SAP SRM BRF item-based approval workflow - automatic decision for some items needed

[poesterwitz]

Dear experts,
I am facing an issue with item-based approvals and I hope you can possibly help :-). The process-driven approval is supposed to be used since we're on the latest SRM release.

We're implementing an item-based workflow and agents are split among different account assignments (based on cost-center responsibility). Also we have a trivial limit which we agreed to be 500€.
Imagine there's a shopping cart with two items:

• Item 1 assigned to cost center A - value 600€
• Item 2 assigned to cost center B - value 400€.

Since the general trivial limit is 500€, item B should be approved automatically whereas item 1 will invoke an approval step. The BRF scheme I am using consists of all possible approval steps, but every step is just called once. I cannot make an item-based decision within the steps since I can either say the step is relevant or it is not. Nevertheless I'd like to avoid an approval step for item 2.

Question: where would you implement an item-based approval for parts of the shopping cart? Is it possible to approve items automatically during the agent determination steps? I was about to use the WF Resolver BAdI for this.

Thanks in advance and regards
Paul

[laurent_burtaire]

Hello Paul,

what is the business need concerning amount validation based on SC item amount and not on SC total value?

Regards.

Laurent.

[poesterwitz]

Every cost center responsible doesn't want to be bothered with low-value requests, so the trivial limit is applicable for cost centers, not the entire shopping cart.
Also the determination of approvers is based on cost center data, so we're doomed to have an item-based approval 🙂

[laurent_burtaire]

Hello Paul,

depending on your Responsability Resolver Name, i think using method GET_APPROVERS_BY_AREA_GUID from BAdI definition /SAPSRM/BD_WF_RESP_RESOLVER you will have to implement, you can get SYSTEM user as responsible approver for approval amount lower than your limit (method GET_RESPONSIBLE_APPROVERS from corresponding WF AREA class).

Regards.

Laurent.

[poesterwitz]

Hello Laurent,

thanks for your feedback. You actually described the approach I am going for at the moment, it feels like a workaround-solution, though. I was about to do this and write a small background report that approves all work items assigned to this user.
Is there any "standardized" way to so so?
Do you think it's more adequate to create a dynamic auto-approval-step in BAdI /SAPSRM/BD_WF_PROCESS_CONFIG for those items?

Kind regards
Paul

[laurent_burtaire]

Hello Paul,

you cannot use /SAPSRM/BD_WF_PROCESS_CONFIG BAdI. This BAdI is to manage your process levels dynamically.

In your case, what you want is for one process level triggered, having, for example two decision sets, each one may have two states:

1) either auto approval by SYSTEM user

2) or approval by determined dynamic approver.

Regards.

Laurent.

[poesterwitz]

Hello Laurent,
how would you configure the automatic approval?
I assume these work items are assigned to the system user and need to be approved by a function module / report? Is there a standard way to say "everything that is assigned to this user get's approved automatically"?

Thanks for your suggestions, this was really helpful so far!

[poesterwitz]

Hi everybody,
the answer was pretty simple: If no approver is assigned to an area GUID, it's approved automatically. It's mentioned in SAP Note 1347520 aswell.

Thanks for your help everybody!