Duncan Mills discusses how Geographical Information Systems are being utilised to enrich the data held in SAP Enterprise Asset Management.
Maps have always held a fascination for me. They are able to convey so much more about a place than list reports or written descriptions. Over the last few years, we’ve invested in using map-based insights to improve SAP Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) processes. This is because, according to the first ‘law’ of geography, “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” It’s this ‘law’ that makes location so important to SAP Enterprise Asset Management processes. Some examples of this are: planning jobs for the nearest technicians, getting spare parts to jobs quickly, and linking photographs and documents to assets on a map.
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An example of part of a rail network (feature layer in blue) shown with open work orders against an OpenStreetMap base layer
The basics of Geographical Information Systems
Maps have come a long way since the atlases we had at school. Representing map-based information on computers allows for richer representations. Here are some basics you need to know about modern maps and map-based representations of information. Maps consist of the base, or reference, map and one or more feature layers. The base map is the layer over which other information is presented. There are, quite literally, millions of base layers that can be used.
These base layers are provided by either open source or commercial mapping companies. Some of the bigger companies that provide base layers at a cost are Google, Nokia, and Microsoft or other open source providers such as OpenStreetMap. Different base maps are selected based on the information to be presented. The other spatial data sets needed to create a map are the feature layers which represent the geometry (location of a point, line or polygon) of a set of objects. When viewing SAP EAM data, we would want to be able to represent any of our SAP data on the map as a feature layer – this could be our rail network, SAP equipment, SAP work orders, crew location, or any other SAP object.
GIS software vendors (some of the larger examples of these are ESRI, SmallWorld, Infograph, and Bentley Systems) usually provide the GIS information, including referee maps as well as the feature layer data sets, and this information is often managed separately to the SAP EAM data. The GIS data are kept in a spatial database which allows for spatially based storage and querying. It’s the information from these GIS systems that needs to be ‘integrated’ with the SAP EAM information.
What’s available in ‘standard’ SAP?
What tools are available within SAP to help us understand and make use of the location of objects? At the moment, there is very little that’s ‘out of the box’. To location-enable SAP – by which I mean create a fully functional, map-based user interface to SAP – takes a bit of work. This work needs to be done in two areas: in master data (adding a geometry: a point, line or polygon located in space, to an SAP object), and providing a map front-end from which we can display and transact in SAP.
SAP, or indeed any other ERP system, should not be replacing the GIS solutions. Any integration between SAP and the GIS is for the purpose of supporting and improving the SAP asset management processes. The integrated solution must not aim to replace the GIS function, but rather to efficiently use the GIS information to support the EAM business process.
Geometry of SAP objects
The first piece, adding a geometry to an SAP object, can be addressed in two ways:
As a master data maintenance exercise within SAP. Here the geometry (as a numerical string) is held against the SAP object within the SAP data structures. This information can be held in a Z-table or, as has been done in the past, in the SAP classification system. There are currently no standard fields available to consistently record the geometry across SAP objects.
Accessing the geometry from a geo-database when this is needed. This option keeps the unique SAP identification in the geo-database and finds the geometry each time the location is needed.
Representing SAP objects on a map
The second requirement is presenting the SAP (and in many cases also non-SAP) information on a map and analysing this information. It is only when SAP objects and related information contain a geometry that we can do more detailed, geographically-based analysis of the EAM information. As an example of this failure, related information has not typically been analysed based on location. If the failure information from SAP EAM includes the location, a failure feature layer can be presented with additional layers such as rainfall, wind speed, and other environmental information to get a better understanding of the causes of failure.
Transacting from a map
The most powerful use of GIS within the SAP EAM space is to create ‘map-based front-ends’. By this I mean the ability to use a map as a tool to increase the usability of the SAP EAM solution. Since, in many industries, assets are geographically dispersed, it is intuitive for users to search for these assets using a map and then to execute transactions directly from the map. Technically this requires coding of the map so that when a user right -clicks on the map, they are presented with options (based on the use cases) to add or change objects within the available layers. A pop-up is needed which requests the information needed by SAP and then, on saving, the object is either created or changed in SAP. All the data validation checks are done in SAP. An example is presented below where a track segment is created.
A map-based front-end to update information in SAP
Architecture used by the Engineering Informatics SAP GIS integration solution
Engineering Informatics has developed a solution that uses SAP to hold the geometry of the object, presenting this GIS information as layers on a map and then transacting in SAP, based on defined use cases, from within the map. There are a few features of this solution that use the latest software development platforms, work with GIS standards, and can be used immediately on mobile devices. When assessing SAP/GIS integration solutions, the following should be considered:
- A standard architecture for all SAP object types;
- Simple and easily maintainable configuration settings to define the base maps and feature layers;
- The ability to ‘consume’ base maps from any map vendor;
- The use of JavaScript or other non-proprietary development tools so that support and development resources are readily available;
- The ability to serve map layer information in an open source, GIS-compliant standard;
- The ability to present the map on desktop or mobile device;
- Scalability and the ability to display high volumes without depending on other, potentially costly, GIS software;
- An architecture that easily supports both ‘simple’ and more complex use cases; and
- Ability to embed the map the SAP GUI, Web Dynpro or as a stand-alone web page.
Implementation and use cases
Now that we have some understanding of the technology being used, how do we go about implementing it? Given that there is no standard SAP way of doing GIS integration, it is important right at the start of the project to define the use cases being implemented. SAP GIS integration projects are at risk of not being delivered if the use cases are not clearly defined.
The future of SAP EAM and GIS
SAP HANA, as of Revision 67, has spatial capabilities. This means that SAP, for the first time, provides a database with full spatial storage and querying capabilities. Where previously SAP users needed to use third-party solutions to perform spatial queries, these queries can now be done directly on the SAP database. Over the next couple of years, I expect SAP functionality to take advantage of this and provide applications within the SAP Business Suite that can query by geometry.
Conclusion
There is still no clear SAP EAM/GIS integration solution from SAP. When developing SAP EAM solutions that use the power of maps to provide business value and improved usability, you need to consider the map solutions your company currently uses and select the best available technology to put a geometry on SAP objects and present them on maps.
Duncan Mills is director, consulting, enterprise information management, Deloitte Touche Tomatsu. For more information on geo-enabling your SAP solution, email him at dumills@deloitte.com.au.
