SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management - Deployment Scenarios with key flow of Processes.
Supplier Lifecycle Management
SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management is split into the sell side and the buy side. Potential suppliers and suppliers operate only outside the firewall, that is, on the sell side, whereas employees in the buying company only operate behind the firewall, that is, on the buy side.
Supported Deployment Modes for the Buy Side of SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management
- SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management 2.0 as a standalone option
- SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management 2.0 as an add-on to SAP enhancement package 3 for SAP Supplier Relationship Management 7.0
- SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management 2.0 as an add-on to SAP Enhancement Package 7 for SAP ERP 6.0
Also,
The replication of SAP SLC business partners to the SAP ERP vendor and contact master data using customer vendor integration (CVI) is not supported.
If you intend to install SAP SLC on SAP ERP or SAP SRM, the corresponding Integration Component for SAP ERP Back-End system 1.0 SP08 or SAP SRM Back-End System 1.0 SP08 must be installed in SAP ERP or SAP SRM as well.
Supported Deployment Modes for the Sell Side of SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management
- SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management as a standalone option
- SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management as an add-on to supplier self-services (SUS), which is part of SAP Supplier Relationship Management 3 for SAP SRM 7.0
If SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management is deployed on SAP SRM configured as a SUS instance, the integration with SUS is also supported. SUS is used in the Plan-Driven Procurement and Service Procurement Classic business scenarios.
- The sell side is open to the internet and supplier access so using an ERP system might not be the best option
- One can even put it into another (new) client of the SRM system but then you'll get some configuration issues with business function activation but it is possible.
- If you don't have a suited system you can also put it standalone on a plain Netweaver box.
To establish communication between the buy side and the sell side in SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management, you can use either Remote Function Calls (RFCs), point-to-point communication through Web Service Reliable Messaging (WSRM), or SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP NetWeaver PI). For communication between the buy side and the back-end systems, only RFCs can be used.
The communication protocol depends on your specific requirements and on the way you have set up communication between systems in your system landscape. RFC-based communication requires less implementation time, whereas P2P requires configuration in SOA Manager, and SAP NetWeaver PI requires the installation of an integration server. Compared to RFC, however, P2P and SAP NetWeaver PI provide enhanced security.
Also, note if you upgrade to SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management 2.0, you must upgrade the buy side and the sell side.
SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management is split into the sell side and the buy side. Suppliers operate only outside the firewall (sell side), whereas purchasers only operate behind the firewall (buy side). The SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management security concept incorporates a demilitarized zone (DMZ) that is delimited by an inner and an outer firewall. Data exchange with external users (suppliers) in the demilitarized zone occurs in SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management, using HTTPS-based calling of Business Server Pages
To minimize security risks, you can decide not to use the following functions:
Supplier Registration on Sell Side
You can decide to create supplier data on the buy side only or transfer supplier data from back-end systems, and
not allow suppliers to register on the sell side.
Supplier Data Maintenance on Sell Side
You can decide to maintain supplier data on the buy side only and not allow suppliers to maintain their own data
on the sellside.
Appraiser Without System User in Supplier Evaluation
You can decide to not enable the function that allows appraisers who do not have a user ID to fill out evaluation
- responses. If you do enable this function, the appraisers without user ID receive a link to the evaluation via e-mail.
They are logged on with a technical user that is common to all appraisers without user ID.
You can use this business scenario to support the entire supplier lifecycle, from supplier registration to supplier
Master data maintenance, supplier qualification, supplier portfolio management, supplier classification, and supplier evaluation, thereby increasing transparency, reducing costs, and building sustainable supplier relationships.
You can deploy SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management in:-
- Standalone mode or
- As an add-on to SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM) and SAP ERP.
You can also deploy SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management in an integrated system landscape in which an SAP ERP
system or a Master data Governance (MDG) system is used as a central system for managing supplier master data.
The Supplier Lifecycle Management business scenario contains the following business processes:
- Registering Suppliers
- Maintaining Supplier Data
- Managing Activities
- Qualifying Suppliers
- Managing the Supplier Portfolio
- Classifying Suppliers
- Evaluating Suppliers Based on Events
- Evaluating Supplier Peer Groups
SAP Supplier Lifecycle Management 2.0 can be installed on top of SAP ERP 6.0 and SAP SRM 7.0. The minimum required product versions of SAP ERP and SAP SRM are:
- SAP Enhancement Package 7 of SAP ERP 6.0
- SAP Enhancement Package 3 of the SAP SRM 7.0
If you use SLC and deploy it on top of your SRM system, there are some issues regarding the integration.
If the SRM mechanism to replicate / update vendor data from a connected ERP system is used, some of the data is missing at special SLC tables (e.g. the SLC mapping).Same holds true if supplier / contact persons are being maintained using the SRM maintenance transactions.
If the SRM mechanism to replicate / update vendor data from a connected ERP system is used, some of the data is missing at special SLC tables (e.g. the SLC mapping). Same holds true if supplier / contact persons are being maintained using the SRM maintenance transactions.
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