Executive Summary What is the Dirty Secret of SAP DP? Why Replace Your Best Fit Functionality in DP? Operationalizing the Brightwork Explorer Best Fit to SAP DP Introduction SAP DP is a popular forecasting application. However, it has a secret which we will cover in this article. SAP DP’s Dirty Secret Its best fit functionality runs…
Executive Summary Demand Planning or DP covers forecasting is SAP APO’s most popular application. We cover the basic functionality and concepts of SAP DP. Introduction In this article, you’ll get a high-level overview of the entire SAP APO DP. For some time, the main area of differentiation between forecasting software was the algorithm used to…
Executive Summary Process chains are used in SAP APO to schedule jobs and to do many other activities. We cover how to generate characteristic combinations. This means initializing and de-initializing the time series. Introduction to Process Chains Process Chains are the scheduling functionality in SAP APO as well as SAP ECC. Process chains are functionality…
Executive Summary A question that sometimes arises is whether DP or PP/DS can be used without SNP. There are important implications for doing this, which we will cover. Introduction to DP and PP/DS without SNP There is a standard flow to APO concerning demand, supply, and production planning. The flow is the demand plan is…
Executive Summary How financial incentives drive the dissemination of misleading information on SAP DP. Bad DP Consultants are misleading their clients as to DP’s potential. Introduction A few years ago, I found an article by a person who sells training and consulting in SAP DP and found what I thought were some very flawed arguments…
Executive Summary There are several options for the aggregated forecasting in SAP DP. There is a specific forecasting sequence. A forecast can be created at the aggregation at the product/ship-from with no disaggregation. Introduction to Forecast Aggregation Forecast aggregation is how products and locations are grouped. Forecast aggregation increases the complexity of any DP implementation….
Executive Summary We cover the forecasting functionality in SuccessFactors. Why the SF forecasting functionality is so interesting and the implications of using it. Introduction SuccessFactors is an HR/HCM application. It is a relatively recent acquisition on the part of SAP, a SaaS-based application that was original to be managed as an independent company but has…
Executive Summary What are Proportional Factors The Proportional Factor Calculation Transaction How to Setup Proportional Factors Manual Proportional Factor Maintenance Our References for This Article If you want to see our references for this article and other related Brightwork articles, see this link. Introduction Proportional factors are manual ways of aggregating or disaggregating, which differentiates from the…
Executive Summary Covering the Planning Book configuration, which means understanding Key Figure options and the available settings. Key Figures used in DP and their configuration are covered in this article. Introduction to Proportional Factors When reviewing a Planning Book, it is important to consider that each Key Figure has many ways to configure. For instance,…
Executive Summary A Confusing Problem with the Forecast Profile that Appears in the Univariate View The Issue with Changing Forecast Profile Assignments Introduction to DP Forecasting Profiles As discussed in previous articles, the Univariate View is where most interactive forecasting functionality resides. This is where changes to Forecast Profiles can be simulated. It is found…