by Lars Palitzsch
Practically all companies that use SAP Business Suite or S/4HANA use the SAP Document Management System (SAP DVS) to manage their documents. SAP DVS is included as standard in these SAP solutions, and offers a number of ways to manage and use documents, their files, and attributes, and link them with other SAP processes and structures. This standard process offers SEAL Systems more convenient possibilities for automated determination, processing and output of documents. Below, we’ll discuss using this functionality in the context of the providing project documentation for a centralized subsidiary of an internationally active energy and automated technology concern.
Our customer manufactures large technical facilities and special-purpose machines according to its customers’ specifications. Documentation and technical specifications are created for these machines and must be made available for other departments’ support or for the end customers, people who don’t necessarily have or need access to the SAP system. Therefore, these documents need to be made available in an appropriate manner during the project or after its completion.
SharePoint was selected for this provision, as the system was already available and offers possibilities to save and present documents in a structured way. With SharePoint Online, authorized external employees also have access to the prepared documents.
In practice, the export is launched from the SAP documentation structure (BOM). This launch can be integrated in a range of SAP transactions and processes. The launch takes place manually during the project: whenever relevant new document versions are generated, these are made available via SharePoint. After the project is finished, a final update is once again made in SharePoint.
Copies of the files and their attributes are stored in SharePoint; direct access of SharePoint to SAP is not necessary or even wanted in this case.
Manual or automatic Generation of an output order document selection
Management and output Transfer to SharePoint with the with PLOSSYS SharePoint queue
The solution was implemented using the SEAL Systems products Structure Explosion, Document Distribution Director (DDD) and our Output Management Engine PLOSSYS along with a SharePoint queue:
The Structure Explosion module ensures that documents relevant to the export are determined from a documentation structure. DDD manages this document list and sends it the Output Management Engine. This converts, stamps, and scales the files if needed and transmits them to SharePoint over the SharePoint queue. There, the documents are filed in a SharePoint document library.
The actual process is just as easy as printing from SAP. The challenge lies in the specification of the documents relevant to the process, which normally can then be identified by configuration, as well as determination of the data from SAP needed in SharePoint. In many cases, and for a clean definition of structures in SAP, these can also be mapped by configuration. If not, user exits for customer-specific adaptations are available.
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This implementation gives the customer an easy-to-use solution for determining the necessary documents from SAP either manually or automatically, and making them available to non-SAP users via SharePoint. This prevents the costs and errors that may arise from manual provision, which is still an option for small numbers of documents.
Team- I would like to know more about this solution. We want External Collaborative features, Like Vendor Managing some documents, approval, etc…. Please get in touch with me.
Regards Srinivasulu Duddu +971 56 501 3493
Hi Srinivasulu Duddu, thank you very much for your request! Our SAP experts will get in touch with you immediately. Have a nice day, Susanne
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Lars Palitzsch
Lars Palitzsch is our Director of Development for SAP. He’s keen on highly complex technical matters, and usually won’t step away from his PC until he’s found just the right solution to even the tiniest problem. When not working for SEAL Systems he can occasionally be seen at concerts of a wide range of musical styles. lars.palitzsch@sealsystems.de | +49 9195 926 187
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