System and method for process controls in master data modeling

• US 8,407,222 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Issued: 03/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Schaude, Horst F., Bruss, Ingo, Bauer, Michael H., Morsch, Andreas F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rostami, Mohammad S
• Application Number:
  US11/323,377
• Publication Number:
  US 20070162416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,644 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/737
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

In an embodiment of a computer-based system, a database and attributes to access that database are provided. The computer-based system is configured for one or more process controls, each of the one or more process controls comprising a subset of the plurality of attributes. The computer-based system is further configured to enable access to the database using the one or more process controls.

Claims

1. A process comprising:

providing a master database in a central computer-based system, the master database comprising all data for all divisions of a business organization;

providing a plurality of attributes to access the master database;

configuring the central computer-based system for process controls, each of the process controls comprising a subset of the plurality of attributes, wherein the subset for a particular process control is identified at the time of design of the particular process control;

configuring the central computer-based system to enable access to the master database using the process controls;

defining a first process control to include standard attributes, wherein standard attributes define data that the process control always retrieves from the master database;

defining a second process control to include standard attributes and variable attributes, wherein variable attributes define data that the process control does not always retrieve from the master database, but define data for which the process control can be programmed to retrieve, such that a particular process control includes only the attributes to retrieve data from the master database that are relevant to the division that is associated with the particular process control; and

providing a plurality of process controls, each process control associated with a particular division of the business organization, such that each division of the business organization retrieves only the data from the master database that are relevant to the particular division;

wherein the plurality of process controls include a material sales process control comprising data relating to materials, a service product sales process control comprising data relating to sales of services, a warranty service process control comprising data relating to warranty information, an individual material sales process control comprising data relating to individual material sales, a material financials process control comprising financial data related to a material, a material inventory process control comprising logistical data of a business organization, a material delivery process control comprising data relating to shipping and distribution, a material supply planning process control comprising data relating to procurement planning, a material availability confirmation process control comprising data relating to material availability, a material procurement process control comprising data relating to material procurement, and a service product procurement process control comprising data relating to service product procurement.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the master database comprises a plurality of tables.

3. The process of claim 1, further comprising enabling the computer-based system to retrieve a subset of attributes from the master database according to each process control.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes of each process control is related to a particular business process of a business organization.

5. A system comprising:

a computer processor adapted to provide a master database in a central computer-based system, the master database comprising all data for all divisions of a business organization;

a computer processor adapted to provide a plurality of attributes to access the master database;

a computer processor adapted to configure the central computer-based system for process controls, each of the process controls comprising a subset of the plurality of attributes, wherein the subset for a particular process control is identified at the time of design of the particular process control;

a computer processor adapted to configure the central computer-based system to enable access to the master database using the process controls; and

defining a first process control to include standard attributes, wherein standard attributes define data that the process control always retrieves from the master database;

defining a second process control to include standard attributes and variable attributes, wherein variable attributes define data that the process control does not always retrieve from the master database, but define data for which the process control can be programmed to retrieve, such that a particular process control includes only the attributes to retrieve data from the master database that are relevant to the division that is associated with the particular process control; and

providing a plurality of process controls, each process control associated with a particular division of the business organization, such that each division of the business organization retrieves only the data from the master database that are relevant to the particular division;

wherein the plurality of process controls include a material sales process control comprising data relating to materials, a service product sales process control comprising data relating to sales of services, a warranty service process control comprising data relating to warranty information, an individual material sales process control comprising data relating to individual material sales, a material financials process control comprising financial data related to a material, a material inventory process control comprising logistical data of a business organization, a material delivery process control comprising data relating to shipping and distribution, a material supply planning process control comprising data relating to procurement planning, a material availability confirmation process control comprising data relating to material availability, a material procurement process control comprising data relating to material procurement, and a service product procurement process control comprising data relating to service product procurement.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the master database comprises a plurality of tables.

7. The system of claim 5, further comprising a computer processor adapted to enable the central computer-base system to retrieve a subset of attributes from the master database according to each process control.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the plurality of attributes of each process control is related to a particular business process of a business organization.

9. A tangible machine-readable storage device comprising instructions thereon for executing a process comprising:

providing a master database in a central computer-based system, the master database comprising all data for all divisions of a business organization;

providing a plurality of attributes to access the master database;

configuring the central computer-based system for process controls, each of the process controls comprising a subset of the plurality of attributes, wherein the subset for a particular process control is identified at the time of design of the particular process control;

configuring the central computer-based system to enable access to the master database using the process controls; and

defining a first process control to include standard attributes, wherein standard attributes define data that the process control always retrieves from the master database;

defining a second process control to include standard attributes and variable attributes, wherein variable attributes define data that the process control does not always retrieve from the master database, but define data for which the process control can be programmed to retrieve, such that a particular process control includes only the attributes to retrieve data from the master database that are relevant to the division that is associated with the particular process control; and

providing a plurality of process controls, each process control associated with a particular division of the business organization, such that each division of the business organization retrieves only the data from the master database that are relevant to the particular division;

wherein the plurality of process controls include a material sales process control comprising data relating to materials, a service product sales process control comprising data relating to sales of services, a warranty service process control comprising data relating to warranty information, an individual material sales process control comprising data relating to individual material sales, a material financials process control comprising financial data related to a material, a material inventory process control comprising logistical data of a business organization, a material delivery process control comprising data relating to shipping and distribution, a material supply planning process control comprising data relating to procurement planning, a material availability confirmation process control comprising data relating to material availability, a material procurement process control comprising data relating to material procurement, and a service product procurement process control comprising data relating to service product procurement.

10. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9, wherein the master database comprises a plurality of tables.

11. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9, further comprising instructions thereon for enabling the central computer-based system to retrieve a subset of attributes from the master database according to each process control.

12. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9, wherein the plurality of attributes of each process control is related to a particular business process of a business organization.