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SAP IS Retail Switch on manufacturing system

Former Member
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Hi ,

We have a scenario.

The client is currently running on sap 4.7 system . It wants to upgrade to SAP IS Retail ECC 6.0

Following two options are there:

1. Upgrade 4.7 to ECC 6.0 and then activate the switch

2. Activate the switch first in ECC 6.0 and then do the data migration and re configurations.

Please suggest the ideal appraoch.

Also what impact will it have if have the switch on upgraded manufacturing system.

Require it urgently.

Thanks,

Lisa

24 REPLIES 24

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There is no retail switch anymore since SAP ERP 6.0.

The activation of SAP Retail is done with the related business function "Retail" within the switch framework. Regarding the sequence, there is not a "standard" way, it depends on many things which are covered a 1 day migration workshop offered by SAP.

Edited by: Andreas Lueckler on Jun 17, 2009 3:14 PM

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Hi Andreas,

Thanks for your response.

Even if we activate the business function within the switch framework on an upgraded system (upgrade from 4.7 to ECC6), what impact will it have on the system.

Will all the material master get converted to article master, Plant master to site master.

If you can throw some light on what kind of impact will it have?

Regards,

Lisa

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Hi ,

check Notes number -

897714 and 904437 may be its helful for you.

Regards,

Amit

Former Member
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Hello,

you can also find general information about the Configuration as Retail within the SAP documentation link: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2005vp/helpdata/en/8e/6af23b54683721e10000000a114084/frameset.htm

Here you can also find an expaination on the Retail Terminology.

Furthermore - details about the Business Function Set Retail and it's impact:

http://help.sap.com/ERP2005_EHP_03/helpdata/EN/62/ac6e420c48c353e10000000a1550b0/frameset.htm

Take care

Markus

Former Member
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Hi all,

I have gone through all these notes , links etc .

However , I wanted to know , if anyone has actually done that - upgrading 4.7 to ECC6 and then activating retail.

Regards,

Lisa

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Question to you first:

It it correct that you do have a running system at this moment with NON RETAIL Master data and the according transactional data?

Now from this already running system with existing business data you want to switch to Retail.

Note: Let's leave the upgrade out of this - it does not matter to answer this question.

Markus

Former Member
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Hi ,

"Now from this already running system with existing business data you want to switch to Retail.". Yes this is right . Leave the upgrade aside.

What will be the impact ?

regards,

Lisa

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Hey you,

sorry - last week I asked for detailed information from the developer in this specific area.

No answer yet. I will call tomorrow - hope I get some info for you.

Sorry - maybe tomorrow.

Markus

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Hi Lisa,

Just to highlight some points which might cause hinderance in a "Upgrade and Then Activating Retail Switch" Scenario:

1. Site Master is an exclusive concept of Retail, which does not fit exactly into Manufacturing Systems, particularly more so because of Site Customer and Site Vendors. So, if you have current configuration as Plant, converting it to a Site Master might be a Trouble.

2. Material Master and Retail Article Master stores the material properties in the same tables. However, there are Retail Specific Tables like MAW1 and MABW, which will not have entries in your manufacturing system and this will create problems later on.

I can share my experience in a project where we took the second approach, i.e. Activate Retail Switch (Retail Content) first in a blank box and then upgrade. We did not strictly go through an Upgrade cycle; rather copied the configurations (excluding Site Master) using BC Sets/Manually. For master data (Excluding Material Master), we extensively used ALE, because the exisitng and the new Systems were both SAP Systems. For Site Master, we configured Reference Sites and created all the necessary Configurations based on those reference sites very easily. And believe me, we went live in 1 month (From the point of starting configuration)!! Obviously, the timeline depends on the volume of work, but this approach kind of worked for us.

P.S: To simplify the work, we can also transfer Material Master also through ALE, but in that case, we need to use a converter to convert MATMAS IDoc to ARTMAS IDoc.

Thanks and Sincere Regards,

Amitabha

Former Member
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Hi ,

Thanks for the answers. Still awaiting answers in the area.

Here are a few specific questions:

1. Is there a standard report that SAP provides to convers Plant master to Site Master? For material Master we have one.

2. Lets say we have activated the system (current system has MM, SD , PP running) - What will happen to the historical data (the orders). Also since we have MRP run in the current system, Will it continue to run in retail also?

Regards,

Lisa

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Hello,

I do have a quick answer for you regarding this subject.

SAP Development is working on documentation describing and solving this problem but it will be not available before the 17th of July 2009.

There are two typical situations:

1) CONVERT all manufacturing master data to Retail data.

2) Keep all current manufacturing settings and ADD Retail functionality.

1) Convert: The much more difficult solution of the both: You basically have to migrate all data from manufacturing to Retail. That is a consulting effort and there is an available SAP workshop you can attend. If you need more information about this solution u2013 either wait until the developer documents are available (which I or a colleague will post here in a u201Csticky noteu201D) or let me know so I can trigger the right people.

2) ADD Retail functionality: Maybe it would not hurt to step back and talk about what actually happened when you u201Cactivateu201D the Retail functionality:

Configuration as SAP Retail: Because we are activating a Business function set it is an add on u2013 what happens to you existing data: Nothing!

So, in other words: You are using transaction mm02 for material master maintenance -> when activating the Retail functionality you get the add on of transaction mm42 for article master data maintenance. And so on!

There limitations which you can read in the following link (material ledger and disposition (mrp):

Configuration as SAP Retail:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp2005vp/helpdata/en/8e/6af23b54683721e10000000a114084/frameset.htm

Bottom line for 2) You keep you historical data as manufacturing data and start with the creation and utilization of Retail data.

Also a nice link: Business Function Retail:

http://help.sap.com/ERP2005_EHP_03/helpdata/EN/62/ac6e420c48c353e10000000a1550b0/frameset.htm

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hi,markus,

Many thanks for your comments on this topic(retail switch), I also read these articles you recommend,got lots of sense from there,but I still have some questions:

1, I used sfw1 activate and swich on the "ISR_RETAILSWITCH" and SFW5 to activate the " EA-RET ",from the result, I can check all status is"active", however, I can't run some tcode such as MM41...

would you pls help me check it out what's the problem?

p.s,

when I try to use the "activate restart", one job can be defined and excute in background, however, the job will be canceld after some senconds running, from the job log, shows as below:

-


Job started

Step 001 started (program SFW_ACTIVATION_IN_BACKGROUND, variant &0000000000014, user ID sapretail)

Cannot access file
ECCIDES\sapmnt\trans\log\sapretail20091202092932

Job cancelled after system exception ERROR_MESSAGE

System: windows +Oracle

IDES erp2005 ecc 6.0

thanks for your comments in advance.

Former Member
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Hi Markus ,

Thanks a lot for the replies.

I will be waiting for the documents.

So you mean to say that , even when we activate the business function set retail , we can still use the existing MM , SD , PP (MRP run) functionalities involving material and plant ?

Lets say for creating a new PO , SO , or run MRP , we can use the existing material and plant data?

Regards,

Lisa

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Hello Lisa,

I sent you an private E-mail on the 24th. We need to take this offline and I will post the results and documents here when it is available.

You are interested in converting - which is the much more difficult and time intensive method. Colleagues of mine in Germany are specialized in this and I need to bring you guys together.

Write me back with the information I requested and I will inform my colleagues.

If you did not receive my E-mail: I need the company you are working for - The Customer and of course the nature of your business, what do you want to do. Also: Timeline - when does this need to be done.

The more information - the better.

Thank you

Markus

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Hi Friends,

I have same scenario where i have to convert ECC6.0 system to IS-Retail.

I have gone through replis but it talks about functional conversion.

Please suggest what can be done from basis side.

Thanks in advance.

regards

JIggi.

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Hi Jiggi,

please refer to SAP Note 1075202.

Hope it helps.

Regards

Tobias

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Hello,

Finally - we can provide you with accurate documentation in regards to this matter.

Please look up the two links below. One is a word document the other a ppt - with the same content but more visual.

Technology Facts Word:

http://service.sap.com/~sapidb/011000358700001074762009E

Technology Facts Slides:

http://service.sap.com/~sapidb/011000358700001074752009E

DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENT.

Configuring SAP ERP as Retail!

The knowledge about the technical details of SAP Retail configuration u2013 meaning the

knowledge about what really happens when you carry out the activation u2013 is not wide spread.

This lack of understanding often leads to incorrect assumptions about the SAP Retail configuration

and SAP Retail as a whole and sometimes even to incorrect decisions about whether a

SAP ERP system can or shall be configured as SAP Retail or not.

The documents provide a solid understanding of the SAP Retail technology facts

In particular, the documents describe how an ERP system is configured as SAP Retail.

They explain why SAP Retail is an industry solution and the distinctive software architecture compared with other industry solutions. The Retail-specific functionality is explained from a technology point of view.

PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK - so we know if those documents help you to understand "RETAIL".

BEST REGARDS,

Markus Semar

Former Member
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Hello Markus,

The documents are really good and a value add from the perspective of understanding. Also the information is a value add like SAP Retail in sync with SAP media and Oil.

Highly appreciate your efforts.

I have some more suggestions/questions on my original question.

If SAP comes up a document on what steps to follow after switching on retail on a manufacturing system , it would be great.

From our end , we have a done some research and we have got some findings.

Like SAP provides best practices for setting up the SAP Retail configuration in a sandbox system. In a similar way we do not have a standard recommendation from SAP on how to go about when we implement Retail on a Manufacturing system with all processes like SD , MM , PP,PM active.

For example, As soon as we have retail on this live running ERP box - we need to set up the org structure

1. Convert plants to sites manually - we do not have a standard report on the automatic conversions

2. We have to create merchandise categories again manually - we do not have a standard report on conversions here

3. For material to article master conversion we do have a standard report.

Some processes we tested were - variant configurations which does not work with SAP retail. And we encountered a lot of problems while converting variant configurations from ERP to retail.

Hence , if I may suggest so - it would be great if SAP comes out with some recommendation document on how to go about , it is going to be a value add.

I say this for the major reason that many retail companies have been running on ERP for long. They have been running the manufacturing processes also and have huge data in their already existing system. And now when they want to move on to retail , they are very cautious on how to approach - have new system and migrate things which is a painful job. Alternatively set up the original system as SAP Retail . Since SAP does not provide any standard approach on this scenario, clients are

looking for a solution in this area.

I hope you understand what I am trying to explain here.

Once again , the documents are definitely helpful.

Thanks & Warm Regards,

Lisa

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Hi Markus,

i have a question - is it possible to ONLY activate the retail environment for a single client (on a instance with multiple clients), and thus on the same instance have differnet clients running as ERP (i.e mix retail and ERP on the same instance BUT differnet clients) ?

Thanks

Jim

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Hi Lisa

How did you   resolve   your problem  to migrate from  sap   ecc to  sap  retail?

What did  you   lear about it ?

Former Member
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Hello,

Take into consideration that restriction (on PP processes mainly) that go along with the Retail switched are softer in ECC 6.0 than in R/3 4.7. Therefore, upgrading and converting afterwards seems less risky.

For the conversion, in ECC 6.0, you have two parts in the switch framework.

- The Retail Switch itself

- The Retail Business extension.

Be aware that some Retail Business Extension can be activated in a standard system. It can be interesting depending of your needs.

Once you are converted in Retail, you main concerns will be about Plants and Materials.

For Plants, SAP provides a Report to make the conversion to Sites. For Material, it needs to be discussed depending of what you want to do with them (do have production processes ?).

For the rest, Retail is mainly adding functionalities but you'll have to go through some testing, especially to take into account your specific developments.

Regards

Eric

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Hi

My client is currently looking at turning on Retail Functionality. Please could the relevant mod update me in terms of any issued best practice documentation since Lisa's last post. Please could you also provide me with as much detail as possible around reports and tools to perform automatic conversions.

An additional complication here is that the client is a service provider so can retail work with services?

Warm Regards

Brett

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Hi Eric,

at my current customer we are experiencing similar scenario as described above:

- plants already exist

  - Retail activated

We need to convert existing plants to sites.

You mentioned a SAP provided "report For Plants to make the conversion to Sites". Can you plz name it?

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Hi Dmitry !

How did you   resolve   your problem  to migrate from  sap   ecc to  sap  retail?

What did  you   lear about it ?