Official Training Courses/Certification: SCM 4.0 or 5.0?

[Former Member]

I am about to invest some serious time and money into SCM training towards the Planning certification to go along with my professional supply chain management experience (14 years automotive SCM and IT, MBA, but no SAP). I have searched and reviewed the previous threads on the forum regarding the certification process. Thank you all for the insights. But a few more questions...

I am starting from the beginning. What is a better choice for me...SCM 4.0 or 5.0 path? I see the recommended courses are nearly identical. The only difference being:

• 4.0 lists SCM130 R/3 Planning and Manufacturing and SCM 240 Production Planning

• 5.0 lists SCM 220 Demand Planning and SCM 230 Supply Network Planning

I can afford to take 3 of those 4 courses along with SCM 200, SCM 212, and SCM 250. Like I said, serious time and serious money.

Being quite new to SAP, I am leaning towards SCM130 to help round out my overall understanding of how SAP manages manufacturing. My other choices would be SCM 220 and SCM 230.

Can anyone offer me some perspective?

Thank you,

Brian

[Former Member]

In addition to all the APO or SCM 4.0 / SCM 5.0 courses recommended here, I would recommend you to consider getting some training in basic R/3 PP or PP-PI - ECC 5.0 / ECC 6.0.

It will be very difficult to handle SCM 4.0 / SCM 5.0 job opportunities without clear understanding of basic R/3 PP / PP-PI experience.

Good luck.

[Former Member]

> In addition to all the APO or SCM 4.0 / SCM 5.0

> courses recommended here, I would recommend you to

> consider getting some training in basic R/3 PP or

> PP-PI - ECC 5.0 / ECC 6.0.

>

> It will be very difficult to handle SCM 4.0 / SCM 5.0

> job opportunities without clear understanding of

> basic R/3 PP / PP-PI experience.

>

> Good luck.

Yes, I agree that I need some "foundation" training of some sort. Would you recommend SCM130 R/3 Planning and Manufacturing Overview or SCM 240 Production Planning to get this training, or is there another course you think would be more appropriate?

Thank you,

Brian

[Former Member]

I think you should choose the training based on

a) which part of planning you would be interested in,

b) what is more relevant and would leverage on your current SCM experience and c) where you see possible projects coming up in the near future

Among the popular areas, On one end is Demand planning and SNP and on the other end is SNP and PPDS.

Then you have GATP and TPVS which are quite niche and growing in demand

Also you need to consider the fact that PPDS/GATP would need a bit of R3 exposure or knowledge.

I would suggest you start with the DP and SNP and move to PPDS once you are comfortable with these areas.

Or go straight to SNP and PPDS and ignore DP for now (or do it by self learning). if you do so its a good idea to get some idea about Masterdata in R3 and Core interface as well.

I dont really think the version matters except for the sake of certification (which i dont have experience with )

hope that helps

[Former Member]

Thank you, Harish. That helps to clarify. Let me simplify my core question. I plan to take these courses for sure: SCM200, SCM212, SCM220, SCM230 and SCM250.

I can afford one other course. Which of these two will benefit me the most:

SCM130 R/3 Planning and Manufacturing Overview

SCM240 Production Planning

I am also doing plenty of self-study. I just wish to maximize my learning when spending my time and money on official training courses.

Thank you,

Brian

[Former Member]

I would opt for SCM240 since it goes well with SCM250

Am sure those who took the exam will give u some good advice on this too

... yeah thats a lot of time and money involved:)

good luck

Feel free to post questions and doubts here and I believe it helps

[Former Member]

> I would opt for SCM240 since it goes well with

> SCM250

> Am sure those who took the exam will give u some good

> advice on this too

>

> ... yeah thats a lot of time and money involved:)

> good luck

> Feel free to post questions and doubts here and I

> believe it helps

Yes, Harish. It is indeed a substantial amount of time and money, and a big decision for me. I think that is why I am asking so many questions! I am reading and researching as much as I can (SAP Help portal, SAP Press Books etc), but it is still unclear to me at times which way to go.

The business processes and concepts are very familiar to me given my professional supply chain experience. I am confident that I have the business and technical experience to handle it all; it is just a matter of me learning how SAP implements and manages these concepts. Thus, my commitment to training.