Lesson: SAP GTS: Structure and Functions
Lesson Overview
SAP GTS combines various services that you can use for your foreign trade processes. This lesson provides an insight into the structure of the product and how its subfunctions are used in import and export processes.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
• Describe the SAP GTS product structure
• Explain how the services within SAP GTS are used in goods movements across borders
Business Example
Your company has branch offices in the United States and in the European Community (EC). It manufactures technical products that are sold throughout the world and procures components and trading goods from vendors in various countries.
Goods Movements Across Borders
For many companies, the import and export of goods is essential in many everyday business processes: The purchasing department orders goods for the company's warehouse or for end customers from vendors that are based abroad, and the sales department processes orders from foreign customers. These orders are subsequently delivered using transit procedures.
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© 2006/Q2GTS100 Lesson: SAP GTS: Structure and Functions
Figure 1: Goods Movements Across Borders
In contrast to domestic trade, foreign trade is monitored by specific authorities:
Regulatory agencies check whether imports and exports are permitted under foreign trade law and issue any licenses that are necessary. All international goods movements also have to be reported to the appropriate customs offices, using special forms or electronically. When goods are imported, import levies are imposed in the form of duties and/or specific taxes.
When you are performing international business transactions, you usually have to submit specific documents – in addition to the standard accompanying documents used in domestic business transactions, such as commercial invoices, shipping documents, and packing lists. For example, the authorities in many destination countries require certificates of origin from authorized public institutions, such as chambers of industry and commerce. If you wish to claim preferential treatment when paying import duties (customs tariff preference), you have to present appropriate proof of origin (for example, a movement certificate) to the competent customs office.
Product Structure
SAP Global Trade Services (SAP GTS) consists of three subsolutions:
SAP Compliance Management, SAP Customs Management, and SAP Risk Management.
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
Figure 2: Product Structure
SAP Compliance Management contains all the functions relating to import and export control regulations. This subsolution allows you to monitor procedures that are subject to licensing requirements and to comply with legal regulations that restrict or even prohibit trade with individual states, political groups, and individuals.
SAP Customs Management supports customs procedures. The main emphasis is on the connection to electronic customs procedures and the printing of accompanying documents, but there are also functions for classifying goods.
SAP Risk Management is the third subsolution added to SAP GTS 3.0. This is used for preference determination and the management of vendor declarations in relation to the issue of preference documents. It also supports the export of CAP products that qualify for a refund. The letter of credit administration has been added to SAP GTS 7.0.
The SAP Compliance Management subsolution consists of the services below:
• Embargo Check
• Sanctioned Party List Screening
• Product-Related Check (“Legal Control”)
All the check functions can be used in both import and export processing, and each of the services can be activated independently.
Note: The different check functions used in the SAP Compliance Management services are explained in more detail in the next three units.
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© 2006/Q2GTS100 Lesson: SAP GTS: Structure and Functions
SAP Customs Management comprises the two services below:
• Customs Processing
• Transit Procedure
The 'Customs Processing' service supports specific electronic customs declaration procedures and the printing of customs documents. The “transit procedure” service allows you to use the New Computerized Transit System (NCTS) in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland by enabling you to electronically process this particular customs procedure.
The SAP Risk Management subsolution offers the services below:
• Preference Processing
• Letter of Credit Processing
• Restitution
Using the “preference processing” service, you can perform preference determination and manage vendor declarations. If you are exporting CAP products, you can apply for and manage CAP licenses and restitutions, using functions in the “restitution” service. The “letter of credit processing” service enables you to manage letters of credit in SAP GTS.
Note: These services will also be covered in more depth later.
SAP GTS in the Company and in Logistics Processes
Measures against international terrorism, and the fall-off in paper-based communication brought about by electronic procedures have had far-reaching effects on our requirements of systems that model foreign trade processes. Not only is SAP GTS able to fulfill the considerably stricter requirements of foreign trade law, it can also connect the processes in your system to electronic customs procedures.
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
Figure 3: SAP GTS in the Company
SAP GTS serves as a central “gateway” to the outside world. While previous complex system landscapes often made data redundancy and manual processing unavoidable, SAP GTS unifies and centralizes import and export processes.
All the data required for carrying out foreign trade transactions is contained in SAP GTS in bundled form. SAP GTS also takes care of communication with the authorities and, if necessary, with foreign trade partners.
This unified procedure makes it significantly easier to achieve 100% compliance with legal requirements. It thus reduces the risk of a company incurring sanctions by inadvertently breaking the regulations – a major advantage, considering the often draconian nature of such sanctions.
The connection to electronic customs procedures greatly speeds up import and export processes. All the relevant documents can be systematically archived and retrieved for the purposes of external audits.
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© 2006/Q2GTS100 Lesson: SAP GTS: Structure and Functions
Figure 4: SAP GTS in Logistics Processes
The subsolutions SAP Compliance Management, SAP Customs Management, and SAP Risk Management manage all cross-border goods import and export processes, regardless of the type of feeder system.
As early as the purchase order creation stage of the purchasing process in the feeder system, you can use SAP Compliance Management to check whether the planned import is permitted and, if necessary, stop the order from being processed further. If the import is permitted, but requires a prior license from an authority, the license can be applied for in good time and stored in the system.
Sales staff can use SAP Compliance Management when putting together a request for quotation or an order to determine whether they are permitted to make a delivery to a particular customer. If a license is required for an export, you can apply for the license from the authorities and manage it in the system, just as you do in the import process.
When goods are being exported, staff in the technical department can create the documents or messages required for carrying out the customs procedure (export procedure, transit procedure) directly from SAP Customs Management and then send them to the authorities.
Depending on the country of destination, it is also advisable to perform preference determination in SAP Risk Management for the product that is to be exported. If you can export goods as originating products, the customer pays considerably less import duties due to customs tariff preferences, and you thereby strengthen your own competitive position.
You may want use a letter of credit to guarantee payment by the customer. SAP Risk Management supports the processing of payment transaction documents.
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
In the import process, SAP Customs Management supports the technical department with communication with the authorities while the goods are being transferred to a customs procedure. If you are a consignee in the electronic transit procedure, you can create the messages required to discharge the procedure in SAP Customs Management. Also, customs values can be calculated for every import consignment.
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© 2006/Q2GTS100 Lesson: SAP GTS: Structure and Functions
Exercise 1: Introduction to SAP GTS
Exercise Objectives
After completing this exercise, you will be able to:
• Obtain an overview of SAP GTS
Business Example
You want to find out about SAP GTS from sources that are accessible to the public.
Task:
Obtain an overview of SAP GTS on the Internet.
1. Call SAP's Web site, http://www.sap.com. Select your country version, then select Solutions and SAP xApps. This takes you to a Web site that contains detailed information on SAP GTS. Search for information that interests you.
2. What other way can SAP customers and partners obtain information?
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
Solution 1: Introduction to SAP GTS
Task:
Obtain an overview of SAP GTS on the Internet.
1. Call SAP's Web site, http://www.sap.com. Select your country version, then select Solutions and SAP xApps. This takes you to a Web site that contains detailed information on SAP GTS. Search for information that interests you.
a) Choose Start → Training@sap to start the Internet Explorer. To go to the SAP home page, enter http://www.sap.com in the browser window.
b) In the upper-right third of the screen, choose Country Sites, and on the next page, select your country version.
c) Solutions contains a link to the SAP xApps. The various SAP xApps are listed on the right-hand side.
d) At the bottom of the list, you will find a link to the SAP GTS Web site. Call this link.
2. What other way can SAP customers and partners obtain information?
a) Answer: SAP customers and partners can use the SAP Service Marketplace. You will find it at http://service.sap.com. You require a user ID (S-User) to access this site.
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© 2006/Q2GTS100 Lesson: SAP GTS: Structure and Functions
Lesson Summary
You should now be able to:
• Describe the SAP GTS product structure
• Explain how the services within SAP GTS are used in goods movements across borders
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
Lesson: System Architecture
Lesson Overview
You require a specific system architecture to use SAP GTS. In this lesson, you will become familiar with the basic principles of this system architecture.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
• Explain the basic system requirements for using SAP GTS
• Describe how the SAP GTS system and the commercial feeder system communicate
• Transfer master data from an SAP feeder system to an SAP GTS system
Business Example
Your company, IDES AG, intends to use SAP GTS in its branch offices in the United States and Germany. It checks the required system settings.
System Architecture
The SAP GTS product is based on SAP NetWeaver Application Server technology. The actual SAP GTS software is the SLL-LEG add-on. For feeder systems with release levels SAP R/3 4.0B to 4.7 inclusive, and SAP ECC 5.0, the PI_2004.1* plug-in is required in the corresponding release-dependent version.
This plug-in allows you to use SAP GTS functions, such as the foreign trade law audit of documents and master data, in the feeder system. In SAP ECC 6.0, the plug-in functions are part of the SAP_APPL component. The software component SLL-LEG is an add-on to the SAP NetWeaver Application Server. It contains the functions of the SAP Compliance Management, SAP Customs Management, and SAP Risk Management
Note: You will find more details on plug-ins in SAP Note 858706. In this note you can check, for example, which version of the plug-in is required for which feeder system release or SAP GTS release.
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Figure 5: SAP GTS in the System Landscape
You can use standard interfaces to connect SAP GTS to SAP R/3 and SAP ECC systems and/or to other solutions in the mySAP Business Suite, such as mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM), or mySAP Supplier Relationship Management (mySAP SRM). You can also connect the system to third-party systems.
For detailed instructions on how to configure SAP GTS, visit the SAP Service Marketplace (http://service.sap.com) by choosing the “instguides” quick link.
Figure 6: Basic Principle of System Architecture
The feeder system and the SAP GTS system exchange data directly by means of Remote Function Calls (RFC). Before this can happen, a logical system name ('logical system') that is unique in the system landscape has to be assigned to both systems. SAP recommends the naming convention “<system key>CLNT<client key>”. Clients are then assigned to the logical system names. Feeder systems with similar properties are grouped together in logical system groups.
Note: Such a system group is also required to connect only one feeder system to the SAP GTS system.
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
An RFC calls up a function module in an SAP system from within another system. RFCs allow you to set up connections between different SAP systems or between an SAP system and a third-party system. In third-party systems, specially programmed functions are called up instead of the function modules.
The interfaces of these functions simulate function modules.
In an SAP R/3 or SAP ECC system, you can perform all the substeps required to configure an RFC connection in transaction /SAPSLL/MENU_LEGALR3 in the SAP GTS Cockpit, on the Basic Settings tab page. In the SAP GTS system, you can use transaction /SAPSLL/MENU_LEGAL to call a corresponding Cockpit and choose the System Communication/Workflow button. You must also enter settings in SAP GTS Customizing (SAP Global Trade Services → System Communication
→ System Connection to Feeder System).
Note: The steps required to configure the system connection are described in detail in the configuration guides for the SAP GTS subsolutions SAP Compliance Management, SAP Customs Management and SAP Risk Management. You will find these guides in the Service Marketplace, by choosing the “instguides” quick link.
Master Data Replication
You forward all the business partner records and product master records, and any bills of material relevant to preference determination, from your feeder system to the SAP GTS system with a direct RFC. A distinction is made between the initial transfer of data when the SAP GTS system goes live and the regular transfer of new or changed data in day-to-day processes. To perform the initial data transfer from SAP R/3 or SAP ECC, you use the transactions /SAPSLL/MATMAS_DIRR3 (material master), /SAPSLL/DEBMAS_DIRR3 (customer master), /SAPSLL/CREMAS_DIRR3 (vendor master), and /SAPSLL/BOMMAT_DIRR3 (bills of material). You can find these and all other data transfer transactions in the SAP GTS Cockpit of the feeder system (transaction /SAPSLL/MENU_LEGALR3).
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Figure 7: Master Data Distribution
After the initial transfer of data records, the product master data , business partner master data, and any bills of material, are available in the SAP GTS system. This master data is in part in SAP GTS. For example, commodity codes for the customs processing and the foreign trade law controls are assigned to the product master records, and business partners undergo sanctioned party list screening.
Regular transfers of new and changed data are carried out using change pointers.
If there are changes to master data, the system writes change pointers, depending on the default settings. On the basis of these pointers, the system determines data records that have been changed and transfers only these records to the SAP GTS system. Usually, jobs are defined for regular data transfer using the RBDMIDOC program. This program reads all the change pointers for a message type that have not been processed yet (for example, /SAPSLL/MATMAS_SLL for material masters) and uses an RFC to forward the relevant master records to the SAP GTS system.
Note: For this purpose, SAP GTS uses what are known as reduced message types. These message types only contain a small number of the fields of the complete master record, namely only those required by SAP GTS. Only the changes to these fields are logged with a change pointer.
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
Figure 8: Example: Transferring a Product Master
All the goods to be imported and exported are mapped in product masters in SAP GTS. You send material master data from the feeder system to the SAP GTS system, which then automatically creates product masters for the transferred material master records. The data transferred from the feeder system includes goods descriptions, units of measure, and in SAP GTS 7.0, also weights.
In SAP terminology, a product master's data record consists of various “views”:
For example, along with the General Basic Data, there are the Classification and Legal Control views. The General Basic Data view contains the base unit of measure and possible alternative base units of measure from the feeder system material, as well as the internal SAP GTS product identification number. In the Classification View, the commodity code for classifying the product is stored in a customs tariff. The Legal Control view, which is intended for managing import and export controls, is very similar. It allows you to create a code that classifies the product for import or export control.
Note: You can also transfer commodity codes from the feeder system (see the “List of Goods” and “Nomenclatures and Classification” lessons).
However, SAP Customs Management and SAP Compliance Management provide much simpler functions for classifying product master data.
Customer and vendor master records that you transfer from your SAP R/3 or SAP ECC feeder system to the SAP GTS system are stored there automatically in the form of SAP business partner master records. The address data of the feeder system master record is also transferred to SAP GTS. SAP business partners can be used in a number of different SAP systems (for example, to combine partner data that is distributed across multiple systems within a company). They are part of the cross-application functions of SAP R/3 and SAP ECC, but they are also used in the mySAP CRM application, for example.
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You define the exact function that an SAP business partner performs for your company by assigning a business partner role to it in the system. A number of pre-defined business partner roles are supplied for SAP GTS:
Figure 9: SAP Business Partner Roles
When you are creating a new SAP business partner, the system combines centralized and application-specific data. SAP business partners for SAP GTS are always of the type “Organization”. The SAP business partners for the customers and vendors transferred from the feeder system are automatically assigned the corresponding business partner roles “customer” (SLLCPC) and “vendor”
(SLLCPS) by the system.
Organizational Structures
In SAP GTS, you map your own company using the organizational units foreign trade organization and legal unit.
Unit 1: Introduction GTS100
Figure 10: Organizational Units in SAP GTS
To use the SAP GTS functions, you must define at least one foreign trade organization. This organizational unit maps the customs and foreign trade law system in your company. If the feeder system is an SAP R/3 or SAP ECC
To use the SAP GTS functions, you must define at least one foreign trade organization. This organizational unit maps the customs and foreign trade law system in your company. If the feeder system is an SAP R/3 or SAP ECC