This book provides a comprehensive overview of the core functions of mySAP Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP PLM). The authors share volumes of their own practical knowledge, derived from years of direct experience, and systematically elevate your understanding of the essential PLM elements. First you’ll learn how the solution's Lifecycle Data Management supports you in accumulating and exchanging product and plant data. Then, you’ll be introduced to the critical aspects of program and project management. Special attention is paid to collaboration across various departments and enterprises, as well as quality management, enterprise asset management (EAM), and the functions of environment, health & safety (EH&S). This book is based on R/3 Enterprise (4.7), but is also extremely valuable for users of mySAP ERP.

Highlights

• Lifecycle Data Management
• Program and Project Management
• Lifecycle Collaboration
• Collaborative Engineering and Project Management, cFolders and cProjects, xApps for PLM
• Quality Management
• Enterprise Asset Management
• Environment, Health & Safety
• Interfaces
• User and Authorization Management
• Methods and Examples of Implementation
• ... and much more!

About the Author(s)

Gerd Hartmann has worked for SAP AG since 1999. In 2003, he assumed the position of Product Sales Executive in the sales department of mySAP PLM at SAP Germany.

Dr. Ulrich Schmidt has worked at SAP for many years. During this time, he was head of the PLM consulting department and responsible for the European PLM sales. In 2003, he became shareholder and managing director of bdf consultants GmbH where he manages the PLM-related fields of operation.

Table of Contents

Preface ... 13

Introduction ... 15

1. Product Lifecycle Management with SAP ... 19
... 1.1 Integrated Processes with mySAP PLM ... 19
... 1.2 General Overview of mySAP PLM ... 26
... 1.3 mySAP PLM as Part of the mySAP Business Suite ... 35

2. Sample Processes in Integrated Product Development ... 37
... 2.1 Sample Scenario in Mechanical/Plant Engineering and Construction ... 37
... 2.2 Sample Scenario for Product Development in the Automotive Industry ... 62

3. The SAP Product Portfolio ... 69
... 3.1 SAP NetWeaver ... 71
... 3.2 mySAP Business Suite ... 102
... 3.3 SAP xApps ... 118
... 3.4 SAP Solutions for the SMBs ... 119
... 3.5 SAP Industry Portfolios ... 121

4. Life-Cycle Data Management ... 123
... 4.1 Document Management System ... 123
... 4.2 Product Engineering ... 175
... 4.3 Process Engineering ... 226
... 4.4 Integrated Product and Process Engineering ... 251
... 4.5 Engineering Change Management in the Life Cycle ... 277
... 4.6 Application Integration ... 301

5. Program and Project Management ... 339
... 5.1 Project Management ... 341
... 5.2 Product Life-Cycle Costing (PLCC) ... 384

6. Application Integration—Interdepartmental Collaboration ... 391
... 6.1 Object Status Management ... 391
... 6.2 Lifecycle Data Management in Shop Floor Control ... 398
... 6.3 Quality Management in Procurement ... 400
... 6.4 Document Management in the Sales and Distribution Document Flow ... 401
... 6.5 Lifecycle Data Management in Product Cost Planning ... 403
... 6.6 Product Data Replication ... 405
... 6.7 Master Data Management ... 409

7. Collaboration—Interenterprise Cooperation ... 411
... 7.1 Lifecycle Collaboration ... 411
... 7.2 Collaborative Engineering and Project Management ... 413
... 7.3 cProject Suite ... 421
... 7.4 xApps for PLM ... 433

8. Quality Management ... 437
... 8.1 Audit Management ... 439
... 8.2 Quality Planning ... 440
... 8.3 Quality Inspection ... 444
... 8.4 Continuous Improvement ... 446
... 8.5 Integration with Logistics ... 449

9. Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) ... 453
... 9.1 Asset Structuring Objects ... 453
... 9.2 Serial Numbers ... 461
... 9.3 Main Maintenance Processing Scenarios ... 465
... 9.4 Other Maintenance Scenarios ... 473
... 9.5 Mobile Asset Management (MAM) ... 484

10. Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) ... 489
... 10.1 Substance Database ... 491
... 10.2 Phrase Management ... 494
... 10.3 EH&S Reports ... 495

11. Information Systems ... 497
... 11.1 Engineering Change Management ... 497
... 11.2 Logistics Information System ... 499
... 11.3 PLM Content in SAP BW ... 500

12. Business Workflow (WebFlow) ... 505
... 12.1 Workflow Definition ... 506
... 12.2 Workflow Execution ... 510
... 12.3 Business Workplace ... 512
... 12.4 Workflow Template ... 513

13. Interfaces ... 515
... 13.1 Programming Interfaces ... 515
... 13.2 Data Exchange Interfaces ... 519
... 13.3 Data Conversion Interfaces ... 525
... 13.4 Standard Interfaces ... 529

14. Enhancement Framework ... 537
... 14.1 Enhancements to Program Logic ... 537
... 14.2 Table Changes ... 539
... 14.3 Modification Assistant ... 540
... 14.4 ABAP Workbench ... 540
... 14.5 UI Personalization ... 541
... 14.6 Enhancements to System Documentation ... 542

15. User and Authorization Management ... 545
... 15.1 User Management ... 545
... 15.2 Authorization Management ... 547
... 15.3 Central User Administration ... 557
... 15.4 Directory Services ... 559

16. Implementation Methodologies ... 563
... 16.1 Implementation Strategies for CAx Integration ... 566
... 16.2 Strategies for Data Distribution ... 568
... 16.3 Engineering Processes ... 573
... 16.4 Implementation Strategies ... 575
... 16.5 ASAP for PLM ... 580

17. Implementation Examples ... 583
... 17.1 Variant Manufacturing in Mechanical Engineering ... 583
... 17.2 Engineering in Plant Construction ... 586
... 17.3 Product Engineering in the Automotive Industry ... 588

Glossary ... 597

About the Authors ... 611

Index ... 613