Providing Transparency with Intelligent Visibility

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to understand the Intelligent Visibility app.

Intelligent Visibility Functionality

In SAP Supply Chain Control Tower, we have access to relevant data and logic that is required for Demand, Inventory, and Supply Planning and is closely integrated with related processes in core systems, like SAP S/4HANA and SAP Transportation Management.

Once something is planned, it moves into execution. Any event from different areas of the supply chain like transportation, production, or inventory management that could have planning implications flow back into planning for re-evaluation. Here, the impact on any part of the supply chain can be adjusted through re-planning, which can include activities in the related source systems.

The Intelligent Visibility app allows the supply chain analyst to view the supply chain as a network with the exceptions that impact performance. It combines planning and execution information and facilitates feedback loop. Planners benefit from visibility on one hand, but are also aided in understanding the impact and can respond faster to exceptions. In the end, insights are combined with effective resolution, achieving a cycle of detecting, analyzing, and acting upon disruptions.

For example, you can view impacted customer orders in SAP Supply Chain Control Tower (assuming order-based functionality is used), understand the root causes of the impact, and navigate to a connected SAP S/4HANA system into a relevant document type where you can see additional details of the order and make changes as necessary.

The approach is map-based, allowing for easy visualization of the relationships between locations and where disruptions will have an impact to performance. The analyst can review the performance metrics and impacts of the disruptions and navigate into other areas of SAP IBP to take actions towards resolution.

The Intelligent Visibility app is comprised of several layers.

Use Case Examples for the Intelligent Visibility App

The following five use case examples illustrate how the Intelligent Visibility app provided by SAP Supply Chain Control Tower can help resolve issues in the business:

  1. Manage supply planning issues by connecting the dots via SAP IBP (Intelligent Visibility), SAP Integrated Business Planning for response and supply, and SAP S/4HANA system. Planners can identify alerts, impacted orders, and root causes for delays in a single view with navigation to the impacted order in SAP S/4HANA or ECC system. This improves on-time delivery of customer orders and visualizes where problems occur in the supply chain.
  2. Navigate from SAP Integrated Business Planning to SAP Digital Manufacturing Insights while retaining the context. Monitor the planned productivity and the quality of the product and the delivery with respect to the defined threshold of any specific time. Get more information on historical production – why is the production receipt so low?
  3. Integration from SAP IBP with SAP Enterprise Product Development for 3D visualization of products and locations. 3D visualization is an excellent way to see where the product fits into the finished good and evaluate how important it is if something goes wrong with the planning.
  4. Leverage order execution visibility with SAP Business Network for Logistics to gain extended insights into critical inbound shipments. Contextual navigation from SAP IBP to SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration and SAP Business Network Global Track and Trace provides you with insights into shipping statuses and disruptions that impact planned customer orders. Planners gain insights into the current transportation status for inbound shipments that potentially impact customer shipments and internal operations.
  5. Use Intelligent Visibility in SAP IBP to analyze the footprint calculated based on the production receipts of the long-term production plan multiplied by the footprint of the product / location. Provide visibility regarding greenhouse gas emissions for long-term production plan. Combine SAP Sustainability Footprint Management with SAP S/4HANA and SAP IBP.

Supply Network Layer

  • You can display your supply chain network on a map and view how locations are connected and how products move between locations

  • Select a planning area and a version

  • Select Supply Chain Network Layer

  • Enter one or more products whose supply chain network you want to view and click Go.

The figure shows an example of a Supply Network View.

Key Figure Layer

  • Selected key figures are displayed in a form of bubbles on a map

  • You can select up to 10 key figures

  • One key figure at a time can be shown on a map but the user can switch between them

  • Positive values are in green and negative values are in red

  • A chart is shown in the details section to allow you to analyze the key figure data

  • You can switch to Column, Bar, or Line chart types

  • You can use the time range selector to limit the range of the displayed data

The figure shows an example of a Key Figure Data Layer in the Intelligent Visibility app.

Alerts Layer List

  • By selecting a location, the list of alerts displays in the right side panel

  • You can select one or multiple alerts and navigate to the Monitor Custom Alerts app to further analyze those alerts or take any action that is available there to resolve the issue

The figure shows an example of an Alert Data Layer in the Intelligent Visibility app.

Intelligent Visibility Profiles

Users can configure the content and appearance of the Intelligent Visibility app using the Intelligent Visibility Profiles application.

More than one profile can be created to use in the Intelligent Visibility app. One profile can include supply charts and the other profile can include inventory charts. Users that have these profiles shared with them can switch between both profiles to view different data.

Key features of profiles are as follows:

  • Add up to five key figure micro charts to your profile.
  • Show or hide overview widgets.
  • Customize the display of key figures such as the color, threshold range color, and the number formatting.
  • Choose to show a specific detail content layout and reorder the sections according to your preferences.
  • Select analytics charts that you want to include in the profile.
  • Share profiles with other users and user groups to view the same data.

Optionally, analytics charts can be added to the profile.

The analytics charts that you want to include in your profile need to be created in the Analytics Advanced app. In addition, you might want to define how the Intelligent Visibility filters will be applied to those charts.

The following options are available when selecting a location filter:

  • Selecting a location ID and enabling the option to only apply the selected location from the map filters the chart based on the selected location from the map in Intelligent Visibility (one location at a time).
  • Selecting a location ID only applies the location filters from the filter bar in Intelligent Visibility.
  • Not selecting a location ID filter displays the chart as originally saved in analytics.

Demonstration how to Create an Intelligent Visibility Profile

Create an Intelligent Visibility Profile

Prerequisites

In Exercise 1, you validated the location master data that allows rendering of Geo Bubble charts. We will use the same data (for the location Paris), for this exercise.

Steps

  1. Create an Intelligent Visibility Profile in the Intelligent Visibility Profile app, using the data in the following table:

    FieldValue
    General Information 
    NameT##Supply Profile
    DescriptionT##Supply Profile
    Planning AreaZCONTROLTO
    VersionBase Version
    Overview 
    Key Figures Micro ChartsDependent Demand, Projected Stock, Projected Periods of Coverage
    Chart TypeChange for Projected Stock to Line Chart
    Data Value FormatStandard 123.456
    Unit of Measure to IDEA
    Map Options 
    Key FiguresProjected Stock
    Data Value FormatStandard 123.456
    Center Point and Zoom LevelParis FDC coordinates and level 4

    Check Manage Master Data app for coordinates in C55LOCATION master data type

    1. On the SAP Fiori launchpad home page, in the Intelligent Visibility screen area, choose Intelligent Visibility Profile.

    2. Choose Create.

    3. Use the values in the table for settings in the General Information, Overview and Map Options sections.

    4. In the Overview section, select Add for Key Figure Micro Charts and then do the selection.

    5. For Projected Stock, select Line Chart and choose a color from a color palette.

    6. Choose Unit of Measure to ID → EA for Dependent Demand and Projected Stock.

    7. Accept Overview Widgets.

    8. In the Map Option section, select key figure Projected Stock and specify the data value format Standard 123.456.

    9. In the Center Point and Zoom Level section, select Latitude and Longitude for Paris FDC. You can find the information in the Manage Master Data app looking for the C55LOCATION master data type. Paris FDC has Latitude of 43.2965 and Longitude of 5.3698. In the Intelligent Visibility Profile, also add the Zoom Level → 4.

    10. Accept the sections.

    11. Choose Save.

Demonstration how to Use the Intelligent Visibility App

Use the Intelligent Visibility App

Steps

  1. Create an Intelligent Visibility view using the details from the table below and the in the previous exercise created Intelligent Visibility Profile:

    FieldValue
    Planning AreaZCONTROLTO
    VersionBase Version
    Key FiguresProjected Periods of Coverage, Dependent Demand, Projected Stock
    Product IDT-F2##, T-F3##, T-F4##, T-B2##, T-B3##, T-B4##, T-T2##, T-T3##, T-T4##
    Time PeriodsCurrent Week to Current Week +9
    Target UOMEA
    Target CurrencyUSD
    Data LayersLocation, Alerts, Key Figures

    Note

    You might not see the filter section for Key Figures when you first access this app. If this is the case, remember to expand the Data Layers on the left and select Key Figures Layer.

    Note

    We are not working with the Customer Layer in this exercise. Working with that layer entails having alerts on a customer node, if they are defined on a customer ID level, and having geo coordinates maintained for customer locations.

    1. In the Intelligent Visibility group on the SAP Fiori launchpad home page, choose Intelligent Visibility.

      The Filter screen appears.

    2. Select the correct planning area and apply the selection as per the table above.

    3. Choose Go.

    4. On the top right of the screen in Select Profile, choose your profile T##Supply Profile.

    5. You will see that the view is centered on the map (you should see bubbles representing key figure values for European locations).

    6. In the Overview section, you will see the micro charts that you selected for the profile.

    7. As you mouse over the bubble, you should see information on the key figure value in that location.

    8. Clicking on the Location Cluster, you should be able to see information on key figure values by DC, and you should be able to click through and open the pane for an individual location.

    9. In the Key Figures tab of the pane, observe the evolution of selected key figures over time.

    10. Close the pane for the location.

    11. In the main map view, select a different key figure as the main one to be represented on a map.

    12. Observe that the color of the bubble is representative of the value of the main key figure.

    13. If you have time, explore the Intelligent Visibility view a little more.

    14. To save this Intelligent Visibility presentation that you created for three key figures, select the view menu on the top left of the corner.

    15. Save your view under the name Control Tower ##.

    16. You can select Manage and specify that it will be a default view for your user.

Learning

SAP FacebookSAP YoutubeSAP LinkedIn