simplifying the work order business processes at marin municipal water district (mmwd)
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
A collaboration of:
Simplifying Plant Maintenance Business
Processes at Marin Municipal Water District
Brian Richards
Marin Municipal Water District
Aparna Desai
Synactive, Inc.
MMWD Intro and Background
How MMWD Got Started with GuiXT
Plant Maintenance Business Process Improvements
Linking to Other MMWD Enterprise Systems
Key Points to Take Home
What I’ll Cover
Marin Municipal Water District
Slide 3
• Potable & Recycled Water Service
• Oldest Municipal Water District in California (established in 1912)
• 185,000 population
• 147 Square miles
• 62,000 Customer accounts
Marin Municipal Water District
• Facilities
• 913 miles of pipe
• 4 Water Treatment Plants
• 127 Storage Tanks
• 95 Pump Stations
• Watershed- 21,250 acres with 7 Reservoirs
• Staffing
• 240 Employees
Marin Municipal Water District
6
History of SAP At MMWD
• Original Implementation of 4.6C with GoLive date of December
2001
• Began using GuiXT in June 2002
• Technical Upgrade to ECC 6.0, Enhancement Pack 4, with
GoLive date of July 23, 2010. This is where we are today.
SAP
Two Industry Solutions
• Public Sector (IS-PS)
• Funds Management
• Financial / Control
• Human Resources
• Payroll / CATS
• Material Management
• Plant Maintenance
• Project Systems
• Utilities (IS-U)
• Customer Services (CIC)
• Billing / Invoicing
• Device Management
• FI/CA Contract Accounts
• Work Management
MMWD Technical Staffing
• IT Manager
• 1 Basis / Database Administrator
• 1 SAP / Network Security
• 1 ABAP Programmer
• 2 PC & Network Support Generalists
• 2 GIS Staff
• 3 Business Analysts in Business Units
o SAP support is primary focus
o Positions filled in late 2003
MMWD Enterprise
Applications SAP
ECC 6-Ehp4
GuiXT
MMWD IT Architecture
IT Strategic Goal: Provide
information to the user when they
need it and where they need it
History of MMWD Work Orders and GuiXT
• Background o Limited IT resources and SAP is not their only responsibility.
o Desire to remain a “vanilla” implementation with minimal customization.
o Usual Resource Constraints ($ / Time / Training)
o O & M Staff with generally low level of computer skills
• The Usual New System Problems o Unfamiliar Way to do Familiar Things
o SAP Terminology and Business Processes
o Competing Priorities (get the leak fixed!)
o Training / Insufficient Experience with SAP
• Enter GuiXT
Reasons for GuiXT Development
• Improve ease-of-use over standard SAP.
• No changes required to underlying SAP code.
• Acquire familiarity with GuiXT tools and develop our internal
support capability.
Plant Maintenance Business Processes
Improved Using GuiXT
• Work Orders, Notifications
• Equipment Lookup and Display
• Customer Service Searches
• Transaction Navigation
• Equipment & Functional Location Creation
• Measurement Document Creation
• Facilities & Watershed Division
o System Maintenance
o Facilities Maintenance
o Auto Shop
o Watershed Management
• Environmental & Engineering Services Division
o Subdivision and New Services Dept.
o Water Systems Operations
Operations (aka Dispatch)
Mechanical & Electrical Shop
• Finance Division
o Meter Operations
MMWD Work Order Users
Slide 13
These Work
Orders are
primarily set
up to settle to
Cost Centers.
Initial Problems with Standard Work Order Process
• Why was this process originally modified? o Lack of understanding how Work Orders affect FI
o Incomplete / Inconsistent financial information in the Work Order
o User Issues with SAP terminology
• Issues with failed Work Orders occurred in Accounting o Created problems in Accounting when we tried to transfer costs or run
settlements at the end of the month.
• Solution – Use GuiXT to develop Scripts for IW31 and IW32
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 15
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 16
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 17
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 18
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 19
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 20
At this point the work order is complete and ready to be saved.
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 21
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 22
Steps to create Work Order in native SAP
Slide 23
Initial Scripting Effort
• Recorded the complete set of steps to properly create a work
order, including all financial settings.
• Modify the recorded script to handle different parameters such as
Order Type, Work Centers, standardized Operations, etc.
• Develop a Pushbutton Screen to allow any user to create a work
order using the script to achieve the correct financial settings.
• Add buttons inside IW31 and IW32 for performing Release / Save
/ Print / No Print functions.
Work Order Creation for Maintenance Groups
Slide 25
Work Order Creation for Maintenance Groups
Slide 26
Savings Achieved using GuiXT
Slide 27
Standard
SAP With GuiXT Savings
Clicks 42 8 34
Keystrokes 59 15 44
Screens 11 4 7
Elapsed Time 2:20 0:22 1:58
Work Order Savings Using GuiXT
Manually Created Work Orders per Month = 624
Average Time Savings per work order = 1:58
Average Time Savings per month = 20.45 hours
Average Time Savings per year = 245 hours What is harder to quantify is the time saved by
needing fewer investigations into work order
problems. Fewer Problems in Settlement = Better
Relationship with Accounting
Work Order Creation for Other Departments
• Leverage existing improvements and offer department-specific
data entry screens to other groups.
• Assist our Engineering users who create Work Orders both to
Projects/WBS Elements as well as Cost Centers.
• Support a Cost Tracking initiative in Watershed Management
group by integrating the selection of Standardized Task Lists to
define a common set of Work Order Operations for labor charges.
• Facilities & Watershed Division
o System Maintenance
o Facilities Maintenance
o Auto Shop
o Watershed Management
• Environmental & Engineering Services Division
o Subdivision and New Services Dept.
o Water Systems Operations
Operations (aka Dispatch)
Mechanical & Electrical Shop
• Finance Division
o Meter Operations
MMWD Work Order Users
Slide 30
These Work
Orders are
primarily set up
to settle to
various WBS
Elements.
These Work Orders are
primarily set up to settle
to the Meter Operations
Cost Center.
Work Order Creation for Engineering Users
Slide 31
Task List Assignment for Watershed Management
Slide 32
Task List Assignment for Watershed Management
Slide 33
New Enhancement Efforts for System
Maintenance Users • Address User Frustrations with existing MMWD Work Order
business processes
o Increasing time spent on paperwork before and after field work
• Pent up demand for additional functionality
o Can’t SAP do this…(fill in your favorite desired process improvement)…for
me?
• Desire to reduce time spent on redundant data entry
o Why am I typing the Work Order number AGAIN?!
• Difficulty in finding useful information about the object to be
worked on (Service / Valve / Pipe / Hydrant, etc)
Other Factors at Work
• Support Staff Position transferred out
o Formerly performed most SAP steps to update and close work orders
o Shifts more SAP work order steps to Crew Leaders
• New “tech-friendly” manager of System Maintenance
o Actually Uses SAP
o Desire to get more out of SAP Plant Maintenance
o Belief in Users Ability to Learn
o Willingness to do hands-on training, lead by example
The importance of this last factor cannot be over
emphasized in introducing change.
Our Approach
• Focus business process improvement efforts around the Work
Order
o Keep the user in the Work Order context – don’t send them off to other
transactions unnecessarily
• Reduce physical paperwork by moving to electronic forms linked
to the Work Order
• Integrate with GIS and Document Management where feasible to
provide information about where the crews will be working
• Incrementally add functionality and ease-of-use improvements
Initial Steps Taken in SAP
• Define Crew Leaders and other work order users as Planner Groups
to allow assignment of work orders.
• Use GuiXT to develop a “push button screen” for the IW38 Work Order
retrieval screen. This allows the Crew Leaders and others to pull up
their own work orders.
Steps Taken in SAP
Main Work Centers
Planner Groups for Orders
Address User Frustrations
• CAT2 – Time Entry Confusion and Redundancy
• Paperwork - Additional paper forms used at MMWD
o Manual paperwork. Lots of redundant data entry.
• Navigating the Work Order system in general
o How do I find what I need?
o What do various fields mean?
o What transaction codes?
Addressing CAT2 Time Entry
• Use GuiXT scripting to:
o Provide streamlined entry form, prepopulated with useful defaults
o Process the user’s data from the Work Order into CAT2
o Provide reasonable error handling for uncommon, but possible situations
o Return success or failure messages to the user
o Provide an inquiry tool to verify the time entry was processed
Time Entry from the Work Order
Slide 41
Time Entry from the Work Order
Slide 42
Clicking Step 2 initiates a
second session, and starts
the CAT2 transaction. Each
employee line is processed
individually and a result
message is returned. The
actual CAT2 processing is
hidden from the user.
Time Entry from the Work Order
Slide 43
Paperwork Forms associated with Work
Orders • Multiple types of forms and reports with different uses
o Leak Reports, Street Opening Notices, Encroachment Permits, New Meter
Sets, New Service Turn Ons
• Initial Efforts with MS Word and data merge were problematic
• Use Notification attached to Work Order to create “electronic
forms”
o Use the Classification System to create data tables to store relevant data
in each Notification Item.
o Use GuiXT to create the data entry forms and manage the retrieval and
save process of the Notification Item data.
Form Data Stored as Notification Item
Slide 45
Work Order
Leak Report
Data Entry
Form
Street Opening
Data Entry
Form
Meter Change
Data Entry
Form
Use GuiXT to manage the Create /
Retrieve / Update process for the
Notification and individual Items,
which store the form data.
Use GuiXT to display
the appropriate Data
Entry Form, perform
data validation, etc.
Notification
Item 1
Text: Leak Report
Class: ClassName
Class: LRO
Form Data Field 1
Form Data Field 2
Form Data Field 3
…
Form Data Field n
Item 2
Text: Street Open
Class: STO
Class: STO
Form Data Field 1
Form Data Field 2
Form Data Field 3
…
Form Data Field n
Item 3
Text: MeterChange
Class: METER
Class: METER
Form Data Field 1
Form Data Field 2
Form Data Field 3
…
Form Data Field n
The SAP Classification System is used
to create data tables to hold the data
values for each type of work order form.
The Notification specifics
are generally unknown by
the Work Order users.
Paperwork Forms associated with Work
Orders • GuiXT allows us to default in data from work order and technical
objects (reduce duplicate data entry) including Classification data.
• Encourage/enforce data consistency between forms.
• As business needs evolved over time, additional data fields can
be added to the Classification table and the data entry screen.
• GuiXT allows better data entry screens, taking advantage of the
usual form controls (calendar, checkboxes, radio buttons, drop
down lists).
• Render printable images of the forms using HTML in a browser
window or by using Adobe Forms.
Work Order Forms
Slide 47
Leak Report
New Service
Turn On
Meter Change
Encroachment
Permit
Street Opening Notice
Work Order
Leak Report Data Entry Process
Slide 48
Forms Selection
Leak Report Form
Navigating the Work Order – Finding Information
• How do I find what I need?
o Understanding how SAP uses Equipment and Functional Locations
o How does this map to MMWD-centric naming and numbering schemes?
• Getting supporting documents for field work
o Sketches and Record Drawings
• Integration/touchpoints with other Enterprise Systems (GIS &
Document Management)
Finding the Equipment
Slide 52
Finding the Equipment
Slide 53
Search using
IH08 (search option-
Equipment by
Equipment List)
Finding the Equipment
Slide 54
Finding the Equipment (example)
Slide 55
Finding the Equipment (example)
Slide 56
Finding the Equipment (example)
Slide 57
Using GuiXT to Enable Hyperlinks to GIS and
Document Management from the Work Order
Slide 58
Thanks to our
GIS Staff who
added the GIS
Web server
capability.
Using GuiXT to Enable Hyperlinks to GIS and
Document Management from the Work Order
Slide 59
This URL
Hyperlink
function is built
in to our
Document
Management
System.
Extend This Functionality to Technical Objects
• Same scripting code used to enable hyperlinks in the Equipment
and Functional Location records.
Additional Work Order Functionality enabled with
GuiXT Scripts
• Enable Creation of Pre-composed Emails
o Integrate Work Order and Technical Object Details into a pre-composed,
pre-addressed email
o Crew Leader can add comments as needed before sending
• Single Button Activation of User Statuses
• Review Materials Charged to the Work Order
• Convert Work Order to Settle to a Project (WBS Element)
• Record Vehicle Time (and charge through KB21N if appropriate)
Additional Work Order Functionality
Slide 62
Enable Creation of Pre-composed Emails
• GuiXT provides substantial improvement over native SAP.
• Training…easier to introduce new users to work orders with
GuiXT hiding some of SAP’s sharp edges and simplifying the
number of steps needed.
• Ongoing GuiXT development as needs arise.
Work Orders - Where We Are Today…
Slide 64
GuiXT Development At MMWD
Slide 65
In House development • Work Order Business Process
• Simplified Equipment Lookups
• Enhanced Equipment Displays
• Customer Service Searches
• Transaction Navigation
Outsourced to Synactive Inc. consultants • Corrosion Control Application to achieve similar functionality in SAP.
• Replaced legacy application soon after SAP Go Live.
• Performs on-the-fly creation of Functional Locations, Equipments, Measuring Points and Measurement Documents.
• Over 10 years of stable, functioning code.
• Start Simple and Grow From There
• Mistakes happen - how you handle them
makes a difference
• Support, Support, Support
Key Points to Take Home
Slide 66
Start Simple and Grow From There
o Look for the easy wins, the low hanging fruit.
o Smoothing out or simplifying high volume transactions
provides quicker payback.
o Expand use of GuiXT as opportunities arise.
o Don’t overlook GuiXT when thinking of linking to other
systems.
Key Points to Take Home
Mistakes happen - how you handle them makes a
difference
o Include Reasonable Error Handling – “To Err is human, to
really screw things up you need a computer”
o Testing, Testing, Testing – Users will always find an untested
possibility…once the system is live.
o Defensive Programming Techniques – Try not to let an
unanticipated error ruin your day.
Key Points to Take Home
Support, Support, Support
o User Support
Clear Requirements, Testing, Error Reporting, Error Correction
Feedback Loop
o Developer Support
Synactive Support – Including Documentation, Tips & Tricks
GuiXT Yahoo Group -
o Professional Support
Synactive Consulting Assistance
Key Points to Take Home
Benefits Realized by MMWD
• Quick and cost-effective way to modify user-interface
• Automated data-entry, reduce redundant data entry and
fewer data entry errors
• Less Actual Paper Pushed
• Reduce end-user training time
• Enhanced user satisfaction – fewer complaints, less time
spent in correcting errors
• Save Time and Money
A collaboration of:
Client Process Reengineering
Without Disrupting Core SAP Processes
Aparna Desai
Synactive, Inc.
• The Basic SAP End User Opportunity
• The Synactive Solution Suite
• Q&A
Agenda
The challenges faced with traditional SAP use
Hasso Plattner at 2013 Sapphire
• Internally developed or acquired solutions
• Silo’d solutions for different interfaces
• Browser-based alternatives with latency issues
And a multitude of SAP solutions
All solve a single problem but not the overriding issue
What if you could go from this…
25 Screens with less than 4 input fields per screen
To this….. One Screen with all fields plus
Intuitive Screen Layout
• Pushbuttons and radio buttons for
repetitive search criteria.
• Allows data to be entered to screens that
are not showing.
• One button click to access various
transactions.
That also works with your mobile device
One development effort, multiple touchpoints
• How GuiXT works?
• How do you create a Solution?
• Where are the scripts stored?
Agenda
How Does GuiXT Work?
1) User makes a
request via SAPGUI
(e.g. VA01)
2) SAP responds with
VA01 screen
3) GuiXT screen
modifications are
applied and SAPGUI
draws new screen for
VA01
SAPGUI
Desktop (PC)
SAP ERP
GuiXT Developer Toolkit used to generate GuiXT screens
1
1
3
2
The Synactive Developer Suite
One Suite – Two Components
Designer Workbench
Designer Development Platform
Generated Scripts Network, SAPWR, Local
Workbench Development Platform
Generated Scripts Network, SAPWR, Local
Excel template
Desktop
Desktop template
Excel
PDF template
Offline template
Windows CE/Offline
Access template
HTML
Designer The Synactive Tool for Creating the Consolidated View
• WYSIWYG Tool
• Screen changes without
writing any code
• Start with any SAP
transaction
• Render to desktop or mobile
touch points
• Enables personalized
applications based on roles
and functions
• Automatic script generation © 2013 Synactive, Inc. DesignerTrial.exe
Workbench The Synactive Tool for process flow collection
Record And Deploy
To All Touch Points
Workbench_Access.exe
• Options for Script Storage:
o SAP Web Repository (SMW0) (Recommended)
(Integrated with SAP; uses SAP transport
mechanism)
o Network Server/File Share
o FTP/HTTP Server
o Local Machine (Developers)
Where are the Scripts stored?
With Synactive, you…
…start with existing complex SAP transactions and simplify them to suit
your needs!
…record your business process flow once and redeploy to a more intuitive
interface!
…extend your new screens and process customizations to any number of
touch points and devices
…centrally manage all deployments
GuiXT
Technology
Record/
Design
Automate/
Extend Manage
Extending Reengineered SAP Client Use To…
Browsers and Portals
Barcode/RFID Scanners PDF/Excel Front-Ends
Tablets and Phones
• Built on proven GuiXT technology
• Extends your SAP across both desktop
and mobile devices
• Consolidates business related
transactions, fields and tabs
• Start from SAP, Record Once and
Deploy everywhere
• No Java, ABAP programming; No 3rd
party application server required
• Simple scripting to empower a
responsive IT Team Non-Disruptive Business Solution
Lean, Agile Development
Liquid UI Platform
Local SAPGUI
Web Browser
Central SAPGUI
Barcode/RFID
iOS
Offline Excel
Android
Blackberry
Appl Database Connector
Liquid UI Platform Connects directly to SAP through patented connectivity technology
GuiXT Solutions Case Study Results
A white paper study for virtually all key SAP/Synactive functions
• Go to Guixt.com
• Enter your key use
parameters
o Time of transaction
o Number of transactions
o Number of users
o Employee costs
• The system will calculate
your return
An ROI Worth Calculating
A simple way to measure the cost/investment
In Good Company! Over 1000 Customers Across Multiple Industries
Some Of Our Utilities Customers
Slide 91
For more information about
Synactive’s GuiXT Solutions:
www.guixt.com
Tel: 650.341.3310
Thank You!!!
Thank you for this opportunity to show
what MMWD has done.
Questions???
A collaboration of:
Brian Richards Marin Municipal Water District
Aparna Desai Synactive, Inc.