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Configuration Management
Although the use of an ECN to track changes, define
revisions, and control effectivity is a useful feature, it
is only one element of a complete configuration
management solution. SAP considers configuration
management, which follows the ISO 10007 standard,
to consist of four primary areas:
• Configuration identification identifies the
functional and physical characteristics of the items
to be configuration-controlled.
• Configuration control provides the mechanism to
control the configuration items.
• Configuration status accounting provides the
detailed history of changes.
• Configuration audit ensures that the procedures
for configuration management are being followed.
The Configuration Management functionality, as introduced
in release 4.6C, allows the control of product
configuration for defined lifecycle phases, such as
"as-designed," "as-planned," "as-maintained," etc. It
manages the relationships among items, products,
documentation, changes, activities, and baseline information.
It controls the synchronization of data relating
to products, processes, and resources (via the baselines)
throughout the product lifecycle (i.e., across
design, production, and maintenance). This is intended
to ensure data integrity and product consistency by
managing the control of all changes to product configurations.
To maintain baseline information, mySAP PLM uses
an object known as the "Configuration Folder." Within
the folder, items are defined and collected. These
collections are defining a product. A baseline, which is
created for a folder, captures all data for describing the
product per structure explosion. The Folder Header
object is integrated into the mySAP PLM solution to
enable it to form relationships to other key change
management objects and modules, including:
• ECM
• Effectivity controls
• The status network
• Classification module
• Workflow
• Document management system
Configuration management functionality within
mySAP PLM provides enhanced consistency and
accuracy of information across the complete product
lifecycle. It also provides the backbone for configured
product and document distribution.
Integrated Product & Process Engineering
(iPPE)
Possibly one of SAP's most significant developments,
originally introduced with Version 1.0 of the Automotive
Industry Solution, is the integrated Product and Process
Engineering Environment (iPPE), which introduces a
new and more flexible data model (than in previous
versions of mySAP PLM) for product and process
structure management.
Although the well-established material BOM management
capabilities of mySAP PLM are very capable,
they can prove to be less than optimal when representing
complicated products that have a wide range of
variants. In some instances, unclear relationships to
assemblies that are used in multiple configurations
arise and can make the system difficult to use.
With the introduction of iPPE, SAP launched an
enhanced approach to the way mySAP PLM manages
product structures. This approach addresses the requirements
of organizations that need to manage a large
variety of complex product configurations. Although
initially developed to meet the needs of the automotive
industry, SAP have found that iPPE is of interest to
mechanical and plant engineering, aerospace, electronics,
and other high-tech companies as well as automotive.
iPPE is the foundation for new applications,
such as Product Designer to manage product features
and requirements structures within the early engineering
phases of a product and for its new Recipe
Management application to support the product development
for process industries as described in the
Applications section of this document.
The organization of data within the iPPE system is
structured in three main components (see Figure 11):
• The Product Variant Structure (PVS) to enable a
continuous step-by-step product definition
• Process structure with the activities that relate to
the corresponding product structure items and the
corresponding factory layout structure
• Factory layout structure, including the work stations
in an assembly line
The product structure with PVS is composed of three
levels as described in the following paragraphs.
Product Description Level is at the top. This level is
used to define the products within the organization,
which are typically organized into hierarchies where
<strong>CIMdata</strong> Program Assessment SAP’s mySAP PLM Page 25