24Flow SAP Connector
24Flow’s SAP connector speeds up project implementation
24Flow' SAP connector is a secure, scalable and extendible bidirectional integration between SAP and 24Flow that kickstarts any SAP integration project and allows for customization to the customer-specific context.
Integrating with SAP is hard
Integration with SAP is hard and even more so in the context of manufacturing where the management of shopfloor operations requires access to many parameters that are maintained in the ERP system. In addition, (aggregated) shopfloor data also needs to be fed back into the SAP system, such as time registrations and material consumption.
Moreover, every company deploys SAP in its own specific context, which makes a generic one-size-fits-all integration approach undesirable.
Integration with SAP is further impeded by the fact that standard SAP end-points are usually not sufficient to sync all necessary data and these end-points are not easy to extend.
The 24Flow SAP connector
The 24Flow SAP connector is a productized connector for SAP ERP R/3 and SAP S/4Hana that addresses the above problems. It is agnostic of where your SAP deployment resides and works both across onsite and cloud based environments.
The SAP connector does not impose specific constraints except that the customer has deployed SAP GW, such that 24Flow can retrieve data in the Odata format.
The connector provides a two-way integration framework where (master) data can be synced from the ERP system to 24Flow and where shopfloor data such as time, quantity and scrap registrations can be fed back from 24Flow into SAP.
The connector makes use of SAP Remote Function Calls (RFCs) that are exposed as Odata endpoints.
The figure below shows the most important data that are synchronized by the connector.
The following data can be retrieved from SAP:
Material master data including material basic data, material plant data, material sales data.
Customer master data.
Planned orders data such as header data, operations, components.
Production versions to produce materials.
Bill of material.
Routings, including the standard values for the execution of the operation.
Production process data data such as PO header data, operations, components, production relevant tools, PO long text, Operation long text.
Relevant MRP data sent along with the production order (stock, shortages, replenishments).
The following parameters and data can be synced to or changed in SAP via the connector:
Time, quantity & scrap confirmations.
Transform planned orders into production orders.
Release of production orders in SAP with or without missing parts.
Change production orders in SAP.
The 24Flow connector serves as a ‘template’ and is offered as a configurable package that can be installed, customized and extended by 24Flow customers. The new SAP endpoints form a starting point for customers to build on. Working with the connector requires ABAP & SAP Basic competence as well as familiarity with SAP GW and Odata.
Use cases
The SAP connector seamlessly integrates SAP with your 24Flow environment, and hence enables a large number of use cases. Here are some examples:
Sync and enrich material master data and production process data from SAP, for backwards scheduling in 24Flow and routing production orders on the shopfloor.
Sync time, quantity and scrap registrations from 24Flow to SAP in order to allow more precise cost calculations for project-based companies.
Sync material master data and production process data to finetune planning in 24Planning taking into account capacity constraints of machines and/or employees. Feed the results back to SAP and transform planned orders into production orders.
Benefits
First of all, the SAP connector allows maintaining master data in one place only. Master data that is today maintained in SAP, remains in SAP and 24Flow simply syncs the relevant data. This means you avoid duplication or maintenance of data in multiple places. It also speeds up implementation, as data starts flowing into 24Flow’s shopfloor operations platform as soon as the connector has been set up.
When using the SAP connector as a starting point, project implementation goes faster, as you do not need to start building a connector from scratch. The SAP connector builds on the 24Flow’s team expertise on ERP systems and SAP in particular. Furthermore, the SAP connector is field-hardened as it has been deployed with customers in various settings and configurations, both onsite and cloud-based. The initial setup of the connector can be accomplished within a day.
As mentioned before, the solution is future proof in multiple ways. First, older onsite SAP deployments can leverage the connector and it will still work when migrating to the cloud. Secondly, the fact that the connector is extensible is a great advantage as you can add additional endpoints that allow syncing more data from the SAP system.
The connector framework is scalable and secure. In the context of large corporations, SAP contains data about thousands of product types, BOMs and a myriad of production orders. All that information can be synced with 24Flow in an efficient and timely manner, such that shopfloor operations are not impacted or impeded by out-of-date information.