ERP Connector Scenarios
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The common scenarios given here show how you can use the ERP Connector Solution Starter for Microsoft Office Project Server 2007. The use case examples include tables of input and export data for the ERP Connector add-in components. Imported data includes the resource breakdown structure (RBS) for resources in the organization and the work breakdown structure (WBS) for tasks in a project. Exported data includes work actuals.
The ERP Connector add-in components can process:
Resource data imported from the mySAP™ ERP Human Capital Management solution (HR module).
Internal orders, project data, and task data imported from the mySAP ERP Financials CO/PS subsystems.
Work actuals exported to mySAP ERP Financials.
This topic shows the following common scenarios:
Updating the RBS from Human Resource Data
Creating Projects from Internal Order Data
Creating Projects and Tasks with WBS Data
Exporting Actuals to ERP Financial Applications
An administrator for the Project Server computer where ERP Connector is installed must edit the ERP Connector configuration files to set a shared folder for exchanging XML files with mySAP ERP. The administrator must set other options that specify lookup tables and enterprise custom fields for use by the ERP Connector. For more information, see Configuring the ERP Connector.
Updating the RBS from Human Resource Data
An initiator process in mySAP ERP Human Capital Management starts the data exchange for resource and organization data. mySAP ERP HCM processes the data into a single XML file and exports the file to the drop folder on the Project Server computer. The values set in the ERP Connector configuration files provide a mapping for data exchange. The SapHRPlugIn component of the ERP Connector processes the XML input data for Project Server. Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 summarize the data that is exchanged.
Table 1. Employee data
Input data |
Description |
|---|---|
Employee ID |
Unique ID for resource identification. |
Employee Name |
First name and last name of the resource. |
E-mail Address |
E-mail address of the resource. |
Standard Rate |
Standard hourly rate of the resource. You can define a default value in the ERP Connector configuration file, if mySAP ERP does not provide the value. |
Overtime Rate |
Overtime hourly rate of the resource. You can define a default value in the ERP Connector configuration file. |
.gif "Note") Note |
|---|
mySAP ERP HCM does not provide a field for the Windows user account. To add a Windows user account, you could modify the code that sets the account variable in the OnProcess event handler in the SapHRPlugIn.cs file. |
Table 2. Organization data
Input data |
Description |
|---|---|
Organization Unit ID |
Unique ID for identifying the organization. |
Organization Name |
Name of the organization. |
Table 3. Mapping a resource to the organizational structure
Input data |
Description |
|---|---|
Employee ID |
Unique ID for resource identification. |
Employee Name |
First name and last name of the resource. |
Organization Unit ID |
Organizational unit assigned to the resource. |
Manager Flag |
Indicator that resource is a manager. |
The ERP Connector Service monitors the drop folder and runs the Connector Tool (ConnectorTool.exe) to import the XML data. The SapHRPlugIn component uses the Project Server Interface (PSI) to create and update resources and custom fields for the organizational structure. Depending on the configuration, the ERP Connector can deactivate resources in the Project Server resource pool that are not part of the input data and it can activate resources that were previously deactivated if they are part of the input data. The XML hierarchy establishes the organizational hierarchy; therefore, you must not modify the organizational structure in the XML file. The ERP Connector assigns resources to organizational units based on XML data that maps resources to the organizational structure.
Creating Projects from Internal Order Data
An initiator process in the mySAP ERP Financials CO subsystem starts the data exchange of project master data for an internal order in mySAP ERP. The mySAP ERP solution exports the data to an XML request file. Table 4 summarizes the data that mySAP ERP Financials sends in the XML file to the drop folder.
Table 4. mySAP ERP project master data
Input data |
Description |
|---|---|
Project ID |
Unique ID for project identification. |
Project Name |
Name of the project. |
Project Start |
Start date of the project. |
Project Manager |
Name of the manager of the project. |
Plant ID |
ID of the plant according to the internal order in the mySAP ERP Financials solution. |
SAP Accounting ID |
Internal order ID in the mySAP ERP Financials CO subsystem. |
The ERP Connector imports the XML file in the drop folder. The SapCOPlugIn component validates the XML file, checks if each project exists, and creates new projects if projects do not exist. The ERP Connector does not support updates to existing projects, so it returns an error if a project already exists.
Creating Projects and Tasks with WBS Data
An initiator process in the mySAP ERP Financials CO subsystem starts the data exchange of project master data. mySAP ERP exports the data to the XML file drop folder that is set in the ERP Connector configuration file. Table 5 summarizes the data that mySAP ERP Financials sends in an XML file to the EDM shared folder.
Table 5. mySAP ERP project master data and WBS structure
Input data |
Description |
|---|---|
Project ID |
Unique ID for project identification. |
Project Name |
Name of the project. |
Project Start |
Start date of the project. |
Project Manager |
Name of the manager of the project. |
Plant ID |
ID of the plant according to the internal order in the mySAP ERP Financials solution. |
WBS Element ID |
Unique ID for the WBS element in the mySAP ERP Financials PS subsystem. |
WBS Element Name |
Name of the WBS element. |
WBS Element Start and Finish Dates |
Start date and end date of the WBS element. |
WBS Element CO Internal Order Assignment |
CO internal order assigned to the WBS element. |
The ERP Connector imports the XML file in the drop folder. The SapCOPlugIn component validates the XML file, checks if each project exists, and creates new projects if projects do not exist. The SapCOPlugIn component creates project tasks from the WBS elements, applies the WBS hierarchy, and assigns the WBS ID and the CO internal order number to each task. If a WBS element has more than one CO internal order number, the SapCOPlugIn component maps the first number to the task.
Exporting Actuals to ERP Financial Applications
You can export work actuals captured in the Project Web Access timesheet to mySAP ERP Financials based on the mySAP ERP internal order number, WBS Element ID, and association with the mySAP ERP resource ID. An administrator of Project Web Access and the Project Server computer starts the actuals export by copying an XML file to the drop folder. The XML export request file specifies the start and finish dates, and the unit of work actuals (hours or days).
Table 6. Project timesheet actuals
Export data |
Description |
|---|---|
SAP Accounting ID |
mySAP ERP Financials solution ID for cost accounting. |
SAP Resource ID |
ID of the resource in the mySAP ERP Financials solution. |
Start of Period |
Start date of the period for the actual work in this record. |
End of Period |
End date of the period for the actual work in this record. |
Actual Work |
Amount of actual work, reported by this resource. |
Actual Unit |
Time unit of the work actuals (hours or days). |
The SapFIPlugIn component of the ERP Connector exports actuals as an XML file to the shared export folder specified in the ERP Connector configuration file. You can apply a transformation with XSLT to convert the resulting XML file into other formats, for example, you can convert it into a flat file. An administrator of the mySAP ERP Financials solution must start the import process.
| Note |
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For a production system, you can add a Web Part Page to Project Web Access to enable an administrator to modify the ERP Connector configuration files and drop an XML file to start the actuals export. |