Fitter Snacker Clients for the
SAP University Alliance

Prepared by:

Bret J. Wagner, Ph.D. Director, Integrated Supply Management Program Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008

Phone: 269 387-5222 Fax: 269 387-5710 Cell: 269 271-9903 e-mail: bret.wagner@wmich.edu

1. Fitter Snacker Clients

There are four versions of the Fitter Snacker Database client available for Student Exercises. In this document, the term Fitter Snacker Client will be used for the completely configured Fitter Snacker company. In addition to the Fitter Snacker Client, there are three other clients that are partially configured versions Fitter Snacker Client that can be used to teach SAP configuration. These clients are copies of the Fitter Snacker Client that were made during the development of the Fitter Snacker Client.

The Fitter Snacker Client was created using the Dolphin Group configuration training document as a template. While there are significant differences between the Dolphin Group (and BPI) configuration classes, these are primarily in terms of the business context, although changes were made to make sure that each company in the Fitter Snacker Client was as independent as possible. The Fitter Snacker Client represents the fictitious Fitter Snacker Company that is used as an example in the textbook Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning[1]. Exercises for the Fitter Snacker Client match with examples used in the textbook.

Figure 1 describes the four clients and their roles. The Fitter Snacker Client contains 100 copies of the completely configured Fitter Snacker Company. Individual company data is identified by a two-digit prefix. For example, the Fitter Snacker company codes are 00FS, 01FS, . . . with description 00 Fitter Snacker, 01 Fitter Snacker, . . . as shown in Figure 2. Using the two-digit code as a prefix facilitates the use of SAP’s search tools in finding data. All Fitter Snacker exercises are designed to use the search tools to find customers, vendors, purchase orders, sales orders, etc. Students are discouraged from writing down document numbers as they complete an exercise.

The FS Phase 0 and Phase 1 clients are used for the Fitter Snacker equivalent of the BPI 1 and 2 class. The Fitter Snacker configuration instructions are divided into 13 modules and 5 transaction tests. The structure of the Fitter Snacker configuration class is shown in Figure 3. The FS Phase 0 Client is the starting point for a complete configuration class. The FS Phase 0 client is a copy of a an IDES system client 000 with some preliminary configuration activities performed, including:

Creation of a user masters Creation of the CHFS chart of accounts Definition of material master types Creation of material groups Sales and Manu

Student accounts for the configuration class should be created with the ZUSR transaction, copying the user config. User IDs should be named config-## to match course instructions.

In a copy of the FS Phase 0, students will configure the FI, MM and CO modules of the SAP

Figure 1: The Four Clients for Fitter Snacker Exercises

Figure 2: Company Data Numbering Convention

Figure 3: Fitter Snacker Configuration Class Process

system using instructions organized into 9 modules as shown in the left-hand portion of Figure 3. After modules 3, 4 and 5, students will produce a printout of their G/L accounts, vendors and purchasing info records, respectively, to demonstrate their progress. After Module 9 is complete, students will test their configurations with two sets of transaction exercises called TT1 and TT2. In TT1, students perform a range of accounting transactions as a basic test of their FI and CO configuration. In TT2, students complete the transactions to purchase, receive and pay for raw materials, validating their configuration of the MM module.

At this point in a typical configuration class, students have experienced a range of problems, typically due to a lack of attention to detail. Among the typical problems are the creation of multiple, identical vendors and materials. In addition, configuration errors in the first nine modules may not become apparent until the PP and SD modules are configured and tested. To give students a second chance, a client copy with the FS Phase 1 Client can be used to give them a correct starting point for the remaining configuration activities. The FS Phase 1 Client is a copy of the Fitter Snacker Client made during its development (Figure 4). The FS Phase 1 Client is a copy after completion of the activities in Modules 1 through 9 for all 100 data sets.

Figure 4: Fitter Snacker Client Development Process

One important difference between the FS Phase 1 client and a student-developed client that starts from the FS Phase 0 client is the use of externally assigned material numbers. For simplicity, students allow the SAP system to sequentially assign material numbers in Module 5. However, it is much more convenient in Modules 10 through 13 to use externally assigned material numbers. This allows students to type in material numbers when creating Bills of Material, for example. The externally assigned material numbers follow the scheme shown in Figure 5. This number scheme is used in the FS Phase 1 and FS Phase 2 clients, as well as the Fitter Snacker Client.

Once the student configuration has been replaced by a client copy from the FS Phase 1 client, they configure the PP module using the instructions in Modules 10 and 11, then test this

Figure 5: Material Number Scheme for Fitter Snacker Clients

configuration using TT3 and TT4. In TT3, the students set up and run MRP to create planned orders, while in TT4 the students convert planned orders into production orders, which they process to produce 7 cases of completed NRG-A bars. With both TT3 and TT4, the students produce a printout of the Stock/Requirements list for the appropriate material to validate their configuration.

After TT3 and TT4 have been performed, the students configure the SD module using the instructions in Modules 12 and 13. The SD configuration is validated by TT5, which is a sales order processing exercise that has the students sell snack bars produced in TT4 to a customer configured in Module 13. In TT5, the students hand in a printout of the Document Flow to show they have successfully completed TT5.

During the development of the Fitter Snacker Client, a client was saved after completion of Module 11. This client, the FS Phase 2 client, is useful for faculty members who want to introduce students to configuration without having to go through and entire BPI or Fitter Snacker Configuration. Starting with a copy of the FS Phase 2 client, students will perform SD configuration, and can then validate their configuration by running the Sales Order Process exercise that is part of the SAP Overview Materials. The FS Phase 2 client has 1000 cases of NRG-A and NRG-B bars in stock so that the SD configuration can be easily tested.

2. Fitter Snacker Client Overview Exercises

The Fitter Snacker Client has been used for SAP Overview Workshops since the Summer of 2004. Additional Exercises have been developed since the summer workshops of 2004. The exercises available from Innovation Watch for the 2005-2006 academic year are summarized in Table 1. Special notes on each exercise are given in this table.

3. Fitter Snacker Supply Chain Management (SCM) Exercises

Additional SCM exercises have been developed for the Fitter Snacker Client. A new version of the Fitter Snacker Client has been developed for the 2005-2006 academic year to support these exercises. These exercises, along with special notes, are summarized in Table 2.

Table 1: Fitter Snacker Client Overview Exercises

| |Overview Exercise |Special Notes |
|1 |Navigation Exercise |Can be performed any number of times as no transactions are |
| | |processed |
|2 |Sales Order Process Exercise |Can be performed by more than one student with the same data set |
|3 |Credit and Receivables Exercise |Involves configuration of credit |
| | |Table locking can limit access |
| | |(authorization profile part of trans user) |
|4 |Pricing Exercise |Involves configuration of pricing |
| | |Table locking can limit access |
| | |(authorization profile part of trans user) |
|5 |Accounting Intro Exercise |Some results may differ if other exercises like Sales Order |
| | |Process are perfomed first (noted in exercise) |
| | |ABAP Report RK811XST should be run before this exercise to avoid |
| | |errors |
|6 |Purchasing Cycle Exercise |These exercises must be performed in sequence. |
|7 |MRP Exercise | |
|8 |Production Orders Exercise | |
|9 |Forecasting Exercise |Requires ZFS_GEN_CONSUMPTION ABAP program to generate historical |
| | |sales values |
|10 |Human Resources Exercise | |
|11 |Low Carb Dilemma Case Enter |This is a case problem with 8 exercises. Exercises 6, 7 and 8 |
| |New Material Master Records |should not be done in a client if this case is to be used |
| |Create New Vendor | |
| |Create Purchasing Info Records | |
| |Purchase Splenda and Soy Protein | |
| |Create Production Data | |
| |Setup Sales Views and Prices | |
| |Create Sales Order | |
| |Process Production Orders | |

Table 2: Fitter Snacker Client SCM Exercises

| |SCM Exercise |Special Notes |
|1 |Purchasing 1 |These exercises should be run in order |
| |Purchasing 2 |Purchasing 4 Involves configuration of vendor evaluation |
| |Purchasing 3 |Table locking can limit access |
| |Purchasing 4 |(authorization profile part of trans user) |
|2 |Consumption-based planning | |
|3 |MRP Exercise 1 | |
|4 |MRP Planning Strategies Demo | |
|5 |Dynamic Forecasting |Requires Intructor to be able to execute ABAP program ZFS_FORECAST|

4. Close Period for Material Master Records (MMPV)

The MMPV transaction should be performed for company codes 00FS through 99FS for the Fitter Snacker Client, as well as the FS Phase 1 and FS Phase 2 clients.

5. Process for identifying the type of Fitter Snacker Client

The type of Fitter Snacker client can be determined by looking for the presence of specific master data. Figure 6 provides a flowchart to summarize this process.

[pic]

Figure 6: Process for Identifying Type of Fitter Snacker Client

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[1] Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning, 2nd Edition (2006), by Ellen Monk and Bret Wagner. Published by Course Technology, ISBN 0-619-21663-8.