Organizational Structure: Generic View
An organizational structure represents the framework of a company. Each department within the company has designated organizational units, which serve as distinct segments responsible for specific functions and operations.
This structured approach ensures that data and transactions are efficiently segregated and managed within the appropriate channels. For instance, the sales department may have its own set of sales organizations, distribution channels, and sales groups. In contrast, the logistics department might have unique shipping points and transportation planning units. Companies can streamline operations, maintain accountability, and optimize resource allocation by assigning dedicated organizational units to each department.
Organizational structures play a crucial role in restricting user access and are one of the basic requirements for defining authorization and role setups. Before loading data and executing transactions in SAP S/4HANA, it is necessary to define the company’s entities within the system.
Organizational Structure: SAP Transportation Management Specific View
In Transportation Management (TM), the organizational structure can be based on the structure of a connected SAP system. Still, creating organizational units that do not exist in SAP is also possible.
SAP S/4HANA TM maps its organizational units with S/4 organizational units through the "BSG Org. Unit" field. Plant and shipping points are created as locations in SAP S/4HANA TM.
- Corporate Organization: This organizational unit is optional and serves as a single entry point into the organization's structure in TM. It represents the group organization.
- Company Organization: This organizational unit corresponds to the company code. It establishes the local currency and represents the company's legal entity.
- Sales Organization: The sales organization structures and manages the sale of logistics services and their execution. Multiple sales organizations can be assigned to a company organization. The sales organization is relevant in the following documents:
- Forwarding orders
- Forwarding quotations
- Forwarding settlements
Purchase Organization and Purchasing Group: The purchasing organization procures materials and services. The following documents are generally associated with the purchasing organization:
- Freight orders
- Freight bookings
- Freight settlements
Planning and Execution Organization: The planning and execution organization is responsible for planning and/or executing shipments. These organizational units are used in the following documents and objects:
- Resources
- Freight orders
- Forwarding House: In some Logistics Service Provider (LSP) scenarios, it is essential for the same organizational unit to perform multiple tasks, such as selling transportation services to customers and purchasing transportation services from vendors. A generic organizational unit of the type "Forwarding House" can be defined in these scenarios. A forwarding house can handle sales, purchasing, and planning/execution activities, allowing it to be assigned to various documents and objects related to these functions.