Streamlining MRO Procurement with SAP Service PO Collaboration

Service PO collaboration using SAP Business Network reduces manual steps and administrative efforts for suppliers, maintenance planners, and accounts payable teams. The process involves automatic service entry sheet generation upon invoice creation, eliminating the need for suppliers to submit documentation twice, maintenance planners to create SES manually, and accounts payable teams to post invoices manually. This streamlined process saves time and improves efficiency.

Service PO collaboration using SAP Business Network significantly reduces manual steps and administrative efforts for suppliers, maintenance planners, and accounts payable teams. The process involves automatic service entry sheet (SES) generation upon invoice creation, eliminating the need for suppliers to submit documentation twice, maintenance planners to create SES manually, and accounts payable teams to post invoices manually. This streamlined process saves time and improves efficiency.

The traditional process for managing maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) service procurement involves multiple manual steps, including the creation of purchase requisitions, purchase orders, service entry sheets, and invoices. Each of these steps requires significant administrative effort from various stakeholders. For instance, suppliers must submit documentation twice—once upon job completion and again upon SES approval. Maintenance planners must manually create SES based on supplier documentation, while accounts payable teams must post invoices manually. These manual steps introduce inefficiencies and potential for errors.

SAP Business Network addresses these inefficiencies by automating several key steps in the MRO service procurement process. Here’s how it works:

1. Purchase Requisition (PR) and Purchase Order (PO) Creation: A PR for external services is created from a maintenance order or manually by the maintenance planner. This PR is converted into a PO and sent to the supplier via SAP Business Network.

2. Supplier Confirmation and Work Initiation: The supplier receives the PO and confirms the order, starting the work.

3. Invoice Creation and SES Generation: Upon completion, the supplier creates the invoice online in the SAP Business Network. Upon submission of the invoice, an SES is automatically generated in the network and sent to the S/4HANA system.

4. SES Review and Approval: The maintenance planner reviews the SES and approves it. Once approved, the invoice is pushed from the network to the S/4HANA system for further processing.

This automated process offers several benefits:

- Reduced Administrative Effort: Suppliers submit invoices and associated documentation only once, saving administrative effort.
- Automated SES Creation: The SES is created automatically in S/4HANA, reducing the manual effort required from the maintenance planner.
- Streamlined Invoice Processing: Invoices are created automatically in S/4HANA, with the option to configure them to be parked or posted, saving manual invoice creation effort from the accounts payable team.
- Online Rejections and Resubmissions: Rejections and resubmissions can be handled online, further reducing manual intervention.

By implementing this process, organizations can achieve an effective, online, and touchless process for MRO service procurement. This not only ensures compliance with internal processes and policies but also reduces manual and administrative efforts, freeing up additional bandwidth for strategic and tactical activities.

References:
[1] https://community.sap.com/t5/spend-management-blog-posts-by-sap/benefits-of-using-service-po-collaboration-using-sap-business-network/ba-p/14148539