New features of SAP IBP 2502

Once the external navigation has been created, it is possible to use the standard functionality of Contextual Navigation to navigate to other apps.

Enhanced Integration with Process Management

The integration between Planner Workspaces and Process Management has been significantly improved, providing enhanced editing options for workbook assignments and variants related to tasks, along with direct navigation to Process Management. In the Manage Tasks app, planners can update the task workbook assignments for “Tasks Assigned by Me” and “Tasks Assigned to Me”. With the first option, planners can update the workbook assignment for each task, variants for each user, and versions. On the other hand, with the latter, planners can now overwrite the workbook variant or reset the assignment to its original status.

Change History is available directly in the Planner Workspaces

Tracking changes in planning data is crucial for maintaining data integrity. The latest update makes Change History accessible directly within Planner Workspaces. Planners can now review detailed records of edited data, including the identity of the person who made the changes, the timestamp, and the specifics of the modifications. To do that, planners can open a summary of the Change History of a specific key figure by clicking on the Change History-enabled key figures in the Plan view. This feature does not replace the Change History Analysis app but allows for a more immediate and straightforward analysis directly in the Planner Workspaces.

New additions to Analytics Stories

Throughout 2024, SAP has laid the foundation for creating standardised, best-practice analytics story dashboards. With the releases of SAP IBP version 2408 and 2411, we saw several enhancements to the Analytics Stories app in Fiori, including new standard key figures and pre-configured best practice dashboards for Sales and Operations Planning, Demand Planning, as well as Replenishment & Supply planning.

Best Practice preconfigured Analytics Stories now available for MRO

With the release of 2502, SAP introduces even more pre-configured analytics stories, now including Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Planning and Inventory Optimisation which are now available as part of SAP Best Practices sample content. These pre-configured dashboards, showcased below, provide a comprehensive foundation to help businesses effectively adopt, monitor, and analyse their repair and maintenance operations directly in Fiori. The visual insights from these dashboards enable more efficient reporting and decision-making in maintenance planning.

Additionally, this release introduces several new key figures to enhance the best-practice dashboards for inventory planning. This sets the stage for upcoming releases, with the roadmap promising further improvements, including more advanced pre-configured stories and analytics capabilities.

New additions to Order-Based Planning

Characteristics-Based planning

After previously being available only for Early Adopters, Characteristics-Based Planning (CBP) is now available with enhanced functionalities.

For those who are not aware of it, CBP allows planners to plan down to the nitty-gritty details – like colour, size, and material – making it perfect for products that present lots of variations. A standout feature is the ability to prioritise orders based on attribute combinations.

Picture this: you are managing the production of your favourite product, in a range of colours and qualities. With CBP, you can now decide which quality to prioritise for each colour. For instance, you might have premium, standard, and budget qualities for a different range of colours – yellow, red, orange, and pink. By setting priority orders, you can ensure that the products with the combination “premium quality-yellow” are produced first. This method ensures that your final products meet customer preferences and demands, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.

Moreover, attribute values are now propagated consistently throughout the entire supply chain. This means that, if a specific colour or quality is requested for a product, all components involved in its production will match these attributes, maintaining uniformity and coherence. These updates offer greater flexibility in planning by allowing businesses to utilise existing stock that meets their criteria, thereby reducing the need to create new components and optimising resource usage.

With CBP, SAP has introduced a powerful tool that brings detailed, attribute-based planning to the forefront, and we believe this feature will be further enhanced in the coming upgrades.

An additional tip

How to add your company logo in the Fiori interface

We wanted to share an additional functionality that is not a technical feature but rather a visually friendly addition.

With the new upgrade, you can now replace the SAP logo with your company logo – how cool is that!? To do this, simply go to the Manage Launchpad Settings app, click on Edit, and in the field COMPANY_LOGO_URL, upload a .png image. We can assure you that your users will appreciate this minor but nice addition!