Supplier On-boarding

[Former Member]

Hi,

We are considering to make use of Supplier Manageent module to be used for achieving the supplier registration and supplier on boarding functionalities.

Now we have a requirement that once the vendor is created in the SAP Sourcing, this object is required to have an approval flow and on completion of the approval, the vendor data is required to be published to SAP ECC. The WF requireent is to have a parallel approval workflow with all the stake holders.

The other requirement is to consider the possibility to push the created vendor to SAP MDM for validation of the vendor data and then syndicated to other system.

Can the above requirements can be achieved in SAP Sourcing 7.0. Pointer towards this will be highly appreciated.

Rgds,

Madhan

[vikram_shanmugasundaram]

Hi Madhan,

In Sourcing 7.0, we have added approval workflow for vendors. For parallel workflow, you would have to create a user group and use addApprover method by passing the rule(all approvers must approve). You can find more details on how to use this method in the workflow guide available on the SMP.

Once the vendor is approved, using the standard integration, the vendor can be published to ECC.

Re: publishing vendors to MDM, I believe MDM accepts csv as input file. You could develop a report in Sourcing and run the report on a periodic basis using schedule tasks and push it to MDM.

Hope this helps.

Vikram

[Former Member]

Thanks Vikram for your reply.

Is it possible that SAP Sourcing can consume the data services of SAP MDM to validate the vendor in Supplier Management before it is getting created.

And is it possible the SAP Sourcing consume additional external web services like D&B for enriching the vendor data in SAP Sourcing.

Pointers towards this will be appreciated.

Rgds,

Madhan

[vikram_shanmugasundaram]

If I understand correctly, you want Sourcing to connect to MDM to perform real time validation before pushing the supplier records from Sourcing to MDM. Is that correct? May be if you could provide additional info on capabilities of MDM data services, I might be able to suggest a solution.

Yes, Sourcing can consume web service. You could use Apache Axis java library to call a web service. The java classes need to be compiled into a custom jar and deployed along with Sourcing jars. I presume yours is an on-premise system. If you are an on-demand customer, custom jars may not be an option.

Vikram

[Former Member]

Thanks Vikram,

What are the functionalities delivered in SAP Sourcing 7.0 supplier management module when compared with SAP E-Sourcing 5.1.

If my client decides to go ahead with upgrad to SAP Sourcing 7.0, then what the points to be taken into consideration for upgrade.

Your inputs will be highly appreciated.

Rgds,

Madhan

[vikram_shanmugasundaram]

Hi Madhan,

In 7.0, the key enhancement in Supplier Management is Supplier Approval Workflow. It works the same way as contract and project workflow. The configuration is also very similar. You create Supplier Types which can be assigned to a Supplier Configurable Phase Definition. Create a Workflow Definition and tie it to a phase.

Other enhancements are Multiple ERP Integration and Supplier Scorecard Dashboards.

Vikram