Configuring and Creating Equipment

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to configure and create an equipment

The Structuring of Equipment

Business Example

The project team wants to represent crucial individual pieces of machinery, such as pumps, motors, and electrolyzers, by using equipment.

Equipment is used to represent individual objects for which you are creating a history for the purposes of Plant Maintenance or Customer Service.

Equipment can be independent, individual objects, such as a tool or vehicle, or it can be an installed aggregate at a functional location, such as pumps, motors, or gears.

The most important assigning criterion is the equipment category. This criterion is used to define, describe, and control objects that are fundamentally different (for example, machines, fleet objects, production resources/tools, customer equipment).

Equipment and Functional Location

An example is shown of the link between functional locations, equipment, and assemblies.

The combination of hierarchical system or object structure and the autonomous object view represents the installation of a piece of equipment at a functional location.

The installation location of an object/aggregate and the installed object can be represented separately in the system. This differentiation allows for the separate tracking of damages, documenting whether the damage is related to the conditions at the installation location (functional location), or from the inferior quality of the installed object (object). The cause of damage is either updated to the functional location or piece of equipment.

Usage times can be recorded from the equipment view (where the equipment was installed) and functional location view (which pieces of equipment were installed at this functional location).

Autonomous Equipment Hierarchy

Note

See the following video to learn about an autonomous equipment hierarchy, and also, alternatively, the link between an equipment hierarchy and a functional location:

Note

You need to activate the Business Function LOG_EAM_CI_17 in order to define end-of-use dates for Technical Objects.

Equipment Categories

This section describes equipment categories.

Equipment Category

The equipment category contains all central Customizing settings, including the following:

  • Views in master record
  • History
  • Installation specification
  • Change update
  • User status
  • Partner
Examples of equipment categories are: Machine, Production resources and tools, and Fleet object.

To structure equipment categories, you can use the object type (also for functional locations). For example, if the equipment type is fleet object, then the object types can include car, truck, and motorbike, among others.

In addition to structuring by equipment and object type, in some cases, you can add special views to the master record (for example, for production resources/tools and fleet objects).

Hint

Additional business views cannot be deactivated if they have been active in a piece of equipment. If you are working with view profiles, this is always possible.

Hint

Each piece of equipment has both an action log and a usage list. The usage list contains history-relevant changes and allows you to define fields (in Customizing) so that you can track changes to those specific fields. The action log covers changes for a number of fields, which cannot be adapted.

Production Resources and Tools

  • A production resource/tool (PRT) is a moveable operating resource, such as a tool or measuring device, used in Plant Maintenance and Productions.
  • PRTs can be pieces of equipment, materials, or documents, and they are assigned to the operation within the maintenance order.
  • You can make status checks, availability checks, and usage overviews in Maintenance Processing.
  • PRTs have an additional view, PRT Data, in which you can make entries about task list usage or set the status of the PRT to Locked.

Note

Please mind that it's not possible to assign PRTs in Service Orders or Service Order Templates. Nevertheless, if you are using Service with Advanced Execution, you can assign PRTs to Maintenance Order Operations and Task List Operations.

Vehicle Equipment

Some screenshots are shown of a vehicle equipment.

A vehicle in SAP S/4HANA is represented by an equipment master with vehicle-specific data. By default, vehicle-specific data are only displayed in SAP GUI.

To create an equipment master with vehicle-specific data, you can use the transaction code, IE31.

The display of tab strips and fields can be based on the combination of equipment category and vehicle type.

To change and display vehicles in list editing transaction codes, IE36 and IE37 are available. In these transactions, you can use vehicle-specific selection criteria.

In this transaction, you can do the following:

  • Enter measurement documents for fuel consumption and distance.

  • Enter the consumption of operating supplies as a material document.

Partners

Partners (business partners, contact persons) are internal or external organization units that can be involved in the development of maintenance or service processes.

The concept of partners is relevant for a technical object. And for partners the following are relevant: partner types, partner functions, and the partner determination procedure.

You can use nonstandard partner types using customer exit ICSV0008. The partner types supported by the standard system include the following:

  • Customer

  • Vendor (external)

  • Contact person

  • Personnel number

  • SAP users (internal)

  • Job

  • Organizational unit

The different partner types can be subdivided according to partner functions. The partner function defines a partner's rights, obligations, responsibilities, and tasks during the processing of a business transaction. In most cases, the partner fulfills predefined functions, meaning you only need one master record for this partner. In other cases, partner functions are divided up among different companies and their subsidiaries.

Please mind that the assignment of partner role Sold-To Party to the Technical Object is a prerequisite for Service Order processing when assigning Technical Objects to a Service Order.

Partner Transfer

The partner determination procedure is a grouping of partner functions that specifies whether partners are allowed for a particular object and which partner functions are possible for performing business transactions. The partner determination procedure can be assigned to the object. If a notification or an order is entered for the technical object with a partner, then the system transfers the partners from the technical object to the maintenance order.

Please mind that the Partner Transfer to the maintenance order applies for Service with Advanced Execution.

During a delivery, partner data is automatically transferred from the delivery note to the serial number master record when goods issues are posted. The system copies the partner data from the SD document to the master record for the serial number. If partner data has already been specified in the master record for the serial number, this data is overwritten by the data from the SD document. However, the system only overwrites partner data for which an indicator has been set in Customizing.

Assignment of Warranties to Technical Objects

Note

See the following video to learn more about the use of warranties in SAP S/4HANA Service:

SAP Fiori Apps for Equipment

A screenshot is shown of the app Change Technical Object with Technical Object Type Equipment highlighted.

As already pointed out in the lesson, Structuring Functional Locations, three apps are provided for processing a technical object: Create Technical Object, Change Technical Object, and Display Technical Object. As a maintenance planner, you can create and change technical objects to efficiently manage and evaluate technical assets and maintenance objects, and to monitor the costs involved. You can specify general data, location data, organizational data, and structure data. You can also edit classification data and characteristic values, and assign documents.

Additionally, you can use various SAP Fiori apps that support the management of technical objects.

Configure and Create Equipment - Define Equipment Category

Part 1 of the exercise/simulation:

ExerciseStart Exercise

Part 2 of the exercise/simulation:

ExerciseStart Exercise

Create and Install a Piece of Equipment

ExerciseStart Exercise

Use Partner and Warranty

Part 1 of the exercise/simulation:

ExerciseStart Exercise

Part 2 of the exercise/simulation:

ExerciseStart Exercise

Log in to track your progress & complete quizzes

Learning

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