Configuring Direct Procurement with Inbound Delivery (2TX)

The following shows how to configure a confirmation control key using a Self-Service Configuration User Interfaces (SSC UIs) in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud app, Manage Your Solution → Configure Your Solution.

Confirmation control keys can be configured. You can define your own confirmation control keys and specify the confirmation sequence.

Use the configuration app available as a Self-Service Configuration User Interfaces (SSC UIs) in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud app, Manage Your Solution → Configure Your Solution.

If you need to configure a new custom confirmation control key, select an existing one and copy it to a new one. Make your changes to the newly created key.

The figure Configure Confirmation Control Keys, shows the standard confirmation keys available.

Note

The Manage Your Solution and Configure Your Solution apps are available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud systems deployed up to November 2020. For later installations, configuration is performed via SAP Central Business Configuration (CBC).

The PROC_POITEMCONFQTYDEFICIT (Quantity Deficit in Supplier’s Delivery) use case of Situation Handling was created for the Direct Procurement with Inbound Delivery (2TX) business scenario.

Quantity deficits in supplier's deliveries are business situations that you may want to bring to the attention of involved users in your organization using the Situation Handling framework. For this particular use case, SAP provides a standard situation template: PROC_POITEMCONFQTYDEFICIT.

Operational buyers typically monitor purchase order confirmations and shipping notifications with the Monitor Supplier Confirmations app. The app provides information on whether a confirmation has been recorded, and if so, for what quantity. The situation template PROC_POITEMCONFQTYDEFICIT allows you to automatically notify your buyers of quantities that have not been fully confirmed. This allows them to focus and proactively follow up on those purchasing document items that have not yet been fully confirmed.

Situation templates serve as a basis for the creation of situation types. A situation type defines the conditions under which a situation is triggered, who is informed about it, and what actions can be taken to resolve it. When you create a situation type based on a template, you can modify and redefine many of the preconfigured settings, including the texts that are displayed to end users when a situation occurs. However, the underlying data structure and logic on which a standard template is based cannot be changed.

How to create a situation type as a copy of the situation templatePROC_POITEMCONFQTYDEFICIT(Quantity Deficit in Supplier’s Delivery):

1. Log into your SAP S/4HANA Cloud system using the Configuration Expert - Business Process Configuration role.

2. Open the Manage Situation Types (F2947) app.

   Note that there are two tabs available: Situation Templates and Situation Types. You use situation templates to create your specific situation types.

   Scroll down and select the situation template PROC_POITEMCONFQTYDEFICIT (Quantity Deficit in Supplier’s Delivery) for missing confirmed quantities. You can also use the ID field in the filter bar to search the template.

   

3. In the Admin Information tab, give an ID and a name of your choice. The ID is the unique identifier of a Situation Type and should start with Z or Y.

   

4. In the Conditions area, define the conditions based on which notifications will be sent in case of missing confirmed quantity. If you select the Send Notification check box, the notifications will be displayed in the SAP Fiori Launchpad (and optionally as an email notification) when the conditions are met.

   

5. In the Batch Job Scheduling section, specify the time at which the system will start the daily job to detect critical situations.

6. In the Situation Display area, you can personalize and adapt the in-app text that is displayed in the consuming app, as well as the notification text that is displayed in the SAP Fiori Launchpad when a situation occurs. In addition, you can decide whether to send notifications for each individual situation or just an aggregated notification, and whether to resend notifications when open situations are updated.

   

7. Navigate to the Recipients section and define who is responsible for situations, who can see them in the My Situations app, and who receives notifications. Under Responsibility by Teams, you can see which teams are eligible for the situation type. Create Team directly opens the object page for creating a new team in the Manage Teams and Responsibilities app (see the section below to learn how to create a team).

   Select Operational Purchasing for the Filter by Member Function field.

   

8. Finally, define whether you want to monitor the occurrence and status updates of the situation instances by flagging Monitor Instances.

9. The last steps are to save and enable the situation type.

   

Use the Manage Teams and Responsibilities - Procurement (F2412) app to create a team and define who is responsible for the previously created situation type, that is, who can see the corresponding instances in the My Situations app and who receives notifications.

1. Log into your SAP S/4HANA Cloud system using the Business Process Specialist role.

2. Open the Manage Teams and Responsibilities - Procurement (F2412) app.

   In the Team Information tab, specify a name and a description of your choice for your new team.

   Assign the type Operational Procurement (OPPUR). The PROC team category is derived from the type. The category automatically connects your team to the situation type. Assign the status Enabled.

3. In the Responsibility Definitions tab, specify the range of responsibilities for your team (for example, a specific plant).

   

4. To add team members to the team, in the Team Members area, choose Create.

   Select the business users you want to add to the team.

   Assign the function OP_PURCH (Operational Purchasing) to the team members.

   

In this Situation Handling use case, the system notifies the business user if the supplier has not confirmed or has confirmed only part of the original quantity ordered by the time the confirmation is due (shipping notification in this use case). For testing/learning purposes, simply create a purchase order that requires an inbound delivery. You can then create an inbound delivery for a partial quantity or simply omit inbound deliveries entirely. On the day the delivery is due, a Situation Handling batch job will then pick up the purchase order to send a notification to the preconfigured recipient that the supplier has not fully confirmed the quantity ordered.

When you click on the notification, you will be redirected to the Manage Purchase Orders app. Select the relevant item, make a note of the in-app situation message, and then go to the Confirmation Overview section to access the quantity deficit situation.

To test this scenario, follow the instructions in this training course. You will also find an exercise you can perform in the SAP Learning System titled Set Up Business Process for Direct Procurement with Inbound Delivery (2TX) where you will be instructed to set up a Team and a Situation Type.

You can also refer to the scope item 2TX.