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	<title>SAP Blog &#187; SAP Project</title>
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		<title>SAP AFS Solutions for apparel industry</title>
		<link>http://www.sapafs.net/2008/03/sap-afs-solutions-for-apparel-industry.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.sapafs.net/2008/03/sap-afs-solutions-for-apparel-industry.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Azwath Mohammad</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SAP AFS Special]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAP Project]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[SAP solutions needs money, time and effort. This can be a small investment for some organizations, but for most of the apparel manufacturers and even for some retailers this can be quite a big investment. So in SAP AFS, the cost factor and recovering that cost can be much more significant than in some other [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="text-align: justify;">SAP solutions needs money, time and effort. This can be a small investment for some organizations, but for most of the apparel manufacturers and even for some retailers this can be quite a big investment. So in SAP AFS, the cost factor and recovering that cost can be much more significant than in some other industries. As an AFS consultant we should be aware of this.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Apparel trade is very volatile in nature. Markets are affected by many factors and the trade needs to adjust very quickly. Fluctuations can be high and hence the predictability is low. Industry changes day by day. SAP AFS needs to be very flexible in this aspect. Solutions need to be developed in reasonably short timelines. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">With the challenges unique to the industry, the solution development has its own set of challenges. By its nature apparel industry is very labor intensive. Industry also works on a shorter cycle times. Changes are higher between products and even within the same product. All these together creates the requirement for a system which is simple to use, easy to maintain and highly flexible. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Every SAP AFS consultant must have these in back of their minds when they design a system for the apparel and footwear industry. Simplest systems will run longer with minimal intervention. Identifying the key reporting requirements and key processes and their requirements, analyzing them will give any consultant a good insight to the customer’s requirements. An AFS consultant can add great value in explaining and convincing the customer by weighing their complex reporting and operational requirements against the complexities created in the system and long term sustainability of the system. Simple systems are generally easy to maintain and upgrade. They are very flexible and can be automated easily. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">I will go for a simpler system if it can cover 80% of my requirements, if accommodating the remaining 20% is going to complicate my system by another 80%. Here the customer will have to do some compromises as well. But they will enjoy more benefits in long term like accuracy of data, ease of maintenance and flexibility for the business to grow with a simpler solution.</div>
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		<title>Know exactly what you want. More output means more input</title>
		<link>http://www.sapafs.net/2007/08/know-exactly-what-you-want-more-output.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.sapafs.net/2007/08/know-exactly-what-you-want-more-output.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Azwath Mohammad</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blue Printing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Requirement Capturing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SAP Project]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[In any SAP implementation the key step is requirement capturing. The solution will evolve on the requirements captured in this phase of the project. What is the attitude of users or the people who communicate requirements in this important step of the project? Most of them will putdown everything comes in to their mind without [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="justify">In any SAP implementation the key step is requirement capturing. The solution will evolve on the requirements captured in this phase of the project. What is the attitude of users or the people who communicate requirements in this important step of the project? Most of them will putdown everything comes in to their mind without analyzing whether this is a real requirement of the business or they will take this step very lightly and think these can be altered subsequently.</p>
<p>Actually this is the reason for most of the problems occur in SAP implementations. If the users themselves are not clear on what they want, it is very hard to configure a good solution for them. Especially this is true when it comes to reporting. Most of the users want reports with tons information on them. But when it comes to entering data they are not willing to do it. Most of the times complicated reporting means complicated data inputs. So every user must analyze their requirement before they pass it to the blue printing.  Every requirement must be analyzed to check their actual requirement and the benefit in the bigger picture. This is why it is always better to have a group of final decision makers who have the knowledge to analyze the requirement in the bigger picture and authority to make the decisions to filter and pass the requirements to the blue printing.</p>
<p>User requirements should represent the requirement of the business not the managers. In simple terms when managers change, there should not be any drastic changes to the requirements. This might sound funny, but most of the implementations suffer due to this.</p>
<p>Everyone involved in this process of requirement capturing must be educated on the importance of this step. And if they want to do a change to the requirements they proposed during blue printing, there must be a proper channel of approval and reasoning process to the change. Otherwise sometimes the solution will suffer due to the irresponsible actions of this nature.</p>
<p>Simple thing to remember, requirement is the foundation of the solution. If it is not stable solution will certainly not be stable.</p></div>
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