Transports and shipments
Send data better in SAP
The smooth exchange of information on transports and shipments is an essential prerequisite for a successful supply chain. In the automotive industry in particular, highly efficient and error-free processes are essential when transferring data between you as a supplier and your customers. With the right add-on solutions for SAP, you can significantly optimize and automate these critical processes.
Transparency and efficiency in electronic data exchange
Electronic communication of transport and shipment data focuses on the timely and correct transmission of delivery information. Every outgoing message, whether a transport notification, dispatch notification or shipping notification, is a critical element in the information flow of the logistics chain. Although these processes can generally be mapped in the SAP standard, they often involve considerable manual effort and are prone to errors.
ASN, EDI and OEMs
Electronic data interchange (EDI) is particularly well developed and standardized in the automotive sector. Advance Shipping Notifications (ASN) - also known as shipping notifications - play a central role here. This electronic advance information informs automotive manufacturers (OEMs) about upcoming incoming goods and enables optimum planning of production processes.
OEMs have strict requirements regarding the format and content of these messages, which poses a particular challenge for suppliers. Incorrect or late ASNs can lead to debit notes and financial consequences. In the automotive industry, these messages are typically handled via IDoc structures in SAP, which poses specific challenges.
Where are there problems with outgoing messages with SAP?
The SAP standard has some substantial limitations when handling outgoing messages. These gaps in the SAP standard lead to increased manual effort, increased susceptibility to errors and potential costs due to debit notes or necessary adjustments.
High time expenditure
Monitoring IDoc messages requires switching between different transactions, which takes a considerable amount of time and increases the susceptibility to errors
Unclear visualization
There is no user-friendly, central visualization of all relevant message information
Lack of transparency in IDoc messages
Contents of outgoing IDoc messages cannot be checked or adapted directly in the standard system
Time- & cost-intensive adjustments
Costly external mappings or extensive modifications are often necessary for format adaptations
Elaborate format changes
The migration to newer SAP modules such as TM entails format changes (XML instead of IDoc) that call existing processes into question
Do you know these challenges?
If you work with the SAP standard, you will often encounter problems with transports and shipments:
As a supplier in the automotive industry, you need to ensure secure and reliable electronic data exchange with your customers
You work with SAP ERP (ECC) or SAP S/4HANA and need better support for your transport and shipping processes
Your employees have to spend a lot of time manually monitoring and correcting outgoing messages
You are more frequently confronted with debit notes due to incorrect payment advice notes
WSW Add-ons: How to work optimally with transports and shipments in SAP!
Problems with the SAP standard
- Monitoring of incoming and outgoing data records is only possible in the standard system via various SAP transactions; there is no user-friendly visualization for all messages.
- You and your employees have a lot of manual work to do to monitor, adjust and process data records.
Functions of our solution
- Visualization and display of business-relevant data and all important information
- Access to all important data from the monitor and direct processing of data records
- A central monitor for all messages
Advantages with WSW add-ons
- Extensive selection options
- User-friendly visualization
- Immense time savings when processing and monitoring outgoing IDocs
- Easy to use in numerous departments thanks to selection and restriction options
Problems with the SAP standard
- In the SAP system, outgoing IDoc messages cannot be checked, monitored, changed or adapted with regard to their content.
- Alternatively, these interventions are usually implemented in a mapping or through complex and cost-intensive modifications.
Functions of our solution
- Converting the values of all IDoc fields to mandatory fields and their contents
- Setting options for certain values in target fields depending on the content of the source field
- Output options can be defined in the target field using various formatting options
Advantages with WSW add-ons
- Interventions in an IDoc structure in the SAP system are possible directly without an additional subsystem
- Minimization of debit notes for outgoing advice notes / EDI messages
Problems with the SAP standard
- SAP users migrating to SAP TM must note that the outgoing ASN, which was previously sent as SHPMNT05-IDoc, has a different data format, namely XML.
- Existing mappings that are designed for IDocs can therefore no longer be used. Instead, completely new mappings would be required.
Functions of our solution
- Conversion of the XML message to known SHPMNT IDoc
- Adoption of existing processes or enhancements despite switch to SAP TM
Advantages with WSW add-ons
- Further use of existing mappings possible
- Significantly lower investment than reprogramming mappings
How you benefit from optimized processes for your transports and shipments
Greater process transparency
With our add-ons, you always have a complete overview of all outgoing messages. Thanks to the central visualization in a clear monitor, problems are immediately visible and can be resolved directly. This creates security in your processes and clear responsibilities in your team.
Significant time savings
The daily monitoring and processing of outgoing IDocs is considerably simplified and accelerated. Your employees can concentrate on truly value-adding tasks instead of spending valuable working time manually checking messages.
Reduction of error costs
Automated checking and audit-proof adaptation of IDoc content considerably reduces the risk of incorrect payment advice notes. This leads to a significant reduction in debit notes and the associated costs and administrative effort. You also improve your supplier assessment with your customers.
Investment protection for system migrations
Especially when switching to SAP TM, our add-ons ensure that you can continue to use your existing processes and investments in EDI mappings. This not only significantly reduces migration costs, but also minimizes the risk of process interruptions during the changeover.
Seamless SAP integration
All our solutions are fully integrated into your SAP environment - both SAP ERP (ECC) and SAP S/4HANA. You do not need any additional subsystems or external tools, which simplifies administration and reduces total cost of ownership. At the same time, you benefit from the intuitive operation of our add-ons, which integrate seamlessly into the familiar SAP interface.
Do you need support? Let us help you!
