How to Choose between SAP Maintenance and Service Scheduling?

Even though every business needs a service and maintenance plan, only a few can determine which SAP product best fits their needs.

First, SAP Field Service Management, and second, SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling are SAP’s two leading scheduling solutions. However, you should ask yourself some queries before settling on a solution to determine which is best for your business.

• For what purpose are these labors being performed? What percentage of your activities are service-centric, and what percentage are internal (in-plant) maintenance?
• Which of these types of assets are you focusing on? Complex machinery, linear assets, buildings, or simple assets (i.e., coffee machines)
• Is this scheduling for long-cycle work, customer support, or an emergency?
• Please describe the nature of this business.
• Do you need high-volume tasks, AI-based scheduling, business rules, route optimization, skill and certification management, client self-service, or contractor administration?
• Is it ECC, SAP S/4HANA, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, or something other than SAP that serves as your enterprise resource planning (ERP) back end?

The answers to these questions will get you closer to settling on the SAP scheduling option that suits your needs, but they will only give you a clear direction. For example, customers often use SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling (capacity planning and rough-cut scheduling) with SAP Field Service Management (scheduling and dispatching). Let’s proceed by contrasting the two options regarding their primary features.

Planning Resources with SAP S/4HANA’s Asset Management

We use SAP S/4HANA Maintenance-focused (or service-focused on maintenance) activities are what Asset Management for Resource Scheduling excels at. With PM (EAM) orders, planning and scheduling are primarily done at the work unit and utilization level. Unique applications consider Maintenance Plans, and we provide specialized simulations/versions to help you plan without making any changes to the core object.

No matter the deployment model (on-premise, public cloud, private cloud, etc.), SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling is built as a core component that doesn’t need any interfaces and works with other core Asset Management procedures right out of the box. The solution also provides a graphical user interface for supporting essential maintenance orders (or maintenance-centric service) and capacity scheduling in internal maintenance situations, such as order scheduling, capacity leveling, collaborative schedule building, and execution monitoring. However, given the nature of addressing in-plant maintenance, SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling does not presently optimize schedules based on business rules, skills/certifications, or the aim to integrate with GIS systems.

Customers can use the solution to perform capacity leveling at the work center level, make schedules based on work orders, visualize maintenance schedules against assets, track the progress of execution, and release orders for execution without physically being present at the job site (whether that be the manufacturing floor, an internal plant, or a shared work site). Mill Products & Mining, Oil & Gas, and Chemicals & Rail are all examples of businesses. In order scheduling and capacity planning/leveling for maintenance and maintenance-centric service scenarios, SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling is the recommended option, succeeding SAP Multi Resource Scheduling.

Source: https://blogs.sap.com/

Schedule Resources with ease using SAP’s Asset Management Software S/4HANA

With SAP S/4HANA, Maintenance-focused (or service-focused on maintenance) in-plant activities are the forte of Asset Management for Resource Scheduling. Using PM (EAM) orders, scheduling, and planning are primarily performed at the work unit and utilization level. Unique applications take into account Maintenance Plans, and we provide specialized simulations/versions so that a schedule can be made in advance without modifying the fundamental object.

Regardless of the deployment model (on-premise, public cloud, private cloud, etc.), SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling is a core component of the SAP S/4HANA suite requires no interfaces and integrates with other core Asset Management procedures out of the box. In-house maintenance scenarios, such as order scheduling, capacity leveling, collaborative schedule building, and execution monitoring, are all supported by the solution’s graphical user interface. Due to the specifics of handling in-plant repair, SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling does not optimize schedules based on business rules, skills/certifications, or plans to connect with GIS systems.

Capacity leveling at the work center level, schedule creation based on work orders, schedule visualization for assets, execution tracking, and order release for execution without physically being present at the job site (e.g., in the shop, during internal plant maintenance, or at a shared work site) are all areas where this solution excels for clients. Manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, chemicals, and transportation are all examples of different types of businesses. SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling is the suggested solution for internal orders in order scheduling and capacity planning/leveling for maintenance and maintenance-centric service scenarios and is the natural successor to SAP Multi Resource Scheduling.

Effective Field Service Administration with SAP

When technicians need to be dispatched to a project site for maintenance or service, and when optimizing the use of each technician’s unique set of skills and resources is essential, businesses turn to SAP Field Service Management. Additionally, customers can use the Self-service Portal to make appointments, and tasks can be intelligently assigned to third-party certified contractors, service partner companies, etc. through the SAP Field Service Management Crowd Service portal. To schedule large amounts of tasks and create bespoke policies and business rules, SAP Field Service Management offers AI-based scheduling as a differentiating feature.

Based on the underlying infrastructure, SAP Field Service Management can integrate with SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP Business One, CRM 7.0, and SAP Customer Experience Service Cloud via the Field Service Management Cloud Adapter or SAP Integration Suite. SAP CS, PS, and PM orders in SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA, and SAP S/4HANA Service (cloud and on-premise) are all supported by the standard interface. Starting in the year 2308, SAP Field Service Management will also be able to handle the maintenance-focused service order. Check out the synergy primer if you need more background data. Thanks to its open application programming interfaces (APIs), SAP Field Service Management can be seamlessly integrated with any third-party ERP or CRM system within a customer project.

The solution excels in situations where customers must travel to a physical asset and businesses need to minimize travel time, where skills/certification management is necessary, where customers have a need for a geographic information system (GIS), where business rules and AI-based optimization are necessary, where contractor management and customer-self-service appointment booking are essential. Any business that has assets spread out in the field is a potential candidate, such as those in the IM&C, Utilities, Facilities Management, Professional Services, Oil & Gas, Rail, and other fields. Customers with field service needs and those migrating away from unsupported legacy Field Service Management solutions like ClickSoftware are two groups for whom SAP has recommended SAP Field Service Management as the best option.

In Conclusion

Each SAP ERP product, SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling and SAP Field Service Management, is tailored to meet the unique requirements of a specific type of company or industry. However, both solutions can be used in tandem in situations that call for both AI-based optimization and routing requirements that consider skills/certifications and different business logic at the time of dispatch, as well as capacity leveling at the work center leveling and rough-cut scheduling. Utilities, oil & gas, and railroads are just a few sectors where this situation is applicable.