SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Presented by
Casey Bralla
Drive, Inc
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March, 2014
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Summary
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SAP business system
was automatically
eMailing customers with
incorrect delivery dates.
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Summary (continued)
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Effected “Commercial” business unit
customers who had to coordinate
receipt of product and installation labor
on large commercial projects.
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Bralla created and led teams which
solved this problem in 5 weeks.
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
The Problem
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Customers complained of erratic and contradictory
eMail notification of delivery dates.
Example:
2/1:
2/18:
2/19:
2/20:
eMail promise date of 2/22
eMail promise date of 2/21
eMail promise date of 3/15
eMail promise date of 2/21
Product is ready on 2/21
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SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Problem Solving Process
1.
Formed a team to identify and
correct the problem
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VP of Distribution & Customer Service
Production Manager
Production Scheduler
Lean Champion for the area
Lean Analyst
Bralla
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Problem Solving Process
Brainstormed possible causes & looked for obvious
or simple solutions
3.
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Expanded team to include Director of Application
Development (i.e.: “IT SAP Manager”)
4.
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No immediate causes identified, but believed it had something to do with
the automatic QC Hold placed on all orders prior to shipment
Nobody on the team understood how the SAP process worked
“How does SAP work?”
“Where does SAP get the delivery date?”
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Important Data about SAP
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SAP dates come from:
1.
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3.
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Delivery of “available” stock in
warehouse
Open Production Orders
Standard lead time
SAP runs every night ~ 8:00
PM
Stock on “QC Hold” is not
considered “available”
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Problem Solving Process
Map the production control and SAP process
5.
Team exercise with post-it notes
Discovered that a conventional Value Stream Map does not help, since it
does not show the interactions between various functions and processes
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6.
Created “swim lane” style map instead
Lanes for:
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SAP daily process
SAP functions (Stock assignment, Stock locations, etc.)
Human activity with SAP (Scheduling, Production Order Close, etc.)
Physical activity and movement of the product
Customer activities (Placing orders, making pickups, etc.)
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Current State Map
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SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Current State – Learnings
1.
2.
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QC Hold caused SAP to send bad dates
QC Tech removed QC Holds once per day.
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Future State - Brainstorming
Questions:
1.
Do we need to put on QC Hold? What is reject rate?
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Can we ship “at risk” prior to inspection?
2.
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Could be done, but prefer not to.
Why do we wait to inspect (once per day)?
3.
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Yes. Reject rate ~ 5% due to shade variation.
It’s a “habit”.
All quality data is available at the time the job is run.
QC Tech “batched” his approvals.
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Future State
Change:
• QC Tech reviews quality within
½ hour of end of run
• Immediate release of 95%
product
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SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Process Lessons Learned
1.
Cross-functional teams are often necessary.
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3.
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Nobody has all the information needed to
understand and correct the problem.
Swim-lane style Process maps can show
interactions between operations better than
conventional maps.
Lean problem solving tools work very well to
solve complex problems that span
departmental barriers.
SAP Incorrect Date Problem
Thank You!
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