Product Replication

Before starting the materials download from the ERP System to the CRM System, you must make the product hierarchy settings. Materials from the ERP System are downloaded to the R3PRODSTYP product hierarchy as standard.

CRM:

  • Assign hierarchies to applications

    The product hierarchy required for materials must be assigned to the Product application using this transaction. When material types are downloaded from the ERP System, these are then downloaded to the product hierarchy specified.

    Caution Caution

    If you do not want to perform the download to the R3PRODSTYP product hierarchy, read SAP note 432 339 (point 4).

    End of the caution.

  • Perform the DNL_CUST_PROD1 middleware object download for material types (Transaction R3AS).

  • Perform the Material middleware object download for materials (Transaction R3AS).

    Caution Caution

    The attribute values used in the material master records (such as the item category group) must appear with the same name in the CRM Customizing settings.

    End of the caution.
Define Rate Products:

Rate products are characterized by the fact that attributes that are defined individually are assigned to them. These attributes are evaluated during contract creation and can be enhanced, changed and evaluated subsequently both manually and automatically. A template installed base is assigned to the product in the CRM System for this purpose. During contract creation, the individual object for the product ordered (telephone connection, GSM contract etc) is created in the template installed base.

Attribute values are saved in this individual object, which is listed in the object list for the corresponding contract item. The contract item can therefore be used to access the saved data.

Example Example

Assign a template installed base to “GSM Standard Rate” product definition. This template installed base contains the “telephone number”, “SIM card number”, and “call forwarding” attributes. The user can only define these attributes during contract creation (individual object).

Attributes are used during distribution in other systems, to activate the network with the corresponding additional services (via the billing system) or to block the corresponding telephone numbers in the network during dunning runs following replication in the RM-CA System.

End of the example.
Definition of a Template Installed Base

Attributes in an installed base can be structured as follows:

A product provides a customer with one or more services for selection. Each service consists of one basic service (such as a telephone, Internet connection) and any additional services required (such as call forwarding). Each of these services can now contain attributes. One example of this type of division could be as follows:

Set Up Template Installed Base

  • Create attributes

    Choose the following in the SAP Menu: Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Products Next navigation step Maintain Set Types and Attributes End of the navigation path (Transaction COMM_ATTRSET). You create all attributes here that are required subsequently for the product.

  • Create set types

    Use the COMM_ATTRSET transaction to create a set type for the basic service, which has the product product type, and must contain the SAP_PRIMARY attribute. This attribute is used in a template installed base with several services to define one of these services as the primary service. You must also assign the SAP_BUS_AGREE attribute to the set type.

    You must add the SAP_ACTIVE attribute to the set types for additional services. This attribute enables the same set types to be used for products that offer the same service but different combinations of additional services. Additional attributes defined by SAP are not displayed in the user interface and are not offered by API modules for processing.

  • Create object family

    Set types for a service (basic and any additional services) are combined in an object family. This is done using the COMC_PR_OBJ_FAM transaction. You must the create a category of the “Material” product type within the product basic hierarchy. Choose the following in the Easy Access menu: M aster Data → Product → Maintain Categories and Hierarchies .

    A category is then created within the product basic hierarchy. This category is assigned to the object family created in the previous step using the COMMPROBJ transaction.

    To ensure that the object family can be used within the template installed base, you must create a corresponding installed base category type and assign the object family to it. Choose the following in the Customizing settings for Start of the navigation path Customer Relationship Management: Master Data Next navigation step Installed Base Next navigation step Installed Base Category Next navigation step Define Installed Base Category. End of the navigation path

    When defining the installed base category, you should assign the “admissible components” 0001 Product, 0004 Text component and 0030 individual CRM object.

    You can only use the object family in the installed base category required if you make the assignment in the Customizing settings. To do so, choose the following: Start of the navigation path Customer Relationship Management Next navigation step Master Data Next navigation step Installed Base Next navigation step Individual Objects/Object Family Next navigation step Assign Object Families to Installed Base Categories. End of the navigation path

    Detailed information on object family maintenance is available in the documentation for the Individual Objects/Object Family Customizing step under: Start of the navigation path Customer Relationship Management Next navigation step Master Data Next navigation step Installed Base. End of the navigation path

  • Create default installed base

    Access transaction IB51 and choose the installed base categories for which you have released the object family (standard installed base category IT).

    Create an individual object on the Object tab page. Enter the object family and an object identification. Choose Enter . The object appears in the hierarchy display. Select the object and choose the Component details button . The system displays the attributes for the object. Use the primary basic service attribute to select the primary service if several objects are created. The system, assigns the value X to a single object within a template installed base. The value N must be assigned to other objects in this attribute for technical reasons.

    The Additional service active attributes are used to activate and deactivate additional services. The following applies to the remaining attributes: The system displays the values entered in the template installed base as default values during processing.

    Example Example

    The following diagram shows the links that exist between the individual components. Assign a template installed base to the product, which is defined on an individual basis during contract creation. You have created the template installed base using a separate template installed base category. Assign the object family required, which contains the set types and their attributes that you defined previously, to this installed base category.

    The SAP_PRIMARY and SAP_BUS_AGREE attributes are supplied as standard. These must be found in the primary set type. The SAP_ACTIVE attribute that is also supplied must be assigned to each additional service.

    The standard set types provided by SAP are 0298 and 0299.

    End of the example.
Use of the Installed Base

  • Assign template installed base to a product

    Choose the following in the Customizing settings for Customer Relationship Management : Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Object Management (Telecommunication-Specific) Next navigation step Settings for Telecommunications Products Next navigation step Assign Individual Objects and External Product Descriptions. End of the navigation path

    Products can be mapped to an external billing/provisioning system here. The external product ID for the respective system must be entered for the respective product. This entry is optional and is only required if an external system is to be connected via the XML interface.

  • Make enhanced settings for the set types and attributes:

    Choose the following in the Customizing settings for Customer Relationship Management: Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Object Management (Telecommunication-Specific) Next navigation step Settings for Telecommunications Products Next navigation step Assign Set Types, Attributes and Services. End of the navigation path

    For more information , see the documentation for this Customizing activity.

  • Maintain set types

    Create an entry for each set type used in the Set types dialog and enter the basic set type for additional set types in the Higher-Level Set Type field. A service name can be assigned for the set type, which is relevant for communication with external systems. The Optional field selects set types whose attributes do not contain any mandatory entries.

  • Maintain attributes

    Create an entry for each attribute used in the Attributes dialog. An external name can be assigned for the attribute, which is relevant for communication with external systems. Several attributes can be grouped as a bar of radio buttons provided that they have been defined as checkbox fields. Attributes can be optional, not visible or not modifiable.

    You must select one attribute as an ID characteristic and one as a group characteristic for each basic set type. The ID characteristic must be an attribute that identifies the contract uniquely (such as the main telephone number). The group characteristic should be identical for all objects within the installed base.

    Function modules can be specified at three points during attribute maintenance:

    • Values function module

      This module is accessed prior to attribute maintenance and returns a list of admissible values for the attribute in question, which the user is offered during attribute maintenance. However, this option should only be used for values to be determined dynamically. The functionality in the attribute values table should be used for fixed values (Example ISTCRM_ATTR_VALUE_EXAMPLE ).

    • Check function module

      This module is accessed once the user has requested a check of the values entered. The attribute value selected can be checked and if it proves to be invalid, a message with a description of the error can be returned in an error table, which is displayed in the interface. Attribute values are only accepted by the interface once all attributes do not return any errors. This attribute is also a suitable point to calculate or determine other attributes from various attributes, which may not be visible in the interface. This is recommended for locations where the provisioning system expects to receive cryptic attributes that consist of several single values (example ISTCRM_ATTR_CHECK_EXAMPLE ).

    • Saving function module

      This module is accessed before the individual object is saved. This module cannot influence maintenance of the attribute. However, you can block assigned telephone numbers here (Example ISTCRM_ATTR_SAVE_EXAMPLE ).

  • Maintain attribute values

    A list of admissible values can be entered for each attribute in the Attribute values dialog. You must assign a unique ID to each value and enter a value and a descriptive text.

  • Additional settings for the product, external reference and billing cycle

    Three services provided by SAP are available in service mapping.

    • _SAP_EXT_BIL__, Dummy entry for billing data

    • SAP_EXT_PRD__, Dummy entry for product identification

    • _SAP_EXT_REF__, Entry for the external reference

      No set types and attributes exist for the dummy entries. They are only used to determine the external characteristic descriptions for the product ID, logical system and the billing date and frequency. These characteristic descriptions are used when the ISTCRM _IBASE_SERVICES_GET function module is accessed.

      In contrast to these entries, a set type should be created for the external reference, which includes the corresponding identification attributes for a contract. The ISTCRM_IBASE_EXT_REF_ADD function module can be used to save the external reference using the characteristic description recorded here.

See also:

Distribution of the Telecommunications Service Object