Business Context:
As we recently embarked upon a client demerger requirement mandating a plant divestiture scenario, this case study has been prepared to share some of the key learnings on the same. This work majorly covers the questionnaire for understanding scope of work under various modules Viz. FI, CO, PP, QM, PM, MM & SD.
The below flow depicts the business context:
As shown above (Note: all nomenclature changed intentionally to retain client-confidentiality), under the target system, one of the plants i.e. PLN1 under company code TES1 shall be moved to a new company code set-up with a new sales organization aligned. Also, a new replica company code shall be created for TES2 with both the assigned plants PLNA and PLNB also recreated with existing sales set-up too reproduced.
Module-Based Questionnaire
FI
a. a. Global settings & General Ledger:
1. 1. Can the existing Chart of Accounts (GL accounts) and other financial global settings including fiscal year variant, posting period variant etc., be extended to new company code(s) proposed?
2. 2. Any mandate to have alternative chart of accounts for new company codes’ localization requirement?
3. 3. Can existing tax procedure / tax codes be used in their current for the new company code(s)?
4. 4. To be mapped: New company code – name and address, Company code registration details like VAT etc., Company linkage with company code, its name and address (needed mainly for trading partner)
a. b. Accounts Payable:
1. 1. List of the existing vendors (third party, inter-company and employee) which are required to be extended to new company code
2. 2. Can existing Payment procedure & its interface (if any) be extended to this new company code?
b. c. Accounts Receivable:
1. 1. Similar to Accounts payable above (details required for Customers)
2. 2. Can all the existing functionalities in AR (including interfaces) in old company code be extended to new company code or exclusions if any? Ex: Credit control area, Dunning, HO-Branch combination etc.
c. d. Bank accounting:
1. 1. Details of the list of bank accounts to be created in new company code?
2. 2. Can the existing set-up in terms of Check deposit, Electronic bank statement and lockbox (if any) be extended to new company code?
d. e. Asset accounting:
1. 1. Local depreciation / parallel depreciation area if any, required in new company code?
2. 2. Can the existing Chart of Depreciation be extended to this new company code?
CO
a. a. General Settings: Can the new company code be assigned to existing Controlling area?
b. b. Cost center accounting: List of new cost centers that are to be created in new company code?
c. c. Profit center accounting: List of profit centers that need to be newly created / already existing ones to be extended to the new company code
d. d. Internal orders: List of new internal orders to be created
a. e. Product Costing:
1. If standard costing process is followed in the current set-up – how the same needs to be set-up in new plant / company code combination – i.e., existing material standard price in current plant / material number to be copied to new plant (and / or material number)?
2. Approximate list of open Production orders / Service orders / Sales orders etc., to be migrated to new Plant during cutover – this will aid in assessing progress on these objects from CO point of view.
b. f. Profitability analysis (COPA): Any new operating concern, new value fields to be created / derivation strategy to be adopted for new company code or existing functionality in COPA be fully extended to new company code?
c. g. Customized reports / forms and other RICEFs:
1. List of customized RICEFW’s to be extended to new company code / new plant (needs to be done through security authorization).
2. Details of customized RICEF’s where address should be changed to new company code / new plant. (to be checked through current SO10 text)
PP
1. 1. Master data details - Material Master, BOM, Routing, Production version etc. need to be migrated to new Plant?
2. 2. Naming conventions for Material Masters? (does this need any change)
3. 3. Naming conventions for Work Centers? (does this need any change)
4. 4. Do we have production versions? If yes, naming conventions for Production Versions?
5. 5. List of MRP controllers & naming conventions for the MRP Controller?
6. 6. List of production scheduler & naming conventions for the production scheduler?
7. 7. List all work center responsible & naming conventions for the same?
8. 8. What MRP types are used? Is there any special configuration required at Plant level
9. 9. Are there any custom MRP types created in system? For what business reason?
10. 10. Do we have any MRP areas defined? Business purpose for the same?
11. 11.What planning strategies will be used?
12. 12. Production Process – Discrete/repetitive manufacturing.
13. 13. Any custom order types defined? Any rework order types defined?
14. 14. How is the cost settlement done for Production and rework orders
15. 15. List any custom reports used in Planning and production process that need to be migrated to new plant (target system)
QM
1. 1. Is QM activation required for the Plant? (relevance)
2. 2. Have we defined laboratory as a work center?
3. 3. Material Specifications used for Quality Inspection or Inspection Plan?
4. 4. Details of material/material group/product group using Material specifications.
5. 5. Is the business using ‘classify’ the master inspection characteristics?
6. 6. Is transfer of quality inspection data to batch management used?
7. 7. Details of current catalogs and their structure?
8. 8. Are there any special sampling schemes to calculate sample sizes?
9. 9. How the inspection lots for goods receipts is created? (Implying Manually/Automatically based on MM-QM view setting)
10. 10.Does the business records results for inspection points during production process?
11. 11.Which type of interval (time-related/quantity-related/freely defined) does the business use for performing inspections?
12. 12.Are notifications used? Key criteria used to differentiate notifications? Details of different notification types?
13. 13.Is the creation and activation of QM order based on the notification? Where are the costs to be settled?
14. 14.Do we have quality inspections for deliveries to customers? Elucidate the procedures used.
15. 15.What information is populated in quality certificates? Do they contain information about the finished product alone or data about components from the production chain as well?
PM
1. 1. Is the business using cross plant Maintenance planning?
2. 2. How the hierarchy of functional locational structured?
3. 3.What equipment categories have been defined in the existing system?
4. 4.How are equipment BOM Structured?
5. 5. Number range for Equipment (External or Internal?)
6. 6. What task list types are in use in the system?
7. 7. What notification types have been defined in the system? Any custom notification types?
8. 8. Do we have standardized codes in the existing system? If yes, which code categories are needed to be implemented?
9. 9. What user statuses have been created in the system and how are they behaving?
10. 10. How time confirmation for external service is done in the current system?
11. 11. What measurement points and counters are defined in the present system?
12. 12. How the maintenance plans are created in the system (Individual/group of Maint. items)
13. 13. Is calibration Process using plant maintenance orders used?
14. 14. What are the order types used - Preventive, Breakdown, refurbishment etc.? Also, list any special order types used
15. 15. Do we have inventory for the Plant Maintenance related items? Is yes, how these are consumed during the process?
16. 16. Any custom reports or developments – Details?
MM
1. 1. Details on the new Organization Structure?
a. Number of Plants
b. Number of Storage Locations
c. Number of Purchase organizations
2. 2. Expected volume of materials for the new plant?
3. 3. Expected volume of vendors required in new company code. Are Plant wise vendors required?
4. 4. Is there any customized Purchase order document type(s) required for the new plant?
5. 5. How many pricing procedures required? Do they exist in the current system or to be designed new?
6. 6. Is Release Strategy required? If so, which are all the documents requires release strategy?(PR, PO and Contract – For example)
7. 7. Can existing release strategies be modified or new release setup required for new company code /plant?
8. 8. Are release Workflow and Mobile applications required for release?
9. 9. Any new business process(s) required in the new company code / Plant?
10. 10.Split valuation required for the new plant?
11. 11. Does workflow exists in Invoicing for the new company code?
12. 12. How many Forms/ Outputs required for the new plant and list of the same?
13. 13. Any Customized reports required for the new plant? If yes, details
14. 14. Any existing customized report needs to be modified/redesigned with respect to the new plant?
15. 15. How many users for the new company code / Plant? (post divestiture)
16. 16. Expected volume of open Transaction data for the new plant? (see below)
a. Open Purchase orders / Goods receipts / Invoices
b. Initial Stock
17. 17. Any Interface requirement exists for the new company code / Plant?
18. 18. If the plant is removed from the current company code and assigned to new company code, what are all the activities required in the old company code? (existing set-up)
SD
1. 1. How many new sales Organizations are required? Address details for new Sales Organizations?
2. 2. Which distribution channels/divisions to be assigned to new sales organizations?
3. 3. Details of Sales Offices, Sales Districts and Sales Groups? (And other auxiliary sales related inputs)
4. 4. Details of new Shipping points/Routes?
5. 5. Sales document types to be assigned for new sales areas?
6. 6. Pricing Procedure determination details for new sales areas proposed?
7. 7. Intercompany configurations required for new sales area? (Plant to sales area, customer etc.)
8. 8. List of Customer masters to be extended to new Company Code/Sales areas? If old Company Code is to be scrapped, customers to be set 'deletion flag' at old Company Code?
9. 9. List of Material masters for which sales views to be extended for new sales organizations/distribution channels?
10. 10. List of CMIRs to be created for new Sales Organizations?
11. 11. List of sales processes for new plant? (Normal sales, Interco-Sales, STO, Free Samples etc.)Any new sales process to be configured for new plant?
12. 12. Open Sales Documents in old Company Code - will they be set 'Reason for Rejection' or be processed completely before going for the new set-up?
13. 13. Customized reports based on Sales Org/Plant/Company Code to be enhanced for new set-up?
14. 14. List of output types to be used for new plant? (Sales, Shipping, Billing etc.)
Summary:
Though may not be exhaustive, the questions above, covering some of the core SAP modules will surely help practicing consultants in understanding the quantum of work that may be involved in a potential business demerger requirement.
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