- SAP Managed Tags:
SAP Business Network for Supply Chain
Welcome to our latest blog post on "What’s New in SAP Business Network for Supply Chain" for 2024. This entry will specifically cover the top 3 features introduced in the Q3 2024 Release. It is designed for those seeking a detailed overview of the enhancements launched in August 2024 for SAP Business Network for Supply Chain. Below, we provide a summary of the updates anticipated to benefit our customers.
1. Improving Supply Chain Resiliency with End-to-end Shipment Visibility
Enables buyers and suppliers on the SAP Business Network for Supply Chain to work together with logistics service providers for the outsourced transportation planning of buyer-managed shipments. The freight forwarder handles the transportation planning for inbound shipments on behalf of the buyer, using the supplier's advanced ship notice.
Some of the supply chain visibility challenges that trading partners are currently experiencing are:
- Gaps in order-to-stock process visibility when buyers subcontract transportation to 3PLs
- Disconnected direct procurement and transportation processes
- Lack of timely updates impacts buyers and suppliers’ ability to identify and address potential issues
As part of Q3 2024 release, the integration between SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration and SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration has been introduced to support the Buyer-managed transportation planning outsourced to Logistics Service Providers capability.
Through this new capability, buyers can now initiate the transportation planning by sharing the advanced ship notice from their suppliers with their logistics service providers. The logistics service provider shares the planned shipment with the buyer along with updates to the advanced ship notice.
In this way, buyers automatically get updates when their purchase is scheduled to arrive including updates on potential changes to the arrival date. Buyers can plan their warehousing, production, and customer expectations more accurately.
The following values are updated in the Ship Notice generated by the supplier in SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration based on the Shipment plan information received from SAP Business Network Freight Collaboration: Bill Of Lading, Carrier name, Delivery Date, Service Level and Transit Direction. A Ship Notice update is sent to the buyer system including these modified values.
Also, a new “Shipment Detail” tab has been added inside the Ship Notice document which contains all the Shipment plan information provided by the Carrier and sent to Supply Chain Collaboration from Freight Collaboration.
Ship Notices list is now available as part of the new Ship Notices Workbench tile:
- Buyers and Suppliers can now filter by Shipping and Delivery date
- Users can search for ASNs created in the Last 365 days
- Ship Notices forwarded to Business Network for Freight Collaboration can be easily identified.
- Latest Shipment Planning status shown
Benefits provided by this new capability:
- Buyers and suppliers regain visibility through this integrated process that provide transparency to delivery times and goods receipt expectations
- Greater visibility and timely updates provided to buyers, suppliers, and 3PLs throughout the order-to-stock process enable early identification and resolution of potential issues
2. Enhancements in component consumption including additional validation
Improving subcontracting processes by enabling the tracking and validation of the lifecycle of finished products and their components. Suppliers can now provide customer batch information for batch-managed components when creating component consumption in Ship Notices or reporting component consumption in subcontracting scenarios.
Here are some key points to highlight:
- cXML enhancement: Version 1.2.060 of cXML for OrderRequest now includes an update to transmit batch-required information for subcontracting components.
- New transaction rule: A new rule has been introduced to enable verification for batch-managed components, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
- Error message: Error messages will be displayed if the customer batch number is not provided for components during component consumption reporting in the UI. This applies both during the creation of a ship notice and in general component consumption reporting, enhancing data integrity.
- New button is available now: “Copy Remaining Quantities”. It will enable users to automatically populate the remaining quantity of components in a purchase order based on the components consumed so far for the PO item, thereby streamlining the process, and enhancing efficiency. This functionality is available both during the creation of ship notices and when reporting consumption.
3. Migration of Business Rules from the Test Environment to the Production System
We are pleased to introduce a new functionality that enable buyer administrators to efficiently manage default transaction rules and supplier group transaction rules within their SAP Business Network buyer accounts. This feature allows for the seamless download and upload of transaction rules in a spreadsheet format, facilitating the transfer of rules between different environments or for archival purposes.
Key Benefits:
- Effortless Migration: Easily export transaction rules from a test environment and import them into a production environment. This ensures consistency and accuracy when transitioning from testing to live operations.
- Comprehensive Download Options: When downloading default transaction rules, all rules are consolidated into a single spreadsheet. For supplier group rules, administrators can selectively download rules for individual supplier groups configured in their environment.
- Multilingual Support: Transaction rules can be translated into any supported language within the SAP Business Network product capabilities during the download process, ensuring global applicability and ease of use.
- Accessible File Management: Downloaded transaction rules are conveniently available under the Downloads tab on the Manage Transaction Rules Details page. Similarly, uploaded files can be accessed under the Uploads tab, providing a streamlined and organized approach to file management.
Export default transaction rules
Import default transaction rules
Export supplier group rules
This feature is particularly useful for scenarios where transaction rules are tested in a non-production environment and need to be replicated in the production environment. By downloading the rules from the test environment and uploading them to the production environment, administrators can ensure a smooth and error-free transition.
We believe this enhancement will significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of managing transaction rules, ultimately contributing to better operational performance and compliance.
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These are the key features for Q3 2024. Please review the readiness content for comprehensive details on these key features for Q3 2024.
For a complete overview of the Q3 2024 release features for SAP Business Network for Supply Chain, please refer to the following resources: link
Please visit https://www.sap.com/businessnetwork to learn more about SAP Business Network.
To explore SAP Business Network for Supply Chain, visit SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration
For updates on our community and activities, please visit the: SAP Business Network Community
For the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2023 Vendor Assessment, please review the following link: IDC MarketScape
SAP Managed Tags:
SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration,
SAP Business Network Planning Collaboration
Previous release blogs:
SAP Business Network 2311 Release – What’s new?
What's new in SAP Business Network for Supply Chain - Release 2402
What's new in SAP Business Network for Supply Chain - Release 2405
