Notifications (CA-NO) 

Purpose

The notifications in the SAP System are part of a cross-application component that allow you to record, process, and manage different types of information. This information, for example, may consist of simple inquiries to complex, specialized problems. You can use the notifications to process all types of information or problems that might be encountered in the business processes of your company. Among other things, you can use the notifications to:

·        Process complaints

·        Process maintenance requirements

·        Document malfunctions or exceptional situations in your company

·        Process inquiries or problems in the IT area (for example, when using the SAP System)

·        Process inquiries by or needs of individual employees over the Intranet

Implementation Considerations

You can use this component independently of other SAP application components.

Integration

The notifications are used by the following SAP application components or services:

Component / Service	Notifications
Quality Management (QM)	Quality notification
Plant Maintenance (PM)	Maintenance notification
Customer Service (CS)	Service notification
Project System (PS)	Claim
Engineering Change Management (LO-ECH)	Change notification
Feedback Notifications (SV-FDB)	SAP notification
Intranet	Internal service request
Internet	Internal service request Quality notification Service notification

The notifications are supported by the following SAP application components:

·        SAP Business Workflow(BC-BMT-WFM)

·        Document Management System (CA-DMS)

·        Generic Object Services (BC-SRV-GBT-GOS)

Features

You record the information or problem to be documented in a notification. Depending on the application area, you can record a notification in the SAP-System, on the Intranet, or on the Internet. When you create a notification, the system assigns a unique number to the notification, so it can be retrieved at any time in the system for further processing.

When you create a notification, you can choose a predefined notification type that is compatible with the information's business content. This ensures that the information be properly categorized and assigned to the proper person or department for further processing.

When you process a notification, the system supports you with functions that allow you, among other things, to:

·        Thoroughly describe, prioritize, and categorize the information

·        Deal with the subject matter in a logical, process-oriented sequence

·        Monitor the notification processing activities from start to finish within specified deadlines

·        Define tasks that can be executed, for example, to correct a problem

·        Communicate with persons or departments affected by the subject matter

·        Evaluate notification data

The following table summarizes the important features of the notifications in the SAP System:

Notification	Using these notifications, you can :
Quality Notifications	Record and process different types of problems that are related to or caused by poor-quality goods or services. For example, this includes customer complaints, complaints against vendors, and company-internal problems.
Maintenance Notifications	Describe malfunctions or exceptional technical situations at an object in the area of maintenance processing, request the maintenance department to perform a necessary task, and document the work that has been performed
Service Notifications	Record, process, and track problems received from customers or inquiries relating to customer service. In a service notification, you can trigger all work processes necessary to solve a problem (for example, specify tasks via a help desk or hotline support, create service orders to dispatch service technicians, or deliver spare parts).
Claims	Record any deviations in a project plan - for example, in terms of costs or dates - , identify the person responsible for the deviation, and define activities to correct the deviation.
Change Notifications	Record change requests for product data, which are subject to approval in your company as part of the engineering change management process. Using a change notification, for example, you can document design errors or make suggestions for improving products.
Feedback Notifications	Contact your responsible support group as a user of an SAP System, to receive support for IT-related problems
Internal Service Request (General information) Internal Service Request (Using forms)	Process inquiries or problems over the Intranet You can search for an immediate solution to your problem using the solution database or you can send a notification to the SAP System for further processing. The request can involve a general problem (for example, an office move) as well as a business request (for example, a request to change cost center master data).