ALE Business processes

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  • S/4HANA ALE enabled master data
  • S/4HANA ALE enabled cross-application processes
  • Sales and Operations Planning (PP-SOP)
  • Interface Between the WMS and External Systems
  • Separate Sales and Shipping (SD-SLS, SD-SHP)
  • Distribution of Contracts (MM-PUR, MM-SRV)
  • Stock Transfer Between Distributed Systems (SD, MM)
  • Decentralized Warehouse Management (LE-IDW)
  • Quality Management (QM)
  • Logistics <-> Accounting
  • EDI mapping to IDocs
ALE is a standard integration service that enables business processes developed and deployed across several separate SAP or non-SAP systems to be integrated.

S/4HANA ALE enabled master data

  • Change numbers (IDoc: ECMMAS)
  • Article master record (IDoc: ARTMAS, BO:  BUS1001001)
  • User master record - CUA - Central user administration (IDoc: USERCLONE)
  • Purchasing info record (PIR) (IDoc: INFREC)
When Purchasing Info Records are distributed in the message INFREC, the following data is transferred:
    • General data and texts
    • Purchasing organizational data and texts for purchasing organizational data
The following data is not distributed:
    • Customs tariff preference data
    • Order price history
  • Classification (IDoc: CLFMAS)
  • Class (IDoc: CLSMAS)
  • Characteristics (IDoc: CHRMAS)
  • Conditions (IDoc: COND_A)
  • Cost center (IDoc: COSMAS)
  • Cost center group (IDoc: COGRP)
  • Cost element group (IDoc:  COGRP2)
  • Cost element (IDoc: COELEM)
  • Customer master record
  • Activity type (IDoc: COAMAS)
  • Activity master record
  • Activity type group (IDoc: COGRP5)
  • Vendor master record (IDoc: CREMAS)
  • Material master record (IDoc: MATMAS)
  • Address Master (IDoc: ADRMAS)
  • Unit of measure for cost center and cost element combination (Doc: COCOKA )
  • Source list (IDoc: SRCLST)
  • Human Resources: HR Master Data, Organizational Data (IDoc: HRMD_A)
  • Profit center (IDoc: PRCMAS)
  • Conditions
The message type COND_A is used to distribute Conditions.
Fields that are reduced are set to initial in the receiving system. If you reduce whole segments, these are deleted in the target system.
Conditions with use E (= bonus, conditions for later calculation) can only be distributed manually and not using the change document system.
  • G/L account (IDoc: GLMAST)
  • Bill of material (materials and documents) (IDoc: BOMMAT)
    • CNG (change, standard): Changes the BOM items.
      • The BOM header data remains unchanged. It creates the BOM in the target system, if it is not already there. This is the default if you do not select a message variant.
    • CRE (create): Creates the BOM.
      • If the BOM already exists in the target system, the IDoc is not posted.
    • DEL (delete): Deletes the BOM.
      • You should use this function with the utmost caution, since the deletion of the BOM also deletes references from other applications (such as routing and production orders).
  • Activity price of cost center and cost element combination (IDoc: COACTV)
  • Value scale and quota scale
  • Batch
Maintain the message type BATMAS. To be able to distribute the batch classification data, you need the Basic Type BATMAS03 . In the cross-system flow of goods for materials subject to batch management, the batch data is transmitted at the time of the receipt of the goods from the source system (supplying system) to the target system (ordering and/or selling system). 

During the distribution, the system ensures that all batch master data relevant for keeping the batch homogeneous (for example, batch number, batch status, batch specification) is uniform across all the systems. Data distributed include:
    • Batch master data
    • Batch-specific classification data (Assignment to a batch class and specification of the batches)

S/4HANA ALE enabled cross-application processes

  • Bank Distribution - bank data and associated organizational addresses
  • Central User Administration (CUA) - maintain user master records centrally in one system and CUA distributes changes automatically to the child systems
  • Integrated Distributed Product Development Management (PDM) Solution -  All master data from PDM environment, for example, materials, BOMs, document, change master record, or class, can all be distributed to other systems via ALE standard functions 
  • Document Management System (DMS) - DOCMAS is used to link the document to the object in the DMS. ECMMAS is used to update the change master record in the DMS.
  • Configuration Data  Variant config: Use IDocs CHRMAS (Characteristic), CLFMAS (Classification), CLSMAS (Class) as well as VTAMAS (Variant Table Structure), VTMMAS (Variant Table Contents), VFNMAS( Variant Functions), KNOMAS (Object Dependencies, Constraints), DEPNET (Constraint Nets), CNPMAS (Configuration Profiles), MATAMS (Material Variant)
  • Work Break-down structures and Internal Order (IDoc: INTERNAL_ORDER)
  • Cross-System Planning Situation - wish to evaluate the planning for a material on a cross-system basis.  The evaluation shows the planning situation based on the data in the stock/requirements lists in the systems involved. 
  • Sales and Operations Planning - covers various activities including the specification of medium term and long term sales volumes and the approximate planning of the production activities that are required to meet these volumes. In the ALE distribution scenario for SOP there is both a central planning system and decentral systems that can also perform planning tasks
  • SAP Retail Space Management Interface - You can use this ALE Business Process in the following variants: Variant 1: Space Management for Information Only, Variant 2: New Placement for an Article, Variant 3: Moving an Article to a New Location, Variant 4: Manual Shelf Space Maintenance, Variant 5: Discontinuing an Article
  • Interface Between the WMS and External Systems - connect Automated warehouse systems, Fork lift control systems or carousels, Decentralized warehouse management systems
  • Separate Sales and Shipping - based on the business process "Stock Transfer between Distributed Systems". The idea of it is that several decentral operating sales units initiate sales orders directly at a central shipping point
  • Distribution of Contracts - Contracts negotiated by a central purchasing organization are distributed to local purchasing organizations to allow the latter to utilize the more favorable conditions they contain for the procurement of materials or external services. Each local purchasing organization sends information on its own release orders back to the central purchasing organization.
  • Stock Transfer Between Distributed Systems - SAP Systems can obtain goods from other SAP systems through Purchasing. The latter SAP systems sell the goods to Purchasing.
  • Decentralized Warehouse Management - describes the SAP Warehouse Management System (WMS) as a decentralized stand-alone system that is operated separately from a centrally operated S/4HANA (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.
  • Quality Management - Leverages ALE to distribute Master Inspection Characteristics, Inspection Methods, Codes Groups, Codes, and Inspection Setup
  • Central Accounting, Decentral Logistics - Central financial and cost accounting, decentralized inventory management, purchasing, sales, plant maintenance, production
  • Decentral Accounting, Central Logistics - E.g. Global sales but decentral financial accounting for each SAP system (1 per country as an example)
  • Several Accounting Systems - Several SAP Logistics Systems
  • Information Flow to the Accounting Department - Uses IDocs FIROLL, FIDCCH, FIDCMT
  • Data Transfer Between Accounting and Logistics - Each logistics application calls the accounting interface with the relevant data. The accounting document is checked there, completed, and then forwarded to the various accounting applications for further processing.
  • Logistics Information Systems - This scenario supports the distribution of actual data between information systems in logistics. Process-related data exchange: This means that each document is sent individually to the interested systems.The complete information relating to the document posting is contained in the data – thus in the central system it is possible to define how this data has to be updated and analyzed. Accumulative data exchange: This means that the information is summarized and is transported with the help of information structures. There is no direct access to individual documents in the receiving system.

Change Numbers

If a change number is distributed using the message type ECMMAS, it contains:
  • Change master record (in the long text if available)
  • Alternative dates
  • Validity
  • Object types for change master
  • Object management records (in the long text if available)
If the distributed change number does not already exist in the target system, it is created here. It is not yet possible to delete a change number in the target system nor to distribute it using a change pointer.

Source List

The message SRCLST is used to distribute Source List Records.
The prerequisite is that the master records of the vendors, materials and possibly contracts have already been distributed

Value scale and quota scale

Sales and Operations Planning (PP-SOP)

Sales and Operations Planning (SOP) covers various activities including the specification of medium term and long term sales volumes and the approximate planning of the production activities that are required to meet these volumes.
  1. In the central system, planning can be performed at the product group level.
  2. Material and plant are separated out of the completed central planning and are passed to the decentral planning.
  3. The key figures that were preset centrally are compared to the decentrally planned key figures.
  4. Afterwards the decentral key figures are sent back to the central system. This kind of planning is also called concurrent planning
Master Data to be Distributed
  1. The material master (core data)
  2. Product group master (implicit in the material master)

Interface Between the WMS and External Systems

The interface allows communication between the connected systems on the basis of the so-called transactional Remote Function Call (tRFC).
Unlike the synchronous Remote Function Call (sRFC), the system saves the data in temporary storage before sending it to the connected system. This leads to the decoupling of application and communication.

Separate Sales and Shipping (SD-SLS, SD-SHP)

https://help.sap.com/viewer/61af834e09164854993e81aa39be576d/2020.000/en-US/4aae26285ee9000ae10000000a42189c.html

Distribution of Contracts (MM-PUR, MM-SRV)

Contracts that a central purchasing organization distributes to local purchasing organizations to allow the latter to utilize the more favorable conditions they contain for the procurement of materials or external services.

You can define dependencies between individual message categories in the distribution model so that contracts (message category BLAORD) are only distributed if the vendor master data (message category CREMAS) and material master data (message category MATMAS) have already been distributed to the relevant local systems.

For example, you can specify in the distribution model that the distribution of conditions (message category COND_A) is to be dependent on the distribution of the contracts (message type BLAORD).

Stock Transfer Between Distributed Systems (SD, MM)

https://help.sap.com/viewer/61af834e09164854993e81aa39be576d/2020.000/en-US/4aa84e1ea64b0d1be10000000a42189c.html

Decentralized Warehouse Management (LE-IDW)

This component describes the SAP Warehouse Management System (WMS) as a decentralized stand-alone system that is operated separately from a centrally operated S/4HANA (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.

Quality Management (QM)

  • Distribution of Master Inspection Characteristics Using ALE
  • Distribution of Inspection Methods Using ALE
  • Distribution of Code Groups and Codes Using ALE
  • Distribution of Inspection Setup Using ALE

Logistics <-> Accounting

The applications in the logistics system pass the documents to an accounting system running in the background that then communicates the information.
  1. Central Accounting - Decentral Logistics
  2. Decentral Accounting - Central Logistics
    • A second option is to have a central SAP logistics system linked to several independent accounting systems (one for each company code).
  3. Several Accounting Systems - Several SAP Logistics Systems
    • This option is suitable for a production area concept. Each accounting system would then be responsible for certain parts of each logistics area.

EDI mapping to IDocs

  • Shipment (IDoc: SHPMNT, EDI X12 204, 856)
  • Transportation Status (IDoc: TRXSTA, EDI X12 214)
  • Shipping Order (IDoc: SHPORD, EDI X12 940)
  • Shipping Confirmation (IDoc: SHPCON, EDI X12 945)
  • Warehouse Order (IDoc: WHSORD, EDI X12 940)
  • Stock Confirmation (IDoc: WHSCON, EDI X12 945)
  • Invoice (IDoc: INVOIC, EDI X12 810, 880)
  • Delivery (IDoc: DESADV EDI X12 856)
  • Order (IDoc: ORDERS EDI X12 850)
  • Order Change (IDoc: ORDCHG EDI X12 860)
  • Order Confirmation (IDoc: ORDRSP, EDI X12 855)
  • Order Change Confirmation (IDoc: ORDRSP, EDI X12 865)
  • Quote Request (IDoc: REQOTE, EDI X12 840)
  • Quote (IDoc: QUOTES, EDI X12 843)
  • Stock and Sale Data (IDoc: PROACT, EDI X12 852)
  • Credit or Debit Advice (IDoc: CREADV, DEBADV, EDI X12 812)
  • Payment Order (IDoc: PAYEXT, EDI X12 820)
  • Credit Advice Evaluated Receipt Settlement (IDoc: GSVERF, EDI X12 861)
  • Lock Box (IDoc: LOCKBX, EDI X12 823)
  • Delivery Schedule - Scheduling Agreements (IDoc: DELINS, DELFOR, EDI X12 830, 862)
  • Pricing Catalog (IDoc: PRICAT, EDI X12 832)
  • Benefit Enrollment and Maintenance (IDoc: BENREP, EDI X12 834)
  • Text Message (IDoc: TXTRAW, EDI X12 864)
  • Application Advice (IDoc: TXTRAW, EDI X12 812)
  • IDoc Status Update (IDoc: STATUS, EDI X12 997)

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