Using the Engineering Control Center

If you connect external CAD systems to the SAP system, you have the option of exchanging the data directly from the CAD system with the SAP system, or you are working with an alternative interface in the form of the Engineering Control Center.

However, this Engineering Control Center is increasingly also used "Stand Alone", that is, without the CAD integration of customers.

Take a look at the options offered by ECTR.

The SAP Engineering Control Center (ECTR) is a user interface for CAD integration, which allows you to edit document structures, either in the CAD system, or in the SAP ERP system.

The SAP Engineering Control Center lets you manage all engineering data of the CAD system: those with access to CAD data can use version management and status management. This means that multiple users can work simultaneously. Inconsistent data is avoided with the check-in mechanisms. You can load workstation applications for displaying and editing from the SAP ERP system into the CAD application directly.

The following video illustrates the concept.

The scenario could be started using the private folder in your SAP Engineering Control Center scenario, If necessary, it is possible to identify the document structure at this point.

The document info record will be created automatically depending on the predefinitions you made. The document type, the status, and the short text have to be defined, as well as the relevant workstation application. By doing this, the creation of the document structure runs automatically. If everything is done, you could transfer the structure from your private folder to the public one.

In the control center, you are able to:

• Change statuses

• Delete documents

• Create versions of originals, release, and edit

• Create and link material masters

• Create, change and explode material BOMs

• Do mass changes

If you connect external CAD systems to the SAP system, you have the option of exchanging the data directly from the CAD system with the SAP system, or you are working with an alternative interface in the form of the Engineering Control Center.

Let’s look at what an integration from an Autodesk Inventor might look like.

The first screen now shows the ECTR integration within the Inventor interface.

By means of the interface connection, entries are made in the CAD application for the corresponding SAP functions. These include the normal log on and log off functions, the SAP Engineering Control Center settings, and also simply displaying or changing documents.

The next video shows a possible data transfer, starting with the creation of the data in the CAD system, the creation of the document info records in the SAP system, and the linkage of the files, up to now to the creation of the materials and the derived material BOM.

Your company has now decided that external CAD systems are connected to the SAP system. The Engineering Control Center is now to be used for the data transfer.

However, this Engineering Control Center can also be used without CAD integration. That’s what the next scenarios are about now.

First, familiarize yourself with the Engineering Control Center.

Watch the following video, which shows some basic ECTR settings and the subsequent definition of two object searches.

The next step is to create object lists in the form of favorites.

The following video shows the creation of a favorites list and the assignment of objects in the form of a document and material.

Your last task is to create a folder structure in the private folder and work with the existing structure in the public folder. You also create a new document and a new linked material.

To do so, watch the corresponding video.