| Status | |
| Owner | VAN OS-ext, Nico |
| Stakeholders | Najaite Nidboufker |
Issue
Syensqo is transitioning to SAP S/4 HANA system. In S/4 HANA there the Shipment document is no longer available. This functionality is replaced by SAP Transportation Mangement (TM). With this new module the concept of managing transportation needs to be redesigned.
SAP TM comes in two variants: Basic Shipping and Advanced TM. Here Basic Shipping is a reduced scope version of Advanced TM. A decision needs to be made which version is most suitable for Syensqo.
Recommendation
In the document below there is an extract of all functions that are available in Advanced TM that are not available in Basic Shipping. The key features that are most beneficial for Syensqo are:
- Sales Order based integration - Option to start transportation planning once the Sales Order is created;
- Dangerous Goods integration - Usage of DG Data, compliance check, blocking of transportation orders and for example 1000 Points Rule;
- Incompatibilities in planning - This is required to build in compliance rules. For example, two types of material are not allowed to be shipped together;
- Transportation Units - This are used for Container Units. Special fields for container units will be available. Also, charge calculation based on Container Units is often required;
- Automatic Carrier Selection - allows the system to rank available carriers and can also automatically select the most preferred carrier;
- Integration with GTS - Updates from GTS for sanctioned party lists during the transportation process.
Without these features it will be must harder to support Syensqo processes. There is more reliance on users to make sure shipments are compliant with regulations. Therefore we would advice to implement Advanced TM.
Background & Context
Overview and Background
To phase out LE-TRA, SAP S/4HANA introduced since its 1709 release what was known before as "Basic Shipping", now simply Transportation Management.
Basic Shipping/Transportation Management is a reduced scope version of Advanced Transportation Management and does not require an additional license. It is worth to mention that Basic Shipping/Transportation Management is a subset of functionality of the full scope version Advanced Transportation Management and share the same configuration nodes and master data objects.
Differences between Basic Shipping and Advanced TM
SAP has provided a comprehensive overview of functions that are available in Advanced TM that are not available in Basic Shipping. Below overview of most important differences for Syensqo with consultancy notes.
Full list: basic TM vs. Advanced TM_consultancy notes.xlsx
Color coding in Excel: Red = most important | Green = important | Yellow = not as important
Area | Feature in S/4 TM (full) | Definition | Consultancy Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Basic Functions | Sustainability | This function can be used to calculate the emissions quantity and fuel consumption for a freight order. You can also define other sustainability factors for a transportation mode or means of transportation. | Useful for Syensqo as it supports reports on CO2 emissions. |
| 3 Order Management | Order based Freight Units | Sales order Purchase Order Stock Transfer order Returns based Freight Units As well as MM or SD Scheduling Agreements based Freight Units | This is for early planning of transportation, which is an opportunity for Syensqo. This function was requested during workshops. |
| 4 Planning | Incompatibilities | Incompatibilities in Planning | This function is useful for preventing certain combinations of Dangerous Goods. It can also be used to apply other business rules during Transportation Planning, e.g. reefer containers for certain materials. |
| 4 Planning | Transportation Units | Transportation Units Rail-, Trailer-, Container- , Package Unit etc. where a separate capacity document can be created | Very useful. Especially in container consolidation and charge calculation for Ocean Freight. For charge calculation the calculation base will be the container. |
| 4 Planning | Automatic Carrier Selection | Automatic Carrier Selection Carrier Ranking Lists (with more than one carrier) | Carrier selection is very useful and often used. Especially carrier ranking based on actual costs is popular. |
| 5 Freight Execution and Monitoring | Dangerous Goods Integration into Product Compliance classic TM specific example methods | TM specific Check methods (emaples) for Dangerous Goods such as: 1000 Points Rule Shipper ́s Declaration Especially the usage of DG_ADR Data in the Freight Objects | Dangerous Goods integration is essential for Syensqo to make sure transportation is complient with local regulations. |
| 5 Freight Execution and Monitoring | Dangerous Goods Integration into Product Compliance - NEW functionality | The new product compliance integration into Transportation Management, e.g. functions like: - Checking of all compliance-relevant products to determine whether road, rail, sea and air cargo transport processing is allowed as it pertains to dangerous goods regulations - Blocking of transportation demands and freight orders/freight bookings if no compliant transport is possible - Process support, if dangerous goods assessments are missing, the dangerous goods expert is automatically informed - Dangerous goods status field on item and header level for identifying items with dangerous goods issues - Dangerous goods information in electronic messages of transportation management | Dangerous Goods integration is essential for Syensqo to make sure transportation is complient with local regulations. |
| 9 Integration | Integration with GTS | The global trade functions in Transportation Management (TM) help you to meet the requirements for transporting customs-relevant goods. | Can be important for Syensqo. When an embargo is placed or customer is blacklisted, then Freight Orders can be blocked for execution. |
Assumptions
n/a
Constraints
Impact on available functions for EWM Basic Licence
Impacts
Infrastructure
Advanced TM will need an optimiser server.
Project scope
With advanced TM there can be a broader scope. During project scoping this scope needs to be defined and possibly limited and prioritised.
Warehouse Management
The TM version chosen will also affect the integration options with Warehouse Management. The warehouse management versions have different integration options, depending on TM version and WM version.
Stock Room Management
With Stock Room Management there is no expectation that this will impact the TM version. Stock Room Management has limited integration with SAP TM, which makes the decision free to use SAP TM basic version or advanced version.
EWM Basic Licence
With EWM there is the option to use Advanced Shipping & Receiving (ASR). With the basic licence, the integration on Transportation Units (TU) is not available. Transportation Units are mostly used for container shipping processes, where the TU represents the container. When advanced TM is chosen then direct TM-EWM integration is not possible. This means that integrated Load/Unload of Freight Orders is not available.
Some important functions might need custom build, e.g. Freight Order reference, Loading Status updates to TM.
EWM Advanced Licence
Advanced EWM has the full features and for that it is no surprise that it offers the best integration with Advanced TM. Full advanced Shipping & Receiving can be used. These two solutions can work integrated together.
As these two solutions are designed to operate in harmony it is expected that stability of the integrated process will be better.
Business Rules
n/a
Evaluation
The decision on the TM Licence has considerable impact on the approach of the module.
With basic TM the focus will be on replacing the Shipment functions and integrating the new system into the existing landscape. Existing TMS and other systems cannot be considered for replacement.
For functions like container planning, container based charge calculation, optimizer planning, certain Dangerous Goods integration, and other missing features, manual work-arounds need to be designed, or custom enhancements probably need to be built.
With advanced TM there are more options to have a solution that will fit the business needs. After building the backbone of the TM solution (replacing existing functionality + implementing essential features) there is the opportunity to explore more advanced functions. That can be within this project, or after the initial implementation.
With advanced TM there will be more room for considering the replacement of existing TMS solutions, or to make TMS functions available for regions that currently don’t have a TMS solution.
First implementing basic TM and later transitioning to advanced TM is not a great idea, because that would result in a redesign, or development on top of a solution that was based on basic TM.
Due to big differences between basic TM and advanced TM most clients opt to implement advanced TM. There are strong arguments that this will also be the case for Syensqo. For a future proof solution advanced TM has clear benefits.
| Options | Pros and Cons | Comments |
|---|---|---|
Option 1 Basic Shipping |
| As it is designed to replace LE-TRA, it is to be expected that it can be close to the as-is design, but there is no option to expand and utilise existing transportation functions. |
Option 2 Advanced TM |
| Full availability of TM Functions. |
Limited functionalitySee also
Note 3065464 - Definition: Basic Shipping vs basic Transportation Management vs advanced Transportation Management
Following additional information is provided by SAP