sap cpm training ,sap online training, sap commercial project management training
Sunday, 21 August 2016
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Using SAP Commercial Project Management for Engineer-to-Order Proposals
Each Engineering-to-Order (ETO) scenario starts with the quoting and selling of proposed end solution. Quite often, a preliminary offer must be created without knowing all the exact details required. Given all the different stakeholders in the various “silos” necessary to complete an ETO quotation, a strong collaborative effort is required. Clarification of detailed customer specifications combined with a typically high frequency of change requests makes documentation and traceability of various offer calculations challenging.
In many cases, quotations and proposals are generated using Microsoft Excel because calculation structures can be unique and most stakeholders typically know how to use spreadsheets, including the sometimes ominous and difficult to maintain “macros.” As time passes, numerous changes and updates are made to the calculations, making it hard for anyone new to fully understand the details and original intent of the spreadsheet. As a result, very few people really comprehend the underlying details of the spreadsheet and integration to the necessary process steps shown in the graphic below is not established.
Engineer-to-Order Processes from the SAP Industrial Machinery & Components Value Map
SAP Commercial Project Management (CPM) Offers an Excel-Like User Experience and
Full Integration to SAP ERP Project Systems (PS)
The recently developed SAP CPM solution has sophisticated functionality to address all of the end-to-end ETO processes in the graphic above. Although not yet widely known, SAP CPM is absolutely an excellent fit for ETO environments. The solution contains many different functional areas, and the most interesting ones for ETO as well as project manufacturing scenarios are the “Project Financial Planning” capabilities. With SAP CPM you can create a quotation or proposal using an Excel-like user interface that includes solid version control and comparative analysis functionality. Furthermore, unlike Microsoft Excel, SAP CPM integrates seamlessly with SAP ERP PS as well as all of the SAP financial and cost-accounting solutions.
Challenges for ETO and Project Manufacturers
The main challenge ETO and project manufacturers face is low project profitability due to inaccurate planning. Numerous manufacturers of complex equipment continue to use tools like Excel to provide quotations and estimates to their customers. These tools are typically not very well integrated to corporate financial and operational systems, making accurate planning nearly impossible. Because sales and engineering calculations are not adequately integrated to these back-end systems, data visibility, synchronization, and accuracy suffer greatly which can significantly erodes profit margins.
Benefits of a Completely Integrated and Easy-to-Use Application
The benefits of SAP CPM are clear. A completely integrated ETO solution covering all phases of the project lifecycle (offer > planning > execution) drives:
- increased accuracy of bid estimates
- greater traceability of bid estimates
- improved plan vs. actual comparisons
- higher project profitability
SAP CPM provides increased visibility and transparency of project-driven cost drivers, productivity, and profitability at your fingertips.
Scope Covered by SAP CPM
The solution enables the planning and forecasting of quantities, costs, and revenues across the entire project lifecycle, including the tender stage, baseline planning, and execution, enabling:
- high-level estimates during the proposal and forecasting stage based on flexible bill of material and bid structures
- detailed baseline cost and revenue planning with integration to project execution in SAP ERP PS
- planning support for resources, materials, expenses, and third-parties
SAP CPM “Project Financial Planning” User Interface
Conclusion
AT SAP, we believe that it is high time for you to check out the “Project Financial Planning” capabilities available in SAP CPM. Once you take a look at what the solution offers, we trust that you will want to retire your isolated, difficult to update and maintain Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and start using completely integrated end-to-end processes across all of the ETO projects in your portfolio.
Monday, 21 April 2014
Thursday, 17 April 2014
SAP Delivers Commercial Project Management Solution
While a high percentage of project profitability is determined at the bid stage, around half of all projects are not delivered to plan, according to SAP. In fact, on average 20 percent of project value is at risk. To help customer combat this challenge, SAP has launched SAP Commercial Project Management application, which brings front- and back-end project information transparency into one integrated system. The solution makes available to project managers, administrators, and executives one cohesive view into all project aspects to help enhance project control.
Leveraging the existing capabilities of SAP Business Suite software, the solution offers coverage of the holistic lead-to-cash scenario for projects, from selling a project through planning and delivery. According to recent performance benchmarking from SAP, more than 70 percent of companies have only limited capability to track project risks. SAP Commercial Project Management helps manage project value. It enables the creation of optimal bids by leveraging information from past projects and from best practices. Moreover, it supports stringent issue and change management processes in professional services, engineering, construction and operations, and other project-based industries.
SAP Commercial Project Management is an extension to SAP Business Suite and contains three packages: project workspace, project cost and revenue planning, and project issue and change management. It complements the existing functions in SAP ERP Project System and SAP PPM Project Management. SAP Commercial Project Management is not a third project management application but provides functions on top of ERP Project System and PPM Project Management, such as cost and revenue planning and issue and change management. The focus of the solution is to provide a usable and flexible application so that front-office users like project managers, engagement managers, and project directors will directly interact with the system.
SAP Commercial Project Management runs on the SAP HANA platform, is mobile-enabled, and can be used by companies selling and delivering projects to customers as well as those running internal projects. Additional mobile apps are also made available by partners—e.g., SAP partner Mindtree offers mInspect, a mobile app that supports the issue management component of SAP Commercial Project Management, and mWorkspace, a mobile app that provides key information to project managers.
Having been involved in (or at least informed about) many services projects, I don't think software is the real issue. If projects have small teams of experienced people, agile managers seem to continually fix the risks and are pretty close to “on time.” But, as companies have leaned out their organizations, they have lost lots of institutional knowledge and project staffing elasticity. As projects get broader and each department is challenged by lost institutional knowledge or the lack of experienced bodies, the risk becomes logarithmically compounded. Many companies have experts in risk and project management, and with the use of software such as this by SAP (or by Deltek, Oracle, etc.) they can detail risk and status. But they will have very limited ability to effect change if they cannot avail themselves of the proper human capital.
Leveraging the existing capabilities of SAP Business Suite software, the solution offers coverage of the holistic lead-to-cash scenario for projects, from selling a project through planning and delivery. According to recent performance benchmarking from SAP, more than 70 percent of companies have only limited capability to track project risks. SAP Commercial Project Management helps manage project value. It enables the creation of optimal bids by leveraging information from past projects and from best practices. Moreover, it supports stringent issue and change management processes in professional services, engineering, construction and operations, and other project-based industries.
SAP Commercial Project Management is an extension to SAP Business Suite and contains three packages: project workspace, project cost and revenue planning, and project issue and change management. It complements the existing functions in SAP ERP Project System and SAP PPM Project Management. SAP Commercial Project Management is not a third project management application but provides functions on top of ERP Project System and PPM Project Management, such as cost and revenue planning and issue and change management. The focus of the solution is to provide a usable and flexible application so that front-office users like project managers, engagement managers, and project directors will directly interact with the system.
SAP Commercial Project Management runs on the SAP HANA platform, is mobile-enabled, and can be used by companies selling and delivering projects to customers as well as those running internal projects. Additional mobile apps are also made available by partners—e.g., SAP partner Mindtree offers mInspect, a mobile app that supports the issue management component of SAP Commercial Project Management, and mWorkspace, a mobile app that provides key information to project managers.
Having been involved in (or at least informed about) many services projects, I don't think software is the real issue. If projects have small teams of experienced people, agile managers seem to continually fix the risks and are pretty close to “on time.” But, as companies have leaned out their organizations, they have lost lots of institutional knowledge and project staffing elasticity. As projects get broader and each department is challenged by lost institutional knowledge or the lack of experienced bodies, the risk becomes logarithmically compounded. Many companies have experts in risk and project management, and with the use of software such as this by SAP (or by Deltek, Oracle, etc.) they can detail risk and status. But they will have very limited ability to effect change if they cannot avail themselves of the proper human capital.
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