Inventory Management with SAP S/4HANA (SAP PRESS) Hardcover – Illustrated, September 26, 2019

Books for SAP are normally top quality and this was no exception.Easy to use and understandable

I have worked with SAP’s Sourcing and Procurement capabilities for over two decades as a consultant for SAP and other companies. I also was a contributing author for the SAP PRESS publication Sourcing and Procurement in S/4HANA as I wrote the chapter on Inventory Management (IM). However, I did not have the space to explore in depth the many facets of IM due to space constraints.When I acquired this book, I finally found what I was looking for – a complete, accurate, well-written guide to Inventory management in S/4HANA, that appeals to both functional consultants, industry professionals, and technical resources. It is a masterful work that rewards the reader with everything one needs to know about this fundamental capability in S/4HANA.Chapter 1 – S/4HANA and FioriThis chapter was clearly laid out and explained the new IM data model thoroughly and hits all salient points on how the improvements result in exponential increase in processing speed.Chapter 2 – Inventory Management BasicsThis chapter gives a fine explanation of the business processes of supply chain planning and inventory management. It is foundational and provides a good basis for the subsequent chapters which focus on the configuration and product capabilities.Chapter 3 – Configuring Inventory ManagementThis chapter was very thorough as well. I really liked how not only Inventory Management, but related IMG nodes are referenced and explained (such as NetWeaver, org structure, production, etc.) Each item was described accurately and completely.There is a very interesting section on data aging (hot store to cold store) in S/4HANA. Also, great introductions to Responsibility Management and Situation Handling are also mentioned. A good writeup on the use of the Fiori App Library was a welcome addition.Chapter 4 – Planning and Adjusting InventoryThis chapter provides a complete background to the SAP capabilities for planning and adjusting inventory levels. There is a great summary of production demand generation and the apps that support this process. I learned a lot! The authors’ description of the MRP Fiori apps was very easy to comprehend. The new innovations of DDMRP and Predictive MRP were very interesting as well.Chapter 5 – Goods ReceiptChapter 5 includes wonderfully detailed descriptions of the goods receipt apps, including one that I neglected to include in my book! I appreciated the honesty of the authors regarding the limitations of the Fiori apps at the time of writing.Chapter 6 – Core Inventory ManagementGood information on the material document concept and related Fiori innovations. The core Fiori apps are explained in great detail. I enjoyed reading about the machine learning innovation regarding predictive delivery dates – very cool.Chapter 7 – Production PlanningThis chapter was a complete and thorough exploration of production and process order capability in S/4HANA. The diagnostic and monitoring apps are very exciting innovations that are exclusive to S/4HANA. The authors do a fine job of explaining the capabilities of these apps at the appropriate level of detail for a book on focuses on Inventory Management.Chapter 8 – AnalyticsI appreciated the fact that the authors noted that the current material price is used for analytics value-based calculations even in historical contexts. It is important to know that if running analyzes on historical stock value data. Extensive information on training of the predictive models incorporated into the Slow and Non-Moving Materials app.Chapter 9 – Inventory Management in the CloudI enjoyed the overview of the variety of flavors of implementations available to SAP customers today, from cloud only to the many hybrid options that are available.In conclusion, this book should be required reading for anyone looking at implementing Inventory Management in S/4HANA. Well done!