SAP reports made easy: less effort, reduced development costs

Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH and top se16XXL

Rofin-Sinar, a pioneer in laser technology, relies on top se16XXL for spontaneous queries.

In day-to-day SAP operations, there are always new, spontaneous reporting requests that are brought to IT by the business. Additional requirements from the areas of master data control, test data searches or customizing checks arise almost daily. The answer is provided by analyses from the almost inexhaustible data pool of the SAP systems. However, this often involves time-consuming programming work that ties up capacity on a day-to-day basis.

If you can deal with these and more questions from the day-to-day SAP operations of any ERP system operation on an ad hoc basis without programming, you not only reduce the effort and therefore the costs of ongoing operations. In addition, there is a significant increase in efficiency thanks to drastically reduced response times and the ability to deliver the required information quickly.

Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH from Hamburg also faced these challenges. The globally active company is one of the technology and market leaders in industrial laser material processing and currently uses SAP at four production sites and two sales and service companies. Further rollouts are planned.

Wanted: Relief for SAP reporting

Previously, the evaluations were created with Query or SE16 in combination with Excel and the SVERWEIS command. The handling of these tools repeatedly led to difficulties.

An upcoming rollout at one location prompted the IT department to look for relief in SAP reporting. It was to be expected that additional specific evaluations would be required on site with each additional location. These would then either have to be implemented by the existing developers alongside the day-to-day business or the users would be given the opportunity to help themselves.

Requirements for the new solution

Withdrawal of authorizations for query and se16 / se16n, as there is no check of the authorizations
at record level.
Helping people to help themselves
Motivation of interested key users

Solution

The IT managers at ROFIN researched the market and found what they were looking for in the SAP-certified add-on from top flow. top se16XXL enables fast, effective ad hoc data evaluations without SAP programming.

The principle of the solution is the creation of any data extracts via logical links without programming.

Highlights

The add-on extends the functions of transaction se16(n), in which only one table can be accessed. All forms of SAP tables are browsed – pool and cluster tables are also possible. Additional tables can be read via inner join, outer join or full join.
With flexible SAP authorization control for data content, tables and table fields, the tool closes the security gap in SAP standard authorization and thus covers all the security requirements demanded by auditors.
Data records can be filtered, hidden and clearly compared with each other.
The ability to save queries avoids one-off programs and thus reduces the burden on IT.
In everyday use, top se16XXL supports troubleshooting and improves the quality of master data in SAP.
The tool for ad hoc reporting can be used on any SAP system, as it runs on the complete SAP system landscape SCM (APO), CRM, BW, SolMan, SRM, PI (XI).

Decision

After a test phase of 2 months, ROFIN opted for the SAP-certified tool top se16XXL. The decisive factor was the perfect match with the requirements.

“All the other functions that top se16XXL offers are an additional benefit that people are very happy to take advantage of and would no longer want to know about,” adds Manfred Saller, SAP Coordinator at ROFIN.

Result

Since top se16XXL has no dependencies with regard to other installed add-ons or support package versions, the implementation was simple and flexible in the existing SAP authorization concept. The training requirements were manageable thanks to comprehensive documentation and clear tutorials. The project managers at ROFIN are also very satisfied with the excellent support provided by top flow for all questions relating to the application. The add-on is mainly used at ROFIN by the developers at the German sites and by interested key users.

Benefit

“The workload is now primarily reduced for the developers at the sites, as queries are either created by key users or are much faster compared to pure ABAP programming. In some departments, queries are now created more easily, more quickly and with fewer errors,” says a delighted Wolfgang Kuchenbauer from the SAP team.

And Andreas Bauch, Service Logistics, explains:

“The top se16XXL enables evaluations across several tables without exporting and tedious preparation in Excel. This saves a lot of time and the database is always up to date.”

About Rofin-Sinar

Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH is part of the Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc. group of companies, which develops, manufactures and distributes laser beam sources and laser-based system solutions for industrial material processing. The product portfolio ranges from individual laser beam sources to highly complex systems and includes all key laser technologies such as CO2 lasers, fiber and solid-state lasers as well as diode lasers. The product portfolio is complemented by an extensive range of components. The company has been listed on the stock exchange since 1996.

Headquarters in Plymouth, MI (USA) and Hamburg; more than 20 production facilities in the USA, Europe and Asia; strategic sales and service network worldwide
Foundation: 1975 in Hamburg
Employees: 2,270 worldwide
Turnover: total USD 530.117 million (2014)
www.rofin.de

Success Story top se16XXL – Rofin-Sinar (PDF)

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