What SAP rapid deployment solutions can do for the midmarket

With the rapid-deployment solutions (RDS), SAP wants to make it easier for small and midsize enterprises (SME) to take on large-scale IT projects. We look at a solution for planning in SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM).

Lacking both the personnel to carry out large-scale IT projects and the financial resources to implement them, small and midsize enterprises often end up postponing projects, or canceling them altogether. But with the help of so-called rapid-deployment solutions, companies should be able to change this situation, at least in the ERP space, say SAP and its partner ITML GmbH. Relevant, pre-defined best practices for SAP Business All-in-One ensure that the rapid-deployment solutions are well-suited to the needs of small and midsize enterprise customers.

SAP RDS

Individual functionality

Rapid-deployment solutions are available for a wide range of applications. Each one is made up of the following components:

Software: preconfigured standard software from the SAP portfolio for specific business processes
Services: predefined services for implementation and training, with a fixed price and service scope by ITML
Content: pre-developed content, such as SAP best practices and templates for specific usage cases, and tools for implementing the solution
Enablement: manuals and training materials to increase user buy-in
The rapid-deployment solution for advanced production scheduling in SAP SCM enables customers to add detailed scheduling functions to their ERP solution quickly and with very little effort. This is based on the MRP-based detailed scheduling scenario and combines the SAP ERP planning processes with detailed scheduling functions from SAP SCM (Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling).

Planned orders created in SAP ERP are placed in the optimal sequence for production using the large number of scheduling functions and strategies available in SAP SCM. It is also possible to use the Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) Optimizer to determine the sequence, taking into account predefined parameters.

In order to reduce the workload for detailed schedulers, SAP SCM offers a function that uses individually defined exception messages to keep the scheduler’s focus primarily on critical situations. Less critical products are planned automatically. The scheduler then decides whether to initially store the results as a simulation or to pass the changes on to production when scheduling is complete. The results of detailed scheduling in SAP SCM then flow automatically into the current scheduling situation in SAP ERP and the production process begins.

Source: sap.info