Our new generation of SAP and Teamcenter integration is released and available to customers globally. This is the first of three blogs, with which we will introduce delivered capabilities, unique process and architecture characteristics, and share insights from our strategic software development collaboration between Siemens and SAP.
We are excited to announce the availability of PLM system integration for SAP S/4HANA and PLM system integration for SAP ERP. In combination with the Teamcenter Gateway for PLM system integration from Siemens, the integration connects Siemens Teamcenter with SAP S/4HANA or SAP ERP and helps customers to break down silos between engineering, manufacturing, and service.
Figure 1: The new generation of SAP and Teamcenter integration, building on one joint meta model
We designed and developed the new integration, following these key principles:
- A common domain model, which reduces the interface mapping related effort and is a major contributor to decreased implementation and maintenance cost
- A jointly developed architecture which fully exploits the capabilities of Teamcenter and SAP ERP, but at the same time is designed to minimize errors and simplifies integration management and support
- The removal of dependencies, enabling development and innovation on both sides of the integration without the typical effort and complexity
- An architecture, designed with scalability in mind and which is ready for all possible deployment scenarios
The Meta Domain Model: Comprehensive Foundation for End-to-End Scenarios
An aligned Meta Domain Model provides an intermediate layer between SAP and Siemens Teamcenter, and is the foundation of the integration. It is essentially an abstraction of the data that is exchanged between the systems, setting the basis for traceability, federation, and data lineage across system boundaries. Its main features include:
- Creation of Material (Product) Masters in SAP based on business semantics
- Transfer of Material Classification information to enable a consistent information flow
- Creation of Document Info Records in the SAP system
- Transfer of bill of material to the SAP system
- Engineering changes triggered in Siemens Teamcenter
- Data federation for Product Version and Document Version data within Siemens Teamcenter
New Product Development & Introduction (NPDI)
The integration between Siemens Teamcenter and SAP supports a variety of business scenarios including New Product Development & Introduction, major and minor change. Let’s look at a sample NPDI process as supported by the integration:
Figure 2: NPDI scenario – change management driven
The integration supports this process and comprises the core engineering aspects including:
Document Version Management
- Synchronized document management across the SAP system and Siemens Teamcenter
- Creation and update of document info records based on Siemens Teamcenter objects and storage in the SAP content management system
Product Version Management
- Creation and update of product (material) versions in the SAP system, triggered by corresponding events on item revisions in the Siemens Teamcenter system
- Effectivity and validity management from the Siemens Teamcenter system to the SAP system
Structure Version Management
- Transfer of product structures (Bill of Materials) from the Siemens Teamcenter system to the SAP system, including updates
- Support of all engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, , piping, hydraulics, and so on)
Change Object
- Drives and controls all change management process.
- Change object can represent a problem report, a change request or change notice and creates Change Master or Change Record in SAP
Monitoring and Administration
- Common tools for error management, monitoring and administration of the integration
- Secure system-to-system communication using standard means of authentication and authorization
Get started with the next generation. Today.
As I shared with you in my previous blog, we will continuously grow and expand our integration scope across scenarios and respective functional areas. At the same time, there are compelling reasons to start today with the next generation, since you’ll be able to immediately
- Shorten the time to market with optimized business processes
- Reduce operational costs through the simplified architecture and improved performance
- Align your architecture with the coming innovations and scenarios
In other words: My recommendation is to focus your investment and resources. Get started with a rock-solid core engineering integration and grow it gradually with our expanding scope into more scenarios and functional areas.
Looking for more information?
Watch out for additional deep dives in the coming weeks: In our next Blog, we will take a take a look under the hood of the architecture and the Meta Domain Model. After that we will conclude this blog series with a closer look at the end-to-end processes and related configuration possibilities.
With that, let me take the opportunity to thank our Siemens and SAP developers, architects, documentation and quality experts, product managers and most importantly our customers for the great collaboration which did get us here. Rest assured: The journey has just started.
Got more questions? Do not hesitate to contact us to learn more.
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