Covering white spots in the SAP supply chain functionality..

I am all about using standard SAP. I pursue religiously the use of all options and functions available in the standard delivered SAP licence agreement. However, sometimes I find myself doing things in Excel. And then I ask myself: isn't there a way? Standard SAP?

No, not everything can be done in the standard. An XYZ analysis to determine a Coefficient of Variation (or degree of predictability) is just not there. Measuring forecast accuracy? Not really. There are white spots in the SAP system and here is where Marc Hoppe, best selling author at SAP Press, and SAP Consulting come into play. They have developed a number of Monitors which cover these 'white spots'.

There is, for example, an MRP Monitor which performs an ABC/XYZ analysis and, as a result, groups materials into various classes. You can then assign a strategy to every segment and mass-update the material masters with the appropriate settings.

This is genius since it hits home in so many ways. Have you ever had an MRP controller break down because she is overwhelmed with the number of materials she has to update and analyze on a monthly basis? It happens all the time. And the possibilities of combinations of lot size procedures, strategies, safety stock options, MRP types etc. is sheer unmanageable.

Hoppe and company also offer a safety stock and lead time simulation tool and many more Monitors.

All great stuff and there is more in the pipeline and... it's all from the house of SAP!