Using the Engineering Control Center

When connecting external CAD systems to SAP, you have the option to exchange data directly between the CAD system and SAP, or to use an alternative interface such as the Engineering Control Center.

The Engineering Control Center is increasingly also used in a standalone scenario, meaning without direct CAD integration on the customer side.

Take a look at the range of capabilities provided by ECTR.

The SAP Engineering Control Center allows you to manage all engineering data from a CAD system. Users with access to CAD data can work with version management and status management, enabling multiple users to work simultaneously. Data inconsistencies are prevented through check-in mechanisms. In addition, workstation applications for displaying and editing files can be launched directly from the SAP ERP system within the CAD application.

The scenario can be initiated using the private folder in the SAP Engineering Control Center. At this stage, the document structure can be identified if required.

The document info record is created automatically based on the predefined settings. This includes defining the document type, status, short text, and the relevant workstation application. As a result, the document structure is generated automatically. Once the setup is complete, the structure can be transferred from the private folder to the public folder.

In the control center, you are able to:

• Change statuses

• Delete documents

• Create versions of originals, release, and edit

• Create and link material masters

• Create, change and explode material BOMs

• Do mass changes

When connecting external CAD systems to SAP, you can either exchange data directly between the CAD system and SAP or use an alternative interface such as the Engineering Control Center.

Let’s take a look at what an integration with Autodesk Inventor might look like.

The first screen shows the Engineering Control Center integrated directly into the Inventor interface.

Through the interface integration, SAP-related functions are made available directly within the CAD application. These include standard functions such as logging on to and off from SAP, accessing the SAP Engineering Control Center settings, as well as displaying and editing documents.

The following video demonstrates a possible data transfer process, starting with the creation of data in the CAD system, followed by the creation of document info records in the SAP system and the linking of the files, and continuing through to the creation of materials and the generation of the derived material bill of material (BOM).

The Document Browser allows you to edit folders and files stored in both the private and public folders within the SAP Engineering Control Center (ECTR).

The Document Browser is available in every document info record transaction, both in the SAP GUI and in the SAP Fiori launchpad, depending on your Customizing settings. If required, the Document Browser can also be deactivated.

Within the document info record, you can access the Document Browser tab to view either a private or a public document structure. The public document folder is available to every user in every document.

Using the Document Browser, you can add simple document info records as links. You can create new documents, versions, or folders, and you can also display or modify existing files and folders.

If required, files from document info records can be displayed as thumbnails. This functionality must first be activated in Customizing.

When searching for documents using the search transaction CV04N, the Document Browser can also be used.

Your company has decided to connect external CAD systems to the SAP system. The Engineering Control Center (ECTR) will now be used for data transfer.

However, the Engineering Control Center can also be used without direct CAD integration. The next scenarios therefore focus on this standalone usage.

As a first step, familiarize yourself with the Engineering Control Center.

Watch the following video, which introduces basic ECTR settings and demonstrates how to define two object searches.

The next step is to create object lists in the form of favorites.

The following video demonstrates how to create a favorites list and how to assign objects—such as documents and materials—to this list.

Your final task is to create a folder structure in the private folder and to work with the existing structure in the public folder. In addition, you create a new document and a new linked material.

Watch the corresponding video to see how this is done.