SAP ERP Business Functions and Industry Business Solutions
For SAP ERP, you have access to some special features in transaction SFW5. Here you have access to Enterprise business functions, Enterprise Extensions, and industry business functions.
You can also use business function sets to change your system to meet the requirements of industries.
For SAP ERP, transaction SFW5 covers the following three types of business functions:
Enterprise Extensions
These business functions are available for full releases of SAP ECC (up to SAP ERP 6.0). You use them to activate a number of industry-independent and industry-specific applications and business processes for each business function.
Enterprise business functions
You use these business functions to activate the developmenets for the enhancement packages. For a description of how the Enterprise business functions work, see Business Functions. SAP ERP contains both industry-independent and industry-specific Enterprise business functions.
Industry business functions
These business functions contain functions that belong to the industry enhancements introduced with SAP ERP 6.0. The industry business functions are part of the industry business function sets and you can use them when the industry business function set is also activated.
You cannot activate industry business functions of an industry business function set parallel to other industry business functions in an ABAP-based system/instance. Therefore, some business function sets are available where the requirements of several industries are linked with one another, for example, the SAP Oil and Gas with Utilities
business function set.
The business functions are grouped in business function sets in your ABAP-based ECC system. There are two types of business functions sets:
For most Industry Business Solutions, there is one business function set for each industry. You use this to change your clients of an ECC system over to the applications and solutions tailored for an industry. This business function set covers all industry business functions that can be used for an industry solution to be used exclusively on one system/one instance.
In addition to the industry-specific business function sets, there is a general business function set. This contains the Enterprise business functions and the Enterprise Extensions. These contain functions for the standard applications of Accounting, Logistics, Human Capital Management, and some additional industry-specific applications.
A business function set is activated when you have activated at least one of the related business functions. We therefore recommend that you activate the business function set when you start configuring your system, since the required industry-specific view of your Implementation Guide is only created once you have activated the related business function.
Note
You can only activate one business function set for each instance. You cannot reverse the activation.
After an upgrade, the business function sets that you had previously activated are automatically activated.
With SAP ERP you receive a series of Industry Business Solutions to support your business processes. You can use many of the Industry Business Solutions by activating the business functions and business function sets and using them to configure your ECC system to the requirements of the Industry Business Solution.
Within SAP ERP, the following types of Industry Business Solutions are available:
Industry Business Solutions deliverd as Central Component
These Industry Business Solutions are available immediately after the installation of the product instance SAP ECC; you do not have to activate a business function.
Industry Business Solutions available as business function set (industry enhancement)
You use the business function set to activate the industry-specific functions that change your ECC system over to the requirements of a specific industry. These business function sets are also available with SAP ECC; you do not have to install an add-on.
Industry-specific business processes or Industry Business Solutions delivered as Enterprise Extension or Enterprise business function.
Industry Business Solutions delivered as add-on
You have to install these Industry Business Solutions separately.