by Austin Flores
SAP is the short form of Systems, Applications and Products. SAP is not simply the name of worlds 1 of the greatest software development organisation but also the name of the software product developed by this organization. SAP AG, the official name of the company since it was processed in Germany, in the first place thought of allowing customers with a tool with which they can interact with a sole master info base for each and every application required across the enterprise.
The idea of the tool become practical in the form of a financial accounting system referred SAP R/1, the beginning version of SAPs iconic enterprise software. The improved version of this application, SAP R/2, was founded towards the end of 1970s, which was mainframe founded business application software. Later, SAP AG launched a customer -server version of the software addressed SAP R/3, after the advent of separated customer -server computing.
SAP R/3 Functionality:
SAP applications, constructed round their occurrent R/3 system allows R/3 to cover all procedure and management tasks throughout the company. That implies, SAP R/3 provide the users with the instrument to cope financial, asset, and cost accounting, production performances and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. It works on Advance Business Application Programming (ABAP), which is a fourth generation programming language. The R/3 system is compatible with several platforms including Windows 2000 and uses the client/server model.
SAP R/3 Modules:
SAP R/3 is made up of whatever individual functional software modules. These modules merge to execute every of the operating and management tasks of any company. Each personalized functioning module manages specific activities on it’s own, but is related to the others where applicable. The most widely used modules are – Logistics, Accounting and Human Resources.
Logistic Module:
Logistics is the method of completing a process from beginning to complete on invite e.g. delivering a product at it’s desired location, on request. Individual tasks involved in this process are Sales and Distribution, Production Planning, Materials Management, Plant Maintenance and Quality Management etc among others, each of which are integrated by Logistic module. The several components of this module and example of their procedures are:
Logistic Module
Sales and Distribution module: Presales support, customer enquiry processing, quotation processing, sales order processing, delivery working, billing and sales information system.
Material Management module: Purchasing processes, warehouse management, inventory, invoicing etc.
Production Planning module: Planning & organizing production operation e.g. transport and storage of raw materials, by-products and waste etc.
Plant Maintenance module: Repair of buildings, maintenance of tools used in the production procedure, data about machine usage and possible downtime etc.
Quality Management module: All operations affiliated to the quality assurance of the product.
Accounting Modules:
This module performs each financial and accounting actions or in some other words this module plays each financial and accounting needs of the organization. It is automated to cater management and reporting of ledger, receivables & payments etc. which in turn enables balance sheets and Profit & Loss (P&L) accounts to be self updated, unendingly. So, the original reward of this module is that the book reflects the real situation. The various elements of this module are:
Accounting Module Examples
Financial Accounting: Accounting functions such as balance sheet, Profit & Loss statements, Compliance with accounting regulations etc.
Controlling: Controls cost as well as companys targets, Provides data essential for decision making and future planning.
Enterprise Controlling: Collates internal information with market data to bring out issues in marketing strategies.
Treasury: Corporate banking, Cash, budget management etc.
Capital Investment Management: Helps finance corporations in their capital investments and tracking.
Project System: Project Management I, Project budgeting, Project execution/integration, Data system, Operative structures, Project planning etc.
Human Resources Modules
As the words itself determines, Human Resource Modules provides a complete HR management system, covering areas such as personnel planning and enlisting, personnel and salary administration, payroll and personnel development.
Beginning, SAP implementations as well as its training were coordinated on module lines. For example, in a training course on Logistics, you would acquire many things about SD such as SD-MD, SD-GF, SD-SLS etc but not much about the rest of the SAP system and how SD fits into it. So, the integration ‘tween modules was totally absent. This applied to result to that, the solutions were optimise along the modules, but missed in integration. So, to achieve that integration, programmes are now being organised along the process lines such as:
Order to Cash (including parts of SD, FI-AR and probably TY as well)
Purchase to Pay (including MM-Purchasing and FI-AP)
Record to Report (FI-GL etc)
With adaptation of process lines alternatively of modules for results, SAP nowadays are moving away from reporting their system as a set of modules, and now are using the term solutions. These New Dimension Products can stand alone or be integrated with R/3. It’s profits take on elimination of duplication, discontinuity and redundancy in data and growths the return on investment made on IT implementations. It presents quality info designed for the Organisation as a completely Faster and cheaper which in turn presents quality info to make a quality organisation. These solutions are:
Financials
Human Resources
Customer Relationship Management
Supplier Relationship Management
Product Lifecycle Management
Supply Chain Management
Business Intelligence
Conclusion:
SAP is an Enterprise Wide Business Solution. This means that enterprises running SAP can effectively integrate all of its business activities taking on finance, purchasing, sales, human resources etc. This integration allows every last business transactions in an organisation are handy to every fields of that organization and there is no duplicate of information in separated systems.
About the Author:
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