The systematic evaluation of internal data is essential for companies today, as this is the only way to reliably evaluate internal processes and adapt them promptly if necessary. Experience has shown that the area of production and detailed planning (PP/DS) has great potential for optimization. In order to exploit this potential, access to real-time data is required, but this is not readily available in standard SAP. The standard-compliant CONSILIO solution PP/DS Analytics provides a remedy here.
Why is a new solution needed?
For many companies, the S/4HANA embedded analytics solution is an interesting option for evaluating their own data: it is included in the S/4HANA scope, is very user-friendly, flexible and is constantly being developed further. However, embedded analytics fails when it comes to evaluating PP/DS order data. The reason for this is that embedded Analytics can access the HANA database via CDS views, but not the data in the PP/DS liveCache. The CONSILIO extension PP/DS Analytics reads the data from the liveCache and makes it available at database level.
Since we use CDS views in our solution, we not only provide the PP/DS data for analysis, but can also integrate other ERP master and transaction data, which allows comprehensive reporting in the planning area.
Why is reporting necessary in the PP/DS environment?
In production planning, unforeseen problems can occur at any time which, without a timely response, can lead to production errors or make the use of resources inefficient. Reporting is used to monitor planning quality and capacity using specially defined KPIs. The following areas in particular can be monitored with PP/DS Analytics:
New possibilities with PP/DS Analytics
The evaluation of the data provided by PP/DS Analytics is by no means limited to the use of embedded analytics. Although this solution is the most common when it comes to reporting, PP/DS Analytics can analyze data for any tool. Another reporting tool used by some customers is SAP Analysis for Office. Some companies make a conscious decision to use it, as Analysis for Office definitely offers advantages in certain cases: For example, the interface is Excel-based and represents a familiar environment for many users.
If the company's own requirements are somewhat more specific and cannot be mapped using the standard tools mentioned, the data can also be evaluated using in-house developments without the need for specific PP/DS development expertise.
Visualization via S/4HANA embedded analytics
Embedded Analytics is a Fiori-based solution that is included in the functional scope of S/4HANA and therefore does not incur any extra costs. The analytical Fiori apps are user-friendly, intuitive to use and flexibly customizable. Embedded Analytics is used at all levels of reporting - from strategic analyses to the operational level. Various types of graphical representation make reporting particularly clear and popular. With PP/DS Analytics, all embedded analytics functions can be used to their full extent.
Visualization via SAP Analysis for Office
Those who do not yet have S/4HANA - and therefore no embedded analytics - in use or have had good experience with Excel-based analysis often rely on Analysis for Office. The reporting can also be compiled individually here - the required data is simply selected from the available data and evaluated. Users do not have to get used to this and can continue to work with classic pivot tables.
Visualization of own developments
For various reasons, companies may decide to rely on in-house developments for reporting. For such cases, the PP/DS Analytics solution provides the liveCache data in database tables, where it can be read out as usual.
Summary
The advantages of PP/DS Analytics are obvious: the solution integrated in S/4HANA enables access to PP/DS data at database level, which is not possible in the SAP standard. The data is available in real time and can be flexibly evaluated at various levels and displayed graphically if required. The user interface is very user-friendly and does not require extensive training.
For further technical details and practical use cases, please visit our solutions page.
