Systems Applications And Products Research Articles

Addressing Omni-Channel Challenges in Retail Logistics with SAP-Introduction to SAP CAR (Customer Activity Repository)

In the dynamic landscape of retail, the advent of omni-channel commerce has revolutionized the way consumers interact with brands and make purchases. With the proliferation of online shopping, mobile commerce, and traditional brick-and-mortar stores, retailers are facing unprecedented challenges in managing their logistics operations efficiently across multiple channels. This paper explores how SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products) solutions can address the complex logistics challenges inherent in omni-channel retail environments.

Potential Routes to the Sustainability of the Food Packaging Industry

Plastic packaging of food products has a significant impact on the sustainability of the food industry and trade. The article presents selected problems surrounding the production of plastic packaging for food storage and distribution that might cause disruptions in the implementation of sustainable production. An important question regards the extent to which the industry that produces this packaging complies with the sustainability requirements. The present work consists in an investigation of the problems observed in a plastic packaging manufacturing company located in Poland, which is part of a global corporation. Plastic waste management was analyzed and compared with the requirements of a closed loop economy. The quantities of raw material processed and the quantities of waste in the defined period were analyzed. During the analyzed period, 0.05% of the monthly production was non-recyclable waste. The quality of raw material seems to be responsible for the majority of wastes. Therefore, the important role of SAP (Systems Applications and Products) in the use of lower quality batches of raw material is indicated. On the other hand, a possibility of converting the wastes into liquid or gaseous fuels is suggested. In addition, the paper investigates the efficiency of machine use in a film bag production line in a three-shift system. Process losses were analyzed and reliability indicators such as overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and its components, mean time between failures (MTBF), and mean failure repair time (MTTR) were determined. The monthly OEE values for each change individually exceeded 80%.

The Advances of Information Technology to the Telecommunication Sector: The Case of Albtelecom

Telecommunications in general and mobile telecommunication especially, act as key infrastructure factor for economic development of a country. Its role has become increasingly important with the growth of electronic business. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) represents a contemporary phenomenon in the use of information technology by many telecommunication companies worldwide and also in Albania. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of privatization of the Albanian Telecom, namely ALBtelecom focusing on the added business value of the integrated enterprise system, adopted after the company was privatized. Hence, we analyze Systems, Applications and Products (SAP), which is one of the most frequently selected ERP software. SAP constitutes important topic for research, due to its great potential for strategic, managerial, financial, technical and human benefits, not to mention the associated risks. We measure the business performance of ALBtelecom in ERP environment comparing side-by-side the time before and after implementation using ratio analysis, for the period spanning from 2007 to 2012. We aim to show the importance of information got through financial statements and more deeply through financial ratios which enable shareholders and all stakeholders to better understand the company progress. The findings outline complexity, but in general they indicate significant improvement of ALBtelecom performance. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n3s1p198

Learning scenarios in SAP for wind turbines manufacturing

The paper presents a conceptual model of learning scenarios in SAP, so that it is easily assimilated by students who still do not have direct contact with activities in the economic environment. The case study is configured for different planning situations acquisitions, necessary for obtaining the raw materials for wind turbines, more specifically for obtaining the generator, which is a standard equipment. The different scenarios presented in the conceptual model are designed, that it’s not as easy to increase the nacelle, respectively the generator manufacturing capacity as it is with other components. Based on this model, the students can learn to work both with concrete transactions of “Purchase orders” for certain and isolate orders and as well with transactions of a “Scheduling agreement” for firm orders that last long periods of time. This model demonstrates that the challenge of any new processes of generator manufacturing can be defined in SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products), as one of the main providers of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software package.

Enabling enterprise-level workloads in the enterprise-class cloud

Enterprise-level workloads, such as systems applications and products (SAP) workloads, require infrastructure with high availability, clustering, or physical server appliances, features that are often not a part of a typical cloud offering. Thus, businesses are often forced to run enterprise workloads in their legacy environments and cannot take advantage of the cloud computing flexibility, elasticity, and low cost. To enable enterprise customers to use these workloads in a cloud, we enabled a large number of SAP enterprise-level workloads in the IBM Cloud Managed Services (CMS) cloud for virtualized and nonvirtualized cloud environments. In this high-level paper, we discuss various general challenges and lessons learned, using a diverse set of platforms implemented in the IBM CMS cloud offering.

Study To Assess Utilization of Antenatal and Intranatal Services Amongst Women in an Urban Slum of Mumbai

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the utilization of antenatal & intra-natal services by antenatal women and the socio-demographic factors affecting the utilization. METHODS: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in urban slum from July to September 2011. Study population comprised of women who had delivered in last one year preceding study, irrespective of place and outcome of delivery. Only women who were residing at current address for at least 1 year were included. Women not consenting and pregnant women were excluded. All such women were interviewed face to face after obtaining their informed consent using pre tested semi-structured questionnaire which included details of their antenatal care (ANC) and intra-natal services availed. Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) and Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) software were used for obtaining information regarding antenatal and intra-natal care. RESULTS: Antenatal services were utilized by 158(77.8%) of study participants. 161(79.3%) subjects had institutional delivery and 42(20.7%) home delivery, out of which, only 3(7.1%) subjects had an assisted home delivery. Low education status and poor socio-economic class had a significant association (P < 0.05) with utilization of ANC services. CONCLUSION: Public sector was the major source of utilization of antenatal care services and intra natal services in 62.7% subjects and 78% subjects respectively. It is suggested that low-income, uneducated women should be targeted for promotion of utilization of antenatal and intra-natal services.

Evaluasi dan Rencana Pengembangan Penerapan Aplikasi Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Studi Kasus pada PT Astra Graphia

A firm’s success in bussiness competition can be supported by integrated information systems. A program application based on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) like SAP is an integrated program that is able to provide business transaction management solutions. This study aims to on the ERP system running at PT Astra Graphia, particularly at relevant departments dealing with income derived at a period of time and costs associated with implementation and application maintenance of SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing) program. Furthermore, this study aims to give suggestions based on information systems development evaluation results, in terms of business processes, performance, and financial. Analyses were performed using the IT Balanced Scorecard, and the development of information systems used the Accelerated SAP (ASAP) in which the results are able to provide suggestions of system development with the first phase of ASAP method namely preparation and the second phase namely blueprint.

The impact of rewards within communities of practice: a study of the SAP online global community

This paper explores the effects of introducing rewards within a virtual community of practice: the software vendor SAP (Systems Applications and Products) online global community. The study of postings to the SAP community discussion forums shows that rewards have had a damaging effect on the exchange of knowledge and generalised trust among members within the community. The intrinsic motivation of members to share knowledge was undermined by rewards, with the consequence that the pursuit of rewards became the priority for many, over and above contributing valuable information to the community. Thus, the introduction of rewards devalued the concept of knowledge as a public good, voluntarily shared out of moral obligation and community interest. Instead, knowledge came to be seen as a private good to be shared out of economic self-interest. Following the introduction of rewards, the primary motivation of many members to participate within the community shifted from community interest and moral obligation to that of economic self-interest.

A study into the creation of feral information systems as a response to an ERP implementation within the supply chain of a large government-owned corporation

This paper investigates the creation of feral systems as a response to an Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems implementation of Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) in the supply chain of a large Government-Owned Corporation (GOC). Using a case study approach and extensive interviews, the researchers found that a SAP system was rigid, highly structured and ignored by some elements of the social system. Moreover, it focused on technical prowess of the SAP solution at the apparent expense of supporting real-world activity. Such a focus allowed the spontaneous creation of 'feral systems' that involved ad hoc processes used to get around the SAP solution, to complete important work. This paper begins with an analysis of the feral systems concept and then examines the case study of feral systems in the organisation in question. This paper concludes with a call for future research into feral systems and their effectiveness on ERP systems to support real-world activity.

Business process re‐engineering pays after enterprise resource planning

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that significant improvements through business process re‐engineering can still be achieved after the implementation of enterprise resource planning systems. While the business process re‐engineering benefits of enterprise resource planning systems have been widely published, the opportunities for process improvement after the installation of integrated systems have not been extensively explored.Design/methodology/approachThis paper results from a case study of the highly successful intervention in the purchasing and accounts payable functions of Mobil Oil Australia Limited undertaken well after the implementation one of the widely used off‐the‐shelf enterprise resource planning systems, SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing).FindingsSignificant benefits were achieved in the purchasing and accounts payable functions of Mobil Oil Australia Limited, via a focus on best practice and radical process improvement. Invoices and invoice processing were largely eliminated. Cheque usage was reduced by 87 per cent and the staff paying accounts cut by almost 75 per cent.Originality/valueThe case study demonstrates clearly to companies and practitioners that business process re‐engineering can achieve “dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service and speed” even after an enterprise resource planning solution has been implemented via a focus on best practice benchmarking and using best practice to provide a target for the change team. Companies can leverage existing, often substantial, investments in installed systems to further improve their processes and increase the return on those investments.