Exploring Service and Material Procurement

Welcome to our lesson on Service and Material Procurement, designed for individuals eager to dive into the world of procurement processes. This lesson aims to equip you with a holistic understanding of the procurement systems, thereby enabling you to step up the service level you provide to your clients.

Whether you're a newcomer in this field or an experienced professional hungry for more knowledge, we've got you covered. This course will navigate you through the essentials of procurement, from service procurement and goods for consumption purchasing to third-party order processing.

Moreover, you will learn about the integral steps involved in each procurement sub-process, from creating requisitions and purchase orders to processing supplier invoices. You will also gain insights into optional yet crucial processes such as contract creation, all of which directly contribute to achieving efficient, cost-effective procurement. Remain attentive as each unit of this course will gradually unveil the strategies to master service and material procurement.

Imagine a business faced with inefficient buying processes. This leads to service delays, higher costs, and unhappy customers. As a newcomer to Service and Material Procurement, this course will give you the basic knowledge to solve these problems.

You'll learn how to make procurement operations smoother, simplify buying workflows and improve the quality of purchases. With these skills, you can offer your clients expert solutions that significantly improve their operations and customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, you'll understand procurement processes involved in projects. This includes hiring external services, buying materials, and setting up third-party orders. You'll help your clients handle different procurement processes more effectively, and optimise the process from start to payment. This will help your clients easily join SAP's supplier network.

By understanding these areas, you'll not only add great value to your clients but also boost your career in procurement management. So, get ready to take your procurement skills to a new height!

Upon completion of this course, you will have a deeper understanding of the essential elements and procedures involved in procuring services and materials. You will be well-equipped to analyze and assess the key components of the procurement process, enabling you to make informed decisions and optimize the acquisition of resources for your organization.

Moreover, you will gain insight into the various stages of the procurement lifecycle, from identifying requirements and sourcing potential suppliers to negotiating contracts and managing vendor relationships. This knowledge will empower you to streamline the procurement process, ensuring that your organization receives high-quality services and materials in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Additionally, you will develop the skills to evaluate and select the most suitable suppliers based on a range of criteria, including quality, reliability, and value for money. You will also learn how to effectively manage and monitor supplier performance, ensuring that they consistently meet your organization's standards and expectations.

By understanding these critical aspects of service and material procurement, you will be able to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate risks within your organization. You will become a valuable asset to your company, contributing to its overall success and competitiveness in the marketplace.

In this course, you'll engage with a variety of materials to enhance your learning experience.

• You'll read detailed content that covers the fundamentals of SAP Professional Services.
• Informative graphics will help you visualize key concepts and processes.
• You'll also watch demonstration videos showcasing the Professional Services software in action, providing practical insights into its features and capabilities.
• Additionally, content-related videos will further explain and illustrate important points, helping you to better understand and retain the information.

This mix of reading, visuals, and videos will ensure a comprehensive and engaging learning experience. So if you are ready, let’s begin.

Welcome to your journey through Service and Material Procurement! By the end of this course, you should have a comprehensive understanding of the different procurement sub-processes, their key steps, and why they are important in a professional services setting.

Before we get into the course, here are some key concepts to familiarize yourself with:

• Service Procurement: This involves arranging for an external company to provide a specific service. The processes include ordering the service, getting confirmation, receiving and processing the invoice. Two examples of this are hiring a contractor or subcontractor for a project, and comparing their service entry sheets against their purchase orders.
• Material Procurement for Consumption: This process involves ordering a particular piece of equipment or material for a specific project or for a customer. Various stages in this sub-process include creating and sending the purchase order, receiving the goods, and inputting the details of the supplier invoice.
• Third-party Order Processing: In this case, material is ordered for an end-customer, but instead of being delivered to your company, it is shipped directly to the end-customer by the supplier.
• Process Steps: Each procurement sub-process consists of specific steps, varying with what is being procured. For instance, the service procurement process features steps such as creating and sending the purchase order, confirming service, and creating the supplier invoice.
• Contracts: Creating contracts is an optional, but critical part of the procurement process, and can be done from scratch or based on a purchase requisition.

You will also be introduced to specific procurement-related terms such as My Purchase Requisitions, Post Expenses, Goods Receipt and Invoice-to-Pay. Each of these will be explored in depth during the course.

Diving into the Service and Material Procurement processes will help streamline your procurement activities, optimize your resource usage, and enable efficient integration with SAP supplier network natively.

Learn about service and material procurement in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, professional services. Understand the process steps, business roles, agreements, purchase orders, supplier invoices, service entry sheets, goods receipts, and more.

The figure displays an overview of the process flows for the Service and Material Procurement (J13) scope item.

Learn how SAP S/4HANA Cloud streamlines procurement and professional services, automating processes from order to invoice. Gain agility, optimize processes, and integrate with SAP Ariba Network.

The Service and Material Procurement scope item covers all relevant procurement processes of the professional services scenario.

Possible procurement sub-processes are:

• Service procurement: You order an external service. The external service company confirms the purchase order and performs the service. The supplier invoices the service. You enter and process the supplier invoice.

  Example 1: purchasing the services of a contingent worker or contractor to be staffed to the project, capture time, and then automatically have their service entry sheet updated against their purchase order for comparison upon receiving the supplier invoice.

  Example 2: A sub-contractor is used to perform a specific service on the project (for example graphics services) and their services are confirmed against the supplier invoice that is received.

• Material procurement for consumption: A material is requested for a customer or internal project. You create a purchase order and sent it to the supplier. The supplier delivers the material and you enter the goods receipt. Finally, you enter and process the supplier invoice.

  Example: A specialized piece of equipment (for example high-spec laptop) is required for a data analysis project which is to be ordered and received by the project team and charged to the project (optional: to be charged to the customer).

• Procurement for third-party order processing: You order a material for an end-customer. The supplier ships the material directly to this end-customer.

  Example: As part of the contract agreement, the customer has purchased a server to be used in an implementation project for which the delivering company will raised the purchase order, pay the supplier invoice but the server will be delivered directly to the customer.

• Procure services:

  • My Purchase Requisitions - New

  • Create and approve purchase order

  • Send purchase order to supplier

  • Confirm service from supplier

  • Post expenses of service

  • Create supplier invoice

• Procure material for consumption:

  • My Purchase Requisitions - New

  • Create and check the purchase order

  • Send purchase order to supplier

  • Post and check goods receipt

  • Create supplier invoice

• Procure for third-party order processing:

  • My Purchase Requisitions - New

  • Create and check the purchase order

  • Send purchase order to supplier

  • Post and check goods receipt

  • Create supplier invoice

• Create contracts (optional):

  • Create contract from scratch

  • Create contract based on purchase requisition

• Optimize and streamline procurement process to professional services scenario requirements

• Simplify procure-to-pay, invoice-to-pay

• Integrate to the SAP supplier network natively (SAP Ariba Network)