BAE improve efficiency and remove risk by adopting Maextro for automated SAP Data Processing & governance.
Introduction to the Client:
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence (AI) delivers information intelligence solutions to government and commercial customers. They help customers collect, exploit and manage data so that they can deliver critical business services more effectively and economically.
As a business BAE AI run SAP software to manage their supply chain and financial data. Currently in place is SAP ERP ECC6 EHP7 and SAP NetWeaver Gateway 7.50 and also other peripheral systems like Salesforce and Business Information Systems.
BAE’s strategic search for better master data management and governance led them to contact Bluestonex, to review Maextro.
THE CHALLENGES:
BAE had a fairly manual process for creating and maintaining customer masters in SAP and also external systems (e.g. Salesforce) interaction resulted in lots of manual entry points.
The existing process relied too heavily on excel spreadsheets and experience / knowledge of master data when it came to re-keying the information onto SAP. This left BAE exposed to the risk of errors and ongoing data quality issues.
SOLUTION OVERVIEW:
Having established that Maextro met BAE’s requirements, the solution development process commenced with two workshops. The scoping and build became clear with the main objective of replacing the previous manual (largely Excel) ways of working. This established new & re-enforced existing business rules for SAP data as well as integrating with non-SAP systems (e.g. Salesforce). BAE and Bluestonex jointly established that there were opportunities for quick wins on productivity savings as well as data accuracy and to streamline processes.
The initial scope was focused on new customer requests, with approval steps and data enrichment via business rules as well as changes to existing customers.
We used Maextro’s native technology of SAP ABAP core engine as well as SAPUI5 (Fiori) Apps for create and approve requests.
Deployment was very quick and the Maextro core engine was deployed within a day together with the Fiori apps. The Fiori enhancements BAE required were challenging from a build perspective due to limitations in the SAPUI5 technology but the UI5 apps deployed received very good feedback.
Using the Maextro core engine, we quickly established templates to hold the various business rules and also the ability to generate mass creation of account groups in one request. For example, a PMO could request a new customer and at the same time capture different billing addresses. Within SAP this process can be tedious with the set up of the initial “sold to” party & subsequent partner functions (ship to, bill to, payer) and then the creation of additional account groups (e.g. additional “bill to’s”).
Solution deployed:
- Create request – SAP UI5 App
- Approve Request – SAP UI5 App
- Data Gather & Data Approval – SAP GUI
- Integration with sales force
whats next?:
BAE AI also plan to deploy SAP Screen Personas Slipstream UI5 engine to replace SAP GUI steps , in order to give users a consistent & delightful look and feel.
The results:
BAE AI are pleased with the results of their first Maextro process deployment and are planning to further enhance functionality and develop self-sufficiency with configuration aspects of the solution.
How did we meet the business objective
| Business objective |
How did we achieve? |
| 1. Consolidate, enrich and reduce data input source.
|
All excel data input sources were replaced with consolidated data input views within Maextro. This was further enriched with business rules (default values and data conformity) to create single source of true data. |
| 2. Flexible solution to enforce business rules and master data processes
|
Maextro provides comprehensive rule sets which cater for a wide variety of business rules. All Maextro rules can be configured via system configuration (IMG)with no programming or changes to the core system. |
| 3. Introduce additional authorisation over and above standard SAP authorization.
|
Maextro workflow management and field control rules provide an additional layer of security to prevent unnecessary data updates to data views or fields. Again, these are simple rules which can be configured as required by business. |
| 4. Simple workflow management to capture and approve data. |
Maextro provides an integrated workflow engine which is directly configured in Maextro. |
| 5. Scalable to other master data objects |
Maextro provides a comprehensive catalogue of additional objects to deliver an enterprise-wide MDM & Governance solution. |
BAE AI do plan to deploy more Maextro objects over the coming months as they embark on wider improvements to their data strategy.
Designing with bluestonex consulting:
We bring together a new & specialised SAP consulting approach with specialist skills and competencies in SAP user experience & innovation.
Maextro’s core capabilities and rich functionality is unapparelled when compared against other products
‘Maextro’ enables your organisation to centrally create and maintain a trusted, transparent view of your businesses master data information, propagating core information that is utilised to support your key SAP business processes across the entire enterprise.
By deploying Maextro as part of a wider business-technology driven initiative, your business can begin to realise the true value of master data sources that are consolidated, harmonised and enriched in agile functionality to constantly underpin key operational SAP transactions and everyday business processes.
