SAP Business Workflow Introduction based on BIT 600

SAP Business Workflow Introduction based on BIT 600 Patric Beuthen SAP Consulting

Workflow Architecture Workflow Organization Business Workplace Workflow Monitoring Workflow Customizing Workflow Transactions

Introduction – Why Workflow? l Workflow n The right work n At the right time n For the right agent l or ã n Who does n What n When n With what object n And in what sequence SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 3

General Information on Task Definitions Object type with object method Task l WHAT carries out the task and HOW? l WHO could carry out the task? Features Texts l Work item text l Task description l Notification text l Latest end text l Required end text l Latest start text ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 4 Organizational plan

Task Types Tasks Object Method Standard Task (TS) Time-independent & clientindependent Workflow Definition ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 5 Workflow Template (WS)

Step Definition: 'Responsible Agents' Responsibility Customer names: A-G l Role: FI clerks Restriction of agents according to the organizational chart l Possible agent for the task: Post document è linked with job: Financial Clerk l Role for the agent responsible: Find FI Clerk è Role parameters: Customer names: H-N Customer name Invoiced amount l Work item (activity at runtime): Post document 4712 è Customer - Manley Corp. è Invoiced amount - $258, 300 ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 6 Customer names: O - Z Invoiced amount: < $ 50, 000 Invoiced amount: > $ 50, 000

Workflows: Definition & Runtime Environment Event definition Event manager Workflow templates Workflow definition Org + User Management Rules for agent determination BOR ã Workflow Builder Workflow manager Activities Work item PFTC_. . transactions Simple maintenance Workflow ABAP Web. Flow OO Services SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 7 Work item manager Execution (methods, services) Business Workplace (Worklist)

Workflow Architecture Workflow Organization Business Workplace Workflow Monitoring Workflow Customizing Workflow Transactions

Integration of Organizational Management l Integration of Organizational Management n Task assignment according to responsibility/expertise at definition time Linking of tasks with possible agents and linking of Workflow steps with the responsible agents n Dynamic task distribution at runtime: Determination of recipients of work items based on information from the context of the workflow and the objects processed l High degree of transparency of business processes and their responsibilities ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 9

Creating an Organizational Plan (Simple Maintenance) Production Sales Mexico Executive Board Step 2: Create additional organizational units Step 1: Create the root organizational unit Step 4: Assign holder Step 3: Create positions Sales Administration Lisa Thompson Step 5: Create jobs Administrative tasks, Sales Mexico ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 10 Step 6: Assign tasks Tasks: Word processing, scheduling meetings, phone calls

Creating an Organizational Unit Organization and Staffing (Workflow) Edit Goto Settings System Help Create a root organizational unit Create Organization and Staffing (Workflow) Valid from 09. 12. 2002 to 31. 12. 9999 09. 12. 2002 + 3 Months Search for Organizational unit Position Job Person User Task assignment Enterprise Group 20 Finance unit 20 Sales department 20 Development department 20 Select link Validity period query Organizational unit Icon: Create ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 11 is described by is line manager includes object: Organizational unit Task Organizational unit Position

Creating a Position Organization and Staffing (Workflow) Edit Goto Settings System Help Create Organization and Staffing (Workflow) Search for Organizational unit Position Job Person User Workflow templates Standard task Task group Standard role Object history Task assignment Financial accounting FI_manager FI_clerk Details for position FI_clerk Basic Data Position Job FI_clerk General administrator . . . . Select link. . . Organizational unit Create icon Object 'Position' ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 12 is described by is line manager includes Task Organizational unit Position

Assigning Users to a Position (1) Search for the relevant user and display it in the selection area ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 13

Assigning Users to a Position (2) Assign user with Drag&Drop ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 14

Creating a Job Menu item: Edit - Create Jobs ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 15

Exercise - Organizational Management (1) - Create two users in SU 01 - Create the following organizational hierarchy in PPOM - Org Unit Company XX (Z_COMP_XX) - Org Unit Department XX (Z_DEPT_XX) Position Manager XX (Z_MGR_XX) - Position Employee XX (Z_EMP_XX) - - Assign the users to the positions above ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 16

Exercise - Organizational Management (2) ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 17

Workflow Architecture Workflow Organization Business Workplace Workflow Monitoring Workflow Customizing Workflow Transactions

Business Workplace in R/3 Automatic grouping Worklist Work item text Overview tree Special work items Tips/Tricks Work item preview Your logo and text Task description ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 19 Related objects

Business Workplace - Worklist (1) Reserve Execute ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 20 Replace Display attachment Create attachment

Business Workplace - Worklist (2) Display ã Forward SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 21 Resubmit

Business Workplace - Other Functions Individual configuration of columns displayed Other functions for processing work items - Set to ‘Done’ - Change deadlines - Change priority ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 22 Dynamic columns

Business Workplace: Substitution You can maintain substitution in two ways: n Personal substitute (for an SAP user) n Position substitute Substitutes may be n Created and activated at the same time u From the time of activation, the substitute automatically receives not only their own work items, but also the substitution work items. n Created and not activated u ã The substitute can take active control of the substitution function at any time. Until the substitute actively ends the substitution, only the substitution work items are displayed in his or her Workplace. SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 23

Work Item Display Business information is displayed. Appealing display and clear layout increase user acceptance. Attachments appear immediately and can be displayed with a click. ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 24

Technical Work Item Display Technical information is displayed (such as deadlines). ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 25

Workflow Log Chronological process view Displays all recipients, possible and excluded agents Standard workflow log Details of each step Details section ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 26 Graphical workflow log Green line shows process progress

Workflow Outbox for Status Tracking Work items that you have carried out Workflows that you have started Processed workflows l Quick and simple overview of processes involved Status of steps Work items that you have forwarded Current agent Objects involved ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 27 l Task statuses at a glance l Easier handling of customer queries

User View: Global Settings Why do we need global settings? n Just one workflow log or work item display is not enough because different types of user have different requirements: u u Workflow modelers and administrators require access to all technical information such as containers, workitem IDs, step numbers, all step types and so on. Workflow end users do not require technical details, but have to focus mainly on the work item content and would be distracted by too many functions. What steps are required? u u ã The administrator must define the standard values throughout the system. All users can then perform their own settings. SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 28

User View: Personal Settings Work item display workflow log Other settings Technical users ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 29 Application users

Various Inboxes SAP GUI for HTML Enterprise Portals E-Mail Microsoft Outlook SAP GUI for Windows Lotus Notes Pervasive Computing ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 30

Selection of Functions in Workflow Inboxes Business Workplace Easy Web Inbox Outlook Mail Inbox Lotus Notes Inbox i. View in Enterprise Portal Execute Add or read attachments ( ) Resubmit ( ) Substitution Set up substitution Outbox Automatic refresh Forward ( ) Query ( ) Graphical log ( ) Logs System-wide use possible (different folders) Generic decision task (different folders) Offline SAP GUI (Windows or Java) Web Browser SAP GUI + SAP Outlook Integration SAP GUI + SAP Lotus Notes Integration Web Browser Desktop installation ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 31

Exercise – Business Workflow (Request & Approve) Objects from task group TG 70000023 ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 32

Workflow Architecture Workflow Organization Business Workplace Workflow Monitoring Workflow Customizing Workflow Transactions

Workflow Reports Was the workflow started correctly? What is the status of a workflow? Is there still an active workflow instance for an object? How evenly distributed is the workload? How many processing deadlines were missed in the last month? ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 34

Reporting System Workflow log Task analysis Object-specific evaluation ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 35 Workflow diagnosis Information system Workload analysis Work item analysis Workflow outbox

Reporting: Work Item Analysis Work Items …. Monitoring period Today Last 7 days Last 30 days Last 365 days Time Interval on from Work item type Dialog (Sub) Workflow Background Task filter Task group (T) Task group (TG) Application component ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 36 to l Work items Per Task (frequency) l Work items by Processing Duration l Work items with Monitored Deadlines

Reporting: Workload Analysis User Berner Work items processed Position S 500304 Job C 40932 User Miller Org. Unit O 500039 ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 37 for a user for a position for a job for an organizational unit (you can specify a deadline limit) Work items in the inbox still to be processed for a user for a position for a job for an organizational unit

Utilities: Work Item Selection Criteria for the Selection Report Work item ID Work item type Work item status Task ID Work items Change work item Display agent Change priority Display workflow log ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 38

Work Item Types ã l Dialog work item W l Missed deadline work item D l Workflow work item F l Background work item B l Wait step work item E SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 39

Runtime Tools: Object Type & Object Information 'Notification of absence' object type Object of absence' object number 1960 ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 40 Which tasks and workflows use the 'Notification of absence' object type in their definition? Which instances exist for workflows and tasks that use the 'Notification of absence' object type in their definition? Which work item refers to object 1960 of the 'Notification of absence' object type and in which Business Workplace is it to be found?

Test Utilities for the Implementation Team l Consistency check n Workflow definition/task definition n Customize the entire Web. Flow engine. l RFC protocol l Manually start a task or workflow. n ã First update the organizational assignment and then provide the input data. SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 41

Workflow Outbox in the Business Workplace Inbox Outbox Started workflows Flow item for WS 30000015 Flow item for WS 30000161 Flow item for WS 99900035 Executed work items Work item 1 for TS 7869 Work item 2 for TS 7869 Work item 3 for TS 7869 Forwarded work items Work item 1 for TS 99900062 ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 42 The outbox in the Business Workplace provides each user with an overview of the work that he or she carried out within the workflow processes.

Workflow Logs: Business and Technical The following step types are filtered out in the business log: Wait for event Container operation Event creator Process control Undefined steps Activity and user decision (marked with the 'Not in workflow log' option) The display is not filtered in the technical log. ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 43

Workflow Log: Workflow Chronicle View Notification of absence Work item status Create request Completed Approve request Completed Access to - Selected agents - Possible agents - Excluded agents Access to work item history Access to graphical workflow log Agent Executed Action Date Time Hugo Boss Dialog step created 07. 10. 1998 12: 58: 29 Hugo Boss 07. 10. 1998 ã Query sent Work item reserved for processing Execution started Processing complete SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 44 Object 13: 00: 33 Office document 13: 00: 33 14: 13: 52 14: 15: 32 Notification of absence Object name Query (1). . . 0000000245

Workflow Log: Workflow Agent View Patrick Smith Notification of absence (Sub)workflow created Create request Dialog step created Create request Work item executed automatically Create request Work item processing complete Hugo Boss Approve request Dialog step created Approve request Query sent Approve request Work item processing complete Workflow system ã Send mail Background work item created Send mail Work item processing complete SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 45

Workflow Log: Workflow Objects View Notification of absence (Sub)workflow created Create request Dialog step created WI for self method 000000123456 Approve request ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 46 Dialog step created

Workflow Log: List with Technical Details = Expert Mode Workflow instance Instance number Start date Start time Test workflow 000000872350 22. 09. 1998 Started by 10: 38: 04 Current status Patrick Smith In process Workflow Chronicle View Error 5 Status Agent & Patrick Smith. & Patrick Smith 5 ã Work item ID Node no. Executed Action Task Date 872350 1 Test workflow (Sub)workflow created 22. 09. 1998 SWW_FI_START 22. 09. 1998 69 First letter of the surname 872351 71 Display all requests by SMITHPA Dialog step created 22. 09. 1998 Work item executed automatically 22. 09. 1998 SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 47 Time 10: 38: 04 10: 38: 05

Graphical Workflow Log Status Agent Route (green path) ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 48

Workflow Architecture Workflow Organization Business Workplace Workflow Monitoring Workflow Customizing Workflow Transactions

ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 50

Overview of Customizing Activities Activity Automatic Always required? Default entry used Maintain an active plan version 01 Check entries from the HR control table Maintain prefix numbers Check number ranges Configure RFC Destination User WF-BATCH Maintain a system administrator for workflow SY-UNAME Generally classify decision tasks [W 1]Your own user ID Maintain a standard domain for Internet mail Activate sending to objects and HR objects Maintain demo and verification environment Schedule background job for missed deadline Schedule background job for work items with errors Schedule background job for condition evaluation Schedule background job for event queue Schedule background job for clearing report ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 51

Creating Prefix Numbers for Standard Objects An entry is required for each system and client that you wish to use. ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 52

Set Active Plan Version Display view ‘Set Active Plan Version’: Overview Table view Edit Goto Selection Utilities System Help SWU 3 Documentation Group WORKFLOW_LOCAL_401 Sem. abbr. Valueabbrv. Description Destination PLOGI 01 Integration Plan Version / Active Plan RFC user Version RFC password Human Resources ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 53

Activate Deadline Monitoring Customizing step: Scheduling deadline monitoring - Job SWWDHEX Deadline Monitoring Edit Goto System Help Configure and Schedule Work Item Deadline Monitoring Save and Schedule (F 8) Interval until next deadline check 3 (in minutes) Job Attributes Start date of background job 31. 12. 2999 Start time of background job 23: 59 Name of background job SWWDHEX Number of background job 03254301 Background Job Report RSWWDHEX You must perform the Customizing activity if you want to monitor the deadlines of individual workflow steps in the Web. Flow Engine. ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 54

Set Monitoring of Incorrect Work Items Schedule Work Item Error Monitoring Work item monitoring List Edit Goto System Help Save and Schedule Information on monitoring temporary Start Date of Background Job 13. 06. 1998 10: 25: 00 Start Time of Background Job SWWERRE Name of Background Job 10170901 Number of Background Job Monitoring of Temporary Incorrect Work Items X Interval until next rerun 20 Retry counter for work items with errors 3 - ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 55 (in minutes)

Check Customizing Start Verification Workflow List Edit Goto System Help SWU 3 Start Verification Workflow Event created - Verification workflow started 1. Switch to the Business Workplace. In your workflow inbox, you will find a work item with a user decision. 2. Execute this work item. It contains two mails: notifications of completion for this user decision and for the following background step. Integrated inbox ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 56 -

Workflow Architecture Workflow Organization Business Workplace Workflow Monitoring Workflow Customizing Workflow Transactions

Useful Transactions Transaction Code Description PFAC Rule Maintenance PFOS / PFSO Organizational Assignment PFT / PFCT Task Maintenance PPOC / PPOM Organization Maintenance SWE 2 -3 / SWEL Event Type Linkage SWI 1 -8 Workflow Analysis SWO 1 Business Object Builder SWUE Event Creation SWUS Workflow Test SWU 3 Customizing SWDD Workflow Builder SBWP Business Workplace SWXF Leave Request Demo ã SAP AG 2004, Title of Presentation / Speaker Name / 58