This book is intended for the following audience:

• Executives looking for ways of reducing their costs through process optimization, status management and process visibility

• Project team members using SAP EM related functionality

• System Architects who need to know about the best kept secret at SAP in order to possibly utilize it in future designs

Table of Contents

The book covers the following areas (click the links for a preview of the chapter):

• Chapter 1 gives an executive overview of SAP EM describing what it is, what it comprises of, where the benefits lie and ultimately what value it brings to the table. This is a must read for the executives and system architects of companies.

• Chapter 2 describes the technical architecture covering its core services, deployment options and the differences between the various releases.

• Chapter 3 covers the application system giving details behind what is available on the side of the solution where the events and processes are generated.

• Chapter 4 covers SAP Event Management giving the details behind what is available on the SAP EM system, what functionality lies there and what it’s used for.

• Chapter 5 provides an implementation methodology showing the steps required to implement SAP EM at your organization successfully.

• Chapter 6 provides general useful information on SAP EM including a troubleshooting guide.

• BIOGRAPHIES 12

• FOREWORD 14

• INTRODUCTION 16

• CHAPTER 1. EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW 19   <--- Click the link for a preview
  1.1 What is SAP Event Management? 21
  1.2 What is Supply Chain Event Management? 23
  1.3 How does SAP EM relate to SCEM? 23
  1.4 SAP EM Concepts 26
  1.5 The Components of SAP EM 27
  1.6 Events 31
  1.6.1 Events and Event Messages 35
  1.6.2 Components of an Event Message 36
  1.7 What are the benefits of SAP EM? 37
  1.7.1 Current challenges in today’s environment 37
  1.7.2 Addressing these challenges 42
  1.7.3 What value do we derive from SAP EM? 44
  1.8 What is the history of SAP EM? 44
  1.9 Where can I find the SAP EM functionality? 46
  1.10 Conclusion 46

• CHAPTER 2. THE ARCHITECTURE 49   <--- Click the link for a preview
  2.1 Technical Overview 50
  2.2 Core Services of SAP EM 52
  2.3 Deployment Options 56
  2.4 SAP EM Releases 59
  2.4.1 SAP EM 5.x 59
  2.4.2 SAP EM 7.0 65
  2.4.3 The Object Event Repository 66

• CHAPTER 3. APPLICATION SYSTEM 71   <--- Click the link for a preview
  3.1 SAP Application System 73
  3.1.1 Application Interface (AI) 73
  3.1.2 The detail 76
  3.1.3 Business Process Type 82
  3.1.4 Application Object 83
  3.1.5 IDs 85
  3.1.6 Application System Functions 89
  3.1.7 SAP EM Data Extraction 101
  3.1.8 Event Types 103
  3.2 Non-SAP Application Systems 104
  3.2.1 Sending Event Messages 105
  3.2.2 Retrieving Event Handler Details 105
  3.2.3 Creating and Changing Event Handlers 105

• CHAPTER 4. SAP EM SYSTEM 109   <--- Click the link for a preview
  4.1 The technical Jargon 110
  4.1.1 Communicating with the application system 110
  4.1.2 Sizing 111
  4.2 Event Handler 112
  4.2.1 EH Type 112
  4.2.2 EH Set Profile 115
  4.2.3 Event Consolidation Profile 115
  4.2.4 Extension Table 116
  4.2.5 Authorization and Filter profile 117
  4.2.6 Archiving 121
  4.2.7 Deleting EHs and EVMs 122
  4.2.8 Status Profiles 124
  4.2.9 BW Profile 127
  4.2.10 EH Updates 135
  4.2.11 Logs 136
  4.2.12 Related tables 138
  4.3 Events 139
  4.3.1 Expected Event 139
  4.3.2 Unexpected Event 141
  4.3.3 Event Codes 142
  4.3.4 Internal and External Event Reason Codes 143
  4.3.5 Event Message Header Extension Table 144
  4.3.6 Passing Values 145
  4.3.7 Related tables 148
  4.4 Other Codes 148
  4.4.1 Code Set Customizing 148
  4.4.2 Location Codes 149
  4.4.3 Partner Codes 149
  4.5 Rule Sets 150
  4.6 Parameters 155
  4.7 SAP EM Reports 160
  4.7.1 SAPTRX/ASAPLOG Application system log 160
  4.7.2 SAPTRX/EH_SET Event Handler Set browser 160
  4.7.3 SAPTRX/EH_LIST_STAT Event handler list by status 162
  4.7.4 SAPTRX/EH_LIST Event Handler list 164
  4.7.5 SAPTRX/EH_LAST_EVT EH list for last event message 164
  4.7.6 SAPTRX/EE_OVD_LIST Expected Event Overdue List 166
  4.7.7 SAPTRX/ER_MS_LIST Error Messages List 166
  4.7.8 SAPTRX/EVM_STATUS Event Message Status 168
  4.8 Status Retrieval 168
  4.8.1 Classic Web UI (SAP EM-WCL) 169
  4.8.2 Web UI (Web Dynpro) 172
  4.8.3 SAP GUI 174
  4.9 Visibility Processes 192
  4.9.1 Available Visibility Processes 198
  4.10 General 216
  4.10.1 Solutions and Scenarios 216
  4.10.2 Alert Framework 218
  4.10.3 Workflow Integration 226
  4.10.4 Document Flow Integration 231

• CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY 237   <--- Click the link for a preview
  5.1 Phase 1 - Project Preparation 238
  5.1.1 Project Management 239
  5.1.2 Technology 245
  5.1.3 Standards and Procedures 246
  5.2 Phase 2 - Analysis and Design 247
  5.2.1 Gather Requirements 247
  5.2.2 Architecture 251
  5.2.3 Administration 252
  5.3 Phase 3 - Configuration and Development 253
  5.3.1 Development 253
  5.3.2 Configuration 254
  5.3.3 Planning 256
  5.3.4 Technology 256
  5.3.5 Training and Testing 256
  5.4 Phase 4 - Training and Go-Live preparation 257
  5.4.1 Integration Testing 257
  5.4.2 End User Training 258
  5.4.3 Production support and environment 259
  5.4.4 Production Cutover 259
  5.5 Phase 5 - Operational support 260
  5.6 Phase 6 - Ongoing optimization 260

• CHAPTER 6. USEFUL INFORMATION 265   <--- Click the link for a preview
  6.1 Useful Transactions 266
  6.2 Abbreviations 271
  6.3 Available Enhancement Points 272
  6.4 Operations Guideline 273
  6.4.1 Background Jobs 273
  6.4.2 Application Logs 274
  6.4.3 Event Management Monitoring 275
  6.4.4 qRFC Monitoring 277
  6.4.5 General Monitoring 278
  6.4.6 Fastest Growing Tables for SAP EM 278
  6.4.7 Monitoring Transactions 279
  6.5 Troubleshooting tips 280
  6.5.1 On the Application System 280
  6.5.2 On the SAP EM System 281
  6.6 Useful SAP EM Blogs 282
  6.6.1 Solman and BPMon 282
  6.6.2 Differences between Workflow and SAP EM 284
  6.6.3 Tips for improving performance in SAP EM 4.1 286
  6.6.4 Parallelization of SAP EM queues 288
  6.7 Useful OSS notes 291
  6.8 Useful SAP EM Links 292

• INDEX 295

• BIBLIOGRAPHY 304

• Q DATA AND SAP EM 305

• OTHER BOOKS BY GENIE PRESS 306

Foreword

Sustainability has entered the business lexicon in recent years, and has rapidly risen to the top of the agenda in many boardrooms around the world. Concerns about operating businesses in a sustainable way have shed a light on systems that can eliminate opacity to enable internal and external processes to be clearly viewed and actioned. With such systems, operational anomalies that lead to resource waste or product adulteration can be intercepted and acted upon. In summary, to succeed in the today’s “sustainable” economy, companies need to change the way they do business by seeing, thinking and acting with increased clarity.

Organizations today operate in a highly networked business world - and at the heart of this interconnected world is the supply chain. As globalization reaches across all industries, supply chains have had to become much more agile, efficient, and collaborative. Complex supply chains demand a sophisticated ability to monitor, report, adjust to, and analyze the flow of events that occur as business processes play out every day. Being able to manage these events - in coordination with partners and suppliers of products and services who are involved - is crucial to transform organizations from “plan and execute” to “sense and respond” behavior. With the product being explored in this timely book, SAP Event Management, companies can manage the full range of events taking place across the value chain involving processes, inventories, assets, and partners. An open, highly configurable event management and resolution engine, this application provides the tools and framework to monitor, notify, adjust, and analyze business events that may lead to waste and even to product safety issues. From capturing event information to analyzing it against preset milestones, and then alerting appropriate parties when there is a discrepancy, SAP Event Management supports real-time responsiveness and adaptive collaboration across the business network.

SAP Event Management provides the power and sophistication to manage every link in the extended supply chain. A wide range of reconfigured visibility processes integrates with the SAP ERP, SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure, and advanced supply chain management applications. And because it is built on an open architecture, it can easily be connected to data warehouses and capture data from carriers and service agents, web-based event sources, mobile devices, and myriad other information sources.

I am delighted to see that this powerful application, which forms part of many processes within the SAP Business Suite as a technical component, is now being brought forward in this book as an application that deserves its “time in the sun”. I am sure you will find tremendous value in the many insights that Kevin is sharing, from the architectural to those at the application level, and I look forward to learning of new and exciting applications that you may create to move your enterprise to a Clear New World.

By Stephen Cloughley (Senior Director at SAP Labs LLC)

Credits

• Steven W. Hardy: editing

• Petra Diessner (SAP AG, SAP EM Solution Manager), Steffen Butschbacher (SAP AG, SAP EM Development): technical edit

• Kerry (Genie Press): editing

• Heila (Genie Press) and Elaine Lanmon: cover design

We have taken great care to ensure that the information contained within this book is as accurate and helpful as possible. If any errors are uncovered following the publishing of this book they will be highlighted on the Genie Press website at http://www.geniepress.com.