Case Study: How First Solar achieved real-time analysis of supplier and delivery performance metrics using SAP HANA Enterprise solution

Monday, September 16, 2013.

Allen Blackmore MIS Solutions Architect, First Solar, Inc.

Kiran YelamaneniAssociate Partner, IBM Global Business Services

Presenters

At the end of this session, you should be able to Understand :

How HANA Business Value Cases were defined? HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise? Why NOT BW on HANA?– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills) Solution Review (data models, scripting, security, and so on) How to setup HANA Systems Operations? Business value benefits Key Learnings

SESSION OBJECTIVES

Agenda

About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

Premier Provider of Comprehensive PV Solar Solutions:Founded in 1999, First Solar has become the world’s premier provider of fully integrated solar solutions, creating value-driven renewable energy projects that represent the leading edge of utility-scale solar technology and innovation.

First Solar delivers clean and affordable solar power—and spans the entire value chain, including module manufacturing; project development, Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC), financing; and Operations and Maintenance (O&M).

Key Highlights: First Solar has a strong workforce comprising more than 6,500 associates worldwide Launched IPO on 17 November 2006; common stock traded on NASDAQ under the symbol FSLR Broke the $1 per watt barrier in 2008 and is the current cost leader at less than $0.75 per watt Became the first PV solar company to produce 1GW in a single year with over 5GW installed to-date Set world records for CdTe PV cell (17.3%) and PV module (14.4%) efficiency certified by NREL Attained the smallest carbon footprint and fastest energy payback time of any PV technology

About First Solar, Inc.

Agenda

• About First Solar

Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

First Solar panels produce power at a cost of $0.75 / watt. This is the ultimate measure of the company’s success.

Drive down manufacturing costs

Analyze all data sources pertaining to panel performance to maximize output

Use real-time tactical information to drive value

Analyze manufacturing data to glean insights into how yields can be improved and processes optimized

Get real-time information related to manufacturing performance by line and by plant, and quickly spot and resolve manufacturing performance problems and implement corrective action

Ensure that sales related information is available real-time

Empower Finance with the capability of doing rapid variance analysis to quickly understand why costs are higher than expected

Improve the overall efficiency through which operational information is disseminated throughout the organization

Large volumes of data from services installations must be analyzed to help understand how to maximize power outputs and minimize service disruptions

Help predict when failures are imminent

Link environmental conditions to panel performance and reliability

Analytics are important for First Solar

SCM Analytics

Power Generation Data Analysis

Customer Service Enablement

Continuous Improvement

Analysis

Finance Analytics

BPC Acceleration

Rapid access to tactical information Enhanced variance analysis and detailed procurement analytics

Analyze large volumes of information gathered from the field, pertaining to panel installations

Gain an understanding into what conditions affect power output

Integrate data from Sales orders, Contracts, Warranties, Rebates, and Manufacturing

Gauge the efficiencies in Customer Service, and enable analysis

Enable continuous improvement of professionals to perform data analysis against large volumes of manufacturing data quickly and effectively, to drive improved yields and manufacturing efficiency

Implement RDS for operational reporting Leverage finance models and bring G/L reporting onto HANA to facilitate faster

month-end closing processes

Accelerate BPC on HANA Project future potential roadmap for FSLR

Several business cases are identified…

• Ad-hoc analytics via SAP BO Webi– Universes for:

Material Master Vendor Master Purchase Order Purchase Requisition

– Delivered basic set of reports

• Why Supply Chain?– We didn’t have a strong SAP BI presence outside SAP ECC– SAP ECC data source, manageable data volume– Mature business processes, accessible SMEs– Users would do more if they could

Selected Use Case – Supplier Analytics

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

• Business users heavily rely on IT to generate ABAP-based report

• No BW for SCM• Limited flexibility. Changes to existing

reports are longer time-to-value

Current Solution• Flexible product, with ability for IT to create

and edit models on the fly while allowing end-users to create their own reports.

• Addresses future needs as a company.• Integrated solution across finance, supply

chain and HR for cross-functional reporting.

HANA Solution

Benefits of HANA: Ability to access large volumes of data in real-time True alternative reporting solution Seamless integration between SAP products: ECC -> SLT -> HANA -> BO HANA Studio is intuitive with an easy-to-use interface

Why SAP HANA?

Query Performance

System Layers

Available Skillset

Support Cost

Future Enhancements

Data Accessibility

Flexibility / Ease of Use

Complexity 3rd Party Accessibility

Why HANA Enterprise ?

SLT on Existing ECC Box Separate Dedicated SLT Server

Pros Simplified landscape and administration

No software maintenance dependencies Flexibility

Cons Performance impact Potential software maintenance

dependencies

Investment and maintenance effort for separate server / NW instance

Which SLT Installation Option to Choose ?

First Solar HANA System Architecture

DEVSchema

QASchema

Transport Transport

Transport Transport

Transport

Transport Transport

PRODSchema

SAP ECC DEV DR1 (300) SAP ECC QA QR1 (100) SAP ECC PROD PR1 (100)

SLT Server DU1 (100)

SLT Server QU1 (100)

SLT Server PU1 (100)

HANA DEV DH1 HANA PROD PH1

BO Development BO QA BO Production

1 box for DEV and QA 1 box for Production Separate SLT Server Implementation of SAP

BusinessObjects 4

HANA Landscape Design

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

Strong Project Leadership

Exhibited clear understanding of FSLR objectives Demonstrated adept knowledge on HANA Confirmed strong vendor relationships Assured successful project delivery Worked as single point-of-contact

Right Resource Mix

Good onsite and offshore mix Cost effective proposition Allocated SME time instead of FTEs Selected highly motivated consultants Engaged process experts with right background on SAP ECC functionality along with good HANA expertise

Scalable Platform

Two- system HANA landscape: X3950 X5, 4X Xeon 10C, E-7-8870, 130W, 2.4Ghz, 512GB (32 x 16GB) Memory Disk – 4.8 TB (8x600 GB 2.5in. SAS) Proven backup and restore capabilities Right size HANA systems with scalable options

Innovative Approach

Well defined business value case Validation workshops and not requirements gathering Developed and proposed new 4D methodology Business involvement from week 2

Why IBM ?

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

• Design, develop, and implement pre-defined and prioritized business use cases.

• Design and implement SAP HANA on top of SAP ECC using SLT.

• Determine data extraction / replication methods from SAP ECC to HANA.

• Determine SAP HANA data modeling with SQL and SQL Scripts.

• Design and implement the integration of SAP HANA with SAP BusinessObjects including design and creation of BO reports (specifically WEBI and Explorer reports), and supporting universes.

• Provide knowledge transfer to the First Solar team on HANA modeling; system integration, data extraction, and ongoing system administration and management.

• Provide design documentation, implementation guides, and operating procedures.

Phase I - Project Scope

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

1. DefineValue cases & Roadmap definition HANA Appliance RequirementsBI Analytics & Presentation HANA Systems Operations

2. DesignArchitecture and Systems IntegrationHANA Modeling (Schemas, Views,…)Security and AccessBI Universes and Presentation Formats

3. DevelopConfigure Schemas, ViewsSetup SLT and Enable ReplicationDevelop BI Universes and AnalyticsDevelop Security & AuthorizationsVerify Analytics and Validate DataUser Acceptance & PRD Ready

4. DeployPromote ContentInitial Loads & Enable Replication Final Verification & Go-liveStabilization

WEEK 9 WEEK 10WEEK 5 WEEK 6WEEK 1IBM's 4D Methodology for HANA Projects

WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 7 WEEK 8 WEEK 14WEEK 11 WEEK 12 WEEK 13

Tight project schedule with first-of-a-kind HANA implementation required innovative and Agile development strategies

Implementation Schedule

Partnered with IBM and successfully completed HANA Implementation:

IBM Roles FSLR Roles

• Serve as overall lead for SAP HANA Program• Monitor risks (i.e. Technical, Functional, Organizational, Resource related) and take proactive

action when needed to drive successful completion of the Project

Project Executive(part-time)

• Architect solution, define data models, systems integration, and analytics • Design data models, analytical views and calculation views• Configure data models, load data, performance testing, and system tuning• Develop transport procedures for the Model Migration• Load data and enable replication.• Repair Replication Error

SAP HANA Solution Architect

• Define and develop BI4.0 reports. • Design Universes and BO Explorer KPIs. • Develop Webi and Dashboards.

SAP BI 4.0 Developer.(offshore)

• Install and integrate BI 4.0 with HANA system• Configure JDBC connectivity and Kerberos authentication• Develop HANA Data Model Based on requirements.• Configure Schema Mapping for Single HANA Instance• Migrate universes and reports from Rapidmarts to HANA environment

SAP HANA Modeler/ BO Integrator(offshore)

• Partner with HANA Modeling Architect and design the solution architecture• Linux based activity such as HANA Start & Stop, Backup and Scheduling Cron Jobs. • Review SQL Script design used for composing the information views

SAP HANA Architect

• Setup SLT server and integrate with ECC and HANA systems• In collaboration with architect define background jobs, execute LTR • Apply SAP messages, HANA revisions, and Basis related configuration settings

SAP Basis Support

• Develop HANA Model • HANA Scripting based on requirement• Validate data from ECC

SAP HANA Modeler (offshore)

Skills and Roles

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

Transactional Data Models:– Inventory Model: Reflected true value of HANA by handling large volume of data to provide real-time

analysis of goods movement.

– Purchase Order Model: Real-time data reflecting vendor delivery performance, invoice and goods receipt discrepancy, vendor direct spend, open purchase orders, and so on.

– Purchase Requisition Model: Complex model that provides start-to-finish picture of material requisition to goods receipt including who received it, who created the purchase order, and so on.

Master Data: – Material Model: Built to obtain on-hand quantity, minimum and maximum quantity, stock in transit, and

so on.

– Vendor Model: Vendor across companies, vendor banking details, vendor partner function details, and other classifications, such as payment terms, INCO terms, and so on.

– Multiple audit and / or ad-hoc reports for additional master data, such as company code, plant, purchasing groups, and so on.

FSLR Data Models

Purchasing Line (EKPO)

PK EBELN - Purchase Order NumberPK EBELP - Purchase Order Line

Purchasing Schedule Line (EKET)

PK EBELN - Purchase Order NumberPK EBELP - Purchase Order LinePK ETENR - Schedule Line

Purchasing Header (EKKO)

PK EBELN - Purchase Order Number

SQL Script Distribute Quantity & $ Amount

BY Purchase Order NumberBY Purchase Order LineBY Purchase Order Schedule Line

Summary Table (EKBE)

SUM QuantitySUM $MAX Date

BY Purchase Order NumberBY Purchase Order Line

Purchase Order History (EKBE)

PK EBELN - Purchase Order NumberPK EBELP - Purchase Order LinePK ZEKKN - Accounting Sequence NumberPK VGABE - Transaction/Event TypePK BELNR - Material Document NumberPK BUZEI - Material Item NumberPK GJAHR - Material Doc. Year

Only GR and IR Transactions (1 and 2)

One of the key requirements for Purchase Order (P.O.) reporting is to provide vendor delivery performance by utilizing the delivery date and the schedule line level. In order to provide this, the EKET purchasing schedule line table is used as the foundation as opposed to the EKPO purchasing line table. Goods receipt and invoice receipt for the P.O. document will be included in the data model. Only quantity, dollar amount, and date from GR / IR will be brought into the data model. These values will be summarized at the P.O. number and P.O. line level. A key assumption is if P.O. schedule line has multiple GR’s or IR’s then the max date will be used for delivery performance.  Distribution of GR / IR quantity and dollar amount to the corresponding P.O. schedule line will be based on the earliest requested delivery date. For example, if a P.O. item has 2 schedule lines with line 2 having an earlier requested delivery date than line 1, the goods receipts will be distributed by the earliest requested delivery date first.

A SQL script was written to execute the described logic inside a calculative view.

Procurement Data Model

Views: Attribute Views: Create master data in HANA to be utilized by analytic and

calculation views, that is, text for Material, Vendor, Purchasing Org., and so on. Analytic Views: Create a data foundation using simple joins still allowing the

creation of calculated attributes and measures, that is, Purchase Requisition Model

Attribute View Analytic View

Created for Material Created for Purchase Requisition

Created for all master data

SAMPLESAMPLE

Modeling in HANA Studio (1 of 2)

Views (continued): Calculation Views: Define your own data foundation for complex joins using SQL

scripts, that is, FSLR’s procurement model. These views were created for transactional data using graphical calculation view or script calculation view (SQL Script and CE Functions).

Graphical Calculation View

SQL Script Calculation View

Created for Vendor, Purchase Order and Inventory Analysis

Modeling in HANA Studio (2 of 2)

Scripting: For calculation views, SAP recommends the use of Calculation Engine (CE)

Functions whenever possible. DDL functions are not allowed within calculation views. SQL Script: Projects can leverage skills widely available in the market. However,

a lot depends on how a person writes the specific SQL. CE Function: CE Functions are pre-built functions delivered by SAP that can be

used within SQL scripts to replace what you would have otherwise done with simple SQL. They are executed by the Calculation Engine directly, thus providing better performance.

SQL Script CE Function

INNER JOIN SELECT A, B, Y, SUM(D) from "COLTAB1" INNER JOIN "COLTAB2" WHERE "COLTAB1"."KEY1" = "COLTAB2"."KEY1" AND "COLTAB1"."KEY2" = "COLTAB2"."KEY2"

CE_JOIN("COLTAB1","COLTAB2", [KEY1, KEY2], [A, B, Y, D])

Scripting in HANA Studio

• Design Considerations:– Flexibility– Speed-to-market– HANA models were designed to include

majority of ECC table elements, while minimizing the exposure in BO Universe Layer.

• BO Security:– Analytical privileges were created in the HANA

model based on Process Area.– Different generic IDs were created in HANA and

utilized in BO based on security needs.

Analytics through SAP BI (1 of 2)

SAP BO Tools:• Web Intelligence—*Primary Reporting Tool• Crystal Reports• Explorer

WEBI report showing purchase orders at schedule line level

True ad-hoc analysis capability through Explorer

Direct connection to HANA view (skipping universe)

Crystal Report showing real-time inventory movement

Analytics through SAP BI (2 of 2)

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

• Transports:– Two HANA instances for QA / DEV and Production increased the cost savings– Schema entries were tweaked to handle two instances using Schema Mapping

• Data Replication:– SLT Internal Tables (Similar to BW internal Dimension Tables)– Tweaking Internal Table number range; QA and DEV tables should have unique table

number range– Background Job Definition:

• Debugging: – Repair Runtime Object:

• Understand the internal tables, (such as RS_ORDER, RS_STATUS both in HANA Studio and SLT Server)

• Install SAP Provided ABAP Program (You will use it)

Master Job IUUC_MONITER_<ID>

Master Control Job IUUC_REPLIC_CNTR_<ID>

Data Load Job DTL_MT_DATA_LOAD_<ID>_<2_digit>

SLT Jobs

HANA Systems Operations

HDBSQLData Backup

$INSTANCE_DIR/backup/data

AutomaticLog Backup

$INSTANCE_DIR/backup/log

LinuxClean Logs

/etc/crontab $INSTANCE_DIR/backup/backup.sh HANA DB

Linux O/S

EMC Avamar Data StoreMSA DRStorage

• Client is installed to /usr/local/avamar• Connected to central Avamar server

pbg1ava01s100.fs.local:– Full O/S backup is scheduled for 12:00 a.m. daily– Agent watches for changed blocks at the file system level– Uses an advanced de-duplication approach:

• Initial DH1 backup found - 40%+ duplicated blocks

• Agent process is always running• Backups are replicated offsite (Daily x 30, Monthly x 12,

and Yearly x 2)

Located in $INSTANCE_DIR/backup

Uses the HANA client hdbsql command line to initiate backup

Sends an email notification upon failure

Removes old log file backups

The M_BACKUP_CATALOG and M_BACKUP_CATALOG_FILES views provide backup detail

For example:

SELECT TOP 1 *

FROM M_BACKUP_CATALOG

WHERE ENTRY_TYPE_NAME = 'complete data backup‘

AND STATE_NAME = 'successful'

ORDER BY SYS_END_TIME DESC

Process O/S Backup Script

HDB SQL

HANA Systems Operations

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

Business Value Benefits for Procurement

• Lessons learned

User Feedback

– “Prior to HANA, users would have to submit a Service Desk ticket and wait two days, now they can run their own ad-hoc reports!”

– “This is great, it took them one week to get me this data, and I’m not sure it was right. Now I can get the data right away and I’m going to show my manager Explorer!”

– “I’ve been waiting for this!”

Technical

– Deployed HANA and SLT and enabled real-time analytics– Integrated BI Platform with user friendly tools for business– Granular analysis against large data sets with rapid results– Short hands-on learning curve

Success!

Agenda

• About First Solar

• Business Value Cases

• HANA Technology Review:

– Why HANA Enterprise?

– HANA Landscape and Systems Integration

• Why IBM was selected as an Implementation Partner?

• Implementation Review (Scope, Schedule, and Skills)

• Solution Review (models, scripting, security, and so on)

• HANA Systems Operations

• Business Value Benefits for Procurement

Lessons learned

• Two HANA servers were connected to three source systems– Requires moving models within the same HANA server

• Not experienced supporting the Linux O/S– Relying on SAP for critical support– However, it has not been needed

• EMC Avamar backup connectivity• Underestimated BASIS SLT configuration effort

– This was the most challenging part of the system• Prepare for frequent patches• Prepare to pave the way but SAP is there to help!

Key Learnings

ECC Dev ECC QA

HANANon-Prod

SLT Dev SLT QA

ECC Prod

HANAProd

SLT Prod

• SAP HANA solution delivered value

• The accessibility of data is unmatched within the SAP

landscape

– Our Supply Chain ad-hoc analytics use case was a perfect fit

• IBM services delivered within time and budget

• You’re either on the bus or left waiting!

Summary

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