Topic Covered -

1. SAP Internship Program Progress
2. New Team Members and Enterprise Structure
3. Business Expansion and Enterprise Structure
4. Indirect Procurement and Sales Activities
5. Creating Purchasing Groups and Storage Locations
6. Creating Separate Production Store Locations
7. Silo Locations and Production Orders
8. Understanding Business Processes in SAP
9. PP Integration and Sales Team Progress
10. Shipping Points and Business Blueprints

SAP Internship Program Progress

Parminder welcomed everyone to the SAP Internship program and introduced Akash, a new participant. Akash shared his 9.5 years of experience, primarily in project management and SAP consulting. The team discussed their progress, with Shilpi leading the project and Tashheer providing updates on enterprise structure and fit gap analysis. Parminder emphasized the importance of understanding the business and preparing enterprise structures. The team also discussed the need for more adapters and the importance of functional specifications. Usha and Ritu were tasked with understanding existing functional specifications and preparing for writing new ones.

New Team Members and Enterprise Structure

In the meeting, Ritu discussed the new people who had joined the team and their need for folder access and remote desktop access. Parminder clarified that these requests should be directed to the support team, specifically Aman and Bhupinder. Ritu also mentioned that they had finalized the enterprise structure and shared it in a folder, but there were still some unanswered business questions. Anshu and Shilpi discussed the enterprise structure, focusing on the cost centers and profit centers. Parminder advised them to remove the cost centers from the enterprise structure and track them as a master object, and to discuss with the production team about their work centers.

Business Expansion and Enterprise Structure

In the meeting, Anshu and Parminder discussed the expansion of a business to China and the implications for the company code level. Parminder suggested using a structure that would accommodate future expansions to other countries, such as Saudi Arabia or India. Anshu agreed to consider this. Farheen asked about including business areas in the enterprise structure, to which Parminder responded that it's not mandatory but should be clearly defined for its use. Tashheer presented four plans for a manufacturing plant, a warehouse, a California site for assembling finished goods, and a New York headquarters. Parminder clarified the codes for each plan and suggested adding more intelligence to the codes. Tashheer's question about why the New York headquarters was created as a plant was left open for further discussion.

Indirect Procurement and Sales Activities

Anshu discussed the indirect procurement and sales activities conducted through the headquarters, which could be considered as a plant. Parminder explained the process of creating a purchase order for office supplies and how the vendor would know where to deliver the items. Akash suggested creating a reference purchase organization for central procurement. Parminder clarified that a separate plant could be created for the headquarters to allow for different configurations and master data setups. The team also discussed the potential for different prices for materials in different plants and the flexibility this would provide. Shilpi pointed out that the current naming convention for the inbound warehouse was not flexible enough for future needs. The team agreed to change the naming convention to allow for more flexibility.

Creating Purchasing Groups and Storage Locations

Tashheer discussed the creation of different purchasing groups for various materials such as cement, steel, Mep, precast, and other indirect materials. He also explained the storage locations created for New York and New York plant, including finished goods, precast, batching plant, and silo. Tashheer mentioned the need to change the nomenclature of "inbound" and the creation of a separate location for hazardous chemicals. Parminder clarified the meaning of the first character in the storage location nomenclature, indicating whether it's a finished good or raw material. Usha and Tashheer further discussed the tracking of raw materials and their consumption in the production line. Shilpi was asked to share a screen where Tashheer had created the storage locations. Parminder emphasized the need to understand the plant layout and the relationship between the stores and the production lines.

Creating Separate Production Store Locations

The team discussed the process of issuing materials from a store to the production floor. They agreed that a separate production store location should be created for each production unit, such as glazing, precast, and joinery, to ensure accountability and trackability of materials. They also discussed the potential issues of issuing materials directly to production orders, such as the need for reversal transactions if materials are not consumed as expected. The team agreed to rectify the current structure and create separate production store locations for each production unit. They also discussed the need to consider the duration of a production order and the potential for semi-finished goods to be stored in these locations.

Silo Locations and Production Orders

In the meeting, Parminder discussed the need for separate silo locations for scrap or blocked stock for each individual. He also emphasized the importance of considering the mesh story location in the discussion. Shilpi and Usha explained that they have two batching plants and two silos, which are used for different concrete mixes. Parminder questioned whether they needed two silos and how they would control which silo was used for each production order. Shilpi explained that they would select which silo to use for each order based on the production order version. Parminder pointed out that this would lead to multiple master data, multiple production versions, and a manual activity for each production order. He also mentioned that tracking the batch used in cement would be difficult unless they differentiated the cement based on the supplier. The team agreed to further discuss the issue.

Understanding Business Processes in SAP

Parminder discusses the importance of thoroughly understanding business processes when defining elements like plant, storage location, and purchasing groups in SAP. He emphasizes that consultants should not just configure based on client requests but probe deeper to make informed decisions. Parminder asks Tashheer to create an enterprise structure blueprint detailing the nomenclature, meaning, and rationale behind various organizational elements. This blueprint will capture key decisions and assumptions to avoid revisiting discussions later. Parminder stresses the need for a flexible and expandable solution that can accommodate business growth across regions.

PP Integration and Sales Team Progress

Parminder led a discussion about the integration of PP with MM, with Shilpi and Ritu confirming its completion. Parminder emphasized the need for internal discussions and the use of the platform for future sessions, with Shilpi and Ritu agreeing to lead the next session. Parminder also discussed the sales team's progress, with Ritu explaining the sales organization and distribution channels. Parminder suggested renaming the distribution channel for future expansions and emphasized the importance of maintaining the same division unless a new product category is introduced. Ritu agreed to these suggestions and planned to incorporate them into their presentation.

Shipping Points and Business Blueprints

In the meeting, Ritu and Parminder discussed the creation of shipping points for different plants. Parminder suggested creating one shipping point for each plant, while Ritu had created 5 shipping points. Parminder explained that shipping points are required for storage transactions and return deliveries. Ritu agreed to change the shipping points accordingly. They also discussed the need for a shipping point for Uc. 0, 3, which was agreed upon. Parminder emphasized the importance of assigning specific tasks to individuals and creating business blueprints for each process. Shilpi was tasked with putting more detail into the business requirements for the completion rule and shipment process. Vasanth was assigned to create the EWM enterprise structure, with Parminder's guidance.