Alright, well, I just learned something the hard way. For those of you that know me, you’ll know I’m good at that =). Anyway, a few days ago I talked about the new SM/WM integration product I was working on. I was all excited because I almost finished a replacement for the MB1A, B & C transactions to perform material movements and auto generate the transfer order. Well, I took a short cut. I copied the transaction MB1A, and did my updates to that. Well, I finished my development, got it all working in my 4.7 development system. So, as my usual process, I moved the code to my ERP 6.0 system. Well, I got instant syntax errors because things have changed a lot between those versions. Naively, I thought this old transaction will never change. SAP transaction cloning certainly bit me in the butt. It’s been around forever, so I can just copy it. WRONG!!! The code had a lot of enhancements (included enhancement points, changed forms, etc…). So… I’m back to the drawing board. I’m still going to generate the transaction, but now I need to build the entire front end.
Short story, there are no short cuts in solid developments. Anyway, I’ll keep you in the loop for my continued progress.
Thanks for Reading…
Starting a new Product – SM/WM
Like always, I just hate being bored, so I’m working on my next product that I think will take off. For those of your using SAP Service Management, you probably already know that Service Management and Warehouse Management have ZERO integration. Even though WM is fully integrated with production orders, which are very similar to service order, SAP neglected SM. Sometimes I think I picked the Red-Headed Step Child to specialize in… and as it’s turning out, it could be the best thing ever for me (as soon as my apps start getting into the market).
Well, this new tools is 2 phases. The first phase is create a universal WM helper tool. It will use the functionality of MB1A, MB1B, MB1C and add the ability to automatically create a Transfer Order from it. Simple, but according to my good friend and WM expert, Jeff, something many smaller companies would love. Especially if the same person who does the material movement also creates the TO. I’m nearly complete with this first phase.
Next up, will be integrate the SM orders the same way that production orders are integrated with WM. I don’t know if I’ve fully wrapped my head around how I’m going to accomplish this connection. I have 2 schools of thought and I’ll have to contemplate a little more before I start the coding. One option is to utilize user exits along with a custom configuration table. While this method can work, it is a little more intensive for a customer to implement. In order to avoid any possible overwriting, the customer would have to manually place this include into thier code. Not difficult, but not as easy as my other products. Option 2 entails a batch program that would need to run pretty often to pick up any demands released into the system from service orders and then generate the appropriate WM documents. I also need to spend more time understanding all of the pieces involved for production orders.
All fun stuff, and yet another learning experience. Special Thanks to my good friend Jeff Bass. without him, WM would just be another black box of SAP that I know nothing about. Jeff is an amazing teacher of this stuff. If you need WM help, check him out.
Thanks,
Mike
My 2nd Real Product – Service Dashboard
I’m pretty excited right now. A couple months ago, I completed Broadsword: SM Dashboard, an SAP Dashboard. I took my own advise this time around and designed something that some of my previous clients specifically asked for. It helps because I know the process so well, that I came up with all the scenarios I’ve seen throughout my career.
It’s pretty awesome because I was able to learn several new skills building this product (I’ll post more about those in some future posts) and more importantly, I actually have interested parties in this tool. Like everything else, I need a starting point, and once I have several clients running the tool effectively, that should open the door to future sales. Anyway, things are getting exciting, and between the new products I’m developing and joint venture with DMS I feel like my business is about to take off…
Picking a Product to Build and Sell
A few years ago, I came up with this great idea. Build a product that I could sell, so that I wouldn’t have to do traveling consulting every week. The idea behind it was simple. Build something one time, and sell it to a lot of companies. Then all I’d have to do is sit back and collect the profits, and then start making something new. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I’ll talk about the creation process some other time, but right now, I’ll focus on current events. I completed my product about 1 year ago, and I thought the hard work was over. However, what I didn’t take into account is just how much work (and potentially cash) it takes to get a product launched. Right now, all of my free time is spent coming up with ways to drum up some interest in Paper Street Enterprises. I thought it would be a no brainer, I’ve been doing SAP for going on 14 years, I’m really good at what I do, how could people not want to work with me. Well, it’s pretty easy, they don’t know me. I’ve spent all of my time designing the product, and very little of that time showing I’m an expert. Sure I can fall back on the companies I’ve consulted for, but as it turns out, most of them are no longer interested in the product I thought everyone would want. So… my take away from this, before you spend days, weeks, months or even years designing and developing something, make sure you have someone that wants to buy it from you. I thought Rapier would be the sort of thing that everyone would want, and they still might, but the fact is, no one asked for it. I made the make of assuming they wanted it or needed it. Going forward, I’m focusing on known items that people want. I start simple. Every time I hear a client say, “I wish SAP did this”, or “I can’t believe SAP doesn’t provide that”, I quickly add it to my list of development ideas, and move it to the top of the list. Why? because I know that at least one company is interested in using it (maybe not buying it, but you need to start somewhere). So learn from my mistake… make sure you have a market before you build a product. Good luck.