Exploring Business Integration: Value Chain and Target Users, Product Master and Compliance Information

Although target users of the majority of apps for product compliance core processes are users having the roles

• Product Stewardship Specialist - Product Compliance,
• Master Data Specialist - Product Compliance,
• Dangerous Goods Specialist - Product Compliance.

looking from a value-chain oriented point of view, other business specialists dealing with compliance-relevant products are addressed as users as well, for example:

sales representatives, shipping specialists, transportation managers, purchasing specialists, specialists for product master data, and marketing specialists.

Integration of product compliance in the value chain is one of the key objectives. This means

1. Compliance Information must be easily accessible for any user, same way;
2. Product compliance must be integrated in the value chain, for example by means of:
   • Automated processing of compliance checks or provision of compliance documents:
   • Automated information sent to product compliance specialists in case of issues.

Putting this together, there are two groups of target users:

• User roles involved in the product compliance core processes;
• User roles affected by business integration of product compliance in the value chain. These users are primary target users for the Compliance Information for Products app to have easy access to compliance information.

• Performs day-to-day operations that ensure the compliance of products
• Reviews compliance data of products and performs checks to ensure its correctness and completeness
• Creates the necessary compliance documents and keeps them up to date
• Participates in product reviews
• Answers inquiries from sales or customers

Ensure that products are compliant so that they can be sold or transported

• Impact analysis of product changes, as well as changes in raw materials, changes in regulations, new sales areas, and new applications of products
• An overview of compliance statuses of products
• Up-to-date information on chemical regulations

• Manages substance and raw material data
• Collects and updates regulatory data from suppliers
• Updates regulatory data such as registration or notification information
• Supports or performs substance registration activities 

• Ensure that the compliance data for raw materials are available and up to date
• Verify that suppliers fulfill requirements
• Ensure that raw materials fulfill requirements as required by product  

• Impact analyzes of change of suppliers, as well as changes in raw materials, changes in regulations and changes in requirements product must fulfill
• An overview of compliance statuses of raw materials and suppliers
• Up-to-date information on chemical regulations

• Determines and maintains the dangerous goods classifications for products in the system
• Monitors changes in dangerous goods regulations and updates the products to stay compliant
• Coordinates changes in dangerous goods regulations with operations
• Safeguards compliance regarding packaging and completeness of dangerous goods-relevant master data
• Participates in new product reviews
• Answers inquiries from sales or customers
• Provides dangerous goods data for safety data sheets

Ensure that dangerous goods classification data is available and up to date for all products

• Impact analysis of product changes, such as changes regarding packaging, target markets, and any change in dangerous goods regulations
• An overview of shipping and distribution options
• Up-to-date information on dangerous goods regulations
• Easy and efficient data entry

• Coordinates product data
• Ensures product data quality
• Creates, maintains, and displays product master
• Copies product master, chooses parameters for copy
• Flags a product master for partial or complete deletion
• Flag products as compliance relevant to trigger follow up processes in Dangerous Goods, Product Marketability and Safety data Sheet Management

• Create and maintain product master data
• Ensure that only consistent product master data will be available in the system

• Easy tool to maintain the product master data
• Work list with all products in my responsibility
• Possibility to display the product master

• Creates sales orders and provides information on processing status
• Complete sales orders with necessary data regarding dangerous goods, such as applicable quantities or calculation of packages, pallets, container, or weight
• Monitor, troubleshoot, manage, and collaborate on critical open issues from sales order fulfillment
• Manage backorders and general sales support for the outside sales force

• Work effectively and efficiently
• Keep an up-to-date overview of the process status and degree of fulfillment to easily identify where a need of action exists

• Quick-and-easy access to relevant information regarding the marketability, SDS, and DG status for products
• Easy-to-consume, clear representation of the context, relationships, issues, and process steps in order to take the proper measures

• Handles group orders for shipment to destinations and carriers as required, considering dangerous goods regulations regarding mixed loading restrictions and transport permissibility as well as the marketability and SDS status
• Answers inquiries from sales or customers and edits deliveries in case of missing data
• Coordinates dangerous goods regulation changes with the dangerous goods expert

• Ensure that customers receive their deliveries on time
• Be compliant and stay compliant regarding legal requirements for dangerous goods as well as the marketability and SDS status

• Analysis of sales orders regarding shipping schedules and DG restrictions
• View of delivery-relevant master data, including DG information regarding marking, labeling, and DG documentation

With the compliance view being the single source of truth regarding compliance information for products, integration with product master is the key for processing compliance information in the value chain.

Identifying a product as being compliance relevant is the initial and only step it takes in product master. With this indication, further information can be derived from details of the product master:

• Assigned plants with procurement type give an indication on production countries/regions;
• Distribution chains give an indication on countries/regions, where the product is intended to be sold.

Any time, a product is set to compliance relevant for the first time or as a change, a request from logistics is created to inform the product stewardship specialist on the case.

Finally, it is possible to retrieve compliance information for compliance relevant products in the Compliance Information for Products app. There it is also possible to create requests for additional market assessments for new countries/regions - for production or for selling the product.

Whenever the Master Data Specialist - Product master sets Compliance Relevant to Yes in product master, a request from logistics is created automatically and the Product Stewardship Specialist - Product Compliance receives a launchpad notification to make him/her aware of the new product.

This is to inform the Product Stewardship Specialist - Product Compliance, to take care of the new, compliance relevant product.

There are some more details from the product master, which are important for product compliance:

• Distribution Chains;
• Plants assigned to the product with a procurement type indicating in-house production.

Whenever the Master Data Specialist - Product master changes more details from the product master, which are important for product compliance:

• Adds a new Distribution Chain;
• Assigns a new Plant to the product with a procurement type indicating in-house production

A request from logistics is created automatically and the Product Stewardship Specialist - Product Compliance receives a launchpad notification to make him/her aware of relevant changes on a compliance relevant product.

With the assignment of the logistics role Transported and the assignment of a compliance purpose comprising dangerous goods compliance requirements, dangerous goods classification processing is initiated.

This is applicable for both, unpackaged products and raw materials according to business needs.

Be aware, that you need to assign packaged products from product master to the respective compliance views to complete dangerous goods classification of the packaged product.

For a new (or newly compliance relevant) product master the following information is derived from product master details and taken over to the request from logistics:

• Prio 1: from Distribution Chains - for product compliance, this means
  • Business Process is "Sell In"
  • with countries/regions to be verified which are derived from sales organizations of distribution chains
• Prio 2: if no distribution chains exist, from plants - for product compliance, this means
  • Business Process "Produce In"
  • with countries/regions derived from plants with procurement types "Inhouse Production", or "Both Procurement Types"

For processing of such requests from logistics, the following applies:

• In case, a new compliance view is created and assigned to the new product master, business processes and countries/regions are taken from the request from logistics to the new compliance view.
• In case, the new product master is assigned to an existing compliance view, Product Stewardship Specialist must adapt business processes and countries/regions manually.

The assignment of a distribution chain, for product compliance gives an indication on the business process "Sell in".

The countries/regions related to distribution chains must be verified regarding product compliance aspects for the business process Sell In.

In case the Product Stewardship Specialist creates a new compliance view from the request from logistics

• The logistics role "Sold" is proposed for assignment to the compliance view. Since the logistics role "Sold" implies mandatory assignment of the role "Transported", this one is proposed in addition.
• Countries/regions related to distribution chains must be verified regarding product compliance aspects for the business process Sell In.

The assignment of a plant, for product compliance gives an indication on the business process "Produce in".

Details can be derived from the Procurement Type for the plant:

• In-house production (E) - the product is produced at this plant;
• Both procurement types (X), means in-house production and external procurement - the product is supposed to be produced at this plant, but could also be sourced externally.

The country/region related to the plant must be verified regarding product compliance aspects for the business process Produce In.

In case the Product Stewardship Specialist creates a new compliance view from the request from logistics

• The logistics role "Produced" is proposed for assignment to the compliance view;
• Countries/regions of assigned plants with mentioned procurement types are automatically assigned to the compliance view for verification for the business process Produce In.

In case, an existing product master is newly set to compliance relevant = Yes, automated creation of a request from logistics occurs similar to a new product master, being compliance relevant right from the beginning.

For an existing and already compliance relevant product master, the following changes initiate automated creation of a request from logistics:

• Adding a new distribution chain
• Adding a new plant with procurement types
  • In-house production
  • Both procurement types (means In-house production and External procurement)
• Changing the procurement type of an existing plant to in-house production or both procurement types.

When processing these requests, any adaptation of an existing compliance view, for example the assignment of compliance purposes must be processed manually by the product stewardship specialist to initiate required compliance assessments.

The Compliance information for products app is kind of an integration app since it provides easy access to compliance information for any user and thus integrates product compliance into daily business. Retrieval starts just from the product - product name, product number, or can be restricted using the product group.

You can easily retrieve compliance information for a product master regards compliance for solution areas:

• Product Marketability – find marketability status per country/region on sales view or production view. In case of missing marketability assessments for a country/region, you can easily create a request;
• Safety Data Sheets – you get an overview of available safety data sheets and can initiate manual shipment;
• Dangerous Goods – for international transport by aircraft or deep water, or for domestic transport by road, rail, or inland waterways.

When you retrieve information for the solution area Product Marketability, you can switch between the Sales View and the Production View.

You get the information regarding market assessment for business processes Sell In or Produce In, which are the consolidated results of underlying product marketability assessments.

From both views, you can create a request for the respective business process, in case there is no assessment available for a required country/region.

When you retrieve information for the solution area Safety Data Sheet, you find the status of safety data sheets per country/region.

For available safety data sheets, you can use the action Send to initiate shipment of the safety data sheet document.

This is available from map view as well as from table view.

When you retrieve information for the solution area Dangerous Goods, you get the information on international transport right from the legend.

To get details on domestic transport, you simply click on the country/region of interest.

Also from the table view, you can navigate to the details on domestic transport for a country/region.

In these details, you find the reason, why the overall transport permission for domestic transport in a country/region is restricted.

In this example, there is no regulation applicable for the mode of transport Inland Waterway, so transport is forbidden.

Requests from logistics, help to integrate product compliance processing with the needs originating from the value chain.

Requests from logistics are, in most cases, created automatically:

• From the product master:
  • When a new compliance relevant product is created, or an existing product is identified as compliance relevant for the first time
  • When specific data for a compliance relevant product is changed, for example, a new distribution chain or plant is added
• From integrated compliance checks in case:
  • Compliance data is missing
  • An individual permission is required

Requests from logistics can be created manually from the Compliance Information for Products app, for example, in case a sales and marketing specialist plans to launch a product in a new market and requests a market assessment.

Product master integration

• Product is identified being compliance relevant for the first time
  • New product master is created, initially compliance relevant
  • Existing product master, newly identified compliance relevant
• Existing, compliance relevant product master is changed
  • New distribution chain is added
  • New plant with procurement type indicating in-house production or both procurement types

Manual request for a market assessment on a compliance relevant product, created from Compliance Information for Products app.

Integrated compliance checks on logistic documents automatically create requests from logistics in case:

• Compliance relevant not maintained for a product, means the product has status "undecided";
• Compliance checks identify compliance issues, for example:
  • No released market assessment exists for country/region;
  • No released dangerous goods assessment exists for country/region of ship-to party;
  • Safety data sheet is not available for country/region and required languages;
  • Market assessment has status allowed with restrictions, so individual approval per business transaction is required;
  • Product is relevant for customer compliance check for country/region prior to first shipment to customer.

The following details of the product master are relevant for automated creation of requests from logistics:

• Compliance Relevant - this must be set to "Yes", requests from logistics are only created for compliance relevant products;
• Distribution Chains - distribution chains give an indication, that the product is sold to respective markets, means countries/regions.
• Plants - plants with the maintained procurement type per plant give an indication on production.

These changes can require the product stewardship specialist to review and adapt the affected compliance view:

• assigned logistics roles;
• assigned markets and production countries/regions for additional market assessments;
• assigned compliance purposes to initiate additional compliance assessments.

Users of the Compliance Information for products app, for example Internal Sales Representatives and Marketing Specialists, can manually initiate requests from logistics, in case there is no valid compliance information available for a country/region, identified in the map view or table view.

Manual requests from logistics can be initiated for Product Marketability - you can create requests

• In sales view of product marketability for business process "Sell In", or
• In production view of product marketability for business process "Produce In".

Requesting a marketability assessment for a new country/region requires the product stewardship specialist to:

• review and adjust assigned compliance purposes and therefore
• process additional compliance assessments for solution areas;
• consolidate assessment results in the requested market assessment and business process.

Compliance checks on a logistic document automatically create a request from logistics, when …

• Product is sold or delivered to customer in new market country/region, so a new market assessment is required.
• Compliance checks identify missing compliance data:
  • No released dangerous goods assessment exists for country/region of ship-to party;
  • Safety data sheet is not available for country/region and required languages.
• Marketability status for selling to a market is Allowed with Restriction, so an individual permission is required for the business transaction.
• Customer compliance check is applicable but not yet available for the customer buying the affected product.

In these cases, the following details are provided with the request from logistics:

• Business process along with the solution area and area (country/region), derived from the failed compliance check;
• Logistics document type (for example sales order, outbound delivery, or transportation order) along with the document ID-number.
• Requester - means the user working on the logistics document.
• Affected product

With the assignment of the logistics role Transported and the assignment of a compliance purpose comprising dangerous goods compliance requirements, dangerous goods classification processing is initiated.

This is applicable for both, unpackaged products and raw materials according to business needs.

Be aware, that you need to assign packaged products from product master to the respective compliance views to complete dangerous goods classification of the packaged product.

In the Process Requests from Logistics app, section Unprocessed, you get an overview on new requests from logistics.

Utilize the search to retrieve a specific request from logistics by product name, business process, reason for request, origin, or due date.

With the automatically created Request from Logistics, you get an insight on compliance information required:

• Request Details

  This section provides information related to the origin of the request:

  • The product in product master for new products;
  • The logistics document, for example a sales order;
  • The manual request, created in the Compliance Information app

• Compliance View

  For a new product in product master, you can either assign an existing compliance view or create a new one.

  For products already assigned, you find the compliance view for unpacked products in this section.

• Countries/Regions to Verify

  Countries/Regions to verify originate from:

  • Distribution chains or plant views maintained in product master
  • Logistics document, for example, a sales order in case there is no market assessment available
  • Manual request

• Compliance Purposes to Verify

  In this section, you find the compliance purposes of an existing compliance view assigned.

  In case, you created a new compliance view for unpackaged product, you can add compliance purposes.

In the request details you get an overview comprising of:

• The affected product in product master;
• Sales organizations – this originates from distribution chains maintained for the product;
• Plants - this originates from plant views maintained for the product.

In the request, you can create a new compliance view or assign an existing compliance view to the product in product master:

• Create compliance view for Packaged product – the new product is a packaged product for assignment to a new compliance view of an unpackaged product;
• Assign compliance view to Unpackaged Product – the new product is an unpackaged product and is to be assigned to an existing compliance view for an unpackaged product;
• Create compliance view for Unpackaged Product – the new product is an unpackaged product and is to be assigned to the newly created compliance view for an unpackaged product.

We decided to create a new compliance view for the unpackaged product.

The logistics roles Sold and Transported are automatically proposed.

You can add logistics roles as required – in the example, we need the logistics role Produced.

The countries/regions to verify are derived from those countries/regions related to the:

• Distribution chains
• Plant views

Maintained for the product in product master.

With the action Ready for Assessment, you finalize the request from logistics.

You can either immediately start working on compliance assessments with the action Assess Now, or you can save the request for later processing.

You find requests from logistics in the In Assessment section until all pending market assessments are completed with a compliance status for:

• Countries/Regions to verify;
• Related business processes.

Product Compliance - Supplier Check (only relevant for Purchasing)

Check that only approved suppliers assessed by product compliance are used to source the product. This ensures that the sourced products meet the expectations and requirements of product compliance.

Check that the product is brought only into those countries approved by product compliance. This ensures that all legal aspects have been verified and assessed and no violation occurs.

Check that the product is transported only in those countries and with those transport modes which are approved by product compliance. This ensures that the transport requirements of the dangerous goods regulations are met.

Check that a valid Safety Data Sheet (SDS) does exist for the product to provide it to the recipient of the product. This ensures that the recipient of the product has access to the SDS in time for safe handling.

Looking at end-to-end business processes, we have to look at product compliance integration in two major business processes with integrated compliance checks: