SAP APO Interview Questions and Answers [ STEP-IN ]

Last updated on 12th Nov 2021, Blog, Interview Questions

You’ve come to the right site if you’re seeking SAP APO Interview Questions & Answers for Experienced or Freshers. There are several chances available from many reputable companies throughout the world. SAP APO has a market share of roughly 5.4 percent, according to studies. As a result, you still have the possibility to advance your career in SAP APO Development. We provide Advanced SAP APO Interview Questions to help you ace your interview and land your dream job as a SAP APO Developer.

1. What is APO ?

Ans:

APO stands for Advanced Planner and Optimizer Software and is an integrated computer-based system used to manage a company’s resources effectively. It ensures smooth information amongst various departments in an enterprise or a company and manages workflows.

2. What are the different types of APO ?

Ans:

• SAP
• Baan
• JD Edwards (now acquired by Oracle)
• Siebel
• Peoplesoft (now acquired by Oracle)
• Microsoft Dynamics

3. Tell me briefly about SAP ?

Ans:

SAP stands for Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing. It was founded in 1972 by Wellenreuther, Hopp, Hector, Plattner, and Tschira and is a German Company.

SAP is the name of the company, as well as its ERP product.

SAP is #1 in the ERP market. As of 2010, SAP has more than 140,000 installations worldwide, over 25 industry-specific business solutions, and more than 75,000 customers in 120 countries.

4. What are the different SAP products?

Ans:

SAP R/3 – It succeeds SAP R/2 and is a market leader in ERP. R/3 stands for three-tier architecture, i.e., Presentation, Logic, and Data tier. It has many modules like SD, FI, HR, etc. which encompass almost all enterprise departments.

my SAP – It is a suite of SAP products which apart from SAP R/3 also includes SRM, PLM, CRM, SCM

5. What is NetWeaver ?

Ans:

NetWeaver is an integrated technology platform such that all the products in the mySAP suite can run on a single instance of NetWeaver, known as SAP Web Application Server (SAP WEBAs).

The advantage of using NetWeaver is that you can access SAP data using the web (HTTP protocol) or even mobile. Thus, you can save on costs involved in training users on SAP Client-side GUI.

6. List the Different Modules in SAP.

Ans:

• FI (Financial Accounting)
• CO(Controlling)
• EC (Enterprise Controlling)
• TR(Treasury)
• IM (Investment Management)
• HR (Human Resource)
• SD (Sales and Distribution)
• MM (Materials Management)
• PM (Plant Maintenance)
• PP (Production Planning)
• QM – Quality Management
• BW (Business Warehousing)

There are many industry-specific solutions that SAP provides apart from the list of modules above, which is ever-growing.

7. What is Metadata, Master data and Transaction data

Ans:

Meta Data : Meta Data is data about Data. It tells you about the structure of data or MetaObjects.

Master Data : This Data is key business information like Customer information, Employee, Materials, etc. This is more like a reference data for Ex. If a customer orders 10 units of your product instead of asking the customer for his shipping address 10 times, the same can be referenced from the Customer Master Data.

Transaction Data : This is data related to day to day transactions.

8. Is SAP A Database?

Ans:

NO. SAP is not a database, but it’s an application that makes use of databases provided by other vendors like Oracle, SQL Server, etc.

9. How many SAP Sessions can you work on at a given time?

Ans:

At any given time for a particular client, you can work on 6 sessions at max.

10. What is the Differences between ERP and SAP ?

Ans:

S.NO	ERP	SAP
1.	ERP are software solutions that helps organizations to manage their business processes.	SAP is multinational company that sells ERP software solutions to business.
2.	It is a centralized system that streamline all processes.	It groups process into modules and interact with different business aspects.
3.	ERP is termed as super set of SAP.	SAP are largest provider of ERP software systems.
4.	ERP is a web-based application.	SAP is developer that provides variety of options depending upon requirements.
5.	ERP systems are more focused about the organization growth.	SAP takes the care of both customers and organization while developing software solutions.

11. Can we run a business warehouse without SAP R/3 implementation ?

Ans:

Yes, you can run a business warehouse without R/3 implementation. You have to simply transfer structures associated with business warehouse data sources (ODS table, Infocube) to the inbound data files or use third-party tools to connect your flat files and other data sources.

12. Mention what do you mean by datasets ?

Ans:

The data sets are sequential files processed on the application server. They are used for file handling in SAP.

• Use :

An external optimizer can use Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs) to access the SAP APO system’s dataset on the database server and in the SAP liveCache . To do this, the SAP APO system uses business objects (for example, location, product, resource, PPM, order) to which standard methods are assigned with which you can create, read, change or delete instances of these objects.

• Features :

Along with the data available in the SAP APO system, you can store further information that cannot be assigned to business objects.

13. What are the variables ?

Ans:

Variables are parameters of a query set in the parameter query definition and are not filled with values until the queries are entered into the workbooks.

14. Mention what the different types of variables are ?

Ans:

Variables are used in the different application are :

• Characteristics variable
• Hierarchies
• Hierarchy nodes
• Text
• Formulas
• Processing Types
• Replacement Path
• User entry/default type

15. Mention some of the setbacks of SAP ?

Ans:

• It is expensive
• Demands highly trained staff
• Lengthy implementation time
• Interfaces are a little bit complex
• Does not determine where master data resides

16. Mention where are t-code name and program values stored ?

Ans:

To view transaction table TSTC, you can use transaction code st11, and you can define a new t-code using transaction se93.

17. Mention what the difference between OLAP and Data Mining is ?

Ans:

OLAP : OLAP stands for Online Analytical Processing it is a reporting tool configured to understand your database schema, dimensions, and composition facts

Data Mining : It is an analytic process to explore data in search of consistent patterns or systematic relationships between variables.

18. Mention what are the three stages of data mining ?

Ans:

Three stages of data mining include

• Initial Exploration
• Model building
• Deployment

19. Mention what are the different layers in the R/3 system ?

Ans:

Different layers in the R/3 system includes

• Presentation Layer
• Database layer
• Application layer

20. Mention what is the process to create a table in the data dictionary ?

Ans:

To create a table in the data dictionary, you have to follow this step.

• Creating domains (data type, field length, range)
• Creating data elements (properties and type for a table field)
• Creating tables (SE 11)

21. Mention what is AWB ?

Ans:

AWB stands for Administrator Workbench. It is a tool for monitoring, controlling, and maintaining all the processes connected with data staging and processing in the business information warehousing.

22. Explain what is Bex ?

Ans:

Bex means Business Explorer. It allows the end-user to locate reports, analyze information, view reports, and can execute queries. The queries in the workbook can be saved to their respective roles in the Bex browser. It has the following components Bex analyzer, Bex Map, and Bex web.

23. Mention what is the importance of ODS in BIW ?

Ans:

An ODS object serves to store debugged and consolidated transaction data on a document level. It defines a consolidated dataset from one or more info-sources. This dataset can be evaluated with a Bex query or an Infoset query. The data of an ODS object can be updated with a delta update into InfoCubes or other ODS objects in the same system or across systems. In contrast to multi-dimensional data storage with InfoCubes, the data in the ODS object is stored in transparent, flat database tables.

24. Mention what is the difference between Domain and Data Element ?

Ans:

Data Element: It is an intermediate object between domain and table type

Domain: It defines attributes such as length, type, and possible value range

25. Mention what are POST parameters and GET parameters ?

Ans:

To use parameter IDs, you need to “POST” values in the global memory area and then “get” values from this parameter ID memory area. In the case of the online program, you have to “Set” values from screen fields, and you will “get” these values for screen fields.

GET	POST
In GET method, values are visible in the URL.	In POST method, values are not visible in the URL.
GET has a limitation on the length of the values, generally 255 characters.	POST has no limitation on the length of the values since they are submitted via the body of HTTP.
GET performs are better compared to POST because of the simple nature of appending the values in the URL.	It has lower performance as compared to GET method because of time spent in including POST values in the HTTP body.
This method supports only string data types.	This method supports different data types, such as string, numeric, binary, etc.
GET results can be bookmarked.	POST results cannot be bookmarked.

26. Mention what is ALE, IDOC, EDI, RFC, and explain briefly ?

Ans:

• ALE: Application Linking enabling
• IDOC: Intermediary documents
• EDI: Electronic data interchange
• RFC: Remote function call

27. Mention what is LUW (Logical Unit of Work) ?

Ans:

LUW is a span of time during which database records are updated, either commit or rollback.

28. Mention what is BDC stands for ?

Ans:

BDC stands for Batch Data Communication. The methods of BDC are

• Direct Input Method
• Batch Input Session Method
• Call transaction Method

29. Mention what is meant by a “baseline data” in SAP AR and AP?

Ans:

The baseline date is the date from which the payment terms apply. Usually, it is the document date on the invoice but can also be the date of entry or posting date from the ledger.

30. Mention what do you mean by one-time vendors ?

Ans:

In specific industries, it is not possible to create new master records for every vendor trading partner. One-time vendor enables a dummy vendor code to be used on invoice entry, and the information that is normally stored in the vendor master is keyed on the invoice itself.

31. Mention what are the standard stages of the SAP Payment Run ?

Ans:

While executing the SAP Payment Run the standard stages of SAP includes :

Entering of parameters : It includes entering company codes, vendor accounts, payment methods, etc.

Proposal Scheduling : The system proposes a list of invoices to be paid

Payment booking : Booking of the actual payments into the ledger

Printing of Payment forms : Printing of payment forms

32. Mention what is the difference between the “residual payment” and “partial payment” methods of allocating cash in account receivable ?

Ans:

The difference between the residual and partial payment includes

Partial payment : For example, let say invoice A456 exits for $100 and customer pay $70. With the partial payment, it offsets the invoice leaving a remaining balance $30

Residual Payment : While in residual payment, invoice A456 is cleared for the full value of $100, and a new invoice line item is produced for the remaining balance of $30.

33. Mention what are internal tables, check tables, value tables, and transparent table ?

Ans:

1. It is the standard data type object; it exists only during the runtime of the program.

2. Check the table will be at field level checking.

3. Value table will be at domain level checking

4. The transparent table will exist with the same structure both in the dictionary as well as in the database exactly with the same data and fields

34. Mention what is an application, presentation, and database servers in SAP R/3 ?

Ans:

The application layer of a R/3 system is made up of the application server and the message server. Application programs in an R/3 system run on application servers. Using the message server, the application servers communicate with presentation components, the database, and also with each other. All the data are stored in a centralized server, which is known as a database server.

35. Explain what is a company in SAP ?

Ans:

Company in SAP is the highest organizational unit for which financial statements like profit and loss statements, balance sheets can be drawn according to the requirement of organizations. A single company contains one or many company codes. All the company codes in SAP must use the same COA (chart of accounts) and fiscal year.

36. Mention what is the difference between SAP BASIS and SAP ABAP ?

Ans:

SAP ABAP is the programming language used within SAP to customize, generate forms, generate reports, etc. While SAP basis is, the administration module of SAP used to control code changes, upgrades, database admin, network setup, etc.

37. List out the different types of source systems in SAP ?

Ans:

The different types of the source system in SAP includes

• SAP R/3 source system
• SAP BW
• Flat files
• External Systems

38. Explain what is Extractor ?

Ans:

In the SAP source system, extractors are a data retrieval mechanism. It can fill the extract structure of a data source with the data from the SAP source system datasets.

39. Explain what is extended star schema ?

Ans:

The star schema consists of the fact tables and the dimension tables. The master data related tables are kept in separate tables, which has reference to the characteristics in the dimension tables. These separate tables for master data are termed as the Extended Star Schema.

40. Explain what should be the approach for writing a BDC program ?

Ans:

The approach to writing BDC program is to :

• Create recording
• Convert the legacy system data to a flat file into the internal table referred as “Conversion.
• Transfer the Flat file into the SAP system called “SAP Data Transfer.”
• Depending upon the BDC type CALL TRANSACTION or CREATE SESSIONS

41. Mention what are the major benefits of reporting with BW over R/3 ?

Ans:

Business Warehouse uses a data warehouse and OLAP concepts for analyzing and storing data While the R/3 was intended for transaction processing. You can get the same analysis out of R/3, but it would be easier from a BW.

42. Mention the two types of services that are used to deal with communication ?

Ans:

To deal with communication, you can use two types of services.

Message Service : In order to exchange short internal messages, this service is used by the application servers

Gateway Service : This service allows communication between R/3 and external applications using CPI-C protocol.

43. Mention what are reason codes used in Account Receivable ?

Ans:

“Reason Codes” are tags that can be allocated to describe under/overpayments during the allocation of incoming customer payments. They should not be mixed up with “void reason codes” used when outgoing cheques are produced.

44. Mention what is the protocol does SAP Gateway process use ?

Ans:

The SAP gateway process uses TCP/IP protocol to communicate with the clients.

45. Mention what is pooled tables ?

Ans:

Pooled tables are used to store control data. Several pooled tables can be united to form a table pool. Table tool is a solid table on the database in which all the records of the allocated pooled tables are stored.

46. Explain what is an update type with reference to a match code ID ?

Ans:

If the data in one of the base tables of a matchcode ID changes, the matchcode data has to be updated. The update type stipulates when the match-code has to be updated and how it has to be done. The update type also defines which method is to be used for building match-codes.

47. Explain what the .sca files and mention their importance ?

Ans:

sca stands for SAP component Archive. It is used to deploy the Java components, patches, and other java developments in the form of. sca,. sda,.war and .jar.

48. Explain what is meant by “Business Content” in SAP ?

Ans:

Business Content in SAP is a pre-configured and pre-defined model of information contained in the SAP warehouse, which can be used directly or with desired modification in different industries.

49. Explain what is dispatcher ?

Ans:

A dispatcher is a component that takes the request for client systems and stores the request in the queue.

50. Mention what are the common transport errors ?

The common transport errors include :

• Return code 4 : Imported with warnings, generation of program, columns or row missing
• Return code 8 : Imported with a syntax error, program generation error, dictionary activation error, etc.
• Return code 12 : Indicates import cancelled due to object missing, object not active, etc.
• Return code 18 : Indicates import cancelled due to system down while import, user expired during import, and insufficient roles or authorization.

51. How Can A Planning Version Be Frozen And Unfrozen ?

Ans:

A Planning Version can be frozen and unfrozen using Function Module /SAPAPO/TS_PAREA_VERSIO_FREEZE so that no further changes to the planning version can be done.

52. What Is Release Profile ?

Ans:

Release Profile is used to release timeseries data from DP to SNP/PPDS. You need to define the DP Planning Area and timeseries keyfigure the data in which is released and the SNP Category Type (typically FA) to which data is released. You may maintain a Daily Buckets Profile it will define the number of working days (working days determined based on Shipping Calendar maintained for the location master) starting on and from the From Date if released online/ interactively or that many workdays of the planning horizon when release is carried out in background. The Period Split (blank, 1 and 2) field in the SNP2 tab of location-product master determines how demand plan is released to SNP from DP (how bucketed data is disaggregated to the workdays).

53. What Is The Usage Of Period Factor ?

Ans:

Period Factor maintained in the SNP PPM or Transportation Lane determines the Availability Date of a Receipt element within a time bucket (period). The system determines the exact availability date/time of the receipt elements within a period, by adding a time interval (that it gets by multiplying the period factor with the period length) to the start time of the period. You can enter a factor between 0 and 1, where 0 is the start of the period, 0.5 the middle, and 1 the end of the period. When calculating the availability date/time, the system takes into consideration all weekdays, meaning that it does not take into consideration any days that have been defined as non-workdays in the calendars.

Period Factor used is .71 = 7×0.71 = 4.97 or 5 days from ptimizer of weekly bucket resulting in a Friday.

If Period Factor is not maintained in PPM or Transportation Lane then the User Period Factor indicator and the Period Factor value maintained in the Lot Size tab of the location-product combination is used. If this is not maintained a default value of 0.5 is used.

54. What Determines Stock Categories Displayed In Stock On Hand Key Figure ?

Ans:

The categories defined in Category Group ST1 (can be maintained in table /SAPAPO/APOCGC) determine the stock categories that are displayed in the Initial bucket in the Stock on Hand key figure. Subsequent buckets are dynamically computed.

55. Does Dynamic Alerts Show Up In Alert Monitor ?

Ans:

Dynamic Alerts do not show up in the stand-alone alert monitor. Network alerts are to show pegging relationships.

56. What Is The Report To Execute Mass ?

Ans:

The report for executing MassD in background job is MASSBACK.

57. What Is The Shortcut To Change Location Type In Apo ?

Ans:

Report /SAPAPO/CHECK_LOCATION_TYPE can be used to change location type (say from 1001 to 1002 or vice-versa) of existing locations in APO. The table to refer is /SAPAPO/LOCMAP. SAP does not recommend this process.

• Remark : Can you check if this works – cos I think you need to use/SAPAPO/CHANGE_LOCTYPE

58. How Can A Transaction Be Executed Even When No Authorization ?

Ans:

SE93 – Transaction code for Transaction Code E.g. CRC1 Create Resource has txn code CRASH. So if you do not have authorization to create resource you can use SE93 and enter txn CRASH and then Test F8 button to go to the txn.

59. What Is The Process To Copy Planning Versions In R/3 ?

Ans:

Use OLIX to first delete previous MRP planning versions. Then use MCB& to create the new MRP planning versions by choosing the appropriate version you want to create as ICO Version. The info structure in this case is S094.

60. How To Use Create Planning Book With Two Tables ?

Ans:

To use two tables on one screen of Planning Book/Data View – select indicator next to second page title and give name. Additional tab page is displayed in Planning Book Maintenance wizard to define the key figures for the second table.

61. What Is Master Data In Dp ?

Ans:

Master Data in Demand Planning primarily is Characteristic Value Combinations commonly termed CVCs. CVCs are the planning combinations against which data is stored in key figures.

62. How To Copy A Process Chain ?

Ans:

To copy a process chain to another process chain, goto the Process Chain you want to copy and then type copy in the tool tar and hit enter. It will allow you to copy the Process Chain to another Process Chain that can be modified as per user’s requirement, saved, activated and used.

• Remark : To copy a process chain to another process chain, goto the Process Chain you want to copy and then type copy in the tool tar also if you dropdown on the toolbad under process chain you have a copy option, but this looks cool.

63. What Is The Behaviour Of Procurement Type X ?

Ans:

Procurement Type X – source selection is based on matching due date then priority then cost. If both In-house Production and External Procuremnet is possible then In-house Production (PPM) is chosen as source of supply.

64. What Is Ppds Fixing Horizon ?

Ans:

PP/DS fixing Horizon defines the PP/DS time Fence – within that period if heuristic is run no orders get changed.

65. What Is The Reuse Mode In Product Heuristic ?

Ans:

Reuse mode in Product Heuristic – makes the system to reuse orders already present in the heuristic run i.e. orders are not deleted and recreated.

66. What Is Planning Procedure ?

Ans:

Planning Procedure in Product Master (PP/DS) defines that when you convert a planned order to process order it is in De allocated state and not Scheduled state and more.

67. Which Are The Components Of The New Mysap Scm Solution ?

Ans:

SAP SCM 4.1 is the new available Supply Chain Management Solution offered by SAP. The SAP SCM 4.1 System includes SAP APO 4.1 (Advanced Planning and Optimization), SAP ICH 4.1 (Inventory Collaboration Hub) and SAP EM

68. What Does Apo Mean ?

Ans:

AP APO stands for SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization and is the planning component within the mySAP SCM solution.

69. Can Sap Apo Be Used As A Stand-alone Solution ?

Ans:

No, SAP APO always requires a backend ERP system for execution functions. In most cases, the backend system is an SAP R/3 system.

70. Can Sap Apo And Sap R/3 Be Installed On The Same Server And Use The Same Database ?

Ans:

No, SAP APO requires a separate server. The actual size of the SAP APO system may vary and depends on the data volume to be processed. You can find more details on this subject under the alias /sizing on the SAP Service Marketplace.

71. How Does Sap R/3 Communicate With Sap Apo ?

Ans:

Through the APO Core Interface (CIF) which supplies SAP APO with master and transaction data in real time. CIF is delivered through the R/3 Plug-In, which is something you have to install in your SAP R/3 system. This is the same Plug-In that you need for connecting a BW or a CRM system.

72. What About The Exchange Of Data Between The Two Systems ?

Ans:

With SAP APO you have a real-time integration to SAP R/3. The minute you change something in one system, it is immediately being transferred to the other and vice versa. And that goes for all data, be it a sales order, a production order or a purchase order. You do not have to perform any batch jobs for transferring data between the systems.

73. Do I Have To Maintain The Master Data Twice ?

Ans:

No. You create and change master data exclusively in SAP R/3. If you want to work with SAP APO, you need to transfer the master data from the SAP R/3 system. Depending on the scenario you want to use in SAP APO, you may have to enhance the transferred data with SAP APO specific settings, which are not relevant to SAP R/3.

74. What Is An Easy, Cost Efficient Way Of Installing Some Standard Sap Apo Scenarios ?

Ans:

SAP Best Practices for Supply Chain Management. Choose one or more of the mySAP SCM business scenarios that SAP Best Practices for SCM provide.

75. What Is Outlier Group In Apo ?

Ans:

Not sure if outlier group exist in APO.

Outlier : Lets say you have planned your expenses @ 500 $ per month. However due to festivities you see sudden spike in your expenses in the month of Oct, Nov and Dec (say by 400). Your annual forecast was 6000 but due to recent 3 month activity actual is 7200. These spikes are called outlier.

Smoothing : When you account for these changes over a period of time (even distribution). In this case it would be 600 per month instead of 500 till Sept and 900 for Oct, Nov & Dec.

76. What Is Consensus Forecast ? How Its Used ? What Are The Forecast Models Involved In ?

Ans:

Consensus forecast refers to a business process, not a system function. It basically means forecast created with the mutual agreement of the various business functions, e.g. supply chain, finance, sales, etc.

As such it is not linked to any statistical forecast models (I assume you meant that) and you can use any and all models, it will not create a consensus forecast for you. You have to take your numbers and discuss and agree about them with your colleagues of the different departments. That’s what will make your forecast consensus based.

77. What Is Meant By Functional Specifications Involved In Poand Ap ?

Ans:

Functional specifications are needs to prepared and given by functional consultant to the technical team or ABAP Consultant. so that they make enhancements. develop as per clients requirements.

Asume that you have purchase report : which contains characters and key figures. such as PO DATE, MATEIRAL NUMBER, MATERIAL DESCRIPTION, PO VALUE” AND AND SO ON. BUT standard report does’nt support for client’s for eg. Total consumption at production or Qty used it for manufacturing”. One has to give specifications.such why it is required, what is the use of new object, what specifications are required to develop by ABAP TEAM.

78. How To Find Out One Organization Using Multi-org Or Single Org ?

Ans:

If i am not wrong looking at the company code available on the system will tell us weather its single or multiple organization.

79. What Type Of s Can They Ask On Personnel Management ?

Ans:

They can ask about your goals and objectives hobbies sometimes to know u r learning capabilities y did u quit the earlier organization n so on this is what i was asked.

80. How Many Database Into Apo System ?

Ans:

SCM APO have 2 databases.

• Data Base server – master data stored.
• Livecache server – Transnational data stored.

The first one is in BW as Info Cubes and second data is stored in Live Cache. The data stored in Live Cache is used for planning and processing during transactions. Cubes are only for storing data and backing up data. The whole reason for making APO as a different server (box) is to make the process of simulation faster using Live Cache memory database which is faster than accessing the data stored in tables in other ECC module.

81. What is ERP Full Form ?

Ans:

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP is a business management software. It is a suite of integrated application that helps users to store and manage data of their business.

One of the most important activities associated with the implementation of ERP systems is the opportunity to streamline and improve the business operations of an organization through business process re-engineering and the by implementing the best practices and standards.

82. Why implement an ERP System ?

Ans:

An ERP is the best option for demonstrating value by providing real-time information to all employees of a corporation across departments.

1. Integrate Financial Information :

Enterprise owners want to understand company’s overall performance because in numerous situation they may find various versions of the truth. Finance and sales have another version and business units may have their version of the contribution of revenues for the organization. By implementing ERP, they can get a single version of the truth.

2.Standardize and Speed up Manufacturing Processes :

ERP systems come with methods for automating manufacturing process. This helps organizations to speed up and standardize the manufacturing process.

3. Reduce Inventory :

It helps to increase the visibility of the order fulfillment process of any company. It may lead to reduced inventories to make products.

4. Increases and Improves Interaction :

ERP system also helps to increase and improve interaction between customers and suppliers. Moreover, the suppliers can also communicate more seamlessly with sales, marketing, and finance team.

83. What are Primary Goals for the ERP System ?

Ans:

Primary Goals of an ERP System :

The goal of any ERP project is to track supply chain actions from inventory purchase, processing, and final shipment.

1. Efficiency :

The real-time information flow in ERP system eases the analysis, data, and reporting. It also improves decision-making. It also helps to reduce the need for maintaining multiple databases.

2.Cost Reduction :

Cost reduction is vital reason why small and large enterprises invest huge time and resources for implementing ERP systems. It will reduce waste and increase productivity. It also reduces overall production’s cost.

3. Quality :

Quality improvement is the most important goal of ERP. The software technology helps management to benchmark its quality performance against other manufacturing companies in the same industry.

4. Decentralization :

Enterprise resource planning systems can decentralize decision-making process at all level. It also allows users to have real-time access to the same data, such as production status and financial reports.

84. Steps To Implement On ERP System ?

Ans:

Step 1 : Strategic Planning :

• Assign a team of employees from sales, accounting, purchasing, and logistics department.
• Examine current business processes and information flow.
• Check the ERP software’s capabilities to check how they perform day-to-day tasks in the new system.
• Set objectives of the Project.
• Develop a project plan.

Step 2 : Procedure Review :

• Review software and check every aspect of the ERP software and identify gaps.
• Evaluate which processes are manual and should be Automated
• Develop standard operating procedures.

Step 3 : Data Collection and Clean-Up :

• Determine which information need to be converted through an analysis of current data.
• Define the new data that needs to be collected. Create spreadsheets to collect and segment the data into logical tables
• ERP database needs to be reviewed for accuracy and completeness
• Review and clean-up unwanted information

Step 4 : Training and Testing :

• Mock ERP runs to test the data accuracy.
• Make sure that the actual test mirrors the Standard Operating Procedures.
• The project team needs to perform a final test on the data and processes.

Step 5 : Deployment :

• Once ERP software has been configured correctly and financial data is sorted it’s time to go live.
• In the final evaluation, you need to create structured evaluation plan by keeping in mind all the goals and objectives which is set in the planning stage.

85. Benefits and Drawbacks of ERP system ?

Ans:

Benefits of ERP System :

• An ERP system is easily scalable so adding new functionality according to the business plan is very easy.
• By offering accurate and real-time information ERP software reduces administrative and operations costs.
• ERP system improves data quality by improving the underlying processes which help organizations to make better business decisions.
• ERP system helps to improve data access with the use of advanced user management and access control.
• ERP provides transparency to the organization
• Helps to eliminate redundancy in the data management system
• Offers a higher level of security by allowing restricting employee’s accounts only to the processes.
• It helps to helps make reporting easier and more customizable.

Drawbacks of ERP system :

• The up-front cost of the entire implementation can be very high for any small-to-medium-sized businesses.
• ERP deployments take a relatively longer amount of time. Sometime it may take 1-3 years to be implemented and be fully functional.
• Migration of existing data is very difficult to achieve. That’ why Integrating ERP systems with other standalone software systems is equally difficult.
• ERP implementations are very difficult in decentralized organizations with different kind of business processes and systems.

86. What is SAP APO ?

Ans:

SAP APO is a key component of SAP to form a technical foundation for SAP modules. It is designed for high consistency in business processes, from order generation to production planning, and improving customer service while reducing costs. It is used for SCM (Supply Chain Management) to plan and execute supply chain processes. SAP APO stands for Advanced Planner Optimizer.

It is also known as APS (Advance Planning and Scheduling) tool.

Another important function of SAP APO Module is the SCC (Supply Chain Cockpit), it provides users with a graphical instrument panel for controlling and managing the supply chain. Various department of a company uses SCC like demand planners, strategic planners and production planners.

87. Important components of SAP APO used in Supply Chain ?

Ans:

Following are components of SAP APO :

A. APO Demand Planning :

To run a successful business, market forecasting and planning is an important factor. “Demand Planning” is the art of understanding customers future demand and execution of such demand by corporate supply chain and business management. SAP Demand Planning provides advanced forecasting and demand planning tools that help companies to identify changes in demand as early as possible. Marketing and promotion are also done by the forecast of market demand using SAP APO Demand Planning.

B. APO Supply Network Planning :

SNP (Supply Network Planning) integrates information on purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation so that tactical planning and decision can be made and implemented based on a single consistent model. Based on heuristic and mathematical optimization methods, SAP APO SNP ensures that organization or company meets the demand and performs activities like transportation, production, and warehousing resources.

For instance, the deployment function determines how and when the inventory should be deployed to distribution centers or warehouse.

C. Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) :

It allows manufacturing units to plan material and critical resources in an optimal fashion. A frequent demand for manufacturing units is to produce with limited resources.

PP/DS helps to analyze the lead time and resources required for production. You can reduce the inventory cost, increase on-time delivery performance, and reduce

lead time for the product using SAP PPDS.

D. Global available-to-promise (global ATP) :

The purpose of “Global available-to-promise” is to determine whether the requested product by the customer would be available on given or promised date. The process deals with improving, on-time delivery performance, planning system integration and sufficiently increasing stock to buffer inventories.

E. Transport Planning and Vehicle Scheduling (TP/VS) :

By opting for best and short route of transportation, a company can save time, money and fuel spent on transporting and delivering goods. TP/VS provides transportation planner and schedules the routes at lower transportation cost. It offers functions like shipment consolidation, route determination, carrier selection, multi-pick, and multi-drop, etc.

88. New & Advance features in SAP APO ?

Ans:

On manifesting positive outcome of SAP APO System for business process, SAP APO is enhanced with extra features like

• SAP APO now enables transactional ERP systems in the supply chain to be interconnected. This will help in monitoring costs and pricing.
• It has become much faster than before as main memory of APO in SAP is upgraded to several gigabytes
• Now it comes with advanced optimization libraries like fast linear programming solver and efficient constraint propagation for scheduling problems.
• Scheduling is an important part of any business process. To deal with Scheduling, currently SAP APO uses the following approaches, Constraint Planning, Genetic Algorithm, and Repair Algorithm. The scheduling of a new version of SAP APO will be more accurate and schedule precisely at a particular time. With these advance SAP APO Modules, several supply chain planners can work simultaneously on one plan, each focussing on a small section of a larger supply chain.

89. What is SAP Basis ?

Ans:

SAP basis acts as an operating system or a platform for SAP applications to run. It supports the entire range of SAP applications.

90. What is the difference between Developer Trace, System Log and System Trace ?

Ans:

• System Trace : When you want to record internal SAP system activities, system trace is used. The trace is useful in diagnosis internal problems within SAP system and the host system.
• System Log: To know the recent logs for application server and CI, System log is referred.
• Developer Trace: In the event of problems, developer trace, records the technical information about the error or problem

For problem analysis and system monitoring Developer trace or System log is used.

91. In a situation where My SAP system is down (Users unable to login to SAP system), how to analyze the problem ?

Ans:

• Check the Database status
• SAP services
• SAP management console ( Dispatcher, IGS and Message Server)
• You need to find out trace root on the basis of point at serial no ( c ).
• Check network connectivity if everything is ok

92.What is private mode ?

Ans:

In private mode, the heap data is exclusively allocated by the user and is no more shared or available across the system. This occurs when your extended memory is exhausted.

93. What is OSP$ mean ?

Ans:

Two users “OPS$adm” and “OPS$SAP” Service are created in your SAP system and to connect and communicate with database internally this user mechanism is used.

94. What are the different types of RFC and explain what Transactional RFC is ?

Ans:

RFC (Remote Function Call) is a mechanism to communicate and exchanging the information between other SAP systems. There are four types of RFC’s system

• Synchronous RFC ( S RFC)
• Asynchronous RFC (A RFC)
• Transactional RFC ( T RFC)
• Queued RFC (Q RFC)
• Transactional RFC ( T RFC ) : This type of RFC is similar to asynchronous RFC, but by allocating a transaction ID (TID) it makes sure that the request sent multiple times due to an error must process only for once. In T RFC the remote system does not have to be available at the moment unlike asynchronous RFC.

95. What is OCM and how to apply OCM Patches ?

Ans:

OCM stands for online correction system, by using SPAM you can apply OCM Patches.

96. How to perform a SAP-export and import tables in SAP from OS level ?

Ans:

To export or import tables in SAP from OS level you have to follow three steps and by using R3trans utility in SAP

• Step 1 : Collect all list of tables to be exported
• Step 2 : Check whether enough disk space is available in the directory where you going to export.
• Step 3 : Create two control files for R3trans which will be used for import and export.

97. What is the difference between support package, kernel and SAP note ?

Ans:

SAP Note : An error in a single transaction or program is removed by implementing a SAP note.

Kernel : Kernel contains the executable files (.EXE) like other applications and when a Kernel upgrade is done a new version of the EXE file replaces the older versions.

Support Package : SAP support packages is a bunch of corrections, this can be used by applying transaction SPAM

98. How can you find the list of objects that have been repaired in the system ?

Ans:

The list of objects that have been repaired can be found in the system having ADIRACCESS keys.

99. What is the purpose of table TADIR ?

Ans:

Table TADIR contains object directory entries.

100. Is it possible to install SAP patches when other users are online ?

Ans:

When other users are online we can’t install SAP patches, as support manager will not be able to update and it will terminate it. So it is always feasible to better apply support packs when there is no users login into the system.