SAP Sales & Distribution in action

Optimizing Business Processes Using SAP Sales and Distribution

Todays business environment is fast moving and ever changing, one which
enterprises are constantly in a state of flux and must adapt quickly and evolve
in order to gain a competitive advantage. The new economy is defined by
global competition, widespread change, more rapid flow of information and
communication, increasing business complexity, and continual globalization.
Enterprises business processes must be defined by one which is efficient and
creates value through maximizing resources, productivity and profitability. As
an enterprise you must equip yourself with the necessary tools to meet the
demands of the modern business world and be competitive in the
marketplace. Many companies meet these demands by using SAP to optimize
their business processes.
SAP is a business solution comprised of many different modules equipped to
meet your enterprises needs. SAP Sales and Distribution is designed to
streamline and optimize your sales processes. It coordinates all resources,
information, and activities that are needed to complete core business
processes within sales and distribution; from quotations, to sales order, and
finally billing the customer. Using SAP SD data flow is more efficient, and the
information is consistent, reliable, and accessible. If software cannot grow with
the needs and requirements of a company, the company will find itself very
restricted. SAP is flexible and is designed to support and evolve with any
business process. Each implementation is unique and is customized to the
clients needs and their processes. Using SAP SD will increase efficiency,
improve productivity, and optimize profitability. Some basic functional features
in the SD module are: Pricing Shipping Availability Check Billing
Customer Master Data Tax Determination Material Master Data Account
Determination -Material Determination -Transportation Planning
Organizational units in SD represent the structure of an enterprise
organization. SD uses a range of organizational units designed exclusively for
mapping sales and distribution processes, such as sales organization,
distribution channel and division. The organizational structure is designed to
meet legal and business requirements of your company. These are clearly
defined flexible units designed to simplify and make explicit even the most
complex global company structures.
Master records play a significant role in the sales process. A master record is
permanent record that contains key information about a business partner or a
material. When an order is placed information is accessed from both the
customer and material master records. In SAP SD information is uniquely
defined within deferent sales organizational units which allows you to sell the
same product worldwide but with different master data, pricing, currencies,
and conditions supporting the individual countries requirements for sales. SD
enables companies to fulfill orders from all channels on time through
optimized manufacturing, warehousing and transportation processes. This
includes transportation planning, execution and tracking of individual
shipments using real time global availability checks. Order management with
SAP SD gives you the tools to complete your sales cycle with transparency,
from the creation of quotations, sales orders and billing. Billing represents the
final stage in the Sales and Distribution process. Information on billing is
available with preceding documents connecting it at every stage of the order
and delivery process.
Think of the sales processes in your enterprise at the moment. An order is
placed to one of your sales agents. How often will this order be entered into
various systems during the sales process; from sales, to the warehouse, to
shipping, to accounting? How long will it take for your agent complete all the
customer information in the order? Can your accounting department quickly
find in the system if the order has left the warehouse and whether to issue an
invoice? This is not only time consuming but it also creates the opportunity for
errors. With SAP SD, the process and master records are predefined and the
person creating the order is asked for only a minimum amount of information.
Order information is entered only once and is then updated throughout the
sales process and available to all relative departments. Whatever your
business process may be, from the initial order to invoicing can be automated.
To achieve this you can use scheduling of tasks and collective processing of
documents. Likewise you can place checks and balances on certain tasks to
be approved or reviewed before processing. Current and complete information
in any phase of the process is easily accessible. The document flow feature
shows a sales document and all subsequent documents relating to it. This
shows clear relations between documents in a proceeding sequence, so if
there is a mistake it can easily be found and corrected.
Consider this same sales order that has been placed. How does the agent
know if the material the customer is ordering is actually available and how
long will it take to arrive? If the material is not available, the SD system
interacts with the materials management or production planning module and
uses scheduling to automatically propose an availability date. Whether this
material is procured or produced all factors are considered in accordance with
duration when an availability date is proposed. If the material is available, a
delivery date is automatically proposed. The delivery date takes into account
processing time within the warehouse before the goods are shipped, and
takes into account shipping time based on type of transportation and route.
Special instructions or requirements may also exist for the customer such as
handling instructions, method of loading, packing, type of transport, shipping
point, route, payment conditions, or delivery instructions. These are
automatically taken from the material and customer master records and can
vary for the same customer in different sales organizational units and for
different materials.
All processes in business are connected and overlap with each other. SAP
Sales and Distribution is no different and integrates with a variety of other
business areas. Key integration modules with Sales and Distribution are
Financials, Materials Management, and Production Planning. For example,
during the billing process in Sales and Distribution by creating an invoice, the
system will create correlating accounting documents and post it to the
necessary accounts automatically. In materials management, to control
inventory a purchase requisition can be automatically created when a material
ordered reduces the stock below a specified threshold. When a material is not
in stock an availability date will be proposed based on production planning,
and the production process of the material will begin. Statistics are gathered
and reports are created based on sales information and are available to your
marketing department for analysis. Key information is passed to your CRM
solution and sales representatives allowing you to establish relationships with
and maximize effectiveness with every customer interaction. The integration of
other business areas and SD interacts seamlessly and is automated
distributing the right information, through the right channels, to the right
segments with real time updates.
SAP Sales and Distribution will give your enterprise the tools to compete in
todays global marketplace. By optimizing business processes SAP Sales and
Distribution increases efficiency, improves productivity, and maximizes
profitability. SAP SD does not limit you but is adequately flexible to support
any process enabling it to evolve and grow with the needs of your company.
Interaction between modules in other business areas provides you with a
seamless and transparent processes and flow of information. In any company
people are your most valuable asset. Not only does SD streamline your
business processes but also empowers your team by giving them rapid
access to information. Giving your people the resources they need to do their
work effectively and efficiently will have a profound impact and greatly benefit
your organization.
Author:
Brandon Martinovic
SAP Logistics Consultant