Engineering Collaboration (SAP Library - Product Lifecycle Management (PLM))

Engineering Collaboration

Purpose

Engineering Collaboration makes direct integration of external and internal partners into a development process possible.

For product development numerous inter- disciplinary tasks have to be managed. For example, theses include the determination of product requirements, selection of suitable development technologies or the coordination of development activities based on the division of labor. Very important, is that the employees of a requested organizational unit or external partners have the relevant knowledge and ability in order to fulfill the necessary tasks.

Since the procurement of information is very time consuming, it is absolutely essential to communicate directly and informally with all those involved, whether they be employees, customers, suppliers or development partners. All partners require access to project information, documents and product data of all types and must be in the position to make comments and changes.

Features

mySAP.com enables project work to be carried out efficiently. With the workplace, you have a business orientated company portal, which, via an individual working environment on a web browser basis, provides the users with convenient access to everything that they require to complete their tasks.

Partners that want to work with the business scenario Collaborative Engineering only need a web browser. This gives you access to product and project data such as project plans, documents and product structures. The processing of project and product data can take place as a competition scenario or as a cooperation scenario.

Typical of a competition scenario is that the participants have no insight into the knowledge or processing status of other participants throughout the entire process. Within the bounds of the description, for example, each participant adapts the same processing objects and competes with the other participants for a contract.

In a cooperation scenario, all participants transfer their knowledge with each other and are automatically informed of the changes carried out.

Schedule of a Business Process

The following graphic illustrates a business process in which external partners are integrated into a development process. The following description of this business process illustrates how effectively the information and knowledge transfer takes place.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

Cumulation of Data in the SAP System

The project manager (initiator) cumulates the project and product structures, relevant to the current business process, in a configuration folder.

Materials, documents, BOMs and WBS elements are some of the objects, from the SAP System, that are important for a business process. For this activity, the initiator uses Configuration Management.

As soon as the objects have been cumulated and the processing status of other projects involved are made available, the project leader generates a copy from the processing status of the objects concerned. This reproducible processing basis for project and product data is known as a Baseline.

The planned project and product data is published on the Internet by the initiator of a project. From this point on, the project and product data from the SAP System can be found on the Internet server ready for further processing. The project partner (participant) is informed via e-mail. At the same time, they get the link for synchronous access to the Internet server.

Processing Data with the Web Browser

From the available information, each participant selects the data for which they responsible and saves it to their local hard drive.

With the frontend applications (such as CAD-System, MS Office) you can now start the processing offline. In this process, documents as well as assigned original files are often processed. For example, an engineer visualizes a CAD drawing and creates markups for his comments and notes.

Using a document search on the web, all participants in a project can expand the project or product information. You use known data that you either take directly from the document info record or that comes from the environment of the document. The full text search over the content of the original files reduces the search time considerably.

Transfer of Data to the SAP System

If the processing is completed, the project participants report back to the SAP System Internet server and move their changed data into the SAP System.

The original configuration folder is not changed. For the changed data, the system automatically generates a successor folder and then at any time, the initiator of the project can get an overview of the changes.

Before changed project and product data can actually be transferred into the SAP System, the project leader has to check the data again. For example, a comparison of the changed data in a successor folder with the data in the original configuration folder produces a list of the new or changed objects. From the overview, the objects that are to be transferred into the SAP System, are selected, checked and then transferred into the original configuration folder.
A log provides you with information about the data transfer and if necessary you can respond to errors.

Monitoring functions guarantee permanent project control for the entire duration of the project. At any time, the initiator can get an overview of the current processing status of their project and product data. Without wasting any time, the initiator can send the successor folders with the changed data already received to a review.

Documentation

Documentation on these functions can be found in the SAP library in the following documents:

Document	In the SAP library, call up:
Collaborative Engineering	Logistics ® Project System ® Collaborative Engineering & Project Management (CEP)
Configuration Management	Logistics ® Project System ® Collaborative Engineering & Project Management (CEP) ® Folder creation in Configuration Management