Describing SAP Digital Manufacturing

Comparing Discrete Manufacturing and Process Manufacturing

Explaining SAP Digital Manufacturing Integration with SAP S/4HANA

Explaining SAP Digital Manufacturing Integration with Shop Floor Systems

Exploring the Integration of SAP Digital Manufacturing with SAP S/4HANA

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to outline the possible integrations of SAP Digital Manufacturing with SAP S/4HANA.

Data Exchange Between SAP S/4HANA and SAP Digital Manufacturing

The integration of master data and transactional data between SAP S/4HANA and SAP Digital Manufacturing enables seamless data flow and synchronization between these two systems. The following image shows an example of what data is integrated between SAP Digital Manufacturing and SAP S/4HANA.

The image shows example integration scenarios between SAP S/4HANA and SAP Digital Manufacturing

The example shows many integration scenarios between SAP Digital Manufacturing, SAP S/4HANA, and SAP EWM. You can send master and transactional data. Here are some examples.

Material Master: You can send a material master from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing. Usually, you send raw, semi-finished, and finished materials relevant for production.
Work Center: You send work centers from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing for use in your production routings.
BOM and Routing: You can send BOM and routing before or with a production order from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing.
Production Order and Planned Order: These order types trigger production execution. Planned orders are only relevant for repetitive production scenarios.
Confirmations: When an operator completes an operation, the system sends a confirmation from SAP Digital Manufacturing to SAP S/4HANA. If material movements occur, this information is also transmitted.

You can also use SAP EWM with SAP Digital Manufacturing for complex production scenarios requiring detailed material flow management on the shop floor.

Note

Integration is a complex topic and heavily depends on the type of ERP system (SAP Business Suite, SAP S/4HANA, etc.). For more information, refer to the comprehensive integration guide available on the product help page.

Some examples are discussed in more detail in the following section.

Master Data

SAP S/4HANA serves as the core Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, managing various production-relevant business processes, such as procurement, production planning, inventory management, and more.

Master data is generated and updated in our ERP system and then replicated to SAP Digital Manufacturing. Watch the following video for more details.

You do not need to transfer all master data objects from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing to be able to execute production. Materials and work centers or resources are required. Routings, recipes, bill of materials, and production versions are also transmitted with the order. You only need to transfer them manually before the order if you want to enrich your master data with production-relevant steps that are only relevant to the execution layer. In a lot of cases, you simply use the BOM and routing from the SAP S/4HANA system also for the execution.

The following image summarizes the mandatory and optional master data objects that are transferred from the ERP to the manufacturing system.

The image shows which master data are sent from the top floor to the shop floor: Material, work center, and resource.

Transactional Data

In the integration between SAP S/4HANA and SAP Digital Manufacturing, important transactional data, such as production or process orders, inventory data, and quality inspection information, is sent from the ERP system to the execution system to trigger manufacturing operations.

On the other hand, SAP Digital Manufacturing sends back data, such as operation confirmations with yield, scrap, and time efforts, component consumption, inspection results, goods receipts of manufactured goods and order status updates, to SAP S/4HANA. This maintains real-time production monitoring and inventory updates. It also ensures that data obtained during production (for example in-process inspection results) can be used in subsequent processes that are executed in SAP S/4HANA.

Transactional Data from SAP S/4HANA

Let's explore transaction data examples that are transferred from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing.

The following image summarizes the transactional data objects that are transferred from the ERP to the manufacturing system.

The image shows which transactional data are sent from the top floor system to the shop floor system: Production order with BOM and routing, documents, and in-process inspection data. For process orders, the order contains the BOM and recipe, documents, in-process inspection data, and the product batch. Furthermore, production-relevant inventory postings are sent from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Digital Manufacturing.

Document Records

Documentation records, such as standard operating procedures and detailed assembly instructions, which are maintained in SAP S/4HANA and linked to an order, are concurrently transmitted with the order itself. Once in the Manufacturing Execution System (MES), the worker has the capability to access and display the associated document info record, providing them with additional necessary information.

Data from SAP Digital Manufacturing

Let us review some transactional data examples that are transferred from SAP Digital Manufacturing to SAP S/4HANA.

The following image summarizes the transactional data objects that are transferred from the manufacturing system back to the ERP system.

The image shows which transactional data are sent from the shop floor to the top floor system: Production and process order confirmations contain yield and scrap quantities, goods issues for components, and goods receipt postings for manufactured goods. Furthermore, you can send in-process inspection results, batch characteristic values, and, if necessary, reverse production-relevant inventory postings if you don't need them any more in production.

Data Exchange for In-Process Inspection and Batch Records

In one business scenario, you might want to execute an in-process inspection and record data in an inspection lot in SAP S/4HANA. In an alternative business scenario, you might not want to save information in an inspection lot in SAP S/4HANA, but directly in the batch classification of the manufactured product. With SAP Digital Manufacturing, the production worker can record data points that are then transmitted back to SAP S/4HANA. Depending on the master data setup, the recorded data is transferred either to the inspection lot or to the batch record.

When an in-process inspection with inspection lots is set up in SAP S/4HANA, releasing the order creates the inspection lot. The inspection lot data is transmitted together with the order data to SAP Digital Manufacturing. Consequently, this enables production workers to record inspection results directly on the shop floor in SAP Digital Manufacturing. The recorded data is transmitted back to SAP S/4HANA and can be reviewed by the quality engineer in the inspection lot.

If you want to save information in the batch record, the master data specialist sets up the batch information in SAP Digital Manufacturing. During production execution, the production worker also records data points which are transmitted back to SAP S/4HANA and saved in the batch record.

Demo

If you want to see an example of production integration for a process order, check this interactive value journey. First watch how the production worker executes a process order (production of a carbonated beverage) with SAP Digital Manufacturing. Then proceed to the step ERP Confirmations and Batch Traceability to see which data has been transferred from the execution system to SAP S/4HANA.

If you prefer to watch a manufacturing process for discrete industries, check this interactive value journey. You will see how the worker assembles a bike with SAP Digital Manufacturing. Then proceed to the step ERP Confirmations to see the confirmations on the operation level performed by SAP Digital Manufacturing in SAP S/4HANA. Note that the video also shows how a defect is processed in SAP S/4HANA. The defect is not created by the execution system.

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