The Advanced Planner and Optimiser (APO) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book provides an overview about the supported SCM processes and explains how to implement APO in a company. It is written from a long years'' experience in implementation projects and provides project managers and team members with the necessary know-how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book is on introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of APO based on the release mySAP SCM 4.1. Another concern is the integration with R/3, both technically and from a process point of view. Since APO projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are mentioned as well.

Characteristics are used in SAP as attributes, e.g. to specify the configuration of products or the properties of batches. In many industries – engineering, automotive, mill, pharmaceutical and foods to name the most typical – supply chain planning has to consider these characteristics. APO offers many different functionalities for planning with characteristics, where each of the functionalities has some prerequisites and incompatibilities. This book offers help and advice for the basic design of the implementation by explaining the processes and scenarios (process chains) for planning with characteristics, the functionalities for planning with characteristics in APO including their prerequisites and incompatibilities and the entities, dependencies and system configuration determinants for planning with characteristics in R/3 and APO. This book is based on the releases R/3 4.7 and mySAP SCM 4.1.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is not a buzzword like many others in management and IT - it is here to stay. "Megatrends" such as globalization and increasing specialization result in a complex division of labor at national and international levels. Lean and agile supply chains have become a major management target, and the interorganizational coordination of business processes has become highly relevant. The complexity of today''s supply chains cannot be mastered without the support of powerful information systems. SAP has established itself as the market leader in this type of IT systems. The book describes SCM using a pyramidal framework and relates it to the SAP SCM Solution Map. Desired features of IT support for SCM are formulated, and the extent to which SAP systems provide these features is shown. We describe the functionalities of SAP APO™ in detail, present case studies on implementing and running SAP SCM™ systems, and discuss SCM aspects of the new SAP Business ByDesign™ approach.

The Advanced Planner and Optimiser (SAP APOTM) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book provides an overview about the supported SCM processes and explains how to implement SAP APOTM in a company. It is written from a long years'' experience in implementation projects and aims to provide project managers and team members with the necessary know how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book lies in introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of SAP APOTM based on the release SAP SCMTM 2008. Another concern is the integration with SAP ERPTM, both technically and from a process point of view. Since SAP APOTM projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are mentioned as well.

The Advanced Planner and Optimiser (APO) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book addresses the question how to implement APO in a company. It is written from a long years'' experience in implementation projects and aims to provide project managers and team members with the necessary know how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book lies in introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of APO. Another concern is the integration with the R/3 system(s), both technically and from a process point of view. Since APO projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are pointed out as well.

The Advanced Planner and Optimiser (APO) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book provides an overview about the supported SCM processes and explains how to implement APO in a company. It is written from a long years'' experience in implementation projects and provides project managers and team members with the necessary know-how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book is on introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of APO based on the release mySAP SCM 4.1. Another concern is the integration with R/3, both technically and from a process point of view. Since APO projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are mentioned as well.

Characteristics are used in SAP as attributes, e.g. to specify the configuration of products or the properties of batches. In many industries – engineering, automotive, mill, pharmaceutical and foods to name the most typical – supply chain planning has to consider these characteristics. APO offers many different functionalities for planning with characteristics, where each of the functionalities has some prerequisites and incompatibilities. This book offers help and advice for the basic design of the implementation by explaining the processes and scenarios (process chains) for planning with characteristics, the functionalities for planning with characteristics in APO including their prerequisites and incompatibilities and the entities, dependencies and system configuration determinants for planning with characteristics in R/3 and APO. This book is based on the releases R/3 4.7 and mySAP SCM 4.1.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is not a buzzword like many others in management and IT - it is here to stay. "Megatrends" such as globalization and increasing specialization result in a complex division of labor at national and international levels. Lean and agile supply chains have become a major management target, and the interorganizational coordination of business processes has become highly relevant. The complexity of today''s supply chains cannot be mastered without the support of powerful information systems. SAP has established itself as the market leader in this type of IT systems. The book describes SCM using a pyramidal framework and relates it to the SAP SCM Solution Map. Desired features of IT support for SCM are formulated, and the extent to which SAP systems provide these features is shown. We describe the functionalities of SAP APO™ in detail, present case studies on implementing and running SAP SCM™ systems, and discuss SCM aspects of the new SAP Business ByDesign™ approach.

The Advanced Planner and Optimiser (SAP APOTM) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book provides an overview about the supported SCM processes and explains how to implement SAP APOTM in a company. It is written from a long years'' experience in implementation projects and aims to provide project managers and team members with the necessary know how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book lies in introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of SAP APOTM based on the release SAP SCMTM 2008. Another concern is the integration with SAP ERPTM, both technically and from a process point of view. Since SAP APOTM projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are mentioned as well.

The Advanced Planner and Optimiser (APO) is the software from SAP dedicated to supply chain management. This book addresses the question how to implement APO in a company. It is written from a long years'' experience in implementation projects and aims to provide project managers and team members with the necessary know how for a successful implementation project. The focus of the book lies in introducing modelling approaches and explaining the structure and interdependencies of systems, modules and entities of APO. Another concern is the integration with the R/3 system(s), both technically and from a process point of view. Since APO projects differ significantly from other SAP projects, some key issues and common mistakes concerning project management are pointed out as well.