ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN FOR SELL FROM STOCK APPLICATION SOFTWARE

• US 20100070317A1
• Filed: 09/18/2008
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Hirth, Jochen, Krueger, Frank, Pascariu, Daniel, Boehringer, Sandra, Colle, Renzo, Yu, Tao, Kull, Irena, Hoffmann, Thomas, Bach, Thomas, Steinbach, Jochen, Adelmann, Stefan, Hetzer, Stephan, Reinelt, Klaus, Huppert, Andreas, Pachter, Nir, Von Der Emde, Martin, Bettin, Andreas, Breitling, Thomas, Zimmermann, Theo, Reinke, Ralf, Heun, Rainer, Ude, Cordula, Hartig, Steffen, Sudbrack, Andrea, Kasteleiner, Katja, Krasinskiy, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 8,321,250 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing sell from stock software useful to process quotations, capture orders, process delivery and invoice. The application is structured as multiple process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, and multiple service operations, each being implemented for a respective process component. The process components include an Accounting process component; a Financial Accounting Master Data Management process component; an Outbound Delivery Processing process component; a Site Logistics Processing process component; an Inventory Processing process component; a Customer Requirement Processing process component; a Supply and Demand Matching process component; a Logistics Execution Control process component; a Due Item Processing process component; a Balance of Foreign Payment Management process component; a Payment Processing process component; a Customer Invoice Processing process component; a Customer Quote Processing process component; and a Sales Order Processing process component.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising application software encoded on a tangible machine-readable information carrier, the application software being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the software comprising:

a plurality of process components, each of the process components being a package of software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the plurality of process components including;

an accounting process component that records all relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis;

a financial accounting master data management process component that is responsible for the management of financial accounting master data that is used both for accounting and costing purposes;

an outbound delivery processing process component that manages and processes the outbound delivery requirements for shipping goods to a product recipient;

a site logistics processing process component that combines tasks concerning the preparation, physical execution, and confirmation of logistics processes within a site;

an inventory processing process component that combines tasks required for the management of inventory and recording of inventory changes;

a customer requirement processing process component that combines the tasks required for controlling customer requirements in the supply chain;

a supply and demand matching process component that combines all the tasks necessary to ensure that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand, while taking available capacity into account;

a logistics execution control process component that creates, controls and monitors the supply chain execution activities necessary for the fulfillment of an order on a macro logistics level;

a due item processing process component that is used for the collection, management and monitoring of trade receivables or payables and corresponding sales or withholding tax;

a balance of foreign payment management process component that is used for the collection, processing, and reporting of receivables and payables according to foreign trade regulations that are required by the central banks to create the balance of payments of a country;

a payment processing process component that combines all the tasks necessary for the processing and management of all payments;

a customer invoice processing process component that is used for invoicing a customer for the delivery of goods or the provision of services;

a customer quote processing process component that is used to process quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms; and

a sales order processing process component that handles customers'"'"' requests to a seller for the delivery of goods on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price; and

a plurality of service operations, each service operation being implemented for a respective process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the passing of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the payment processing process component and the accounting process component;

the due item processing process component and the accounting process component;

the logistics execution control process component and the outbound delivery processing process component;

the outbound delivery processing process component and the customer invoice processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the customer invoice processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the accounting process component;

the sales order processing process component and the accounting process component;

the payment processing process component and the due item processing process component;

the logistics execution control process component and the site logistics processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the customer requirement processing process component;

the site logistics processing process component and the accounting process component;

the customer quote processing process component and the customer requirement processing process component;

the due item processing process component and the payment processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the due item processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component;

the customer quote processing process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

the site logistics processing process component and the site logistics processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the balance of foreign payment management process component; and

the due item processing process component and the accounting process component.

2. The product of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of process components further includes;

a pricing engine process component that processes price and tax calculations; and

a payment authorization process component that represents a reusable service that is used to process the authorization request for a payment made using a payment card at the clearing house; and

the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components further include interactions between;

a bank statement creation at bank process component and the payment processing process component;

the customer quote processing process component and an RFQ processing at customer process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and a supplier invoice processing at customer process component;

the payment processing process component and a payment processing at business partner process component;

the payment processing process component and a payment order processing at house bank process component;

the outbound delivery processing process component and an inbound delivery processing at customer process component;

a purchase order processing at customer process component and the sales order processing process component;

the payment authorization process component and a settlement processing at clearing house process component;

the due item processing process component and the settlement processing at clearing house process component;

the pricing engine process component and an external tax calculation process component;

the payment processing process component and the payment processing at business partner process component; and

the outbound delivery processing process component and the inbound delivery processing at customer process component.

3. The product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the plurality of process components is assigned to exactly one deployment unit among multiple deployment units, and each deployment unit is deployable on a separate computer hardware platform independent of every other deployment unit; and

all interaction between a process component in one deployment unit and any other process component in any other deployment unit takes place through the respective service interfaces of the two process components.

4. The product of claim 3, wherein the deployment units comprise:

a financial accounting deployment unit that includes the accounting process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

a production and site logistics execution deployment unit that includes the outbound delivery processing process component, the site logistics processing process component, and the inventory processing process component;

a supply chain control deployment unit that includes the customer requirement processing process component, the supply and demand matching process component, and the logistics execution control process component;

a due item management deployment unit that includes the balance of foreign payment management process component and the due item processing process component;

a payment deployment unit that includes the payment processing process component;

a customer invoicing deployment unit that includes the customer invoice processing process component; and

a customer relationship management deployment unit that includes the customer quote processing process component and the sales order processing process component.

5. The product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the process components includes one or more business objects; and

none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects included in any of the other process components.

6. The product of claim 5, wherein the business objects comprise a business process object.

7. The product of claim 5, wherein none of the business objects included in any one of the process components is included in any of the other process components.

8. The product of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of process agents, each process agent being either an inbound process agent or an outbound process agent, an inbound process agent being operable to receive a message from an inbound operation, an outbound process agent being operable to cause an outbound operation to send a message and each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

9. The product of claim 8, wherein the inbound process agents comprise a first inbound process agent operable to start the execution of a business process step requested in a first inbound message by creating or updating one or more business object instances.

10. The product of claim 8, wherein the outbound process agents comprise a first asynchronous outbound process agent that is called after a business object that is associated with the first outbound process agent changes.

11. The product of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise synchronous and asynchronous operations.

12. A system, comprising:

a computer system comprising one or more hardware platforms for executing a computer software application;

a plurality of process components, each of the process components being a package of software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the plurality of process components including;

an accounting process component that records all relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis;

a financial accounting master data management process component that is responsible for the management of financial accounting master data that is used both for accounting and costing purposes;

an outbound delivery processing process component that manages and processes the outbound delivery requirements for shipping goods to a product recipient;

a site logistics processing process component that combines tasks concerning the preparation, physical execution, and confirmation of logistics processes within a site;

an inventory processing process component that combines tasks required for the management of inventory and recording of inventory changes;

a customer requirement processing process component that combines the tasks required for controlling customer requirements in the supply chain;

a supply and demand matching process component that combines all the tasks necessary to ensure that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand, while taking available capacity into account;

a logistics execution control process component that creates, controls and monitors the supply chain execution activities necessary for the fulfillment of an order on a macro logistics level;

a due item processing process component that is used for the collection, management and monitoring of trade receivables or payables and corresponding sales or withholding tax;

a balance of foreign payment management process component that is used for the collection, processing, and reporting of receivables and payables according to foreign trade regulations that are required by the central banks to create the balance of payments of a country;

a payment processing process component that combines all the tasks necessary for the processing and management of all payments;

a customer invoice processing process component that is used for invoicing a customer for the delivery of goods or the provision of services;

a customer quote processing process component that is used to process quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms; and

a sales order processing process component that handles customers'"'"' requests to a seller for the delivery of goods on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price; and

a plurality of service operations, each service operation being implemented for a respective process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the passing of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the payment processing process component and the accounting process component;

the due item processing process component and the accounting process component;

the logistics execution control process component and the outbound delivery processing process component;

the outbound delivery processing process component and the customer invoice processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the customer invoice processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the accounting process component;

the sales order processing process component and the accounting process component;

the payment processing process component and the due item processing process component;

the logistics execution control process component and the site logistics processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the customer requirement processing process component;

the site logistics processing process component and the accounting process component;

the customer quote processing process component and the customer requirement processing process component;

the due item processing process component and the payment processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the due item processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component;

the customer quote processing process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

the site logistics processing process component and the site logistics processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the balance of foreign payment management process component; and

the due item processing process component and the accounting process component.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the plurality of process components further includes;

a pricing engine process component that processes price and tax calculations; and

a payment authorization process component that represents a reusable service that is used to process the authorization request for a payment made using a payment card at the clearing house; and

the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components include interactions between;

a bank statement creation at bank process component and the payment processing process component;

the customer quote processing process component and an RFQ processing at customer process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and a supplier invoice processing at customer process component;

the payment processing process component and a payment processing at business partner process component;

the payment processing process component and a payment order processing at house bank process component;

the outbound delivery processing process component and an inbound delivery processing at customer process component;

a purchase order processing at customer process component and the sales order processing process component;

the payment authorization process component and a settlement processing at clearing house process component;

the due item processing process component and the settlement processing at clearing house process component;

the pricing engine process component and an external tax calculation process component;

the payment processing process component and the payment processing at business partner process component; and

the outbound delivery processing process component and the inbound delivery processing at customer process component.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein:

each of the process components includes one or more business objects; and

none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects included in any of the other process components.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein none of the business objects included in any one of the process components is included in any of the other process components.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of process agents, each process agent being either an inbound process agent or an outbound process agent, an inbound process agent being operable to receive a message from an inbound operation, an outbound process agent being operable to cause an outbound operation to send a message and each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

17. The system of claim 12, the system comprising multiple hardware platforms, wherein:

the accounting process component and the financial accounting master data management process component are deployed on a first hardware platform;

the outbound delivery processing process component, the site logistics processing process component, and the inventory processing process component are deployed on a second hardware platform;

the customer requirement processing process component, the supply and demand matching process component, and the logistics execution control process component are deployed on a third hardware platform;

the balance of foreign payment management process component and the due item processing process component are deployed on a fourth hardware platform;

the payment processing process component is deployed on a fifth hardware platform;

the customer invoice processing process component is deployed on a sixth hardware platform; and

the customer quote processing process component and the sales order processing process component are deployed on a seventh hardware platform.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein each of the first through the seventh hardware platforms are distinct and separate from each other.

19. A method for developing a computer software application, comprising:

obtaining in a computer system digital data representing an architectural design for a set of processes implementing an end-to-end application process, the design specifying a process component for each process in the set of processes and the design further specifying a set of process component interactions, wherein;

the specified process components include;

an accounting process component that records all relevant business transactions for valuation and profitability analysis;

a financial accounting master data management process component that is responsible for the management of financial accounting master data that is used both for accounting and costing purposes;

an outbound delivery processing process component that manages and processes the outbound delivery requirements for shipping goods to a product recipient;

a site logistics processing process component that combines tasks concerning the preparation, physical execution, and confirmation of logistics processes within a site;

an inventory processing process component that combines tasks required for the management of inventory and recording of inventory changes;

a customer requirement processing process component that combines the tasks required for controlling customer requirements in the supply chain;

a supply and demand matching process component that combines all the tasks necessary to ensure that sufficient material receipt elements exist to cover material demand, while taking available capacity into account;

a logistics execution control process component that creates, controls and monitors the supply chain execution activities necessary for the fulfillment of an order on a macro logistics level;

a due item processing process component that is used for the collection, management and monitoring of trade receivables or payables and corresponding sales or withholding tax;

a balance of foreign payment management process component that is used for the collection, processing, and reporting of receivables and payables according to foreign trade regulations that are required by the central banks to create the balance of payments of a country;

a payment processing process component that combines all the tasks necessary for the processing and management of all payments;

a customer invoice processing process component that is used for invoicing a customer for the delivery of goods or the provision of services;

a customer quote processing process component that is used to process quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms; and

a sales order processing process component that handles customers'"'"' requests to a seller for the delivery of goods on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price; and

the process component interactions include interactions between;

the payment processing process component and the accounting process component;

the due item processing process component and the accounting process component;

the logistics execution control process component and the outbound delivery processing process component;

the outbound delivery processing process component and the customer invoice processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the customer invoice processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the accounting process component;

the sales order processing process component and the accounting process component;

the payment processing process component and the due item processing process component;

the logistics execution control process component and the site logistics processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the customer requirement processing process component;

the site logistics processing process component and the accounting process component;

the customer quote processing process component and the customer requirement processing process component;

the due item processing process component and the payment processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the due item processing process component;

the sales order processing process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

the inventory processing process component and the supply and demand matching process component;

the customer quote processing process component and the financial accounting master data management process component;

the site logistics processing process component and the site logistics processing process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and the balance of foreign payment management process component; and

the due item processing process component and the accounting process component; and

using the design including the specified process components and the specified process component interactions to develop a computer software application to perform the set of processes.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the specified process components further include;

a pricing engine process component that processes price and tax calculations; and

a payment authorization process component that represents a reusable service that is used to process the authorization request for a payment made using a payment card at the clearing house; and

the process component interactions further include interactions between;

a bank statement creation at bank process component and the payment processing process component;

the customer quote processing process component and an RFQ processing at customer process component;

the customer invoice processing process component and a supplier invoice processing at customer process component;

the payment processing process component and a payment processing at business partner process component;

the payment processing process component and a payment order processing at house bank process component;

the outbound delivery processing process component and an inbound delivery processing at customer process component;

a purchase order processing at customer process component and the sales order processing process component;

the payment authorization process component and a settlement processing at clearing house process component;

the due item processing process component and the settlement processing at clearing house process component;

the pricing engine process component and an external tax calculation process component;

the payment processing process component and the payment processing at business partner process component; and

the outbound delivery processing process component and the inbound delivery processing at customer process component.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein each process in the set of processes is a business process transforming a defined business input into a defined business outcome.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein obtaining digital data representing the architectural design further comprises editing the design before using the design.