SAP SLM/ SAP SLC an Overview..
In this blog and future blog’s am sharing some functional / technical details on SAP SLM / SAP SLC module.
Before proceeding further, let me clarify one question, which will come to every consultant, who will start working with this module, i.e.
Why two names SAP SLM or SAP SLC? When I done some R & D on this , found that , SLC stands for “Supplier Lifecycle Collaboration “ and SLM standards for “Supplier Lifecycle Management“,so initially the product name was SAP SLM , but with the same name there is one more module “Software Lifecycle Management” already present with SAP , so to avoid naming conflict , SAP SLC has been chosen. So SAP SLM and SAP SLM are represent same module.
Initially when I was asked to start working with SAP SLM / SAP SLC, was totally blank about its functionality and processes, even when searched over net found very minimal documentation in help.sap.com – https://help.sap.com/slc , other than this found some config documentation from SAP Market Place. So here am sharing very basic information on the SAP SLC / SAP SLM, which I have got during the implementation of SAP SRM and SAP SLM.
so lets start ..
SAP Says ,
“SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management is a holistic approach to managing supplier relationships. It deals with the supply base as a whole to constantly determine the right mix of suppliers. It covers the lifecycle of individual supplier’s ‒ from on boarding to a continuous development”.
So in common terms SAP SLM is the module which deals with “Supplier” life cycle. Unlike SRM SUS, this module is purely developed by making “Supplier” as a central. “. “From the day a Supplier is started business to the day Supplier end the relationship “, this whole lifecycle will be monitored / controlled / powered by SAP SLM.
So now question comes why a separate module is needed to manage the Supplier? , answer for above question can by find below …
- With SAP SLM, company can manage end to end Supplier Life cycle efficiently, from Supplier Registration to Supplier Phase-out.
- With SAP SLM, Company can manage “Supplier Qualification “efficiently, as many automated processes are available.
- With SAP SLM Company can manage “Supplier Performance” efficiently, as many automated processes are provided by SLM.
- With SAP SLM company can trust a single centralized supplier source of information.
- SAP SLM has SAP ABAP WD – at Buyer Side and BSP at Sell Side, which makes the UI very rich to use, which intern enables Business people to use the application efficiently.
- SAP SLM can be connected to multiple backend systems, so company can maintain the data as “Centralized”.
- SAP SLM is “Deployment Flexible”, which means, it’s not only deployed with SAP SRM, but also has flexibility to deeply on ECC or standalone.
- SAP SLM usages tools like “Score Cards”, “Questionnaires”…etc for Supplier Evaluation & Supplier Qualification, which intern helps in Reporting.
Below is the snapshot of Supplier lifecycle in SAP SLM.
High level architecture of SAP SLM.
Below is the high level architecture of SAP SLM.
In SAP SLM Buy Side represents the Company (Buyer / Purchaser) and Sell Side represents the Supplier/Vendor.
SAP SLM Processes.
Below are the processes of SAP SLM.
- Registering Suppliers.
- Maintaining Supplier Data.
- Qualifying Suppliers.
- Managing the Supplier Portfolio.
- Classifying Suppliers.
- Evaluating Suppliers Based on Events.
- Evaluating Supplier Peer Groups.
By this information , am ending this blog , in the next blog will try to discuss on the SAP SLM Processes. Any comments or suggestions are welcome 🙂 , as always.
Good work..!!
Thanks Pratap ..
SLC process can be also shown as (this is what I learnt on my project) -
Hi Bakulesh,
Yes , the one mentioned by you will cover most of the process in a simple way . Thanks for sharing.
thanks
Channa
Hi Channa,
Our requirement is, after supplier registration and approval system will generate the email notification that registration completed and following are the credentials to login.
In this email, we notice that it taking the standard URL and it contains all the SICF service like /SAP/BC/BSP/SRMSMC/.
Now customer wants to send the portal link like HTTPS://XXXX:port/irj/portal/ in the email notification with system generated user.
Request you to please let me know the steps are required to configure or where we need to configure the new link in registration notification.
system taking old link. please advice your valuable suggestions.
Hello Channa,
I am implementing SAP SLC 2.0 without portal.
Any idea how do we share supplier url link with security in place.
Also I am planning to install Buy Side on SAP SRM and Sell Side on SAP SLC.
Please provide your input and confirm.
Thanks,
VM
Hi Anil,
Am not aware of this , probably u can get answer in the config guides which are available in SAP market place.
thanks
Channa
Very nicely explained.. !!
Hi CHannapa,
Nice to go thru your blog.
Can you please share the knowledge sharing documents on SLC on my mail ID atulmaan@gmail.com
Plz
Good Knowledge sharing! What will happen to this process once the cloud in place
Hi Channa,
We are facing one issue in the Attachment workflow process.
Supplier is attaching a PDF, once he attach the status shows as document created,pending approval.
But we are unable to find to whom it went for approval and we donot see any worklfow in buyside also.
Can you please guide as to trace where it went or any configurations exits to check.
Regards,
Vinay
Hello Channa,
I am implementing SAP SLC 2.0
Also I am planning to install Buy Side on SAP SRM and Sell Side on SAP SLC, could you please confirm for Sell Side is SUS is mandatory or it will work without SUS.
We are planning to do start with Registration to Supplier Order Collaboration, will SLC do that or we have to have SUS also in our landscape, any helpful response would be appreciated.
Please provide your input and confirm.
Thanks,
VM
It's great that you're still interested in SLC 🙂 Geetings!