SAP - Borealis Implementation

Borealis SAP Implementation

This article contains documentation for the Borealis-specific SAP Implementation.

Borealis Implementation: Specifics for Working with SAP-interfaced IMS

Master data: FLOC/Equipment

For SAP interfaced IMS instances basic FLOC and Equipment data are mastered in SAP. This means that an ordinary user (with non-admin roles) is not allowed (by configuration) to change any data/fields mastered in SAP, within IMS.

In order to satisfy IMS relevancy criteria, and get created or updated in IMS, a piece of Equipment has to have:

• Standard class (SAP type), one of classes mapped with IMS equipment group, by configuration. See Appendix C for SAP Type to IMS Equipment Group mapping.

• WIMS_RELEVANT flag checked in SAP.

• Be part of the hierarchy defined by IMS unit mapping configuration.

The most relevant IMS FLOC/Equipment fields mastered in SAP and automatically reflected in IMS, are:

• Status active/inactive.

• FLOC/Equipment hierarchy (based on parent FLOC and defined unit mapping).

• FLOC/Equipment description.

• Equipment class/type (impacts IMS Equipment group, changes on this field are conditional and depend on other specific data, like RBI analyses.

Conditional equipment activation/deactivation

Activation of Equipment in IMS can be controlled by its Equipment Status field. If the Status set to “IN CONTRUCTION” or “RETIRED” IMS will not allow activation of Equipment initiated by SAP. Conversely, if a piece of Equipment is active in IMS, SAP is allowed to deactivate it by changing the status.

Other master data interfaced with SAP: Task lists/operations, Maintenance plans/items

Maintenance plans/items data are automatically synchronized from SAP to IMS. Upon data creation or data update in SAP this information update is offered to IMS for download and sync.
Maintenance plans/items are assigned to an appropriate recurring inspection schedule by initial data alignment or assigned by the interface service (based on maintenance plan request). inspection schedule related maintenance plans/items and task lists are visible within IMS, but can not be edited in IMS.

Other transactional data interfaced with SAP: Workorders/Operation, Notifications

Details of transactional data like work orders, workorder operation and notification details are automatically imported from SAP to IMS. Whenever data are created or updated in SAP the new data are offered to IMS for download and sync.

Typically, an IMS-related notification in SAP is created based on IMS user activity (IMS inspection schedule creation or update). Based on these notifications follow up actions are executed by SAP users, mostly creating Workorders based on the received data. Any changes to these notifications in SAP are sent back to IMS as an update along with any Workorders created based on those notification. This information is read-only data and cannot be modified in IMS.

Requesting a Corrective Action

To request a corrective action within SAP, an IMS Corrective Action Inspection Request (CAIR) Schedule needs to be created. Some fields such as Next Inspection Date (NID), Responsible party (ME AND EI, required to interface SAP) are mandatory.

After the final approval, the SAP-IMS interface will automatically create a notification in SAP, with schedule data and scope. The action is triggered by IMS users creating or changing inspection schedule data and final approving the changes within IMS.

Response of the create notification action will appear in the schedule (SAP notification number) (see picture). It could be successful, or it may fail for some reason. The result is visible in IMS (see screenshot “Example of SAP notification details data shown in IMS”.

When a Work Order (based on the notification) has been created in SAP, its basic information will be sent back to IMS through SAP-IMS interface and will get assigned to a Schedule.

Details of the Work Order can be displayed in IMS in the popup window.
When a Schedule is assigned a new Work Order, the original notification cannot be updated based on the assumption that the Work Order in SAP has already been released.

Update of Corrective Schedules

Updating a CAIR Schedule will result in an update to the existing notification in SAP. Un update is usually possible only when a workorder in SAP has not yet been created. 

Any changes that require Approval, including Next Inspection Date, will trigger the interface to send changes to SAP.  Changes that do not require Approval such as the TA Candidate option and Schedule Description will not trigger changes to be sent to SAP.

Creating an Equipment Condition History Report (crediting a CAIR schedule)

When crediting a CAIR schedule there a two actions that will automatically trigger the SAP-IMS interface to send changes to SAP:

• Closing/completing notification for the related CAIR Schedule.

• Confirming Workorder operation(s) for the specific defined SAP work center(s), which are related to the corrective action.

SAP work centers are common data defined by users in IMS per SAP plant (Setting/Maintenance/Suppliers/Manufacturers/SAP Work Center).

Preventive maintenance plan request

To request a new maintenance plan in SAP, an IMS recurring Inspection Schedule has to be created. Some fields, such as NID, Time interval (cycle), Responsible party (ME AND EI) are mandatory.

After Final Approval, the SAP-IMS interface will automatically create a notification in SAP, with Schedule data and scope. The action is triggered by an IMS user creating or changing Inspection Schedule data and final approving the changes within IMS.

Response of the create notification action will appear in the Schedule (SAP Notification Number). An error will be reported if the transaction was not successful.

All IMS Schedules generate an SAP Tracking ID, a number used for relating data between IMS and SAP. When a Maintenance Plan/Item is created in SAP, an SAP Tracking ID will be assigned to it, resulting in the Maintenance plan being related to an IMS Inspection Schedule automatically by the interface.

Details of the SAP Maintenance Plan/Item as well as the related task list with operations can be displayed in IMS.

When a Work Order (based on the Maintenance Plan) has been created in SAP, its basic information will be synchronized with IMS through the interface and will get assigned to Schedule (SAP Workorder Number).

Details of the Work Order are displayed in the Schedule Details in IMS.

When a Schedule gets a Work Order assigned, the related maintenance plan cannot be updated anymore as it is assumed that the workorder in SAP has already been released and its released dates cannot be changed at this stage.

Preventive maintenance plan/recurring schedule update

Any changes to a recurring Inspection Schedule in IMS impacting the NID (next inspection date) or time interval (cycle) will trigger a Maintenance Plan update. Only the execution date (due date) and cycle can be updated in this case. 

If a Work Order is already assigned to the Schedule any updates can result in a new notification in SAP describing the changes and instructing SAP users on how to align the data.

Creating an Equipment Condition History Report (Crediting the recurring inspection schedule)

When crediting a recurring Inspection Schedule an action confirming Work Order Operation(s) is automatically triggered in SAP by the interface. Similar to CAIR schedule, confirmation of the Work Order Operation(s) is triggered only for specifically defined SAP work center(s).

Upon approval of an Equipment Condition History (ECH), a new recurring Schedule will be created with a new next inspection date based on the time interval and will automatically be approved by IMS. This will result in a SAP Maintenance Plan update, and it will set a new due date in SAP.
A new recurring Schedule will be related to the same SAP Maintenance Plan and the Schedule will inherit all the related information as well as preserving the same SAP Tracking ID Number.

CMMS Misalignment Data Dashboard

The purpose of this dashboard is to make user aware of misalignment in data integrity and to act on specific issues, in order to correct the misalignment.

The dashboard usually has two sections (Hierarchy Data and Schedule Data) with several misalignment indicators. Indicators show counts with a link to the list of data with more details.

Hierarchy Data Misalignments (FLOC/Equipment data)

Hierarchy data are collected and aggregated on a daily basis and represents data received from SAP compared with current data in IMS. 

Note

Any changes made in SAP to correct the misalignment will not be visible until after the daily dashboard refresh is completed.