SAP-Centric Projects

Networks and their schedules can be used in all three layers of SAP-centric enterprise projects. On the enterprise layer there may be merely general blocks of tasks to be completed. Sometimes these "blocks" may be as general as pertaining to the WBS level only. While WBS elements don't allow conditional same-level relationships, they allow the entering of planned dates (not system generated), and dates can be copied from networks into WBS elements (or being pushed down).

SAP networks and activities (or maintenance orders and operations) are fully integrated with the SAP capacity planning and resource management system. By assigning work centers (the equivalent of resources in most other project management tools) to activities resource leveling can be performed. Like other project management tools as well, SAP has graphical interfaces (called Project Planning Board) to allow the manipulation of relationships, structures and resources, and the managament of projects.  

Functionality

Aside from a cumbersome user interface, SAP's network functionality is quite powerful. It calculates the critical path and float through a forward pass and backward pass. SAP does not have a formal concept of "hanging activities" (or Level of Effort, LOE, activities as they are called in Primavera). A similar effect can be reached by using sub-networks, though.  Milestones can be assigned to network activities or to WBS elements. They are not scheduled in SAP since they are objects different from activities (or operations when talking about the PM module).  

Depending on how integrated the master schedule is the master schedule in SAP can get quite complex. SAP allows to integrate dependencies to MRP and purchasing so that scheduled start dates of activities become delivery dates for materials. This is a level of overall process integration that simply cannot be reached outside SAP! Only in SAP there is a full integration into MRP and purchasing. When external scheduling systems are used, they will require integration back into SAP (dates, but often also status or progress), to take advantage of such critical functionality of the rest of the system.  

When using an external scheduling system that also is supposed to perform project costing activities (e.g., earned value analyses - EVA) it is advisable to either duplicate the network structure in both systems or at least create activities that allow to push down some of the planned or actual costs that originated on the SAP WBS level. Only then earned value analyses are possible in the external system. Of course it is also possible to charge actual costs directly against the external scheduling tools. This would be an effect similar to the one of using any other external time reporting tool.

Scheduling of Maintenance Projects

Maintenance projects can be set up in several ways. They may use only maintenance orders and operations (with in some areas very similar functionality to PS networks and activities). Scheduling capabilities will then be very limited, they will be introduced using a third party system like Prometheus (using only SAP-ABAP add-on programming) or external systems like Primavera or MS Project. Alternatively maintenance projects may use a combination of maintenance orders and operations for the lower level work definition, as what is called "sub-projects". The scheduling tasks would then be handled by SAP networks and activities. Each work order would then be linked to an activity as a sub-network.  

This has been the idea behind the "SAP Shutdown Solution" developed in a joined effort by Intech Professionals and SAP, under the leadership of Bill Matthews.