Improvements in Interface Monitoring in S/4

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As the number of connected systems in the system landscape grows, so do the number of messages that flow between the systems. The SAP IDoc (Intermediate Document) has been and is one of the default routes for message transmission in most customer environments. SAP built capabilities to review these inbound and outbound messages since the days of R/3. But the functionalities were basic and lagged the ability to query the messages by business data. The earlier functionalities were technical in nature this activity was typically handled by the support team. This is now vastly improved in the S/4HANA environment because business users can perform activities once left to the technical team, themselves thereby reducing the IT dependency which increase productivity significantly.

While the original functionalities to review messages (WE02, WE05) are still available, new capabilities are available as business functions since Enhanced Package 4 of ECC. However, it was not standalone and was tied to other industry components. From S/4HANA 1511 On-premise version onwards, this is now an “always on” business function, meaning it is activated and readily available for users to run.

The functionality has 3 components:

1. EDI monitor for inbound sales orders – Transaction EMORD


2. EDI monitor for inbound ASN – Transaction EMASN


3. EDI Monitor for Forecast Delivery Schedule and JIT Delivery Schedule – Transaction EMJIT

 

As you can see, splitting up the monitors by functional area also brings in the ability to segregate the responsibility between sales analysts and shipping specialists. Here are the major functionality upgrades in the new monitor:

1. Searching the message by business content is now available. The messages can be searched by sold-to party, ship-to party, and customer material number. The search can also be done by the customer purchase order number.


2. Standard organization elements like sales organization, distribution channels, and sales office are now available as part of the selection.


3. Multiple types of messages can be searched at the same time. For example, for a customer, the orders, requests, and order changes can all be pulled up with a single search, just by inputting the customer number and selecting the type of messages to retrieve. No need to remember the basic types and message types.

The screen for the transaction EMORD and key components highlighted:

In conclusion, these new capabilities are focused on increasing user productivity and reduce the time needed to review monitoring results. As these capabilities are already active, users can start using them right away.