Planning and Approving Maintenance

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Apply the planning phase
  • Apply the approval phase

Planning Phase

Planning

The Planning phase begins when a maintenance request is accepted. The accepted maintenance request is now known as a maintenance notification. As a Maintenance Planner, you can now create and plan orders.

In the Manage Maintenance Notifications and Orders app, maintenance orders can be created for one or more maintenance notifications. Alternatively, you can assign an existing maintenance order to a maintenance notification. Information from the leading maintenance notification is copied into the maintenance order. The quick view for maintenance order allows you to navigate to related apps. Orders can also be created in the Create Maintenance Order app.

In the Change Maintenance Order app, you can add information related to operation, material, labor, services, and cost to plan the order. Only as a Maintenance Gatekeeper, you can change the final due date and priority for the maintenance order.

When you create an order, the order is in the Planning phase and sub-phase In Planning (Order). Depending upon the configuration of the order type in the SSCUI Activate Workflow for Order Type, an order needs a cost approval. An order can be released without an approval if the order type is not configured for workflow. If the workflow is configured for the order type, the order goes through the workflow steps for approval. If the workflow is configured for automatic approval, then the order is approved immediately. If workflow is set up for manual approval, it will move to the approver's inbox.

You can submit an order for approval from Manage Maintenance Notifications and Orders app and Change Maintenance Order app.

As a maintenance planner, you need to ensure that a maintenance order has all the operations, required components, resources, and documents to perform the maintenance. The system will calculate the planned costs for the maintenance.

If the maintenance order type is configured for cost approval, then the planner will submit the order for cost approval.

The submitted order moves to My Inbox app. When an order is submitted for approval, the phase and sub-phase of the order are Approval and Submitted for Approval (Order) respectively. If the order is approved, then the sub-phase of the order is Approved (Order). If the order is rejected, then the sub-phase is Rejected (Order).

You can release the accepted maintenance orders for preparation. You can edit a rejected maintenance order and submit it for approval. It then moves to the Approval phase.

The SAP Fiori apps applicable for this phase are:

Manage Maintenance Notifications and Orders (F4604)

Manage Maintenance Notifications and Orders (F4604)

Manage maintenance notifications and orders.

With this app, you can manage maintenance notifications and maintenance orders. You can create orders for maintenance notifications and assign existing orders to notifications. Each order has a header notification. The notification from which an order is created becomes its header notification and inherits its data.

This app is available with the role SAP_BR_MAINTENANCE_PLANNER. You can:

  • Get a combined view of Maintenance Notifications and Maintenance Orders

  • Create maintenance order for maintenance notifications

  • Assign maintenance notifications to existing maintenance order

  • Mass change capabilities for maintenance notifications and orders

  • Submit work orders for approval

  • Release work orders for preparation

  • Unassign maintenance notifications from work orders

Note

By default only Maintenance Notifications of type Y1 (Reactive Work) are displayed. In this app, you can only view notifications of new scope items (4HH, 4HI, 4VT, 4WM). This app does not display notifications of old scope item (BH1, BH2 and BJ2)

Key Features

  • View maintenance notifications that are screened and accepted.

    1. A maintenance request is created for a technical object.

    2. The new maintenance request is available for screening and acceptance.

    3. The screened maintenance request is available in this app for processing.

  • Filter maintenance notifications. By default, the system displays reactive maintenance notifications (notifications of type Y1) with a date range of +/- 15 days. You can clear the default parameters to view the complete list of notifications and orders.

  • Group and sort maintenance notifications or maintenance orders.

  • View details of a maintenance notification such as priority, failure mode, final due date, associated orders, and so on.

  • View details of a maintenance order such as priority, failure mode, final due date, associated notifications, and so on. Orders that are in status Closed (CLSD) are not displayed here.

  • Create a maintenance order for a single maintenance notification. Select a maintenance notification and create a maintenance order. When you create an order for a notification, the notification becomes the leading notification for the order. The order inherits details from the notification. The new maintenance order has a unique order number. You can create an order for a notification only if the notification is not already assigned to an order.

  • Create a maintenance order for multiple maintenance notifications. Select multiple maintenance notifications and create a maintenance order. If a maintenance order is created for multiple maintenance notifications, the leading notification is displayed. To view other notifications associated with the maintenance order, choose More.

    • You can create multiple orders for multiple notifications. For each of the notifications you selected, a separate order will be created.

    • You can create a single order for multiple notifications. For all the notifications you selected, a single order will be created and you can assign one of the notifications as the leading notification.

  • You can assign a single order to multiple notifications. If you receive a notification for the same object and if the problem is the same, then you do not have to create a new order. You can assign the existing order that has already been created for the problem to the notification.

  • You can unassign orders from a notification but, you cannot unassign orders from a leading notification. To switch the leading notification,navigate to the Change Maintenance Order app. Enter the order number and navigate to the Detail page. In the Object List tab, remove the flag for Header Notification.

  • Some orders require an approval based on order attributes and cost. You can configure workflow rules to determine the approvers for the order. For orders that require approval, the planner has to request for approval.

  • Submit, approve, or reject an order.

    • The submitted order is available in My Inbox app where you can approve or reject the order.

    • Once an order is approved, it can be released.

    • You can submit a rejected order for approval.

  • Change responsibility for the maintenance notification and maintenance order. For each attribute, you can keep existing values, select new values, or leave the field blank. You cannot update orders if order has been submitted for approval.

  • Release accepted orders for preparation of materials and services required for the order.

  • Navigate to related apps from the object page.

Approval Phase

Overview: Approval

Maintenance orders are approved through a flexible workflow process in the Manage Workflows for Maintenance Orders app. It is recommended that you configure a generic step condition and specific step sequences. Each step sequence can have step conditions and an approver. Only one workflow is used but each step condition in the workflow is evaluated. If multiple step conditions are true, they are created as approval steps and approval from approver of each step is required.

Orders that are ready for approval are available in My Inbox app. To approve a maintenance order, select the workflow request, review details of the order, enter comments, and approve. You can resubmit rejected orders for approval.

When you approve an order, baseline cost is set to equal to the planned cost. Approved orders can be released. After you release an order, the order moves to Preparation phase.

The SAP Fiori apps applicable for this phase are:

  • Manage Workflows for Maintenance Orders (F4989)

  • Manage Teams and Responsibilities (F2412)

  • My Inbox - Maintenance Management (F2953)

Manage Workflows for Maintenance Orders (F4989)

Manage work-flows for maintenance orders.

With this app, you can manage the approval workflow for maintenance orders. As a configuration expert, you can configure workflows to optimize the approval process for maintenance orders. If a workflow with one or more steps is activated and the configured start conditions are fulfilled, the approval process is initiated.

Key Features

  • Define start conditions for a workflow such as planning plant and order type. Workflow will be selected only if the start conditions are met. You can set up the start conditions based on various attributes of the work order. It is advisable to define the start conditions as generic as possible. In the step sequences, you can provide specific conditions.

  • Define the sequence in which the start conditions of existing workflows are checked.

    If you have defined several workflows, the start conditions are checked in the sequence you have defined. As soon as the start conditions for a workflow are met, this workflow is used. This ensures that only one workflow in the list of your defined workflows is started, even if several workflows have matching start conditions.

  • Navigate into the details of a workflow.

  • Activate or deactivate a workflow.

  • Copy an existing workflow and modify it according to your requirements,or add a new workflow. You can configure the workflow as follows:

    • Define properties such as a description and a validity period. You can define the criteria that needs to be fulfilled for the workflow to start. You can choose a planning plant and order type. For example,preconditions can be order type is Reactive Maintenance (YA01) and planning plant is 1010.
    • Add one or more step sequences. For each step sequence, you can define recipients, timelines, and preconditions. You can define the sequence of the steps and delete unnecessary steps.

    Note

    If you use either the role Manager of Last Approver or Manager of Workflow Initiator, the managers must be maintained in the system. If you use the Person Responsible for Cost Center in Settlement Rule(s) role, then the person responsible must be maintained in the cost center. If you use the Person Responsible for WBS Elements(s) in Settlement Rule(s) role, then a financial controller must be maintained for the project of the WBS element. This ensures that the workflow can find the correct approver.

  • Define the validity of a workflow.

  • Activate scenarios. If you opt to automatically release the maintenance order, the workflow is activated by default.

Manage Teams and Responsibilities (F2412)

Manage teams and responsibilities.

With this app, you can manage teams or team members associated with certain functions. You can identify which function can be performed by which member. The teams and team members can be mapped as responsible for an activity type, for example, in a process step of a workflow scenario.

In Asset Management, teams and responsibilities are used in workflow scenarios. There are five fixed functions to model cost approval authority in a company. The five functions are:

  • Cost Approval Level 1

  • Cost Approval Level 2

  • Cost Approval Level 3

  • Cost Approval Level 4

  • Cost Approval Level 5

You can use either teams or functions in agent determination of the workflow.

Using Functions in Workflow

You can see the pre-delivered functions when you select role in agent determination of a workflow. When a maintenance order is submitted for approval, the system determines approvers based on the functions configured in the workflow rule. For example, when you set up a team with several team members each having different cost approval functions. System will determine the team members who are eligible to approve based on the function configured in the workflow rule.

Using Teams in Workflow

You can see the teams you configured when you choose team in agent determination of a workflow. When a maintenance order is submitted for approval, the system determines approvers based on the team configured in the workflow rule. For example, when you set up a team with several team members each having different cost approval functions. System will determine the team and send the order for approval to all team members in the team irrespective of their functions.

Key Features

This app allows you to do the following:

  • Create, edit, and delete teams.

  • Copy an existing team and its change attributes.

  • Add a member to an existing team.

  • Delete a member from an existing team.

  • Add a function to an existing team member.

  • Delete a function from an existing team member.

  • Maintain values for responsibility definitions of teams.

  • View teams in hierarchies.

  • Manage subteams in hierarchy.

You can make teams and team members responsible for a particular activity or scenario in a workflow.

My Inbox - Maintenance Management (F2953)

Display your in-box in maintenance management.

With this app, you can approve or reject maintenance orders.

Overview of the approval work-flow for a maintenance order.

When defining the approval workflows for maintenance management the following points are very important.

A Business Process Configuration Expert determines the level of Automation:

  • Dynamic Start Conditions.
  • Setup Approval Rules without programming skills.
  • N-step Approval.

A Business Process Configuration Expert defines Responsible Team:

  • Separated Approval Workflows for different planning plants / planning groups.
  • Dynamic Approver Determination.
Overview of the approval steps.

Here you can see the various steps that are required to setup the Cost Approval of maintenance orders. This is available only with new scope items (4HH, 4HI, 4VT and 4WM).

Manage Teams and Responsibilities Asset Management

Manage teams and responsibilities in asset management.
  1. In Responsibility Management, a team category represents a business process (Procurement, Sales and Distribution, Maintenance and so on). SAP provides the current list of team categories. Team Category Maintenance Planning and Execution (MAINT_P_E) represents Asset Management business process.
  2. A business process could comprise subprocesses which are represented as team types. SAP provides the current list of team types. Team type Maintenance Team (MAINT_P_E) represents Maintenance teams.
Create a team.

To define a team and its responsibilities:

  1. Open the Manage Teams and Responsibilities app with the role SAP_BR_BPC_EXPERT.
  2. Create a new team for the Cost Approval through which you can group responsible members with appropriate definitions for responsibilities.
  3. Assign the team members functions which uniquely describe the cost approval limits. You can use functions and responsibility definitions as a selection criteria for agent determination in workflow.
Display the data on the team information tab.

Team attributes are represented as Responsibility Definitions. A responsibility definition is a name-value pair that can be used to query teams. For example, you can define a team which is responsible for Plant = 1010, Planner Group = CK1 and Main Work Center = RSH_MECH.

SAP provides the following attributes of a Maintenance Order for defining the responsibilities of a team:

  • Company Code
  • Main Work Center
  • Activity Type
  • Planner Group
  • Maintenance Planning Plant
  • Maintenance Plant
  • Order Type
  • Responsible Work Center
Display the team members and team owners.
  1. Team Members perform various tasks. A team member is a business user (i.e., a business partner associated with a SAP user) with a role Employee (BUP003), Service Provider (BBP005) or Freelancer (BBP010)
  2. You cannot assign a business user, whose Status is:
    1. Blocked
    2. Marked for Archiving
    3. Business Purpose Completed
  3. Tasks are represented as member functions. Member functions and responsibility definitions are mapped to SAP delivered team categories and inherited by team types. For Asset Management, following functions are delivered:
    1. Cost Approval Level 1
    2. Cost Approval Level 2
    3. Cost Approval Level 3
    4. Cost Approval Level 4
    5. Cost Approval Level 5

    You can use the above functions to model $ limit approval levels of various team members.

    You cannot define your own member functions for team category MAINT_P_E.

  4. Team owners :
    • define and maintain the team header
    • define responsibility definitions
    • add / replace team members and
    • assign functions to a set of members at a time
Define the approval thresholds in a team.
  • You need not define the exact $ approval thresholds (or limit) of members. A function represents an approval hierarchy level in the organization.
  • You can configure either function or the team as an agent in the workflow.
Manage work-flows for maintenance orders.

The following steps show you how to manage the workflows for Maintenance Orders.

  1. Open the Manage Workflows app with the role SAP_BR_BPC_EXPERT.
  2. Use this app, to create an Approval Workflow and define:
    • Specify the validity dates.
    • Start conditions. For example, a workflow rule is valid only for a specific planning plant and planning group. The workflow will be processed only if all the preconditions are met.
    • Define the number of approval steps (each step determines the possible approvers (agents or recipients)).
    • Specify additional pre-condition for each step. For example, approval step 3 is only required if the value of the order is greater than $100,000.

Only active workflows are considered by the workflow process.

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