Page 188 -

170 CHAPTER 5 The Fulfi llment Process

Finally, in the process section we explored the relationship between
the fulfi llment process at GBI and the procurement process at RMB. These
processes are executed in different companies using different ERP systems.
Nevertheless, for both processes to operate effi ciently, the two companies
must integrate on a process level and a technical level at multiple stages.

REPORTING

As discussed in previous chapters, SAP ERP provides several reporting
options including online lists, work lists, and analytics. An additional reporting
option in fulfi llment is the document fl ow, which identifi es all the documents
related to a customer order. We examine these options in this section.

DOCUMENT FLOW
Throughout this chapter we have examined many of the documents associ-
ated with the fulfi llment process, including inquiries, sales orders, delivery
documents, billing documents, and payment documents. Signifi cantly, all
of the documents related to one inquiry or sales order are linked together
in a document fl ow. A document flow displays all of the documents associ-
ated with the steps that have been completed for a single customer inquiry
or order. The document fl ow is updated after each process step is completed.
Figure 5-51 illustrates a document fl ow for a completed process that started
with a sales order (rather than an inquiry). The document fl ow essentially dis-
plays the history and status of the sales order. For example, if a delivery docu-
ment is included in the document fl ow but a goods issue is not, then we can
conclude that delivery is in progress and the shipment has not yet left the ship-
ping point. This conclusion assumes, of course, that the data in the ERP system
are up to date and accurately refl ect the activity in the physical system. Any of
the underlying documents, such as the sales order or invoice, can be retrieved
and displayed from the document fl ow, if more details are necessary.

Figure 5-51: Document fl ow. Copyright SAP AG 2011

31/01/11 6:40 AM
CH005.indd 170 31/01/11 6:40 AM
CH005.indd 170