01-07-2004

Make SAP On-line with the Shop Floor

Production data integrated to SAP

Mark Information, specialist in shop floor data collection and time registration, has developed an interface to SAP R/3 making SAP 100% on-line with production data collected directly on the shop floor.

Through more than 20 years, Mark Information who develops the software system ProMark, has specialised in collection of production and time data from the shop floor in Scandinavian industrial companies.

In the latest version of ProMark, released in May, there is an interface to the production related modules in SAP R/3. This includes the modules PP (Production Planning), PP-PI (Production Planning for Process Industry), PM (Plant Maintenance) and PS (Project System).

The new interface supports transfer of data from SAP regarding:

  • Production orders, IPO orders, order corrections and deletions
  • Operations
  • Work centers
  • Cost centers
  • Departments
  • Plants

And delivers data back to SAP on:

  • Actual manufacturing lead time
  • Employee category (for cost calculation)
  • Work-in-process quantity information on yield and scrap
  • Status information on orders/operations
  • Error reasons for scrap and production stop

Precise feedback to the ERP system enables validation and update of manufacturing lead times and lot sizes resulting in accurate and optimised production plans.

Furthermore, ProMark enables production management to:

  • Measure production efficiency
  • Measure utilization and identify bottlenecks
  • Measure productivity of workforce and machines
  • Analyse error reasons for scrap and production stop
  • Analyse job costing

For companies producing according to the principles of Lean Manufacturing, ProMark is a strong tool allowing management to follow up on improvement projects verifying the benefit of the project being realized as expected.

The interface between SAP and ProMark is built on standard IDocs from SAP. With the interface, ProMark is capable of distinguishing from which module in SAP the order comes, and subsequently send feedback on the order back to the right module in SAP on the basis of SAP's order types. In addition to the interface to the production modules in SAP R/3, ProMark also has an interface to SAP's HR module.

For further information please contact Mark Information.