Best Practices for setting up transfers between Safran and SAP

Modified on Fri, 13 Mar at 10:17 AM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Case 1: Safran as Source, SAP as Receiver
Case 2: Using Safran Text Fields to "point" to SAP operations to update/create
Config example of mapping data from Safran to SAP
Data Round-Trip: Returning WorkOrder and Operation IDs to Safran
- Roundtrip Receiving Config SAP to Safran, example 1
- Roundtrip Receiving Config SAP to Safran, example 2
Suggested future improvements

Introduction

The use case for transferring data between Safran and SAP (both directions) has been the oldest and arguably the most important one for some of the companies using the solution. The way to set up Configs will vary depending on the specifics of the use case. These have been listed in the following sections, where the challenge of each is described and how it is addressed in the Config.

This article requires some technical knowledge of both SAP and how to do mappings using IDE, and is not recommended for the "average user"...
It tries to capture some "best practices" and provide a map to how to get started with examples from real life..

Case 1: Safran as Source, SAP as Receiver

When exporting activities from Safran to SAP, setting up a mapping to the SAP Hostfield "ORD_OrderHeader" is critical for structuring data. The specific value passed is far less important than its uniqueness:

Work Order Creation: A new WorkOrder is created for every unique value in this field.
Operation Mapping: All activities sharing the same unique "ORD_OrderHeader" value are grouped as Operations under that specific WorkOrder, starting with "0010", and using increments or 10 (i.e. next one being "0020")

Note: If Safran is the "sole source of truth" for SAP, i.e. the flow of data is one-directional, then you can ignore the section called "Case 2" below.

Case 2: Using Safran Text Fields to "point" to SAP operations to update/create

This case is only relevant for for bidirectional updates - i.e. when WorkOrders and Operations are allowed to be manually added in SAP and Activities manually added in Safran to update them.
When a project allows for the creation of Activities in both Safran and SAP, there is "no exclusive source of truth for a SAP schedule", Safran must "pinpoint" specific SAP operations to ensure data accuracy. This has currently been achieved in 2 ways for different use cases:

By mapping dedicated Safran user fields (e.g., Text1 and Text2) to the the ORD_OrderId and OPR_Activity fields in SAP.
By using the Safran Activity name as the "reference" to the WorkOrder/Activity using 12 digit code. E.g: 222222220010 (Where the first 8 characters, "22222222", references the WorkOrder number and "0010" the SAP Activity number. Note that this "split" of 12 characters into 8 + 4 can easily be achieved using two mapping formulas:
ORD_OrderId uses formula: Sys.Left(Activity.Code, 8)
OPR_Activity uses formula: Sys.Right(Activity.Code, 4).

The SAP Host Fields "ORD_OrderId" and "OPR_Activity" allow Safran to target (update or create) specific Work Order and Activity combinations

Config example of mapping data from Safran to SAP

This is an example of a mapping used when transferring schedule from Safran to SAP:

Row	ILAP term	Description	Data type	Direct map to Host field (alias)	Value Transformation Formula
1	ORD_OrderHeader	SAP Interface Order Identifier	String	uf_text24 (Tekst AO-header)
2	ORD_Orderid	Order	String	uf_text5 (AO number)
3	ORD_ShortText	Description	String		Sys.Truncate(uf_text24,40)
4	ORD_OrderType	Order Type	String		"PM10"
5	ORD_Plangroup	Planner group	String		uf_ref4=="HD" ? "SVM" : "SC"
6	ORD_Location	Location	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out1,"§",1)
7	ORD_Planplant	Planning plant	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out1,"§",0)
8	ORD_Plant	Plant for WorkCenter	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out1,"§",0)
9	ORD_MnWkCtr	Main work center	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out3,"§",1)
10	ORD_Maintplant	Maintenance plant	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out1,"§",0)
11	ORD_SuperiorNetwork	Subnetwork of	String		Sys.GetPart(uf_text6, "-", "L")
12	ORD_SuperiorActivity	Activity	String		Sys.GetPart(uf_text6, "-", "R")
13	ORD_WbsElem	WBS Element	String		uf_ref1 + "." + uf_ref28
14	ORD_LocWbsElem	WBS Element	String		uf_ref1 + "." + uf_ref28
15	ORD_StartDate	Basic start date	String		(EarlyStart?.Hour == 0 && EarlyStart?.Minute == 0 && EarlyStart?.Second == 0) ? EarlyStart?.AddHours(5) : EarlyStart
16	ORD_FinishDate	Basic finish date	String		(EarlyFinish?.Hour == 0 && EarlyFinish?.Minute == 0 && EarlyFinish?.Second == 0) ? EarlyFinish?.AddHours(17) : EarlyFinish
17	ORD_RevisionNumber	Revision Number	String		uf_ref22 == "UK" ? Null : uf_ref22
18	OPR_ControlKey	Control key	String		"PM01"
19	OPR_Activity	Operation/Activity Number	String	uf_text17 (SAP operasjon)
20	OPR_WorkCntr	Work center	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out4,"§",1)
21	OPR_Plant	Plant	String		Sys.GetPartIndex(uf_out1,"§",0)
22	OPR_Description	Operation short text	String		Sys.Truncate(Activity.Description,40)
23	OPR_CalcKey	Key for calculation	String		PlannedWorkHours > 0.0 ? 3 : 0
24	OPR_WorkActivity	Work involved in the activity	String		Activity.ResourceAssignments?.Sum(x => x.PlannedHours ?? 0)
25	OPR_ConstraintTypeStart	Constraint on the basic start date for the activity	String		"X"
26	OPR_StartCons	Constraint for activity start (Basic)	String		(EarlyStart?.Hour == 0 && EarlyStart?.Minute == 0 && EarlyStart?.Second == 0) ? EarlyStart?.AddHours(5) : EarlyStart
27	OPR_FinConstr	Constraint for finish of activity (Basic)	String		(EarlyFinish?.Hour == 0 && EarlyFinish?.Minute == 0 && EarlyFinish?.Second == 0) ? EarlyFinish?.AddHours(17) : EarlyFinish
28	CNF_FinConf	Partial/Final Confirmation	String		CurrentProgress == 100 ? "X" : ""
29	CNF_Complete	Indicator: No Remaining Work Expected	String		CurrentProgress == 100 ? "X" : ""
30	CNF_ConfText	Confirmation text	String		"ILAP update by AKSO"
31	CNF_ActWork	Actual work	String		Activity.ActualWorkHours
32	CNF_RemWork	Remaining work	String		CurrentProgress == 0 ? PlannedWorkHours : (ActualWorkHours/(CurrentProgress/100)) - ActualWorkHours
33	OPR_SystemStatus	Operation System Status (comma separated list)	String		uf_ref5?? "PREP"
34	OPR_Cancelled	Operation's Cancel Status	Boolean	uf_flag4 (SAP CANC)

Table showing example of Safran to SAP sending config.

Note that the Receiving Config to SAP is automatically setting default mappings so is trivial to create.

Data Round-Trip: Returning WorkOrder and Operation IDs to Safran

In many cases it is useful for Safran to have knowledge of what WorkOrderId and OperationID SAP created on the transfer from Safran to SAP. This can be implemented making an IEA using the Safran to SAP transfer as a so called "Predecessor IEA", and will be automatically executed in sequence. For such an IEA it is critical that it has set its receiving Host System Parameter to "Only affect specified mappings", and only 2 fields are set. See next section for the example config.

Roundtrip Receiving Config SAP to Safran, example 1

This receiving Safran Config example corresponds to the sender Config example in table above

Row	ILAP term	Description	Data type	Direct map to Host field (alias)	Formula
1	OPR_SystemStatus	Operation System Status (comma separated list)	String	uf_text40 (System status from SAP)
2	ORD_Orderid	Order	String	uf_text5 (AO number)
3	OPR_Activity	Operation/Activity Number	String	uf_text17 (SAP operasjon)

Table showing example of SAP to Safran receiving config (roundtrip Safran -> SAP -> Safran).

Roundtrip Receiving Config SAP to Safran, example 2

This receiver Config example is relevant if Safran's activity code is used to "point" to WorkOrder and Activity in SAP (see earlier description of the two variants of "Case 2" in beginning of article)

Row	ILAP Term	Description	Data type	Direct map to Host field (alias)	Formula
1	ORD_UserStatus	Order User Statuses (comma separated list)	String	uf_text31 (User Status)
2	ORD_SystemStatus	Order System Status (comma separated list)	String	uf_text25 (System Status)
3	OPR_SystemStatus	Operation System Status (comma separated list)	String	uf_text27 (Opr System Status)
4	OPR_WorkActivity	Work involved in the activity	String	uf_dec2 (Plan Hrs(Estimates)/Length)
5	CNF_ActWork	Actual work	String	uf_dec15 (EQ SAP EXP HRS)
6	Code		String	name	Activity.Code?.Replace("-", "")

Table showing alternative example of SAP to Safran receiving config (roundtrip Safran -> SAP -> Safran).

Suggested future improvements

Revised Config Design Recommendations

The original configuration required (by design at the time of first using IDE) an identical number of rows for both sending and receiving systems. To map one Safran field to three SAP destination fields, the source field had to be repeated three times. Recent updates now allow the receiving configuration to "duplicate" a row and assign it to a different host field, making these repetitions unnecessary.

Key Improvements:

Streamline the Template: Remove all redundant "red" items (see screenshot). By duplicating rows only within the receiving config—specifically for the three "plant fields"—the sender template becomes much leaner.
Shift Logic to Receiver: Hard-coded and calculated values (like "Remaining Work") should be managed by the receiving config.

Impact:
Implementing these changes would reduce the sending configuration from 34 rows to approximately 16, simplifying the mapping process by half. Additionally, the row marked in red (2) can be deleted, as it is already covered by default mapping.

Screenshot showing the current setup in sending Config (from Safran)