How Winshuttle can support and help to guide users · PDF file• Inter-company pricing and...

The information contained herein is, as far as we are aware, true and accurate. However, no representations or warranties, either express or implied, whether of merchantable quality, fitness for any particular

purpose or of any other nature are hereby made in respect of the information contained in this presentation or the product or products which are the subject of it. In providing this material, no license or other rights,

whether express or implied, are given with respect to any existing or pending patent, patent application, trademarks, or other intellectual property right.

Water in motion depicts

the purity of our

materials and the

dynamic industry that

we serve.

Standardize processes in a global business – How Winshuttle can support and help to guide users

AZ

AZ is a leading global producer and supplier of high quality, high-

purity specialty chemical materials, operating in the high growth

electronics market. We are a critical partner to the leading global

electronics players because our chemical technology allows them to

enhance existing processes and enables them to innovate new products.

Over 25 years of expertise in supplying materials to the IC (semiconductor)

and Optronics (flat panel display) markets

Strong and long-term customer relationships with all major IC and FPD

players

AZ EM - WUG Bruessels 2014 2 May 14

AZ - Global presence, Asia focus


Why AZ decided to use Winshuttle

In 2012 AZ changed it‘s messaging system from Lotus Notes to MS Outlook.

We also introduced SharePoint as our collaboration platform also providing a

solution to replace Lotus Notes Applications and Databases

Many of these Applications did relate manually with SAP.

We therefore searched for a tool to enable integration between SharePoint and

SAP

Further requirement was the ability to build applications in-house with limited

resources -> easy to learn and to use.

As we had a global project running which required huge mass data generation

and maintenance we also looked for a tool to support these tasks.

We decided on Winshuttle – mainly because of the easy integration with SAP

providing automation and low development efforts


Winshuttle in AZ

In AZ Winshuttle is mainly used for SharePoint forms and work flows with SAP interaction

• Purchase Requisitions – create and release PR in SAP (ME51, ME52, ME55)

• Inter-company pricing and conditions – create info records and conditions in SAP (CK11, CK24, CK74, ME01, ME11, VK11, …….)

• Intercompany Return Request – read original PO data and create Return PO (Query, ME21)

• Inter-company PO change request – read original PO data, create new PO; read, change, create contract (Query, ME21, ME31K, ME32K)

• Material Master Data – create new Material Master in SAP (MM01)

• R&D Sample Request – create Internal Order in SAP (KO01)

Applications with work flow only

• CAPEX Request

• Patent Application

• R&D project request

SAP Mass data upload /change on demand – used by Master Data and SAP team


Typical Challenges in a global company

Processes across multiple locations and time zones

Data storage – single point of access

People traveling without access to local servers

Language barriers

Global vs. local process

Global process but local requirements

Process flow build on people rather than on functions

Resources are limited

Data inconsistency


How Winshuttle can support - Business benefits

Processes across multiple locations and time zones

Introduce Work Flows with email notification, easy to trace and to check status

Data storage – single point of access

Data stored in SharePoint - IntraNet

People traveling without access to local servers

Notification and Feedback (approve/reject) via email possible

Global vs. local process / Process flow build on people rather than on functions

Developing an Application in Winshuttle forces the organization to revisit processes and standardize

them => one of the biggest challenges => Change Management

Global process but local requirements

Allow some flexibility in the application, don’t hardcode e.g. approval limits in the Work Flow or Form

itself

Resources are limited

WS can help to streamline processes and avoid double work due to linkage with SAP, however,

development and administration of applications does use more resources than we did anticipate

Data inconsistency

Provide user guidance by filtering values on forms, add checking rules.


Challenges during Implementation of Applications

Challenge Solution

The work flow is not clearly defined by the business

Sit down with users and develop the Work Flow. Try to

simulate the work flow with them. Especially ask them for

loops – review options – they are very often forgotten.

Users struggle to define a work flow on paper –they often

realize it isn’t what they wanted only during test. Difficult to overcome. Be prepared for changes.

Work Flow is based on people rather than on functions.

Take your time to work this out with users. Work out an

“Approval Matrix” with them. Keep approver names and

approval characteristics and limits in lists to have most

flexibility for changes.

People in charge can be defined only during the Work Flow

process.

Use the SV custom control “Workflow Participant” to

assign/change approvers during the work flow.

Form not clearly defined. In the best case there is an excel form existing which

basically can be rebuild in InfoPath.

Users not used to SharePoint – need to learn two things the

same time.

Make sure users are trained in SharePoint basics

(Navigation, open lists, sort/filter lists, ..) first before

introducing Winshuttle.

People involved more than once in a process but don’t want

to be notified for each task. Add marker on form and in work flow to control that.


Example – Indirect Spend Request – Purchase Requisition (PRS)

Indirect Spend – Old Status


PR

Data Entry

PR

Approval

SAP PM

SAP MM

Payment

SAP MM

Paper, Excel, Lotus Notes

Forms

Pay per

Bill

Paper

Form

T&E

Utility,

Freight

etc

SAP FI

Pay per

actual

usage

Paper

Form

Repair

&

Maintenance

- Customized request forms

- Paper based routing and approval

- Keep PR record and track the

status by paper or Excel or Access PO

Create / Approval

/ Release

Consumables, Utilities, Services, Lab and Office Supplies

Locations 1,4 Locations 2,3,5,6, …..

Indirect Spend – To-be Status


SAP PM

T&E

SAP FI

SAP MM

SharePoint + Winshuttle

Paper

Form

PR

Data Entry

PR

Approval

PO

Create / Approval

/ Release

Payment

Repair

&

Maintenance

SAP

MM

- Electronic workflow and approval replace paper

transaction

- Standardized request forms

- Database of all PR records with improved

traceability and accessibility

Utility,

Freight

etc

Pay per

actual

usage

After approval automatic link

Locations 1,4 Locations 2,3,5,6, …..

Consumables, Utilities, Services, Lab and Office Supplies

AZ EM - WUG Bruessels 2014 12

PRS – Item Data Section

May 14

Challenge here is user

guidance.

This is reached by filtering

the data in the dropdown

fields. For example:

• Cost Center is filtered

by „Department“.

• „Material Group“ defines

the valid “G/L Accounts”

• Pur Group is driven by

Plant.

A strong user request was

the option to copy an item

as in SAP. This is realized

by adding Java script to

the form.

Post into SAP in workflow without user interaction -> we need to ensure 100%

correct data.

Validation on form not feasible – we would basically re-create SAP logic.

Mandatory fields not defined - dependent on user entries.

Solution: Use of Validate option of the web service

The form can only be submitted if the SAP response contains “Success”.

Any data changes relevant for posting do reset the log field and thus require a

new validation.


PRS – Data Validation

May 14

Indirect Spend Process: Challenges - Improvement

Challenge Improvement

Very often indirect spend is covered by invoice only

without Purchase Order (PO).

• Spend covered by invoice only is difficult to

analyse

• No automatic Cash Flow forecast possible.

Number of spend items covered by PO increased -

> Standard SAP and BI reporting features can be

used

Without PO the invoice comes after the fact and

the approval process for the spend is unclear and

sometimes even skipped.

PO made mandatory above certain value. PO

approval required.

As main reason not to use SAP PO people claim

that the effort seems too high for the very often

relatively small value items in Indirect Spend Area.

Use form in SharePoint as single point of data

entry. Data entered only once – overall effort

reduced.

However, work load removed from Finance

Department but put on Purchasing -> Change

management.


Challenge Improvement

Different tools had been used for the approval

process including Lotus Notes, Excel or paper. Provide standard form in SharePoint - Winshuttle

Approval structure often very complex e.g.

approval defined by cost center – difficult to realize

in SAP => external process used.

Gather requirements for approval and implement

Approval Matrix in WS Work Flow.

In countries where SAP was used to control

Indirect Spend the data quality was still often poor

as SAP provides no user guidance for cost center,

material group and accounts to be used.

Once users find a working combination they tend to

use it whether it fits or not.

On the Infopath Input form we offer only valid data

combinations e.g. the material group defines the

G/L account. Choices are narrowed down and data

quality is improved.

In addition a validation check against SAP is

required.


Indirect Spend Process: Challenges - Improvement

Form: Build in InfoPath 2007 including ShareVis Controls such as Current user, Lookup

(Search function), History and Work Flow Participant.

Interaction with SAP on the form itself to validate creation of Purchase Requisition (ME51)

Interaction with SAP in the work flow after final approval to create PR (ME51), add Long

text (ME52) and release PR (ME55)

Work Flow build with WS Designer

Master Data stored in SharePoint Lists – faster than SAP lookup

Generated with WS Query and automatically refreshed via scheduled jobs, such as vendor and

material master – search options on the form

Generated with Query but manually adjusted – such as cost center list (filter the applicable ones

for Indirect Spend)

Manually set-up such as Approver lists, Material Group – G/L account linkage

Status Feedback from SAP – List generated with WS Query and refreshed twice a day.

Shows PRS request # - SAP PR # - Release Status – linked PO # - Delivery Status and

basic data such as material, quantity, value, ….

=> users can check all relevant data in SharePoint – single point of access


PRS – Elements of solution

May 14

Examples

The above is part of a form to request a Short Term Change in Inter-Company Supply.

The user can read the PO details and add requested changes on the form. The new values can be used in a SAP web service to perform changes in SAP after approval.

Read is realized with Query web part, change with Transaction web part. The web part fields are pulled into one repeating table to allow better visibility for the user.


Read and Change Data in SAP

May 14

User credentials on

form in order to use

SAP authorisation.

For maintenance of Local Master Data Views it is not possible to define a standard order. It depends on material type as well as on people in charge.

The user can select all views he did already maintain.

The work flow will check all views in sequential order but skip the task if the marker was ticked on already.

Work Flow is faster and users don’t receive multiple tasks for same material.


Same User may have Multiple Tasks or Approval Levels

May 14

Abstract

Standardize processes in a global business – How Winshuttle can support and help to guide users

AZ is a global company with production sites in Europe, US and Asia. Our challenge is to make sure processes are standardized across the globe but still taking local requirements into account. User guidance is necessary to avoid wrong or incomplete data and thus speed processes up. Another challenge are process flows with multiple persons in multiple countries involved. Examples are Master Data, Inter-Company Master Data, Purchase Requisitions, R&D sample orders or Supply Chain Requests. Learn how Winshuttle is used in AZ to streamline processes with and without SAP interaction, to speed up communication across sites and functions and helps to follow-up more easily.


How Winshuttle can support and help to guide users · PDF file• Inter-company pricing and...

Documents

Transcript of How Winshuttle can support and help to guide users · PDF file• Inter-company pricing and...