Issue

A Geographic Information System (GIS) provides GEO location coordinates for locations, it can calculate real life transportation distance and duration between locations, provides visual representation on a map for routes.

Recommendation

If actual distance is a basis for charge calculation (which can be for truck shipments), or when milkrun planning needs to be executed then GIS server integration is useful. Other than that it would be a nice-to-have.

Background & Context

Overview and Background

SAP TM can use GIS to determine

• geo-coordinates for master data locations using their address
• distances / duration between addresses (mainly used for planning and charge calculation)
• geo-map display (using SAP Visual Business as middleware)

Master Data

When maintaining the location master the system can pull geographical coordinates from the GIS server and store that on the location master.

Distance / Duration

In the processing of Road Freight orders the system can determine the actual real life travel distance between locations. This data can be utilised for the following functions:

• Capacity planning for resources, or number of stops for one Freight Order.
• Charge calculation when calculation base is distance or duration. This feeds into invoice verification.

Geo-map display

In the transportation cockpit and transportation documents a visual representation on a map can be displayed.

Assumptions

n/a

Constraints

n/a

Impacts

GIS server is a 3rd party license. There are several companies providing this service.
Implementing a GIS server takes about 10-15 consulting days.

Business Rules

n/a

Options considered

Yes or No decision. No options to consider.

Evaluation

Visual representation in transportation planning is a really nice feature to have. It can change the experience that a user has with the system, but ultimately this is a nice to have.

If Syensqo would do milk run planning, then proper distance and duration calculation would be really beneficial. However, there is no indication yet that Syensqo engages in this kind of planning process.

For road freight it is not unusual to have charge calculation based on distance. If there are agreements within Syensqo that have this basis, then GIS integration is very helpful.

See also

https://community.sap.com/t5/supply-chain-management-blogs-by-members/the-benefits-of-integrating-sap-transportation-management-with-a-geographic/ba-p/13585121

https://community.sap.com/t5/supply-chain-management-blogs-by-sap/monday-knowledge-snippet-mks-33-gis-integration-facts/ba-p/12971319

https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blogs-by-sap/2-key-features-of-sap-transportation-management-with-integration-to-cloud/ba-p/13576732

https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-pro/overview

Change log

Workflow history