“Yes” two transactions are provided in menu path: Logistics > Materials Management > Logistics Invoice Verification > Automatic Settlement

• Revaluation (MRNB) is standard with ERP
• Revaluation with Collective Settlement (ISAuto_MRNB) is added when IS-Auto is activated.  For details on activation see blog post “Can IS-Auto be turned on after launch?”.  The principle difference from MRNB is that more selection criteria are available, and each can have multiple values.

What is retro-billing?  In the automotive industry the final purchase price is frequently not negotiated until after the material (new or revision) has been received and invoiced.  Later, when the price has been negotiated, Retro-billing creates a debit / credit memo for the difference due the supplier.

Limitation:  Supplier consignment materials where  the PIR (Purch Info Record) manages the price, can not be retro-billed with Revaluation.  There is an Automotive Consulting Solution that may resolve this limitation.

As Vice President of Discrete Industries, Asia-Pacific and Japan for SAP and based in Shanghai, I’ve seen a tremendous amount of change in the 25 years that I’ve been in the region.  In addition to social and political change, the greatest changes that I’ve seen are in the area of manufacturing, business and investment.  These changes have had a significant impact on the IT requirements of companies in the region, as well as software providers helping them to solve the challenges resulting from this change.

One of the most visible and well-known changes that have taken place during this time is the growth of manufacturing in Asia, first in Japan, then in the Asian “Tigers” (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines) and now---China.   This manufacturing growth has been accompanied by changes in outbound investment patterns which have significantly changed the enterprise software requirements of companies in the region.

For example, in the 70’s and 80’s, Japan’s manufacturing industry grew primarily within the Japanese borders.   Lower labor and other costs, high savings and significant infrastructure investments allowed Japan’s manufacturing industries to grow significantly.  Most MRP and other enterprise software systems were custom-developed to serve the needs of purely Japanese operations.  However, in the 90’s and continuing today, many of those cost advantages no longer apply, supply chain requirements have gone global along with Japanese automotive companies’ operations and more production capabilities are being located in other parts of the world, such as China and Southeast Asia.  With these changes, Japanese auto manufacturers found that custom-made software suitable for their Japanese operations no longer suited their needs and now they are turning to SAP to provide packaged software that can be implemented in practically any country and used locally to help run their factories, manage their local, regional or global supply chains.  With the serious supply chain disruptions caused by the 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami, this outbound investment and the associated packaged software such as SAP’s ERP, SCM, CRM and analytics solutions continue to accelerate.

What is not as well known, and is a relatively new development, is that Chinese companies are now also expanding their operations globally.  The Chinese Ministry of Commerce predicted in January that Chinese outbound investment will reach $560 billion annually by 2016, up from a record $60.1 billion in 2011. This goes beyond the traditional investment in mining and agriculture resources, or portfolio investments such as shares in companies or government-backed securities.  Rising costs at home and the same globalization demands are also driving China’s automotive companies to expand their operations globally.  Acquisition of famous car brands was the first wave, but now we are seeing more operational investments taking place.  With these changes come the same requirements for globally integrated manufacturing, supply chain, CRM and analytics software provided by SAP.

I was recently in Bangkok meeting with a new joint venture between one of Thailand’s largest companies and one of China’s largest automotive manufacturers.  The office was still being organized, PC’s were still in boxes and many desks still had plastic covers on them.  But the activity was feverish and planning on white boards taking place in every room.  The goal:  Planning of a new automotive factory and brand to be produced in Thailand and exported regionally and eventually, globally.  And SAP is central to their IT plans, from MES to ERP to SCM.  SAP will continue to facilitate the operational and IT needs of our Asian automotive customers as they expand globally.  We will be with them every profitable step of the way.

Competition in the Automotive Industry is intense and becoming more so all of the time.  The speed of innovation and the quality separation between automotive companies and their vehicles and services is at an all time minimum.  Creating competitive advantage that truly differentiates the vechiles, components, services and processes of manufacturers requires world class solutions that enable those companies to run faster, smarter and simpler.  Automoitive companies worldwide are looking for solutions to this challenge and looking for new market opportunities.  They think ahead, they strengthen and enhance existing networks and they bring innovation to market faster and with more insight into demand.

Join us at the 13th annual Automotive Forum in Leipzig, Germany, June 12 and June 13, 2013 to see how automotive companies are Connecting Ideas to do just that.  Find out more about recent and future industry trends and how SAP can help automotive customers accelerate the pace of business, with deep and enriched insight in far simpler and more timely ways. 

Agenda and Registration

http://www.sap.com/germany/events/automotive-forum-2013/en/index.epx

See you there!

We have suppliers who ship, on our behalf, directly to customers.  In other words we take the order from the customer and send it to the supplier.  The supplier ships directly to customer and sends us an ASN.  We want to create the A/P for the supplier, and the A/R for the customer.  We never handle the inventory.

Can SAP support this?

Yes, but not in standard ECC.  The solution is offered as an ACS (Automotive Consulting Solution), but other industries also can benefit.  It supports multiple popular scenarios for automotive implementations – discrete orders, Scheduling Agreement with release, subcontract, 3^rd Party delivery (3PL), etc.  See the attached for more detail.

There is a group in Germany that has developed many additional functions for automotive implementations.

These Automotive Consulting Solutions (ACS) are published at

http://www.sap.com/germany/campaigns/2010-10-automotive-acs/en/index.epx

These have been implemented at numerous NA customers.  There is a fixed cost for implementation, documentation, and support.

Wanted to add new Item fast entery tab for DBM vehicle Orders :

For this you need to follow the steps given below :

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

1. Item status Table :   /DBM/OE_Vbapst

2. Order job staus table :  /DBM/OE_JOBST

3. Order header status table : /DBM/OE_VBAKST

4. Split status table : /DBM/OE_SPLHDRst

5. DBM Order header infor Table : /dbm/vbak_db

6. DBM Item infor table : /dbm/vbap

7. Vehicle detail table : vlcvehicle

8. Vehicle model details table : /DBM/V_MODEL

If the model master list is not display the full list of model masters follow the steps given below to expand the model list display.

Configuration

Since its beginning over 100 years ago the automotive
industry has known many challenges, it has weathered the challenges and
continues to grow and flourish today.  Automotive manufacturers and their
value chains have faced financial, supply, labor and quality issues.
Market conditions resulting from intense competition for customers,
macroeconomic challenges, energy volatility, regulation and the pace of
technology have kept the industry in a state of risk “and” opportunity.

But despite all of that the industry remains a very
straightforward and simple proposition…

It centers on three main themes:

• Rapidly bring high quality innovative vehicles
  and services that customers demand to market,
• Source materials and manufacture those desired
  vehicles efficiently and cost effectively with minimal risk of disruption from
  outside factors, and…
• Sell and service those vehicles profitably while
  continuously improving customer satisfaction and market share.

SAP will host its national Customer Value Network event in
Chicago on June 25 and June 26, 2013.  During the two days of the event
there will be over 55 sessions delivered by both SAP and customers focusing on
those primary automotive themes with specific attention paid to strategy, best
practices, business value maximization and lessons learned. 

• For vehicle innovation and design, join SAP and
  its customers for in-depth coverage of Product Lifecycle Management, 3D
  Visualization and collaboration and product safety and compliance. 
• Manufacturing
  and sourcing topics will include Manufacturing Execution, Manufacturing
  Integration and Intelligence, Sourcing and Procurement, Spend Analytics, Global
  Batch Traceability and Asset Management. Significant focus will be on SAP HANA
  manufacturing uses cases.
• The Sales and service processes will feature
  customer and SAP sessions on Warranty Analytics, Service Parts Management
  transformation and Dealer Interaction and Support.

Take advantage of this opportunity to learn about SAP
solutions and to interact with companies who are already reaping the benefits
of SAP solutions across these automotive process areas!

This customer event is complimentary, no registration fee,
but space is limited so please make your plans to attend and register today at http://spr.ly/IMCCVN

Follow us on Twitter for updates:  @SAPNorthAmerica, @SAP IMC,@SAPAutomotive

Join the conversation:  #MfgCVN

This Document describes how to implement the DBM order actions BADI’s to react in the DBM order.

Goto transaction  /DBM/SPRO ( For vehicle related , go for SPRO ) . Drop down the sub structure order->order control-> Execute Define Action.

Note that you can only implement already exist actions only here. Every actions will trigger in the DBM order for their respective events ( that is for multiple events, there  will be one action).

Consider we  want to implement the action AVAIL_CHECK. Double click it to view the action details of our particular action.

Execute for each ,in action details specify, for what these action should react. Either for each

Item

Order header

Job

Split header

Task

Commit level specifies , after which work the system should trigger the COMMIT_WORK.

Either             1. After every action

                         2. End of action

3. End of an event

4. For all events

Click the implementations button below to see the available implementations

implementations were already there for this action. One is execute and another one is for finalize. Before going to that, will discuss what these Preparation, Execution and Finalize are.

Checks , Execution and post-processing all these three are the BADI where we gonna implement our work. If we are aware of the webdynpro Enhancement techniques means( pre-exit, post-exit and overwrite exit ) , it ll be easy to understand this cases.

Consider,we are going to do a validation work before the action triggers.. we ll do it in the Checks BADI

Consider, we are gonna do a execution process tat is going to be done along with the action. We ll do it in the Execution BADI.

Consider, we are gonna do finalize process, that is after the action trigger. We ll do it in the Post-processing BADI.

It all depends on the requirement.

If you select any one of the BADI ,(im selecting Check) following screen ll appear . in which you can give the  Enh. Impl name, BADI impl. Name and the implementing class where we gonna code.

check step here represents , where the check should be execute.

In the implementing  class .

    Either you can code directly or you can use this class /DBM/CL_ORD_AX_ACFMOD  as a super class and use the method call_action_fm  to call the corresponding FM which has the code (requirement) in it like below.

Each order has its own instance which we call as flowerpot here.

Flowerpot is a Class /DBM/CL_ORDER which holds all the datas regarding the DBM order.

The attributes of the order instance will have three different sections under each.

• *_DETAIL – If we created something new in our order or we are changing something in our order means, all datas ll transafer to order via this *_Detail only.
• *_COM – It holds status quo of the order
• *_DB – it holds data from the DB

All the order related informations will be avail in the /DBM/CL_ORDER instance itself.

Hope this helps.

Mathan R.

Porsche’s race-inspired philosophy to achieve maximum output from minimum input permeates the organization. But with more than 70 affiliate companies and a worldwide presence, Porsche is faced with unique challenges when it comes to harmonizing the IT environment. To ensure its lean manufacturing and supply logistics run as fast and smooth as its sports cars, Porsche uses the SAP ERP and SAP SCM applications. Read more >

We learned this week at MBS from Polk Research that Americans are keeping thier cars longer these days.  The average age of vehicles in operation has risen from a pre-recession age of just over 9 year to the current age of 11.4 years.

So what does that say about the purchasing environment and what opportunities can we derive from that reality?

First and foremost, we continue to see some degree of economic uncertainity.  Despite the hype about recovery...there is still a strong concern and sense of foreboding coloring major purchase decisions.  And second...many Americans are just plain getting older and rethinking pre-retirement buying decisions. And of course there are two things associated with the baby boomers...buying power and connection with automobiles.  This conspires to stretch out the useful life of vehicles.

And then there is the matter of quality.  We all have benefited from greatly improved vehicle quality.  This even comes in the face of rapid, market driven porduct innovation and tremendous increases in product complexity.  Quality is up and the age of vehicles on the road clearly supports that point, despite noise over recalls that grab the headlines.  Major compliments to the suppliers and manufacturers!!

What we then realize is that there is a growing opportunity for service and parts sales post warranty period.  Automotive dealer and aftermarket repairers have long known this important fact...but now with the age of vehicles increasing the opportunity looms even larger and in fact much longer.  The need to repair vehicles correctly the first time for the price customers are happy with and the need for quality customer treatment either at automotive dealers or independent repair shops continues to increase in importance.

For franchised automotive dealers the need to serve, satisfy and retain customers after the warranty period has never been greater.  With new vehicle margins under extreme competitive pressure and manufacturers desires to curtail incentive payments the importance of the parts and service departments

continues to grow.  The importance is not only to service vehciles profitably but to keep the customer loyal to both the dealer and the Brand.

For independent repair businesses and parts operations the opportunity to win share of customers wallets is equally huge.  By delivering quality service and treatment, combined with the ability to do this at price points the customer appreciates, the independents can reap huge financial benefits and repeat business.

In either case the customer wins...and when you think about it so do the service providers!

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2013/08/quality-helps-americans-keep-old-cars-longer

hhttp://www.autonews.com/article/20130806/RETAIL01/130809904/economist-sees-scrappage-juicing-u-s-sales-in-next-two-yearsttp://www.autonews.com/article/20130806/RETAIL/130809922/average-age-of-u-s-car-light-truck-on-road-hits-record-11-4-year

Finally, a value is being associated with the data coming from the ever increasing number of connected vheicles on the road. Andreas Mai, director of product management at Cisco Systems, Inc. has placed that value of data generated by a connected vehicle at a cumulative total of around $1,400 USD per annum.  Put into perspective that might approach $7,000 over five years and possibly a whole lot more if one considers the average age of vehicles in operation today, which by the way is 11.4 years.

Despite the reality that there are certain privacy issues (and standards) to be ironed out along with the overarching question of who owns that data, my vote goes to the driver, to be resolved, four specifc categories of savings and earnings are called out. 

1. Motorists can utilize the data their vehicles generate to save about $550 a year, with increased fuel economy, taking advantage of traffic re-routing and saving time stuck in traffic and with lower insurance rates based on where the vehicle is operated.

2. They can also save a whopping $420 per year by using technology and data to car pool with a resultant decrease in road capacity utilization.

3. Service providers can earn about $150 per year by providing guidance and navigation, parking, toll and emergency services.

4. And auto manufacturers can save $300 per year in lower warranty costs and with other profitable apps delivered.

Certainly there are real opportunites across the universe of drivers for the first three points...but the really intreaguing one to me is that of warranty savings and consequently quality improvment.  Using data from the vehicle to compress the latency of a warranty claim, recognizing faults at the instant of occurance and begining the data analysis necessary to understand the failure and conditions surrounding that failure can lead to tremendous quality improvements and resultant cost savings.  And being able to predict, based on real-time or near-real time data, can save further dollars by moving to fix small problems before they become bigger problems with more collaterial damage and customer frustration.

And any savings in warranty reserves can drop straight to the bottom line as profit. This is tangible and it is possible today.  And there are further savings and revenue growth possibilities as quality and service are improved based on the volume of operational data.  Mai indicates that 74% of morotists are willing to share vehicle information, if they get a benefit.  This should be a no brainer!

http://www.autonews.com/article/20130805/OEM06/130809928/big-data-from-a-car-is-worth-1400-a-year-cisco-exec-says

Lindsey Chappel, Mid-South bureau chief for Automotive News, posted the below noted blog.  In his blog Lindsey notes that a panel of Industry experts discussed the topic of fully autonomous vehicles in Traverse City at the Management Briefing Seminar. 

Simply put, it is all uphill.  Citing an April study conducted by the Alliance of Automotibe Manufacturers, Alliance CEO Mitch Bainwol indicates that 42% of men surveyed think that sort of technology is a bad idea.  And nearly a quarter think autonomous vehicles should be banned altogether.

...and a third think auto makers and their software suppliers should bear the legal responsibility for accidents.

80% are concerned about hackers according to Bjorn Giesler project lead from Audi AGs Piloted Driving program.  He went further to say that the industry was not doing a good job of addressing security concerns. 

Scott Winchip, Rober Bosch LLC's regional president for chassis systems control indicated there are technology challenges, such as mapping vehicle location to inches, rather than feet!.

Lindsey also asks the question...What happens when an autonomous vehciles control systems clicks off, giving control back to the driver?  Remember everyone talking about designing autonomous vehicles says the driver has complete override capability and can take control at any time.

It seems to me that the more autnomous the vehicles operation is, the more detached the driver is likely to be...meaning he or she cannot assume immediate responsibility for the vehcile operation.  No way!

So that brings me back to the title of this blog...who will be able to afford fully autonmous vehicles?  We have to have significantly advanced and secure technology and this extends to the driving infrastructure. (Cost!)  We have to have redundant systems, they simply cannot fail...there has to be a back-up or back-ups that do not include the detached driver.  As I recall the Sapce Shuttle had five such systems.  (Cost again!)  And finally, no one believes that the liability burden will be covered by the vehcile and software manufacturers, at least not without a pass through to the vehicle owner...(Yet more cost!)

So really...who will be able to afford this technology?   Maybe another question is in order...Can manufacturers afford to invest in technology at this price based on questionable demand?

http://www.autonews.com/article/20130807/BLOG06/130809883/why-the-road-to-autonomous-vehicles-is-uphill?cciid=email-autonews-daily&r=2883D0289467F2V#axzz2bDl0pkwU

Lindsey Chappel, Mid-South bureau chief for Automotive News, posted the below noted blog.  In his blog Lindsey notes that a panel of Industry experts discussed the topic of fully autonomous vehicles in Traverse City at the Management Briefing Seminar. 

Simply put, it is all uphill.  Citing an April study conducted by the Alliance of Automotibe Manufacturers, Alliance CEO Mitch Bainwol indicates that 42% of men surveyed think that sort of technology is a bad idea.  And nearly a quarter think autonomous vehicles should be banned altogether.

...and a third think auto makers and their software suppliers should bear the legal responsibility for accidents.

80% are concerned about hackers according to Bjorn Giesler project lead from Audi AGs Piloted Driving program.  He went further to say that the industry was not doing a good job of addressing security concerns. 

Scott Winchip, Rober Bosch LLC's regional president for chassis systems control indicated there are technology challenges, such as mapping vehicle location to inches, rather than feet!.

Lindsey also asks the question...What happens when an autonomous vehciles control systems clicks off, giving control back to the driver?  Remember everyone talking about designing autonomous vehicles says the driver has complete override capability and can take control at any time.

It seems to me that the more autnomous the vehicles operation is, the more detached the driver is likely to be...meaning he or she cannot assume immediate responsibility for the vehcile operation.  No way!

So that brings me back to the title of this blog...who will be able to afford fully autonmous vehicles?  We have to have significantly advanced and secure technology and this extends to the driving infrastructure. (Cost!)  We have to have redundant systems, they simply cannot fail...there has to be a back-up or back-ups that do not include the detached driver.  As I recall the Sapce Shuttle had five such systems.  (Cost again!)  And finally, no one believes that the liability burden will be covered by the vehcile and software manufacturers, at least not without a pass through to the vehicle owner...(Yet more cost!)

So really...who will be able to afford this technology?   Maybe another question is in order...Can manufacturers afford to invest in technology at this price based on questionable demand?

http://www.autonews.com/article/20130807/BLOG06/130809883/why-the-road-to-autonomous-vehicles-is-uphill?cciid=email-autonews-daily&r=2883D0289467F2V#axzz2bDl0pkwU

The focus of the Center for Automotive Research MBS 2013was “Mobility, Profitability and Sustainability”.  With over 900 participants from industry and over 80 different speakers/presenters, the 3.5 days of content were filled with information and interesting ideas.  One of the event’s other most valuable offerings was the networking during breaks and the “social hour” each evening.

Photo of Networking at SAP Booth during break.  Courtesy of Dyan Schertler.

Mobility: 

First and foremost, the automotive industry needs to provide vehicles to get people and products from one place to another – provide mobility.  For today’s generation, “mobility” takes on a new meaning as young people are particularly interested in connectivity and using their devices in the car.  As automakers adapt to changing expectations, issues arise such as driver distraction.  Both the offline and online experiences in the car need to be safe and secure!

Jim Sayer, Program Manager of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, shared their research which leveraged a working model on streets of Ann Arbor with real personal vehicles.  This study evaluated safety applications and a template of security for connected vehicles, generating volumes of data to support decisions and messages that would need to be delivered from a trusted source.  The ultimate goal of this model would be enriching the drivers experience and avoiding accidents.

Taking those ideas a step further, Connected Car technology will not only benefit safety of the driver but can provide a totally new experience in the car.  Are you interested in having your car drive without you having to pay attention (see video)?   Or are you more interested in entertainment, music, restaurant recommendations, shopping, fueling or charging, keeping connected via Facebook, avoiding traffic,  or turn-by-turn navigation?   Innovation and technology will definitely be changing our driving experience in the future.

Profitability:  Make it Where You Sell It . . . and Monozukuri

Making cars where you sell them is a current focus - not only to building cars in US that will be sold here -but also extending this to automotive suppliers.   “By 2015, 85% of Nissan vehicles sold in US will be built in North America” according to Bill Krueger, Sr. VP Manufacturing, Purchasing, Production Engineering & Supply Chain.  Part of that strategy is also incenting suppliers to locate near the Original Equipment Manufacturers’ (OEMs) plant.  Automotive will clearly help drive the Made in America or Reshoring trend.

Suppliers and procurement were a key topic throughout the event, with one of the first questions put to the panel on Monday morning:  “What are most critical issues, knowledge, and capabilities you look for in a supplier? “   Responses included the importance of open communication, partnerships that can lead us into the next generation, and World-Class or Lean Manufacturing systems and culture.   Automakers typically make it a priority to assist in training suppliers, just as they do their internal workforce.

Lean definitely continues to be a focus for auto manufacturers – as speakers from both Ford and Nissan discussed Monozukuri or the “art of making things” as central to their approach to drive innovations, improve operations, create value, control costs, and ultimately drive profitability.  Improving the production systems and processes extended to Information Technology’s (IT) role in World Class manufacturing.  Mauro Pino, VP Vehicle Assembly Operations and World Class Manufacturing Head for Chrysler group stated “IT plays a key role” and they need to “have real-time information to share best practices between plants “.  Frank Fischer, CEO & Chairman of VW Plant Chattanooga, commented, “How did people build cars without IT?”  VW wants “to see the entire flow of putting the car on the line in the right sequence”, while having solutions in place to make performance transparent both in terms of productivity and quality.

Photos from seminar on “Purchasing Today:  Changing Dynamics in Automaker/Supplier Relations”.  Format of event included individual speakers (such as Staci Kroon, President, NA Automotive Division, Eaton) followed by panel discussion.

Sustainability: 

Sustainability topics ranged from Energy and Fuel Efficiency (lightweight cars) to Workforce and Talent and to Sustaining the Enterprise.  Kelly Biers, Director Continuous Improvement at ZF, spoke about their Energy Management program, which drives continuous improvement at every plant “from the shop floor up”.  Dr. Jan Spies spoke about “VW Think Blue” which includes defining energy efficiency as the plant is designed.

Although we traditionally think about Energy and Fuel Efficiency when it comes to Sustainability in the auto industry, many of the presentations spoke to focus on workforce and talent management.  Both auto manufacturers and suppliers in NA are operating at or have plans to operate at nearly 100% capacity to meet increasing demand.  Overall there is a skill shortage and an issue with brand image – “manufacturing is not a glamorous job” and there is an ongoing need to get “high school age folks” interested in manufacturing and STEM education.  How can we make manufacturing "sexy"?  One way this is being accomplished is by sponsoring college students to participate in the CAR MBS event!

Ted Duclos – VP & GM, Global Fluid Power Division, Freudenberg-NOK summed up “Sustaining the Enterprise” as the “ability to endure regardless of what you encounter”.  “What are attributes that allow us to endure?  Sound finance, relevant products. . .Are these enough?  No, you need Social Equity too”.

Innovations for the "Featherweight Competition" featured this Honda Acura MDX outbody on display at the event. Photo courtesy of Dyan Schertler.

Hopefully these brief highlights will inspire you to view some of the presentations now available on the event website.  I look forward to representing SAP and participating in the 2014 CAR MBS, to be held August 4 – 7 next year.   If you would like to learn more about SAP, please visit our SAP Automotive website or feel free to contact me directly at joyce.swanke@sap.com.

Photo Illustration:  Courtesy Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Management Briefing Seminars.

As I was reading this blog on the sharing economy...http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/cloud-computing/welcome-sharing-economy-rent-new-0467455... I was faced with two realities. 

The first reality is that perceptions are indeed changing...what was important or even a right of passage, so to speak, owning a car, is not always so important today.  And as new vehicle acquisition costs continue to rise, leading to longer finance terms, many people are priced out of the market, especially the younger generations whose purchasing power is not so mature.  The concept of "renting being the new owning" makes some degree of business sense.  It allows for "use" when it appropriate and avoids the cost of a vehicle sitting in a driveway.  Even more sensible in dense metropolitan areas where congestion and storage costs are significant.

There are many new business models to accommodate the new trends...http://www.zipcar.com/...being one that is hugely successful in metro areas. http://www.redrideapp.com/ presents availability and cost of shared or rented transportation.  These are clear indicators of a shift for some towards transportation as a service rather than a vehicle ownership proposition.

The second reality for an old car guy is much more comforting.  I was pointedly reminded by a customer that despite changing transportation expectations, perspectives and even new business models there are a few facts that remain unchanged and will likely continue unchanged for quite some time.

Cars and trucks, whether they be entry level, mid-level, or luxury, small amounts of innovation or vast, have to be engineered and designed.  The design and R&D efforts of car makers will continue to create new and innovative vehicles that customers want.   Whether the desire is owning a vehicle or just using a vehicle when needed the market of customers will drive the design of new vehicles...nothing really changes!

These innovative designs then have to be built!  The sourcing of components, albeit with networked efficiency, remains a necessary process.  Assembling those components into the finished vehcile will continue.  Efficiencies will emerge, new ways of manufacture will come, but in the end vehicles will continue to be assembled and shipped to distribution and sales points...nothing really changes!

And finally cars must be sold and serviced.  Whether they are sold to people who continue in the ownership model or if they go to the ZipCars of the world that deliver transportation as a service...they still have to be sold, to individuals or companies.  And they have to be serviced just as today.  Automotive distributors and dealers will remain viable for a very long time...nothing really changes!

So as much as the world changes, it also remains very much the same!  Change is good, stability is comforting!

Hi,

Please assist me with the following problem.  I have a requirement to post the net amount of multiple items in my claim ie, MAT, FR and SUBL to a single GL Account. 

Please see attachment with details of Pricing Procedure, Claim Item Pricing Detail and Claim GL Posting.

Your assistance is highly appreciated.

Regards

Vogie Perumal

I was recently speaking with the CIO of a major heavy equipment dealer in Canada, and he made the comment that telematics was completely changing the game.  I have known this particular individual for a few years and know that he is not someone who throws around over-used, ambiguous expressions, so I  was intrigued.

He was talking about the ability to gather data (i.e. engine temp, oil pressure, emissions data) from a truck or machine remotely, and then doing something with the data that would provide value to the manufacturer, the dealers, and ultimately to the owner of the truck or equipment.

(Click here to access the SAP whitepaper Leveraging Telematics to Improve Customer Relationships and Product Reliability)

So where does this value come from?  How can the data be used?  Does this replace existing business processes or complement them?

So we began discussing the possibilities for how the data could be used.  The first thing we talked about was the ability to gather machine performance data in order to answer question such as “Is this machine performing the way it was designed to perform?” or “Do all of our machines run like this one?” and “What about the machines operating in Texas?”  So these questions were all about retaining machine performance history and being able to analyze the data.  Read “Big Data” here.

But what if we found a trend or a correlation between performance characteristics and machine failures?  We could effectively monitor machines in
real-time and send alerts to interested parties when a machine appeared to be nearing failure.  Or maybe just monitor a machine to see if it’s being used or misused.  A dealer that rents equipment could monitor its use while out on rental.

But what about avoiding product failures all together by fixing design issues or manufacturing issues.  Sometimes the hard part is determining the root cause of the failure.  Some companies are looking at warranty analysis as a way to discover chronic product issues.  The problem with this is that the warranty
data will tell you what work was done to fix the problem, but won't tell you why the problem occured.

The machine data can be used to better understand what was going on with that machine before it needed repair.  For example, engine water pumps fail and need replacement.  So is the water pump poorly designed?  Or did the operator allow the coolant to escape causing the engine to overheat.  Maybe the pump didn't need replacement at all.  The telematics data can help diagnose the problem and better understand the root cause of the product failure.

And think of the potential impact this has on warranty costs!  If I can more accurately determine root cause, I stand a much better chance of permanently fixing the real issue, thereby reducing failures, repair bills, warranty claims, and the cost of downtime.

The point is this:  Once you start thinking about how telematics data can be used to improve products and service, you will likely think of more and more potential opportunities for this quickly-evolving technology.  As SAP gets further into the use of telematics data to generate benefits for manufacturers, dealers, and operators, we will see more and more new business processes that improve product quality and reduce costs, leading to more sales and higher degrees of brand loyalty for our customers.  This is truly a technology that could really change the game in the truck and heavy equipment industries.

Yes, it is called "Returnable Packaging Logisitics"

Documentation:

https://help.sap.com/erp2005_ehp_05/helpdata/en/ed/a4877b701311d288db0000e8214d78/content.htm?frameset=/en/a9/f10736adb6cd0fe10000009b38f839/frameset.htm

It is activated via configuration  "Activate Business Functions" >  "Enterprise Business Functions"

Although 2 lines are listed above, only "Returnable Packaging Logistics" requires activiation.

As you can see it is one part of DIMP - Discrete Industries Mill Products

Once acitivated the following menu option appears:

For more detail on functionality, please respond to post.