Service in SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208

This blog provides you an overview of key innovations in Service as a part of SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208. I would describe the focus of Service in 2208 is to enhance user experience on various service processes.

Watch this 4 min video for top highlights.

I have updates on the followings. You can go to the section directly.

In-House Repair (3XK)

• Enabling Return Process in In-House Repair
• Introducing Chargeable Diagnosis in In-House Repair

Service Order Management (3D2)

• Forecasting Full Stock Availability of Spare Parts on Service Orders
• Enhanced Accounting Indicators for Different Service Types
• Support for Configurable Service Products in Service Orders (6GS/6HY)
• Enabling to add ‘Unplanned Items’ on Service Confirmations
• Process Overview Flow for Service Transactions

Integration with SAP FSM (49X)

• Execution Status on Service Orders for the integration scenario with SAP FSM

Service Contract Management (3MO)

• Introducing Service Contract Templates
• Service Contract OData V4 API
• Service Contracts Performance (43B)

Cross topics (3MO/3D2/3XK)

• SEPA enablement
• New My Home for Customer Service Manager

In-House Repair

Enabling Return Process in In-House Repair

With the integration to ARM (Accelerated Returns Management), In-house repair process offers now the capability of triggering the return process from In-house repair. Customer service representative will have a new option to create a return order by using ‘Returns Order’ tile. This helps to reduce overall processing time by working on the repair quotation during the logistical steps of repair object.

Capabilities

• Create customer returns orders by service representative on ‘Perform Precheck’
• Trigger logistics process such as returns delivery and goods receipts
• Reduce the processing time by managing of repair quotations while the returns order is in process
• Track the availability status for devices in the return process on In-house repair
• ‘Perform Precheck’ provides Logistics Info after creating a returns order
  –  Availability
  – ‘Customer RMA number’
  <Return Order Number>-<Repair Object number (Item number)>

Figure1: Two areas with blue box are newly introduced in In-house repair process.

Figure2: A new tile ‘Returns Order’ is enabled on ‘Perform Precheck’ 

Figure3: In-house repair provides the logistics info for the device after creating a returns order

Demo1: Enabling the Return Process in In-House Repair

Introducing Chargeable Diagnosis in In-House Repair

In-house repair enables an optional process of performing Chargeable Repair Diagnosis. It is possible to trigger the diagnosis process by service representative for devices which require professional analysis. The time of analysis can be billed to the customer. The detailed results support service representatives to plan the next repair steps. This increases the quality of repair quotations with a detailed analysis of the required repair activities by an expert.

Capabilities

• Provide process steps in case a professional diagnosis in In-house repair process is required
• Use ‘Actions’ on repair orders to trigger the diagnosis process
• Document required service products to be used for repair quotations
• Enable repair confirmations for diagnosis items for billing

Figure4: Use ‘Actions’ on repair orders to trigger a diagnosis process

Demo2: Chargeable Diagnosis in In-House Repair

Service Order Management

Forecasting Full Stock Availability of Spare Parts on Service Orders

‘Check Availability’ on service orders simulates the ATP check for stock spare parts in service orders when using the scenario. When requested spare parts are in shortage, ‘Available On’ column now calculates the upcoming date of full stock availability. Customer service managers can then plan the service date accordingly in order to deliver services on time.

Capabilities

• Check the full stock availability of the required stock during ATP check
• New column ‘Available On’ displays the date when the requested stocks are fully available
• Forecasting from the expected delivery date of spare parts (e.g. purchase order)

Figure5: A new column ‘Available On’ shows the expected date for spare parts to be fully available in stock based on existing purchase orders

Demo5:  Full Stock Availability Date for Spare Parts in Service Orders

Enhanced Accounting Indicators for Different Service Types

In Service, Accounting Indicator determines the final price of a product by considering discount rates. Enhanced accounting indicators enable to apply various types of discounts like Goodwill, VIP Discount, Family Discount, etc. With Accounting Indicator, you can also calculate incurred costs and profits.

Capabilities

• Configure the user own definition of Accounting Indicators for discount rates
  (e.g: Goodwill, VIP discount, Family discount)
• Provided as Feature Toggle ID: CRMS4_SRVC_ACCOUNTING_IND
• Influence service order price calculation based on warranty or good-will coverage
• Support for financial reporting based on coverage (accounting indicators) in the service process

Figure6: This shows the various accounting indicators for different discount rates when creating a service order. 

Configuration required
You need to first activate this toggle feature. When the feature toggle is off,
‘S1’ is the standard value for accounting indicator. S1 is to be deprecated
from 2208 onwards. A new configuration app is available that has ‘S2’
as a standard value for Accounting Indicator, where customers can change
or delete the values they create.

• Configure Your Solution – Activate New Features
  –  ID: CRMS4_SRVC_ACCOUNTING_IND
• Configure Your Solution – Accounting Indicators For Service
• Manage Prices – Sales
  Duplicate the condition master data (DAI2) from Accounting indicator S1 to S2

You can read this blog for more details:
Accounting Indicator Usage in Service Orders and Service Confirmations from SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208 | SAP Blogs

Demo3: Enhanced Account Indicators on Service Orders

Support for Configurable Service Products in Service Orders (6GS/6HY)

The integration with Advanced Variant Configuration enable service providers to use configurable service products in service orders. It is possible to define maintenance/service tasks, parts, dependent on configuration options maintained in the related service contract, e.g. visit frequency, duration of required work, required spare parts, specific expenses. This is required to define maintenance for highly configurable equipment.

Capabilities

• Enabled configurable service products with advanced variant configuration (AVC)
• Select the characteristics and characteristic values that are defined in the product master data
• 6GS (Service Management with Advanced Variant Configuration)
• 6HY (Solution Order Management with Advanced Variant Configuration)

SAP Help – What’s new
Configurable Product for Service Items (sap.com)

Figure6: Service order enables the possibility of using configurable service products.

Enabling to add ‘Unplanned Items’ on Service Confirmations

Service order management enables to handle the requirements to add unplanned items (service hours, expense, and spare parts) on service confirmations.

Capabilities

• Enables service technicians to put additional spare parts, expenses, and service items into the service confirmation that are not listed in the service order
• New feature ‘Add Unplanned Items’ on service confirmations

Figure7: By activating the feature, you will be able to use ‘Add unplanned item’ on service confirmations.

Configuration required in 2208

Feature toggle function – Configure Your Solution – Activate New Features

ID: CRMS4_SRVC_TRANS_UNPLANNED_ITEM

Process Flow Overview for Service Order Transactions

Service order management offers ‘Process Flow’ overview in graphic view of related business documents. This increases transparency for users to have a holistic overview on the service order process

Capabilities

• Visualize business documents in transaction history using the graphic view
• Intuitively overview document linkages in the service order process including solution order, service quotation, service confirmation, billing documents

Figure8: Process overview on service orders visualizes business documents in transaction history using the graphic view.

Integration with SAP Field Service Management

Support for Execution Status of Service Items

A new field ‘Execution Status’ is enabled on Service Orders for the integration scenario with SAP FSM (Field Service Management).

Capabilities

• Reflect the progress of a corresponding activity in SAP Field Service Management
• Stay up to date on the current status of the activity and to act immediately if its completion is at risk

Figure 9: After closing an activity in SAP FSM, it is shown as ‘Execution Status – Execution Done’ under on a service order.

Demo4: Execution Status on Service Orders for SAP FSM integration scenario

Service Contract Management

Introducing Service Contract Templates

Service contract management provides service contract templates for users to create service contracts from predefined templates.

Capabilities

• Creation of predefined service contract templates with data that is commonly reused in your service business
• Development of a new manage app for search and select functionality
• Ability to copy from the template to the service contract at creation of the service contract
• Minimize the amount of time required to create a standardized service contract

Figure 10: Service contract management provides service contract templates for efficient processing 

Demo6: Introducing Service Contract Template

Service Contract OData V4 API

Service contract management enables OData APIs for easy consumption in all channels such as browsers, mobile phones, etc.

Capabilities

• Support totally stateless operations
• Enable easy consumption in all channels such as browsers, mobile phones, and so on
• Improved processing time and resource consumption through OData Version 4 API
• API for create, read, update, and delete operations
• Detailed information on: API_SERVICECONTRACT/overview 

Figure 11: Service contract management enables OData APIs for easy consumption in all channels such as browsers, mobile phones, etc. 

Service Contracts Performance

Service contract performance provides insight into the services provided based on existing service contracts.

• Analyze data on service contract items based on various key figures
• Provide an overview and detailed view of service contract items
• Timeline charts for service contract items expiring in next 6 months and expired in last 6 months
• Provide trend charts for new and canceled/expired service contract items net value
• List of service contract items which can be filtered using charts above

Figure 12: Service contracts performance provides an overview and detailed view of service contract items

Demo7: Service Contracts Performance

Cross topics (3MO/3D2/3XK)

SEPA enablement

Service management enables SEPA payments that are used widely in EU countries.

Capabilities

• SEPA Payment methods made available service transactions such as service contracts, service quotations, service orders, service confirmations, In-house repair
• Automatic payment method determination from customer master
• Pass the SEPA payment information to Billing Document Request (BDR) and subsequent Billing documents

New My Home for Customer Service Manager

• Personalize your home page to meet your business needs
• Get my To Do list combining
  My Inbox and My Situations items
• Access my most critical pages quickly
• Launch my most relevant apps
• Monitor your business thanks to Dynamic or Smart Business tiles

Figure13: New My Home page is provided for customer service manager role to personalize tiles to meet their business needs.

This is what I prepared for highlights from Service in SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208. Hope this helps you to have a good overview.

The Collection link for Service
Service in SAP S/4HANA Cloud – The Link Collection | SAP Blogs

Demo Playlist – Service
Playlist Details – Service – SAP Media Share

For more information on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, check out the following links:

• SAP S/4HANA Cloud Community for Service here
• SAP S/4HANA Cloud Release Blogs here
• Early Release Webinar Series here
• Sven Denecken’s SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208 here
• Product videos on our SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP S/4HANA YouTube playlist
• Inside SAP S/4HANA Podcast here
• Best practices for SAP S/4HANA Cloud here
• SAP S/4HANA Cloud Customer Community: register here
• Feature Scope Description here
• What’s New here
• Help Portal Product Page here
• Implementation Portal here

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