Midterm Review Questions Business Process Management
Describe key business processes in an organization
1. Procurement Process (buy) 2. Production Process (make) 3. Fulfillment Process (sell) 4. Lifecycle Data Management Process (design): supports the design and development of products from the initial product idea stage through the discontinuation of the product. 5. Material Planning Process (plan): uses historical data and sales forecasts to plan which materials will be procured and produced when, and in what quantities 6. Inventory and Warehouse Management (IWM) process (store): is used to store and track the materials 7. Asset Management and Customer Service Processes (service): are used to maintain internal assets such as machinery and to deliver after-sales customer service such as repairs 8. Human Capital Management (HCM) (people): focuses on the people within the organization and include functions such as recruiting, hiring, training, and benefits management 9. Project management Processes (projects): Used to plan and execute large projects such as the construction of a new factory or the production of complex products such as airplanes 10. Financial Accounting (FI) processes (track -external): tracks the financial impacts of process steps with the goal of meeting legal reporting requirements. EX: IRS or SEC 11. Management Accounting or Controlling (CO) processes (track-internal): focuses on internal reporting to manage costs and revenues
Explain the relationship between client, company code, and plant in SAP ERP. What are these typically used to represent?
A client is the highest organizational level in SAP ERP. Represents and enterprise consisting of many companies. Each company has a company code, which represents a separate legal entity and is the central organizational element in accounting. And a plant is an organizational element that performs multiple functions is relevant to several processes. It is the facility in which the following functions are performed: Products and services created, Materials are stored and used for distribution, Production planning is carried out, service or maintenance is performed. A plant can be a factory, warehouse, or a distribution center
What are material groups? How are they different from material types?
A material group is a grouping of materials with similar characteristics so that they can be planned collectively. Bicycles can be grouped based on how they are used, touring and off-road bikes. Materials are grouped so they can be managed collectively.
What is an enterprise system application suite? Describe the capabilities of the individual components of the application suite
An application suite is the combined collection of inter-company process-based applications and intra-company process-based systems. inter-company systems are processes that take place between and among companies. Examples are; supply chain management (SCM) and Supplier relationship management (SRM) systems, which connect to a company's ERP system to those of its suppliers. Then there is Manufacturing and sales, Customer relationship management (CRM) that connect companys system to those of its customers. Lastly is the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems that help companies administer the processes of research, design, and product management. An important note that one of the key benefirs of utilizing a complete suite of software is that the data and processes are integrated among the systems in the suite. meaning that even though they are separate systems, they are designed to work together.
Define Cross-Functional Processes
Each department within the same organization work hand in hand to achieve a common goal. No single group or function is responsible for project
What is a trigger
Every Process is triggered by some event, whether it is receiving a customer order or recognizing the need to increase inventory.
What is a business Process?
Is a collection of linked tasks that find their end in the delivery of a good or service to the client. Or a set of activities and tasks that once finished will result in an accomplishment for an organizational goal
Why is the Functional Organizational Structure important
It helps organizations run their business to the best of their ability. It provides clear hierarchy and minimizes confusion among employees and managers.
What are material types? Explain the four common material types in SAP ERP
Material types is a grouping of materials based on how they are used in a firm's operations. It determines what data must be maintained in the material master and which processes are permitted to use the material. The four most common are; raw materials (ROH) are purchased from an external vendor and used in the production process. an example from GBI would be frames, wheels, tires, and tubes. , semifinished goods(HALB) are typically produced in-house from other materials and are used in the production of a finsihed good. Front wheel asesemblies are an example of semifinished goods. , finished goods(FERT) are created by the production process from other materials. A finsihed good would be the deluxe touring bicycle. and trading goods (HAWA) like raw materials is purchased from a vendor, but are resold to customers. An example would be a helmet.
Why is the material master one of the most complex types of data in an ERP system? Provide some examples of data in a material master.
Materials are used in numerous processes in many different ways. They are purchased, sold, produced, and planned for. They are used in maintenance and service and in projects. The procurement process buys materials, the production makes them, and fulfillment process, sells them. They each require data about the material that they may have or may need get more have.
Which three business processes directly relate to creating and delivering products and services
Procurement Process (buy)- refers to all of the activities involved in buying or acquiring the materials used by the organization, such as raw materials needed to make products. Production Process (make) involves the actual creation of the products within the organization. This phase if more concerned with making the materials needed internally, where the procurement process would buy them elsewhere. Fulfillment process (sell). consists of all the steps involved in selling and delivering the products to the organization's customers.
Explain the document concept in SAP ERP. Explain the function of the four types of documents in SAP ERP
SAP ERP uses several different types of documents to record transaction data. Transaction documents: An electronic record of the data generated as a result of executing a business process step such as purchase orders, packing lists, and invoices. Financial Accounting (FI) Documents: An electronic record of the financial accounting impact, that is the impact on the company' general ledger, resulting from the execution of a business process step. Management Accounting or Controlling (CO) Documents: Documents that record the management accounting impact of business process steps Material Documents: An electronic record of material movements (good receipt, goods issue, stock transfer, or transfer posting) which shows the location (plant and storage location), material, quantity, and movement type associated with the movement
Define Enterprise Systems
Systems that support end-to-end processes and are essential to the efficient and effective execution and management of business process. Generally handle more than one operation for a company to facilitate its business and management reporting needs
Describe the functional organizational Structure
The blueprint of departments within an organization, each of which is responsible for a set of closely related activities. For example the accounting department sends and receives payments, and the warehouse receives and ships materials. Common departments found in an organization are, purchasing, operations, warehouse, sales and marketing, research and development , finance and accounting, human resources and information systems.
How are transaction data created in an ERP system?
Transaction data is a combination of organizational data, master data, and situational data. Examples of transaction data include dates, quantities, prices, and payment and delivery terms
Describe the client-server and service-oriented architectures. What are their advantages and disadvantages?
Architecture: the technical structure of the software or the ways that users interact with the software and the ways the software is physically managed on computer hardware. Client-Server Architecture: Is like a desktop application that you use a lot, like Word, or Excel, Powerpoint, or the Internet. These have 3 components or layers. 1) Prensentation layer how you interact with the application (menus, typeing, and selectin,). 2) application layer what the application allows you to do (create formulas or charts, compose a document). 3) data layer where the application stores you work (on your hard drive or flash drive) Service-Oriented Architecture: The technical architecture of an enterprise system that allow systems to connect with one another through standardized interfaces called Web services. They can integrate multiple clinet-server applications
Define the Silo Effect
The silo effect began when the different functional areas came to perform their steps in the process, without fully understanding everyone else's roles and steps from the other areas. To avoid this employees need to "think sideways" or view the business across all the different functional areas and focus on the big picture of the process and its intended outcome.
Briefly explain the three types of data in an enterprise system and how they are related
They are used to represent the physical system in which process steps, such as creating a purchase order and receiving goods are carried out. The three types are organizational data, master data, and transaction data. Organizational data is used to represent the structure of an enterprise. Master Data represents entities associated with various processes. Transaction data reflects the consequences of executing process steps.
Most documents in SAP ERP have a common structure. Explain this common document structure.
They consist of two sections, a header and a detail line item section. The header includes data such as purchase order number, date, and payment terms. The data line items has quantity and price that are specific to each item.