Recurring Services (4X5) uses maintenance plans to schedule and organize periodic services that occur repeatedly at certain time intervals. The following list of apps can be used to implement this functionality in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition:
- Find Technical Object
- Create Maintenance Plan
- Change Maintenance Plan
- Find Maintenance Plans - Service
- Find Maintenance Items - Service
- Schedule Maintenance Plan - Service
- Mass Schedule Maintenance Plan - Service
- Display Maintenance Plan
- Display Measuring Point
- Change Measuring Point
- Create Measuring Point
- Display Measurement Document
- Create Measurement Document for Technical Object
- Monitor Mass Scheduling Logs - Service
All of these apps are part of the catalog(s) included in the standard SAP business role called Service Planner - Recurring Service (SAP_BR_SERVICE_PLANNER). Some apps are immediately available when a user logs on to the system with this role assigned. Other apps are invisible and can be made visible by the user.
Besides the apps mentioned above which are part of role Service Planner - Recurring Service (SAP_BR_SERVICE_PLANNER), a recurring service process also uses apps which are part of role Customer Service Manager (SAP_BR_CUSTOMER_SRVC_MGR), notably the following apps:
- Manage Service Order Templates (under tile group Service Order Management)
- Manage Service Contracts (under tile group Service Contract Management)
A service order template and a service contract are prerequisites for a recurring service based on a maintenance plan in the process supported by scope item Recurring Services (4X5).
The app Find Technical Object can be used to give service planners and customer service managers a view of the maintenance history for a technical object, as used in a recurring service scenario.
Note
This SAP Fiori app contains a facet called Maintenance Items for Service, which can be used for this purpose. Only maintenance items with service type Maintenance Plans are displayed in the technical object’s Maintenance Items for Service facet.A Service Contract for a Recurring Service
The customer (the sold-to party) whose technical objects receive the recurring service is determined from the service contract number which is assigned to the maintenance item in the maintenance plan.
The relevant sales area (that is, the combination of a sales organization, a distribution channel, and a division) also comes from the same service contract.
The service contract contains a product ID representing the service contract item and it contains a net value.
When adding a maintenance item to a maintenance plan, a technical object must be entered. A service contract must also be entered. Valid service contracts are contracts created for that specific technical object. The slide shows the technical object for which the service contract is created (field Equipment).
A Service Order Template for a Recurring Service
A service order template has a unique document number (see slide) and represents a set of recurring items (tasks and service parts) created for a specific technical object (see the field Equipment ID). The field Product ID is used to assign these items to the service order template. Examples of items (see the field Item Category) that can be included are service items, service parts, and stock service parts.
Besides the list of items, a service order template can also contain notes and attachments that represent a set of working instructions and required documentation for the service technician performing the recurring service.
For each item in a service order template, the Item Status (for example, released) and the Item Error Status are shown.
In the header of the service order template, the Life Cycle Status of the template is shown (using colour-coded icons). The following statuses are supported: Open, In Process, Released, and Completed.
Creating a Maintenance Plan
A maintenance plan has a document number (see slide) and some important header fields: The Maintenance Plan Category tells the system that the call object that will be generated is a Service Order (SO). The type of maintenance plan is also selected: a (time-based or performance-based) single cycle plan or a multiple counter plan. The example shown here is a time-based single cycle plan. No measuring point/counter needs to be entered. For a performance-based or multiple counter plan, a measuring point/counter is required.
When a maintenance item is added to a maintenance plan, a technical object is entered. Next, a valid service contract (plus item) is selected for this technical object, so that for example, sold-to party and sales area are known.
A service order template for the entered technical object is entered next, so that the list of service items and parts that needs to be copied into the generated service orders, is determined.
The field, Service Order Type, is important because it tells the system which type of object (Service Order (SV01)) needs to be generated every time a call is scheduled.
Choosing the header area called Maintenance Calls opens a list of scheduled maintenance calls with planned and call dates. From within the list it is possible view the details of every maintenance call. When the service order is generated, the service order itself can also be accessed from there.
Note
This information is available in the maintenance plan once the plan has been scheduled.Scheduling a Maintenance Plan
Using the app called Schedule Maintenance Plan - Service, a single maintenance plan can be scheduled. Rescheduling a plan (with a new start date) is also possible using this app. Other options include adding a manual call date and using Schedule overview list to display a list of call numbers with planned dates and call dates.
For individual call numbers, multiple options are available via icons below the list of call numbers. Options include: Release Call, Fix Call, Skip Call, Complete a call, and Display call object.
When using the app Mass Schedule Maintenance Plans - Service, a new job can be created or an existing job can be copied.
A list of jobs can be generated (based on various selection criteria like Status). The status of scheduled jobs is displayed and if a job is finished, the job log and the results file can be accessed.
Note
This information can also be accessed by using the Monitor Mass Scheduling Logs - Service app.
Service orders are generated with a fixed logic, based on the information of the maintenance plan, the maintenance item, the service contract item and the used service order template:
- For the generated service order header, the employee responsible is copied from the employee responsible of the service order template.
- For the generated service order items, each item in the used service order template is copied for each technical object or product in the maintenance item or item’s object list.
- One separate service order item is generated for each reference object.
To improve the flexibility of the recurring service solution in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, service and to support various business scenarios for customers, a cloud BAdI was introduced to enable adaptation of the above mentioned service order generation logic.
The service order generation logic can be adjusted based on (BAdI input):
- Standard fields and custom fields of the maintenance plan.
- Standard fields (including service contract item and service order template) and custom fields of the maintenance item.
- Maintenance plan call number, next planned date and measuring point.
The below mentioned data in a generated service order can be adapted (BAdI output):
- Description, priority, employee responsible, status and custom fields in the service order header.
- Item number, parent item number, product, quantity, unit, reference object, document flow relation with service order template item and custom fields in the service order item.
Using Measuring Points/Counters
A performance-based single cycle plan and a multiple counter plan both require the use of a measuring point.
The measured value for a measuring point can go up and down (that is, in both directions), whereas for a counter the values continuously either increase or decrease. On the slide, the creation of a counter is shown.
The field Measuring Point Category contains a configuration object which determines, for example, the number range out of which the new counter will receive its (identification) number. The field Characteristic is used to determine certain technical aspects of the counter like the unit of measurement and the number of decimal places used for the counter readings.
The Annual Estimate for the counter is used to calculate the estimated average number of operating hours (in this case) per day. Based on the maintenance cycle definition (for example, every 1000 operating hours), the system can calculate after how many days maintenance is needed and when a service order needs to be scheduled.
Counter readings are entered in the system via a document called a measurement document.