Cross Topics

You can use extra functions when you create calculated measures for your charts and tables:

• GrandTotal()
• %GrandTotal()
• NOT()
• ISNULL()

You can use the data analyzer to perform ad-hoc analysis. You can explore the data without changing your analytics story by setting filters and variable prompts, adding measures, dimensions, and calculations. You can open the data analyzer from a table and various supported chart types.

Newly created or changed analytics stories after the upgrade load faster when you open them in view mode.

System administrators can now create a live data connection in SAP Analytics Cloud to SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain (SAP IBP).

This allows business users to create an SAP Analytics Cloud model based on an SAP IBP planning area and consume its content, for example, in an SAP Analytics Cloud story.

To enable the integration, a communication system and a communication arrangement must be created for the SAP Analytics Cloud Integration (SAP_COM_0065) communication scenario.

With version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the following enhancements and changes for master data workbooks are available:

• For master data worksheets, you can select attributes of related master data types on the Attributes tab and can filter for those on the Filter tab by using the simple filtering mode.
• You can remove required attributes from the list of selected attributes and still review or change existing master data entries, but not create new master data entries.
• For planning object worksheets, you can display attributes assigned to the planning level other than the root attributes.
• You can display and change planning objects of time-independent key figures.
• Master data workbooks are recognized when you log in to the Excel add-in after being offline.
• The message that is displayed when you save changes in master data workbooks has been improved.
• The name of the master data type is displayed instead of its description.

There is another change that affects all supported Excel add-in versions once the SAP IBP system has been upgraded to 2405: The display name for attributes in master data dialogs changes. If configured, the planning area attribute description displays, instead of the attribute description (as in all other areas of the Excel add-in).

To check the master data entries of, for example, master data type Location Product, you can now display master data attributes that belong to master data type Product or Location. You can then comparable this to how it works in the Manage Master Data app.

On the Attributes, you find all available attributes for the selected master data type, if the respective attributes are assigned to the planning area. The attributes are grouped by master data type. The values of attributes from related master data types can only be displayed in the master data workbook but not edited.

To determine related master data types, simple master data types of compound master data types and attribute checks are considered, see the SAP Help portal at Attribute Selection Capabilities for Filtering for further information.

The respective attributes can be assigned at a planning level. If so, all the master data attributes that are visible on the Attributes tab can be used as filter criteria in the Filter tab when using the Simple filtering mode.

If you are using the workbook filter, the filter conditions of attributes from related master data types are displayed on the Filter tab. The filter conditions are applied on worksheet level, even when you've selected the Simple filtering mode.

With previous versions of the Excel add-in, using the Simple filtering mode you could only filter with attributes that are assigned to the master data type that you selected. You needed to use the Advanced filtering mode to filter with attributes that are not part of the selected master data type.

With Excel add-in version 2405.2.0 and newer, some dependencies such as simple master data types of compound master data types and attribute checks are also considered when using the Simple filtering mode.

However, the Advanced filtering mode still considers extra dependencies between master data types, when compared to the Simple filtering mode. For example, you can filter a simple master data type such as Product, by attributes of its compound master data type such as Location Product. Using the Simple filtering mode, this only works the other way round.

Required attributes can be deselected.

Using version 2402.2.0 of the Excel add-in, master data attributes that have been configured as required for the selected master data type couldn't be deselected on the Attributes tab.

As of version 2405.2.0, it is possible to deselect the required master data attributes and open the respective master data workbook.

In the master data workbook, master data entries can be reviewed, and existing entries can be changed. However, new master data entries can only be created if all required attributes are added to the master data workbook and respective values are entered before saving the changes. An error message lets you know if any required attributes are missing.

Key attributes and the version, if available, are still mandatory and can't be deselected when creating a master data workbook.

If you select the worksheet typePlanning Objects when creating or editing a master data workbook, an additional tab named Attributes is now displayed.

Similar to master data worksheets, you can specify which attributes must be displayed in the planning object worksheet by choosing them from the attributes that are available for the selected planning level. You can also define the order in which the attributes are displayed.

Root attributes are selected by default and can't be removed. The values of nonroot attributes can only be displayed in the master data workbook, but not edited.

In the Planning Level dropdown when creating or editing planning object worksheets, you can now select time-independent planning levels. When you select time-independent planning levels, the time settings are removed. However, all other settings such as version, attributes, key figures, and filters are the same as when you select time-dependent planning levels.

The layout of the worksheets differs from time-dependent planning levels, as the key figures are displayed on the column axis.

If you created a master data workbook with version 2405.2.0, or higher, the master data workbook and its settings are recognized if you log off or disconnect from the SAP IBP system and log on again later.​

You can do the following:

• Store master data workbooks locally and open them later again. Once you are logged on, the master data workbook and its settings are recognized and can be changed, as needed.
• If you have saved the master data workbook as a favorite and you take it offline, it is recognized as favorite when you log on again and you can update the favorite if needed.
• You can share offline master data workbooks with your colleagues, and they can open the master data workbook after they have logged on to the same system and planning area, or a planning area with the same master data types or planning levels.

The following restrictions apply:

• If you make changes to the data while being offline, with version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in the changes are not recognized when you logging on again.
• If you take offline master workbooks online again and you want to make any adjustments to the data, you need to first choose Refresh to be able to enter and save your changes.
• The worksheets in the master data workbook can only be recognized if the selected master data type or planning level exists in the planning area and system you are connecting to and if you have the respective permissions to display the master data type or planning level. Otherwise, an error message is displayed when you open the master data workbook. When editing it, the respective worksheets are marked as Unknown and you must choose the master data type or planning level and the related settings you want to be displayed.

The message that is displayed when you save changes in master data workbooks has been improved. It is now clearer if changes have been saved, or some or all of the changes have been rejected.

As of version 2405.2.0, the name of the master data type is displayed in the Master Data Type dropdown when you create or edit master data workbooks. It is also displayed in the Manage → Single... master data function.

With previous versions of the Excel add-in, the description of the master data type was displayed instead.

Before SAP IBP 2405, the description of the attributes was displayed when creating or editing master data workbooks as well as in the Manage → Single... master data function of the Excel add-in. The attribute description was displayed in the respective dialogs, and also in the master data workbook.

In all other dialogs of the Excel add-in the Planning Area Attribute Description is displayed, which caused confusion when working with planning views and master data workbooks.

With the upgrade to SAP IBP 2405, the Planning Area Attribute Description will be displayed in all dialogs of the Excel add-in, if available. If it isn't available, the attribute description will still be displayed.

This affects all supported Excel add-in versions, so advise your users accordingly.

Compatibility of master data favorites.

Consider the following regarding master data favorites that have been saved with Excel add-in versions older than 2405.2.0 and are opened with version 2405.2.0 or newer:

• If you open existing master data favorites, the master data workbook settings are taken over in such a way that the same data should be visible to you as before.
• Exception: If you have defined a workbook filter and used the Simple filtering mode for master data worksheets, further filter conditions might be applied and less data might be displayed when using version 2405.2.0 and newer (due to the changes described on slide "Filter for attributes of related master data types".)

Users who do not yet have version 2405.2.0 or newer installed and open such a shared master data favorite, might not see all attributes, might have different filter settings, or might not see all worksheets as originally defined.

With version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in, we improved the status dialog of application jobs as follows:

• You can search for entries related to all available columns using the newly added search bar. For example, you can search for a job with a specific name, or the date when the job ran, or the current status of the job (finished, failed, and so on).​
• You can sort entries in columns in ascending order by clicking the column header. When you click the column header a second time, the entries are sorted in descending order.​

With version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in, another option for time periods has been included in the Time tab of the New View or Edit View dialogs. Apart from displaying the Periods, the Total or Periods and Total, you can also display Total and Periods, without needing to use two time periods to achieve the same. You only need to select the time horizon once and can display its total in the first column of your planning view instead of the last column.

To improve the performance of the Excel add-in when opening planning view templates or favorites, reduce the workbook size before uploading it to the SAP IBP system. Use the functions Add or Update for templates or favorites.

Reducing the workbook size can be achieved by the following:

• Setting restrictive filters to reduce the amount of data in the planning view.
• Removing empty rows and columns that contain formatting, below and on the right of the planning view data area.
• Reducing the size of images, such as company logos, that are included in the planning view.

When adding or updating planning view favorites or templates with Excel add-in version 2405.2.0 and newer the amount of data in the planning view will be automatically reduced before uploading it to the SAP IBP system.

This means setting restrictive filters is no longer needed if you add or update favorites and templates with version 2405.2.0 and newer. However, if you want to further reduce the workbook size, the other points are still valid recommendations.

If you want to improve the performance when opening planning view templates and planning view favorites, we recommend doing the following:

Open the planning view template or favorite with Excel add-in version 2405.2.0 or newer and, to reupload it to the SAP IBP system, choose Update.

Next time you open the planning view template or favorite, you might notice that the time the Excel add-in needs to open the template or favorite has been reduced. The performance improvements are valid for users who are using version 2405.2.0 or newer, and for users who are using versions of the Excel add-in that are older than 2405.2.0.

In previous versions of the Excel add-in, the checkbox Keep formulas static that reference planning view cells was selected by default. This caused content in rows and columns below and to the right of the planning view to be overwritten when the user added rows or columns.

For use cases where non-IBP related content next to the planning view must not be overwritten when changing the planning view settings, the setting could be disabled. This, however, led to performance degradation, when users changed planning view settings.

With version 2405.2.0, the handling has been improved so that the Excel add-in does not overwrite content next to the planning view in a performant way. The setting Keep formulas static that reference planning view cells is no longer needed and therefore has been removed from the General tab of Options.

Impact: As of Excel add-in version 2405.2.0, the Excel add-in ignores this checkbox in planning view templates or favorites that you created with older versions of the Excel add-in. Content next to the planning view is kept and not overwritten when you change the planning view settings. Even with this improvement, remember to remove content that is not needed next to the planning view to minimize the workbook size and improve performance when you open planning view favorites or templates.

With version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the dialog that is displayed when the Excel add-in requires time to complete an action has been enhanced.

The dialog now displays tips and tricks, and information that users might find helpful in the form of Did you know... questions. If you want to know more about a topic covered in a question, press F1. A detailed explanation opens on the SAP Help Portal.

Also, you can move the loading box from the middle of the screen to the side. Now, you can still see the planning data or master data entries in the workbook that you are working on.

By using the global configuration parameter SESSION_TIMEOUT, you can define after how many seconds a user session in the Excel add-in is terminated. The session ends if the user is inactive in the Excel add-in. By default this parameter is set to 7200s (= 2 hours). We do not recommend changing the parameter, as a great number of active user sessions can impact the performance of the system.

With previous versions of the Excel add-in, users got a warning message 5 minutes before the session timeout. To avoid being logged out automatically, they needed to use specific IBP functions such as Save Data, Simulate, or Refresh.

As of version 2405.2.0, using any IBP function prevents the users from being logged out. The related warning message only shows up if no IBP functions have been used during the session timeout period. In the message, users can decide whether they want to continue working:

By choosing Yes, the session is prolonged and the user is not logged out until the next session timeout. This way, users can stay logged in, even if they're only checking and adjusting data in planning views or master data workbooks without using any IBP functions.

A new feature is introduced to limit the users a business user can share objects with. As an administrator, you can create a business role restricting user groups with whom a business user can share objects. This can be achieved by using the new business catalog Sharing with Users (SAP_IBP_BC_USER_SHARING_PC).

If the list of users who a user can share with has been restricted in the related business role, only those users and user groups are available and displayed when sharing the following in the Excel add-in:

• Planning view favorites
• Master data favorites
• Scenarios
• Attribute-based filter

If a user has no permission for the restriction type Sharing with users, the sharing function is no longer displayed in as of Excel add-in version 2405.2.0. This applies to all relevant objects that can be shared (planning view favorites, master data favorites, scenarios, and attribute-based filter).

With version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the Give Feedback function has been added to the Help dropdown of theAbout group.

It takes you to a Qualtrics survey in the web browser, where you can comment on how satisfied you are with the Excel add-in. In a following step, you can also enter free text to comment on your experience, specific functions, and possible improvements that you want to have.

Feel free to use this new function to provide us with feedback about the Excel add-in and its functions.

In November 2023, Microsoft released .NET 8, see Microsoft .NET Support Policy. 

.NET 6 is further supported until November 2024. Therefore, we do not yet raise the required version of .NET Desktop Runtime for the Excel add-in. For version 2405.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the required .NET Desktop Runtime version is .NET 6.

If necessary, .NET 8 Desktop Runtime (as of version 8.0.3) can now also be used.

For all versions of the Excel add-in, we will adjust the prerequisites in SAP Note 2394311 - Version information for the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel accordingly. We'll let you know if those support .NET 8 Desktop Runtime.

Always make sure to check the version note for the Excel add-in version you are using before rolling out a new major version of .NET.

• https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy
• https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2394311

As part of the SAP IBP release 2405 we will raise the minimum version to 2211.2.0 (version six versions before 2405).

Maintenance: As before, Excel add-in versions are in maintenance and supported for six months after their release. Therefore, the current and previous versions of the Excel add-in are in active maintenance and receive updates. In certain cases, depending on the urgency of the fix, updates are only applied to the current version. 

Compatible: Users can use the current version or six prior versions of the Excel add-in. As a consequence, upgrading just once a year is still possible. Nevertheless, we propose a regular upgrade schedule to keep up with security, stability, performance, and feature enhancements.

Incompatible: Affected versions of the Excel add-in are incompatible. The installation of a newer version is mandatory.

Mitigation:

• If not done yet, download and roll-out a newer version of the Excel add-in to your user base.
• To see which of your users are affected, check the Login Statistics for Excel Add-in app. Ask the affected users to upgrade their Excel add-in. 

By using the global configuration parameter MINIMUM_ADDIN_VERSION you can ask the system to display warning message when a user logs on with a version older than the specified one. To do so, change the value of the parameter to, for example 2211.2.0. 

For more information, go to the SAP Help Portal.

You can create contextual navigations from any planning view, analytics chart, or any other component that you've created or that's been shared with you with write access. You can then use contextual navigations to analyze the data of the source component at a more detailed level. By selecting data in the source component and opening a contextual navigation, the data in the target component is filtered using the selected data and the contextual navigation definition.

You create navigations in Design mode and you use them in Plan mode. In a planning view, right-click an attribute or data value cell, and from the context menu, choose the navigation you want to open. The context menu can display both contextual navigations and navigations to other systems. In an analytics chart, select a data point, and from the popup, choose the navigation that you want to open.

You can see all available contextual navigations in the side panel of the corresponding component. There, you can also choose to edit or delete a navigation.

A wizard supports the creation of contextual navigations.

Most of the settings are trivial. Nevertheless, here are some useful hints:

Depending on the selection for Target Component, the component appears when triggering the navigation. Hence, the component doesn't need to be assigned to the workbook.

When you select no key figure or make the key figures not mandatory, the navigation shows up for any key figure.

The navigations defined in the Manage Navigation to Other Systems app display in the context menu, but must be managed in this app. Furthermore, you can't control in what component they show up. The Navigate To feature has been replaced by the corresponding action in the context menu (except for the order drilldown component).

Once you triggered the contextual navigation, the target component appears with the header Navigation Context.

To see what filter got passed, choose Change. That's especially if you can't find the required the data or even no data can be displayed. Furthermore, you can enhance the applied filter. For example, you can add another customer to check the related data as well.

To provide you with more space in the navigation menu and more space for working with your Workspace components, the navigation menu is now collapsed by default.

You can select the Workbooks or Alerts icon respectively to open the corresponding tab. You can also select the panel itself to open up the navigation menu again. If you haven't selected anything in the Workspace, the navigation menu is expanded by default, allowing you to navigate. When you click anywhere outside of the navigation menu, the menu collapses. You can also pin and resize a navigation menu for a Workspace. Every time you open the Workspace again, the navigation menu expands and has the same width.

The value-based sorting feature, introduced lately to the Excel add-in, is now also available in Planner Workspaces.

Value-based sorting comes with various settings (see the preceding screenshot). You can exclude attributes by deselecting them, which means those attributes are sorted alphabetically. Therefore, you can sort your product groups alphabetically, but sort the customers requesting this product group according to their demand.

Things to consider in Value-Based Sorting.

• You can define value-based sorting only for the key figures that are included in the planning view.​
• You can define value-based sorting only for one key figure of the planning view at a time.
• You can't define value-based sorting for aggregated constraint key figures.
• You can define value-based sorting only if the key figures in the planning view are placed after the attributes.​
• You can't define value-based sorting when multiple versions and scenarios are selected. You have to select only one version or scenario.​
• You can only use attribute-based grand totals and time totals together with value-based sorting. You can't use attribute-based sub-totals.

Often, you want to review the data for future time periods. To meet this requirement, we added two extra selection modes to the time period selection available in the workbook filter:

• Next X <Time Level>. For example, Weeks.
• Previous X <Time Level>. For example, Weeks.

When you select attributes, for example, when you filter, you can use the Select All checkbox to select all attributes at once, rather than one by one.

When you open the value help, 200 values are loaded by default. To load further entries, you can scroll through the list. The Select All checkbox only selects the entries that are loaded already. The Select All checkbox also works with the Search field.

When you define filters, remember that, for performance reasons, it's better to filter on an aggregate level. For example, selecting three product groups instead of 500 product IDs. You can also review the value defined for the global configuration parameter MAX_FILTER_VALUES.

The scrolling experience in the planning view component has been enhanced. Previously, the scrolling experience was not smooth, as the displayed data had to be rendered first. We have improved this aspect.

Note that it's important to keep the planning view as small as possible. Planner Workspaces provides a wide variety of features, such as variants, planning filter, and custom alerts, to achieve that. By using contextual navigation, you can even request components on the fly, so they don't need to be refreshed all the time.

For performance reasons, SAP proposes to use the 64-bit browser versions. This is especially important if a lot of data is displayed in Planner Workspaces. Ideally, the computer also needs 16 GB of RAM.

Feel free to share your feedback if this advantage isn't realized on your system.

The real estate available on your screen should be occupied by things that make you productive. To improve the usage of the available real estate, we improved the analytics chart component so that less space is wasted. The improvement depends on the select chart type and the values respectively their relation to the axis.

The behavior of the workbook filter bar has been enhanced. If you collapse the workbook filter, close your Workspace and reopen it, the workbook filter stays collapsed. It only becomes visible when you create a new variant or expand it manually. Therefore, there's more space for viewing components.

You can now choose from extra configuration settings for your analytics chart component:

• Hide or show the axis titles
• Hide or show the value labels
• Change the axis and data value formats

Remember to set the percentage flag in the key figure configuration. This flag is considered for planning views as well. Alternatively, you can convert a value of 0.3 to 30% by using the value format percentage.

You can now display the latest planning note in a popover window directly in the chart.

Note that reading planning notes is performance intensive. Therefore, it's a good practice to request the planning notes only when they are required. Review the planning notes setting in the side panel accordingly.

As of release SAP IBP 2408, you'll no longer be able to use the table chart type in the analytics chart component. If you're using table charts in any of your analytics chart components, they will be displayed as bar charts after the upgrade to SAP IBP 2408. If you want to continue visualizing your data in a table view, we recommend that you change the analytics chart component to a planning view component.

We've introduced the new global parameter EXPLICIT_SHARING. You can use this parameter to control access to Planner Workspaces and Workspace content, such as, for example, workbook variants or Workspace components. The default value for this parameter is TRUE. This means, users can only access Planner Workspaces and Workspace content that they created or that was explicitly shared with them. However, if you set the new parameter to FALSE, users can access all Workspace content to which they've received a direct link, even if the Workspace content wasn't explicitly shared with them.

The changed sharing behavior is important for the planned task integration. Watch out for the next What's New Webinar.

You can choose the Use Workspace Values action to import values that you specified in your Workspace into your job parameters under Jobs → Run Job.

This action only appears if the following conditions are met:

• The user has maintained the version / scenario field displayed at the Workspace header.
• The workbook filter contains a planning filter.
• The job to be scheduled contains at least one job parameter (version, scenario, or planning filter) that is visible and editable.

Technical upgrade to product version 2405 of the SAP Integrated Business Planning solution.

The SAPIBP1 sample planning area has been enhanced as follows:

• New slow-moving indicator key figures.
• New forecast model: Extreme Gradient Boosting.
• Simplified STDDEVACTUALSQTY calculation using IBP_ADD_TIME_DIMENSION function.
• New FOOTPRINTSUPPLIERPERUNIT attribute as key figure.

The IBP for inventory solution process has been enhanced as follows:

• Preconfigured analytics story for inventory planners.
• Supply lead time prediction.
• Slow-moving indicator.

The IBP for inventory - scenario planning solution process has been enhanced with an additional scenario to simulate the impact of adjusting the inventory holding cost rate.

A new tips and tricks document for Extended Planning and Analysis (xPA) describes the required model enhancement, configurations, and process steps for running the Commercial Planning and Consensus Net Revenue Planning by applying:

• SAP Analytics Cloud
• SAP Integrated Business Planning
• SAP S/4HANA
• SAP Cloud Integration

The IBP for response and supply - transportation load building solution process has been enhanced with two extra workbooks in the Planner Workspace: Deployment Loads from Plant to Plant and Purchase Loads from Supplier to Plant.

In this integration scenario, SAP IBP volume forecast data transfers to SAP Analytics Cloud. There, it is used as input for the alignment of the unconstraint forecast between financial, supply chain, and commercial functions. The planning result is integrated back into SAP IBP and can be used there for the subsequent supply chain planning steps.

Benefits:

• Better and closer alignment between commercial planning and supply chain planning.
• Consistent quantities and calculated values. 
• Higher accuracy in net revenue planning through advanced forecasting algorithms.

Building the integration between SAP S/4HANA and SAP Integrated Business Planning for time-series-based planning is a key part of every implementation project. New extractors in SAP S/4HANA, SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain, and new templates in SAP Cloud Integration for data services (CI-DS) reduce implementation efforts and costs. This solution process uses the available extractors and templates to transfer selected master data types and key figures to the unified planning area for time-series-based planning in SAP IBP. It describes the complete integration process, from setting up the integration in SAP S/4HANA, performing the necessary configuration in CI-DS including:

• Datastore creation
• System configuration
• Projects
• Tasks
• Running the integration.
• Checking the results.

Inventory optimization helps you balance your customer service and inventory investment levels. Considering uncertainties in demand forecasts, lead times, and supply quantities, SAP Integrated Business Planning optimizes your entire supply chain network and determines the optimum safety stock for each stocking location. As an inventory planner, you validate your input data and then create an inventory plan by running several planning operators calculating the safety stock levels and the inventory components for each location. Using dashboards and a Planner Workspace, you can review the optimization results. When running the service level prediction, you can review the impact of the safety stock adjustments on the predicted customer service level. You can also execute a what-if analysis to see how changed demands affect inventory component levels.

Inventory scenario planning allows you to spontaneously create scenarios for inventory-related changes to demand, transportation, production, and policy input variables.​​ This helps you better understand how these changes affect your inventory plans. As an inventory planner, you first create a scenario, which defines the analysis type, either demand or transportation. In the next step, you can change the input key figures specific to your analysis type. The inventory optimization operator creates a simulation and you can then compare the analysis results to the baseline plan.

• Workflow Approval through SAP Build Process Automation
  • Feature overview.
  • Workflow rejection and retriggering.
• Improved Integration between Process Management and Microsoft Teams

The integration of SAP Build Process Automation with process management in SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain (SAP IBP) enables an approval workflow. Previously, this integration enabled the approval workflow for the completion of a process step. Now, an approval workflow can also be set up in a similar way for the start of a process step.

Reviewers can approve or reject a workflow for the start of a process step if its start condition specifies that the workflow must be approved. If the reviewer accepts the workflow, the status changes to In Progress and tasks are generated for the process step. 

If the reviewer rejects the workflow, the status of the process step reverts to Not Started until the workflow is retriggered. Process automation doesn't pick up a rejected process step. The status of the process step is Not Started until the workflow is retriggered manually.

Improved Integration between Process Management and Microsoft Teams

We've made the following improvements to the integration between Process Management and Microsoft Teams:

• You can now set up the permissions for the integration in such a way that process management in SAP IBP only accesses the information it really needs to be able to create and update tasks and assign new assignees to tasks in Microsoft Teams. This can help you to ensure better security and data protection.
• You can now keep your SAP IBP tasks separate from other tasks in Microsoft Teams if your version of Microsoft Teams allows you to create a dedicated Entra ID. This can be useful if your users have personal or business-critical Microsoft Teams tasks that they don't want to synchronize with SAP IBP. For example, if these tasks are part of a business function for which SAP IBP isn't relevant, users might not want to see those tasks in SAP IBP.

Create Threshold Attributes for Lead Time Rounding.

Refer to sample planning area SAPIBP1 for the following changes.

Step 1: Create the attributes CLEADTIMEROUNDINGTHRESHOLD, TLEADTIMEROUNDINGTHRESHOLD, and PLEADTIMEROUNDINGTHRESHOLD.

Step 2: Assign the attribute CLEADTIMEROUNDINGTHRESHOLD to master data type IBPSOURCECUSTOMER.

Step 3:  Assign the attribute TLEADTIMEROUNDINGTHRESHOLD to master data type IBPSOURCELOCATION.

Step 4: Assign attribute PLEADTIMEROUNDINGTHRESHOLD to master data type IBPSOURCEPRODUCTION.

Create FOOTPRINTSUPPLIERPERUNIT Attribute As Key Figure.

1. Create the standard attribute FOOTPRINTSUPPLIERPERUNIT.
2. Assign the new attribute to master data type IBPSOURCELOCATION.
3. Create planning level PRODLOCLOCFR.
4. Create attribute as key figure FOOTPRINTSUPPLIERPERUNIT.
5. Assign key figure FOOTPRINTSUPPLIERPERUNIT to UPSIDE, DOWNSIDE, and PVSMD versions.

Add Slow-Moving Indicator key figures.

Refer to the sample planning area SAPIBP1 for the following changes.

Step 1: Create the following key figure SMIINITIALSTOCK on planning level WKPRODLOC, and assign them to version PVSMD, UPSIDE, DOWNSIDE:

Step 2: Create the following key figure SMISLOWMOVINGINDICATOR on planning level WKPRODLOC, and assign them to version PVSMD, UPSIDE, DOWNSIDE:

Add Inventory Consumption Group attributes and create INV_Consumption_Group_Profile segmentation profile.

Step 1:Create the following attributes INVCONSUMPTIONGROUP and INVCONSUMPTIONGROUPDESCR.

Step 2: Add two attributes INVCONSUMPTIONGROUP and INVCONSUMPTIONGROUPDESCR to master data type LOCATIONPRODUCT:

Step 3: Assign the two attributes INVCONSUMPTIONGROUP and INVCONSUMPTIONGROUPDESCR to the planning area.

Step 4: Assign the two attributes INVCONSUMPTIONGROUP and INVCONSUMPTIONGROUPDESCR to 55 planning levels.

Step 5: Create INV_Consumption_Group_Profile segmentation profile.

Create two new attributes IGNOREPRODNDEMANDINSAFETYSTOCK and IGNORETLANEDEMANDINSAFETYSTOCK and add them to IBPLOCATIONPRODUCT master data type.

Refer to sample planning area SAPIBP1 for the following changes:

Step 1: Create the following attributes IGNOREPRODNDEMANDINSAFETYSTOCK and IGNORETLANEDEMANDINSAFETYSTOCK.

Step 2: Add the attributes IGNOREPRODNDEMANDINSAFETYSTOCK and IGNORETLANEDEMANDINSAFETYSTOCK to the location product master data type.

Change key figure names to make them consistent with attribute as key figure names.

• The name of the IOCFROZENWINDOW key figure has been changed to: IO Customer Frozen Window
• The name of the IOTFROZENWINDOW key figure has been changed to: IO Transportation Frozen Window
• The name of the IOPFROZENWINDOW key figure has been changed to: IO Production Frozen Window
• The name of the PLEADTIMEVARIABILITY key figure has been changed to: Production Lead Time CV
• The name of the TINCLOTSIZE key figure has been changed to: Incremental Transportation Lot Size
• The name of the TMINLOTSIZE key figure has been changed to: Minimum Transportation Lot Size
• The name of the PMINLOTSIZE key figure has been changed to: Minimum Production Lot Size

Preconfigured Analytics Stories for Inventory Planner.

To support these processes, the following pages are available in the story:

• Overview, which allows you to review results of inventory planning runs, such as the costs of safety stock and distribution. You can also use filters on this page to focus these metrics on particular location products.
• Inventory Health, which allows you to identify slow-moving stock at location products, as well as to group and compare stock based on consumption rate
• Safety Stock Drivers, which allows you to review the amount of safety stock allocated to location products to cover variability in demand, service, and supply.
• Forecast Accuracy, which allows you to evaluate forecasting accuracy, demand variability, and the safety stock for covering forecast uncertainty.
• Lead Time Quality, which allows you to evaluate production and transportation lead times, lead time variability, and parameters for reviewing and replenishing stock.
• Scenario Analysis, which allows you to run scenarios and simulations for evaluating how adjustments to scenario inputs impact safety stock in units and valuations.
• Inventory Leverage, which allows you to run scenarios and simulations for evaluating how changes to inventory holding cost rate impact safety stock costs and service levels.
• Safety Stock Review, which allows you to review and compare how safety stock recommendations at location products have changed between the previous planning run and the current planning run.

Add Simple Moving Average as first algorithm to BestFit_Segment_AB and BestFit_Segment_C forecast models.

1. Choose the Manage Forecast Models app.
2. Choose the BestFit_Segment_AB forecast model.
3. Choose Edit Forecast Model.
4. Choose the Forecasting Steps tab and take note of all parameters used by the existing algorithms.
5. Remove all existing algorithms by choosing the respective remove icon.
6. Choose the Add Forecasting Algorithm icon and choose Simple Moving Average from the Add Forecasting Algorithm dialog box. This will set Simple Moving Average as first algorithm in the list.
7. By choosing Add Forecasting Algorithm icon, add again all previously existing algorithms with the respective parameters you noted down.
8. Choose Save.
9. Repeat above steps for the BestFit_Segment_C forecast model.

Add Extreme Gradient Boosting algorithm to BestFit_Segment_AB and BestFit_Segment_C forecast models.

Simplification of Key Figure STDDEVACTUALSQTY.

Refer to sample planning area SAPIBP1 for the following changes:

1. Delete key figure STDDEVACTUALSQTYTS.
2. Change key figure STDDEVACTUALSQTY.

Demand planning process experts can now use the IBP Best Practices - Demand Planning Process Expert Analytics Story to review the forecast quality and analyze midterm forecasting.

To support these processes, the following pages are available in the story:

• Forecast Error, which allows the demand planning process expert to explore the forecast accuracy at various levels and check where improvements can be made.
• Outlier Analysis, which allows the demand planning process expert to identify outliers in the historical data.
• Forecast Volume, which allows the demand planning process expert to review the forecast volume for selected products or customers.
• Segmentation and Time Series Analysis, which allows the demand planning process expert to analyze the results of ABC/XYZ segmentation and to detect patterns in a time series.
• Forecast Stability, which allows the demand planning process expert to evaluate if the forecast for a product/product family in a given period changes between one forecasting cycle and the next.
• Forecast Value Add, which allows the demand planning process expert to analyze the forecast process value add and the amplitude of manual adjustments to the forecast

Local demand planners can now use the IBP Best Practices - Local Demand Planner Analytics Story to analyse the short-term and the midterm demand plan for several products in the respective region.

To support this process, the following pages are available in the story:

• Overview, which allows the local demand planner to review the main KPIs and to analyse the forecast volume, error and bias for several products in the respective region
• Forecast Volume, which allows the local demand planner to review the overall demand plan for several products or product families in the respective region.
• Impact Analysis, which allows the local demand planner to review the impact of events and marketing budget on the forecast.
• Forecast Error, which allows the local demand planner to explore the forecast accuracy at various levels and check where improvements can be made.

Global demand planners can now use the IBP Best Practices - Global Demand Planner Analytics Story to analyze the overall demand plan for all product groups.

To support this process, the following pages are available in the story:

• Overview, which allows the global demand planner to review the main KPIs and to have a quick overview of the overall demand plan.
• Forecast Volume, which allows the global demand planner to review the overall demand plan for several products or product families in the regions.
• Impact Analysis, which allows the global demand planner to review the impact of events and marketing budget on the forecast.
• Forecast Revenue, which allows the global demand planner to analyze forecast revenues by product families and customer regions.

Inventory planners can now use the IBP Best Practices - Inventory Planner Analytics Story to validate inputs for inventory operators, to analyze results after running inventory operators, and to review final inventory plans.

To support these processes, the following pages are available in the story:

• Overview, which allows the inventory planner to review results of inventory planning runs, such as the costs of safety stock and distribution. He can also use filters on this page to focus these metrics on particular location products.
• Inventory Health, which allows the inventory planner to identify slow-moving stock at location products, as well as to group and compare stock based on consumption rate
• Safety Stock Drivers, which allows the inventory planner to review the amount of safety stock allocated to location products to cover variability in demand, service, and supply.
• Forecast Accuracy, which allows the inventory planner to evaluate forecasting accuracy, demand variability, and the safety stock for covering forecast uncertainty.
• Lead Time Quality, which allows the inventory planner to evaluate production and transportation lead times, lead time variability, and parameters for reviewing and replenishing stock.
• Scenario Analysis, which allows the inventory planner to run scenarios and simulations for evaluating how adjustments to scenario inputs impact safety stock in units and valuations.
• Inventory Leverage, which allows the inventory planner to run scenarios and simulations for evaluating how changes to inventory holding cost rate impact safety stock costs and service levels.
• Safety Stock Review, which allows the inventory planner to review and compare how safety stock recommendations at location products have changed between the previous planning run and the current planning run.

Supply chain leads can now use the IBP Best Practices - Supply Chain Risk Analysis Analytics Story to analyze typical supply chain risks and collaborate with planners to mitigate them.

To support this process, the following pages are available in the story:

• Risk Dashboard, which provides an overview of critical risks in the supply chain network: demand risk, footprint risk, supply risk, and inventory risk. It is used as a landing page to inform the supply chain manager how critical the situation in the different areas is and which areas need attention.
• Supply Risk, which provides a detailed overview of the capacity bottlenecks. It helps supply chain leads identify risks originating from resource overloads.
• Supply Scenario, which allows the supply planner to run scenarios and simulations for evaluating how to solve upcoming capacity overload issues.
• Inventory Risk, which helps supply chain leads determine financial risks resulting from excess safety stock. The story allows them to compare the inventory plan calculated by the multi-stage inventory optimization against the corporate targets for the safety days of supply and the related budget.
• Inventory Scenario, which allows the inventory planner to run scenarios and simulations for evaluating how to mitigate the financial risks resulting from excess inventory levels.
• Demand Risk, which provides various charts to analyze the risks associated with forecasting. In addition to the forecast error and bias, the forecast process value-add and forecast stability can also be monitored..
• Footprint Risk, which provides a detailed overview of the greenhouse gas emissions of your plants. As a global supply chain planner, you use the line chart to understand the CO2e emissions per month. You can compare the supply versions and scenarios against the baseline.
• Safety Stock Review, which allows you to review and compare how safety stock recommendations at location products have changed between the previous planning run and the current planning run.