A new, highly customisable Fiori-oriented tool offers SAP S/4HANA users the opportunity to automate tasks that have previously required manual work before, during and after certain events in everyday business processes.
Situation Handling embeds itself into your existing S/4HANA Fiori framework and monitors for specific scenarios, inputs or data variations. It then not only notifies specified users of the event but provides intelligent support to help resolve a given issue. This increases the quality and efficiency of your business processes, while also proactively informing the right end users of matters that require their attention. And, best of all, it’s easy to use.
Agile, adaptable and applicable to a broad range of functions
A SAP-proprietary tool designed to enhance user experience, Situation Handling enables clients to define their own uses from a wide range of standard situation templates. What’s more, templates can be adapted to specific requirements in any business sector.
Situation Handling monitors specific data variations or input combinations, sending alerts by email or to Fiori launchpad for end-user execution or follow-up. The main built-in scenarios are focused on typical daily activities that are common to businesses regardless of their industry:
Some Situation Handling processes may be integrated with the Internet of Things, capable of monitoring remote devices and reporting accordingly. It’s accessible through Fiori on any device, including mobile devices. Requiring SAP S/4HANA v.1909 or later, end users can proactively address habitual issues while at the same time eliminating repetitive monitoring tasks—as Situation Handling simply automates them.
Use case: improving invoice processing
Many repetitive day-do-day tasks in business not only consume employees’ time but can prove costly if forgotten or not attended too quickly. An example of Situation Handling’s capability to automate those tasks can be found in invoice processing.
In conventional workflows, a payment advice received against several outstanding invoices must be checked against the invoices submitted, and receipt of that payment in the creditor’s account must be confirmed. If an invoice has been missed, it must be followed up individually. While mundane, this critical function can—particularly when multiplied across large numbers of clients—take up considerable time and negatively impact cash flow.
Situation Handling can be configured to search for invoices that have not been included in a payment advice and alert the end user. It can be refined to advise, for example, only if the received amount is short by a given percentage of the total due, or if invoices have been wrongly referenced on the payment advice. It can also be configured to offer narrative proposals for solutions to facilitate quick and correct decision-making by the end user.
Situation Handling offers clear benefits to S/4HANA users A strategic tool with multiple configurations and potential applications, Situation Handling optimises critical business processes, freeing human agents for more productive tasks. It further extends SAP S/4HANA’s agility and capabilities, keeping both SAP and your organisation on the cutting edge of the digitalisation revolution.
Coral García Cabañas
Senior Functional Consultant