UoM GJ Energy UoM

KMP Volume UoM MCL Energy UoM

MBT Energy UoM M3P Volume UoM

DTH Energy UoM

GJ Energy UoM

MCL Energy UoM

M3P Volume UoM

DTH Energy UoM

KMA Volume UoM

MCA Volume UoM

MCP Volume UoM

Applying the conversion service After conversion

ZNG UoM group ZNG UoM group- +


A proven project approach based on best practicesCareful planning and preparation is key. A project typically starts with a phone con-ference to discuss the scope, based on your objectives. The SAP experts then conduct a remote system analysis to confirm feasibility and estimate time and effort.

The analysis, using the groups application knowledge, helps determine database tables and fields that need changing. The SAP experts then use key findings to define and implement the required conversion routines. In the next step, the team runs test cycles to detect inconsistencies and prepares for a smooth, error-free cutover. To help ensure up-to-date results for each test cycle, a copy of the productive system is required.

After each test cycle, your team and the SAP experts check if the conditions defined in the blueprint are met.

The duration of the test and realization phases varies according to system performance and data volume.

When you are satisfied with the test results, the productive run can start. The conversion process takes into account master and trans-actional data and all relevant data on the document level. Customizing data will not be converted. Because the transformation requires locking the productive environment for all other activities, the cutover usually takes place over a weekend to minimize disruption to daily business.








Your partner: the System Landscape Optimization groupThe System Landscape Optimization group has been market leader in system landscape transformations for nearly two decades. The group has incorporated the expertise it has gained during thousands of transformation projects into the development of its proven methodology and software-based technology. The result is a service portfolio that offers optimal data security, speed of service, cost efficiency, and minimal technology-driven business disruption during projects.

The groups portfolio perfectly supports the evolving needs of SAP customers who oper-ate in a challenging economic environment.

The groups service offerings cover a range of business scenarios. These scenarios include system consolidations motivated by cost reduction; restructuring initiatives resulting from mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and offshoring decision making; and data unification for events such as a change of currency, as well as the conversion of charts of accounts and of data for logistics and material management. Customers that engage the System Landscape Optimization group to transform their SAP system land-scapes choose a partner who is reliable, efficient, and experienced in all aspects of the system transformation business.

Your partner: the System Landscape Optimization group


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SummaryThe service from the System Landscape Optimization group for converting the base unit of measure helps you change the stock- keeping units you assign to materials, or apply changes to unit of measure groups. The service enables you to keep data up- to-date and meet conversion requirements related to various business scenarios in an efficient, time-saving way without the need for any manual posting procedures. Objectives

Apply changes to the stock-keeping unit or to unit of measure groups without manual posting or reimplementation activities

Ensure data consistency and business continuity throughout the conversion process

Continue business processes such as sales and purchase order processing

Solution Technology-based service for realizing various conversion needs

Proven project approach ensuring consis-tent data after the conversion

Flexible data selection to adapt the conver-sion scope to specific needs

Benefits Time-saving conversion with no need for manual posting

Minimal risk due to a software-based and tested approach

Consistent conversion of historical data Flexible definition of material stock-keeping units in a productive SAP system landscape

Flexible definition of unit of measure groups in productive SAP industry solutions for oil and gas, and mining

Learn moreVisit the SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/slo or send an e-mail to [email protected].

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conversion service for base unit of measure (1)

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