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Author's profile photo Balazs Nick

The Power of SAP S/4HANA #6 – Actual Maintenance Cost Analysis

Tracking maintenance costs is key for an efficiently run business. In traditional ERP systems, standard reports usually do not offer enough flexibility to provide a thorough analysis. Very often a data export into an external reporting tool is required, meaning, that the analysis might be outdated by the time it is complete.

SAP S/4HANA offers you a solution for this business challenge. The new Actual Maintenance Cost Analysis app uses real-time data providing you with the insights you require to take immediate action. This is achieved by presenting business operations and business analytics in one dashboard.

When you open the application, you are greeted with the default overview page. Depending on your setting, the filter bar on the top of the page has either the classical appearance (compact filter), or as in our example a visual filter. Below that you find an area where the data is visualized. Here you have a selection of 10+ different chart types. At the bottom of the screen you see the transaction documents – in this case maintenance orders.

There is no need to complete or settle the maintenance order, as soon as it has actual cost involved, the entry appears in the list and the values are updated. This can occur in a number of ways – as with traditional ERP – for example, by posting a goods receipt for a purchase order related to the maintenance order or by confirming the time for one of the operations.

To further filter data, just click on the elements inside the graphics as the documents and charts interact with each other and the data points, bars etc. inside the chart can be used as filters.

The dashboard also allows for direct interaction with the documents. By clicking on the maintenance order, you will see a list of possible actions you can take. The items on the list depend on the settings of the user, as every user can configure the list to match their preferences in the app.

Examples include:

  • Change Maintenance Order
  • Display Maintenance Order
  • Display Material Availability
  • Run Actual Settlement

Creating a custom view to match the user preferences is quick and easy and is open to all users. Objects you can change on the screen include – among other things:

  • Filter type
  • Chart Type
  • Measures
  • Axis dimensions

View the flexibility by comparing the two screenshots below, taken in the same app.

 

The app allows you to slice and dice data. You could, for example start with a yearly overview, then break it down by month. Or you could decide to visualize the monthly costs per work center or plant. Drill down further, breaking down the costs of a plant per technical object type or by equipment. Once again, I would like invite you to take a look at the screenshots: on the left you have a high level yearly summary, on the right a breakdown of cost per equipment.

Once you have configured a view that you would like to use more often and perhaps even share with colleagues you have multiple options available:

  • Send the page to one of you co-workers by clicking the share button
  • Save the view as a Fiori Tile on your Fiori Home Page
  • Save the view as a variant, with the options to make it default or even public

The new Actual Maintenance Cost Analysis empowers maintenance planners with real-time insight and allows to act proactively. Watch the video to get a first impression.

The introduced app is only one of the manifold innovations enabled by SAP S/4HANA. To find out more, stay tuned for our upcoming videos and blogs and feel free to have a look here:

SAP S/4HANA Feature Scope Description: http://spr.ly/6009Ds0UT

SAP Fiori Application Library: http://spr.ly/6006Ds0Uw

SAP S/4HANA Trials: http://spr.ly/6005Ds0Uc

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      5 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Graham Johnston
      Graham Johnston

      This app is great if you want to look into the past. The opportunity was there to build an app that looks both into the past and into the future. Planners these days are looking ahead and with so many budget constraints having a view to what the spend is coming up is very useful. This could have been achieved with this app by just adding the Planned Cost field. This would also allow Plan v Actual analysis which some Planner are under scrutiny all the time. SAP, can you please make your apps more flexible so they can be used for more than 1 function. The CDS view have that information so why not just add it as standard.

      Author's profile photo Balazs Nick
      Balazs Nick
      Blog Post Author

      Dear Mr Johnson!

      I completetly agree taht this app has much more potential, that is why we are working on updates for it. Since the release of this post a year ago multiple S/4HANA shipments have been delivered, some of it enhancing this app. Since the 2011 release in Q4 last year planned costs can also be visualized in the app.

      Best Regards,

      Balázs

      Author's profile photo Graham Johnston
      Graham Johnston

      Hi Balázs

      Thanks for the reply but I reviewed this app in 1909 and deemed it not suitable but if Planned cost has been added in 2020 then it may be okay.

      Why should you have to determine a 'Spend Category' which is a 'Cost Element Hierachy'? Why not just use the Work Order Value Category configuration? A Work order shows costs in categories like 'Internal Labour', 'External Labour', 'Internal Material', etc so why shouldn't this Actual cost analysis app show the same categories. Consistency is a big thing with UX so delivering costs different ways will confuse an end user.

      Author's profile photo Chris Wills
      Chris Wills

      Hi Balazs

      In the line item report section at the bottom of this app, what do the costs refer to?

      I am comparing costs of the maintenance order with the costs shown in the line item report and they are hugely different. I mean in some cases £100s v £millions

      I'm assuming the costs column doesn't mean maintenance cost? Or could it be that we are missing a setting/prerequisite for this report to work properly?

      Thanks

      Author's profile photo Shirish Awasthi
      Shirish Awasthi

      Hi Chris

       

      You need to implement SAP note 2741310 to solve the cost issue.

       

      Hi Nick,

       

      The table section cannot be exported to spreadsheet, I don't see any option. Do you know?

      Regards

      Shirish