Using SAP : an introduction for beginners and business users

391 Pages·2017·26.64 MB·English

by  Schulz, Olaf

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Olaf Schulz
Using SAP®
An Introduction for Beginners and Business Users
Dear Reader,
The SAP landscape is broad and vast, and each successful go-live and employment
offer letter creates new beginning SAP users. So if you’ve ever felt tired of opaque,
confusing instructions, or wondered whether technical literature is actually written
in secret code, you’re not alone.
This book is your easy-to-follow guide to using SAP, from log-on to log-off. You can
leave your decoder ring and cipher at home, and instead rely on SAP codebreaker
Olaf Schulz for the tools you need to navigate otherwise puzzling SAP systems. His
simple explanations and screenshots will provide you with the smoothest software
guidance you’ve ever had, so you can move from feeling like an SAP newbie to
operating like an SAP pro.
As always, we appreciate your feedback. What did you think about Using SAP? Your
comments and suggestions are the most useful tools to help us make our books the
best they can be. Please feel free to contact me and share any praise or criticism you
may have.
Thank you for purchasing a book from SAP PRESS!
Will Jobst
Editor, SAP PRESS
Rheinwerk Publishing
Boston, MA
[email protected]
http://www.sap-press.com
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Schulz, Olaf, author.
Title: Using SAP : An introduction for beginners and business users / Olaf Schulz.
Other titles: SAP-Grundkurs für Einsteiger und Anwender. English
Description: 3rd edition. | Bonn ; Boston : Rheinwerk Publishing, 2016. |
Translation of: SAP-Grundkurs für Einsteiger und Anwender.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016051694 | ISBN 9781493214044 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: SAP ERP. | Integrated software. | Business--Data processing.
Classification: LCC QA76.76.I57 S3813 20164 | DDC 650.0285--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016051694
ISBN 978-1-4932-1404-4 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4932-1405-1 (e-book)
ISBN 978-1-4932-1406-8 (print and e-book)
© 2017 by Rheinwerk Publishing, Inc., Boston (MA)
3rd edition 2017
3rd German edition published 2016 by Rheinwerk Verlag, Bonn, Germany
Contents
1
2
About This Book ........................................................................................ 13
3
4
Part I The SAP Enterprise
5
1 Brief History of the SAP Enterprise .......................... 21
6
1.1 Getting Started: From Realtime Financials to SAP R/3 .................. 21
1.2 SAP from the Turn of the Millennium to the Present ..................... 24
7
2 How Does SAP Software Work? ................................ 27 8
2.1 What Is Standard Software? .......................................................... 27 9
2.2 Adapting the SAP System to an Enterprise .................................... 28
2.3 What If the Standard Isn’t Sufficient? ........................................... 30 10
2.4 Orientation toward the Process..................................................... 30
11
2.5 Real Time ....................................................................................... 31
2.6 Central Data: Decentralized Processing ......................................... 32
12
3 Overview of the Most Critical SAP Products....... 35 13
3.1 Complete Package: SAP Business Suite ......................................... 35
14
3.2 The Central Component: SAP ERP ................................................. 36
3.3 Maintaining Customer Relationships: SAPCustomer 15
Relationship Management............................................................. 42
16
3.4 Optimizing Supplier Relationships: SAP Supplier Relationship
Management ................................................................................. 43
17
3.5 The Entire Lifecycle of a Product: SAP Product Lifecycle
Management ................................................................................. 44 18
3.6 For all Supply Chain Elements: SAP Supply Chain Management ... 45
3.7 Industry Solutions ......................................................................... 47 19
3.8 Special Software for Medium-Sized Enterprises ............................ 48
20
3.9 The Next Software Generation: SAP S/4HANA .............................. 49
3.10 The Technical Basis: SAP NetWeaver ............................................. 50
21
22
23
24
7
Contents
Part II Basic Principles of System Operation
4 Organizational Structures and Master Data........ 55
4.1 Organizational Structures .............................................................. 55
4.2 Master Data .................................................................................. 62
4.3 Try It! ............................................................................................ 68
5 Logging On to the SAP System ................................... 71
5.1 SAP Logon ..................................................................................... 71
5.2 Logging On for the First Time ....................................................... 74
5.3 Logging On to the System ............................................................. 77
5.4 The SAP Graphical User Interface .................................................. 77
5.5 Logging Off the SAP System .......................................................... 83
5.6 Try It! ............................................................................................ 84
6 Navigating in the SAP System ..................................... 87
6.1 Overview of the Navigation Options ............................................. 87
6.2 Navigating via the SAP Easy Access Menu .................................... 89
6.3 Navigating via Transaction Codes .................................................. 90
6.4 Entering Data in the SAP System .................................................. 94
6.5 Input Help ..................................................................................... 99
6.6 Working with Sessions .................................................................. 100
6.7 Try It! ............................................................................................ 102
7 Maintaining the System Layout and
User Data ................................................................................ 103
7.1 Creating Links on the Desktop ...................................................... 103
7.2 Maintaining Your Own User Data ................................................. 104
7.3 Creating Favorites ......................................................................... 108
7.4 Prepopulating Parameters for Fields.............................................. 113
7.5 Holding, Setting, and Deleting Data ............................................. 116
7.6 Adapting the User Interface .......................................................... 118
7.7 Try It! ............................................................................................ 120
8 Creating Evaluations and Reports ............................. 121
8.1 Using Standard Reports in the SAP System ................................... 121
8.2 Finding Standard Reports .............................................................. 125
8
Contents
8.3 Exporting Lists to Microsoft Excel ................................................. 128
1
8.4 Using Variants ............................................................................... 130
8.5 Other Reporting Options in SAP ERP ............................................ 131 2
8.6 Try It!............................................................................................. 133
3
9 Printing .................................................................................... 135
4
9.1 Overview of the Print Functions .................................................... 135
9.2 Using Spool Requests .................................................................... 137 5
9.3 Changing the Default Printer ......................................................... 142
6
9.4 Creating Screenshots ..................................................................... 143
9.5 Try It!............................................................................................. 144
7
10 Automating Tasks .............................................................. 145 8
10.1 Background Jobs ........................................................................... 145 9
10.2 Batch Processing (Batch Input) ...................................................... 158
10.3 Try It!............................................................................................. 166 10
11
11 Working with Messages and Business
Workplace .............................................................................. 167 12
11.1 Overview of the Business Workplace ............................................ 167
13
11.2 Sending Short Messages ............................................................... 169
11.3 SAP Business Workflow................................................................. 172 14
11.4 Folders .......................................................................................... 173
11.5 Office Organization ....................................................................... 174 15
11.6 Try It!............................................................................................. 177
16
12 Electronic Data Interchange ........................................ 179 17
12.1 Overview of the Electronic Data Interchange Process ................... 179
18
12.2 Electronic Data Interchange in Practice ......................................... 181
12.3 Try It!............................................................................................. 182 19
13 Using Help Functions ....................................................... 183 20
13.1 Field Helps and Search Windows .................................................. 183 21
13.2 The Help Menu .............................................................................. 186
13.3 Customizing the Help .................................................................... 191 22
13.4 Try It!............................................................................................. 193
23
24
9
Contents
14 The Role and Authorization Concept ....................... 195
14.1 Authorizations ............................................................................... 195
14.2 Roles ............................................................................................. 196
14.3 Try It! ............................................................................................ 198
Part III Most Important Processes in the SAP System
15 Materials Management ................................................... 201
15.1 Materials Management Tasks ........................................................ 201
15.2 Organizational Structures .............................................................. 205
15.3 Master Data .................................................................................. 206
15.4 Purchase Order.............................................................................. 219
15.5 Inventory Management ................................................................. 223
15.6 Invoice Verification........................................................................ 226
15.7 Automatic Material Requirements Planning .................................. 231
15.8 Standard Reporting ....................................................................... 232
16 Sales and Distribution ..................................................... 235
16.1 Sales and Distribution Tasks ......................................................... 235
16.2 Organizational Structures .............................................................. 237
16.3 Master Data .................................................................................. 238
16.4 Sales Order Processing .................................................................. 245
16.5 Availability Check .......................................................................... 251
16.6 Complaint Processing (Returns) .................................................... 252
16.7 Standard Reporting ....................................................................... 254
17 SAP ERP Financials ............................................................ 257
17.1 Financial Accounting Tasks ............................................................ 257
17.2 Organizational Structures .............................................................. 261
17.3 Creating the Financial Statement and Profit and
Loss Statement .............................................................................. 263
17.4 Processing Vendor Invoices ........................................................... 267
17.5 Processing Customer Invoices ....................................................... 277
17.6 Evaluation ..................................................................................... 282
10