Chapter 9
Information System
The large amount and varied nature of the data arising in a project means Data Flow in Projects
that those involved in the project need an information system which supplies
data, reports and analyses that are current, clear, and comprehensive. This
helps ensure that the project runs as smoothly as possible.
The information system is an efficient and flexible project analysis tool. With Information System for
it you can produce and display your own analyses from the wide-ranging Optimal Project Analysis
data in a project. Information is available on:
Project status
describing the current state of a project in light of the various factors
which affect it.
Project progress
telling you how a project is developing and forms the basis for taking
action.
Since not everyone in the project needs the same information, the informa- Project Reports
tion system provides the data and you select the degree of detail appropriate
for your role in the project, for example:
budget
costs and revenues
finances
project structure and schedule
resources
In many cases, the best way to measure project progress is to compare dif- Project Versions
ferent versions of the same project. With the Project System you can create
project versions that are either:
time-dependent
status-dependent
You can compare as many project versions with each other as you like. Each
project version is displayed with a different color so that you can compare
by column or row to evaluate trends in costs or schedules.
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Project Views You can display the data you want to evaluate in the information system in a
number of different views, from the point of view of:
the project structure
a subhierarchy, such as a profit center hierarchy
a cost center hierarchy
a summarization hierarchy
sales (for example, by sales order)
Figure 9-1: R/3 PS Information System
Capabilities of the The information system is a tool which you can use to define the appearance
Information System and detail of your analyses to meet your own requirements. The analyses are
in the form of lists or graphics. You can produce all the lists online or in the
background. Some of the features of the information system include:
You can easily define your own reports and analyses.
You can save different versions of your project and compare them.
You can save different variants of standard evaluations for consistent
reporting.
You can navigate within the analyses on the screen.
From each information system, you can branch to the other project
information systems.
You can transfer data to Microsoft products such as Access, Excel,
Project or to plant data collection systems.
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Report Selection
The information system includes a hierarchically structured report selection
facility (also called the “report tree”). This is a freely-defined structure used
to collect the Project System reports at a central location and arrange them in
a hierarchy. SAP provides a standard report tree, but you can define your
own report trees. Some report trees can be defined on a customer-specific or
user-oriented basis. You can include standard reports in your report trees,
along with ones you have defined yourself. You can remove them as you
wish.
Report Painter
You can use the Report Painter to write Report Writer reports quickly and
easily. You can create new reports, change existing ones, or create reports
based on a reference report.
Costs/Revenues/Finances
The cost information system supplies standard reports on budget, costs,
revenues, and finances in the project.
Figure 9-2: Cost Information System
The various report contents can be reproduced multidimensionally. You can
assign the display levels as you wish. It is the flexibility of the information
system that enables it to meet your specific information requirements.
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Navigation Over All The information system includes a drill-down function, with which you can
Operative Levels choose the level of information using the analysis path. You also define the
sequence in which information is displayed. You can analyze a project over
the following operative levels:
work breakdown structure
network
cost elements
line items
Figure 9-3: Information System Database: Example
The displays include data for orders assigned to the project. You can view
the same report object from different angles.
Reports
Standard Reports The cost information system includes a number of standard reports covering
a range of information needs common to many users. These include
planned/actual and budget/assigned funds comparisons.
You can adapt the content and layout of these standard reports to your own
needs at any time.
Defining Your Own Reports In addition to the standard reports, the information system includes a facility
for defining your own reports. You can define both the content and the lay-
out of the reports. The information system brings the extensive technical
options available in report and analysis definition together with the
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Information System 9
values and accounting concepts in Controlling. You can add the reports you
define to the report trees. You can thus build up a library of reports specific
to your project.
Figure 9-4: Budget Structure Report
The following values are available for report definition purposes:
actual
commitment
plan
budget
sales orders
results analysis
You can define your own reports for all report types.
All the reports available online in the cost information system can also be Online and Background
processed in background processing. This is a good idea when you are Processing
processing large amounts of data and are under time pressure.
Different Report Types
The structure report shows comparisons of different values, such as Structure Reports
planned/actual or budget/committed, cross-cost element, for projects, work
breakdown structures, or WBS elements.
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Cost Element Reports You can use the cost element reports to evaluate the following objects in the
project by cost element:
projects
WBS elements
networks
Figure 9-5: Cost Element Report
Line-Item Reports You can use the line-item report to display flexible analyses, formatted
according to various criteria and showing individual postings.
There are line-item reports for the following values:
actual
planned
commitment
budget
The Project System has standard reports for line items, with different docu-
ment information. You can change the format of the line-item reports at any
time to suit your own needs.
As the line-item display can cover a large volume of data, the Project System
has a number of functions with which you can structure your selection of
line items. You can sort and/or summarize all information stored in the
document inventory.
You can also access individual documents, such as the purchase order,
directly from the line-item report.
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Information System 9
Project Summarization
The reports described so far cover one project. However, with project sum- Analyzing More
marization, you can analyze and summarize several projects or sub-projects Than One Project
of the same type under one generic term. The following can be summarized:
values from WBS elements
values from activities and activity elements
structure, budget, and cost element related values
Figure 9-6: Project Summarization
Project data is summarized using hierarchy structures which you define. The User-Defined
individual hierarchy levels are defined using characteristics. A distinction is Summarization Hierarchies
drawn between:
reference characteristics, which refer to fields in the project master
record
user-defined characteristics
You can branch from a cost element-oriented summarization report to the
cost element-oriented project report for a summarization object. It is thus
possible to branch from the summarization report to detailed information for
a particular project.
Project summarizations, like project reports, can call on standard reports and
the full range of functions in the cost information system.
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Structure/Dates
Information on The view “Structure/Dates” in the information system provides you with
the Project Structure information not only on your project schedule, but also on all aspects of the
project itself.
You can select among the objects belonging to a project, such as WBS
elements, networks, activities, material components, production orders,
and maintenance orders, and show their current status or the hierarchi-
cal relationships between them.
You can use the selection criteria to vary the depth of the data display –
for example, to total, summarize, compare, or sort – and choose between
lists or graphics.
Figure 9-7: Information System: Structure/Dates
Views in the Information You can choose among several views in the structure/dates information
System: Structure/Dates system for information in varying degrees of detail:
The object list displays all objects in a hierarchical structure.
You can access individual overviews for every object type in a project –
for example, to see all the activities in a project.
You can branch to detail screens for networks, WBS elements etc.
Presentation Options The information system has extensive functions with which you can process
all the lists and overviews
Statistics show you the current state of the project – for example, the
number of WBS elements and activities, which activities are critical, the
number of activities begun ahead of or behind schedule, the number of
objects released and partially confirmed.
You can add further information to the list at any time, by selecting
fields such as those for work or dates.
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Information System 9
You can restrict the data in the list by means of filters. For example, you
can specify a particular manager, controlling area, or priority.
You can change the value representation and layout of the list.
You can sort the individual overviews using your own criteria, and
compare values.
You can print out all the lists and views.
You can use the following graphics to obtain a clear display of the informa- Graphics
tion you need:
structure graphic
hierarchy graphic
Gantt chart
network graphic
period drill-down graphic
portfolio graphic
SAP presentation graphics:
histogram
totals curve
correlation
ABC analysis
segmenting
classification
You can adapt the value representation and the layout of the graphics to
meet your individual needs.
From each information system, you can branch to: Accessing Other Project
Information Systems
costs/finances/revenues information system
resource information system
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Resources
In the resource information system you can get information relevant to
purchasing, materials planning or capacity planning, such as:
capacities
missing parts
stock/requirements list
pegged requirements
order reports
reservations
purchase requisitions
purchase orders
outline agreements
Capacities
You can use the resource information system to evaluate the capacity load on
the work centers used in your project.
Multi-project You can evaluate capacity requirements per project or per work center for
multiple projects.
Cumulation of Capacity You have the flexibility to cumulate capacity any way you like by defining
your own work center hierarchies. When you take advantage of this func-
tionality, you can make cross-plant or even cross-company capacity evalua-
tions.
Problem Notification The Project System automatically notifies you of problems such as backlogs
or capacity overloads.
Evaluations make it possible for you to analyze capacity loads for a work
center, caused by networks or production orders, for example.
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You can predefine capacity evaluations in a profile. In this profile, but also Flexible Capacity
interactively, you can specify: Evaluations
how the various screens should display the data to be evaluated.
how the data should be evaluated and how it should be displayed in
reports or graphics – for example, target and remaining requirements.
Figure 9-8: Resource Information System
You can perform capacity evaluations in the resource information system Overviews and Graphics
using various views:
The standard overview shows capacity requirements, available capacity
of selected work centers, and the committed capacities of the work
centers by period.
The capacity detail list shows the activities causing capacity require-
ments in individual periods.
The variable overview allows you to group capacity requirements the
way you want to see them and leaves out data you don't want to see –
for example, the requirements caused by created or released networks.
Each overview can also be displayed graphically.
Portfolio Graphics
The flood of information which often comes with projects calls for a graphic
display, from which you can access reports on the progress of individual
projects quickly and easily.
In the Project System, you can represent costs and work of several projects at
once in the form of a portfolio graphic, based on summarized data. This type
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of evaluation is also known as project status analysis. The portfolio graphic
is useful in analyzing project trends.
Figure 9-9: Cost/Schedule Variance Analysis Using Portfolio Graphics
Earned Value Analysis
For successful project control you need more than reports showing only
costs, resources, or dates. Meaningful information on project performance is
only possible when you link variances to the factors which cause them in
earned value analysis. The Project System calculates the earned value of
work performed for tasks in a project by multiplying the computed percent-
age of completion for the task by a base value, such as the planned costs, for
that task. Earned value analysis is suitable for monitoring internal project
performance, as well as for external reporting to your customers.
You can customize the Project System and choose from various measure-
ment methods to perform earned value analysis. For example, you can esti-
mate the degree of completion for individual work packages.
You can also calculate various ratios and variances, which will help you in
checking the status and progress of your project, and analyze the develop-
ment of these values over time.
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Information System 9
You can display the values in lists or graphics. In customer projects, you can
use the earned values as the basis for profitability analysis.
Figure 9-10: Earned Value Analysis
Measurement Methods in Earned Value Analysis
Measurement methods in earned value analysis consist of a measurement
technique which was predefined by SAP and additional parameters.
Measurement techniques define how the degree of completion will be Measurement Techniques
determined. In the Project System, the following measurement techniques
are available:
start - finish rule
milestone technique
estimates
degree of processing
time proportionality
secondary proportionality
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Measurement Methods In addition, you can also define parameters for certain measurement tech-
niques. Measurement methods are the combination of these parameters plus
the measurement techniques. You can use the following parameters to define
your own measurement method:
Value for the initial percentage of completion (POC) in the start-finish
rule measurement technique.
Maximum POC in estimates and time proportionality measurement
techniques
How does the Project System support detailed analysis of information for
each project team member?
❏ You can configure company-specific analyses in Customizing.
❏ A variety of graphic functions ensures that data is displayed clearly and
can be sent on to other users.
❏ You can summarize information on a project-specific (WBS, classifica-
tion) or organization-specific (cost center, work center etc.) basis.
❏ You can transfer data for decentralized planning to Microsoft Access,
Excel, Project, and plant data collection (PDC) systems.
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