Finding qualified employees is one of today’s biggest challenges for companies. In this blog article, we explore three specific solutions to show how digital resource planning can be effectively implemented within the SAP environment.
Two major challenges define the maintenance landscape in industrial companies:
- Shortage of skilled labor: The search for qualified, experienced employees has long been demanding and continues to pose a major obstacle in daily operations.
- Knowledge retention: Safeguarding critical expertise is becoming ever more vital, especially given rising turnover rates and the wave of age-related retirements.
Three solutions for digital resource planning in the SAP environment
In light of these challenges, companies must address two key priorities: compensating for lost expertise and boosting process efficiency to navigate current and future bottlenecks. Digital resource planning plays a crucial role here, enabling the creation of scheduling suggestions that align precisely with both requirements and the available workforce.
An integrated solution also offers clear advantages by factoring in employee availability and qualifications. Ensuring data transparency helps minimize the inconsistencies often caused by system breaks.
To demonstrate how digital resource planning can be effectively implemented in the SAP environment, we’ll take a look at three proven solutions.
1. SAP RSH: Integrated planning and monitoring of team capacities
SAP S/4HANA Asset Management for Resource Scheduling (SAP RSH) provides a maintenance management solution fully embedded within the SAP S/4HANA core – eliminating the need for additional installations or interfaces.
With SAP RSH, companies can analyze maintenance requirements against available capacities at both the team and work center levels, ensuring optimal resource utilization.
The system’s ability to simulate planning drafts allows planners to detect potential bottlenecks early, enabling proactive adjustments to meet all operational requirements. Daily updates to work center capacities ensure real-time visibility into actual resource availability.
A graphical Gantt chart offers a clear visualization of time dependencies between activities, supporting more effective and comprehensible planning. Tasks and assignments are handled intuitively via drag-and-drop, enhancing user-friendliness.
Moreover, the solution integrates seamlessly with various business objects as requirement sources, including SAP PM, SAP CS, and SAP PS, allowing for precise, person-specific task assignments.
2. SAP FSM: End-to-end planning and optimization of field service operations
SAP Field Service Management (FSM) is a cloud-based solution designed to help companies efficiently plan, manage, and optimize their field service operations. It offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for manual scheduling, complemented by convenient tools to handle frequent rescheduling scenarios with ease.
The system’s automated planning capabilities include planning assistants and automated shift scheduling, significantly accelerating the entire process. SAP FSM supports a wide range of business objects – such as SAP CS, SAP PM, and SAP HCM – as sources for workforce scheduling requirements.
Another standout feature is its integrated Skill Management, which automatically aligns required qualifications for an assignment with the appropriate employee’s skill set. By incorporating both location and availability data, SAP FSM can recommend the best-matched resources for each task.
Additionally, the solution supports the integration of external technicians, enabling portal-based outsourcing when internal resources are insufficient – all while maintaining end-to-end transparency throughout the process.
3. DIVCON dynamicSCHEDULING: Medium-term optimization and short-term planning
DIVCON dynamicSCHEDULING is a holistic SAP-certified solution that integrates directly as an add-on into SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA systems.
The dynamicCAPACITY module supports medium-term optimization by aligning maintenance team and workplace utilization with actual demand, ensuring efficient use of available capacities.
The dynamicPLANNING module focuses on short-term scheduling, optimizing assignments based on workload, employee qualifications, and location.
Assignments can be handled either fully automatically by DIVCON dynamicSCHEDULING or partially coordinated by dispatchers. A graphical planning board offers a clear, intuitive visualization of all scheduling activities. The software retrieves scheduling requirements directly from various business objects, including SAP PM, SAP CS, SAP PS, and SAP HCM.
Additionally, it facilitates automated, forward-looking order planning that accounts for plant downtimes, offering a truly holistic approach to digital resource planning.
Choosing the right solution – with valantic
The three solutions presented within the SAP ecosystem offer a broad range of options to help companies address the skilled labor shortage in maintenance:
- SAP RSH strengthens long-term resource planning,
- SAP FSM excels in medium- to short-term field service planning, and
- DIVCON dynamicSCHEDULING delivers a comprehensive approach combining medium-term team and workplace optimization with short-term scheduling precision.
To choose the most suitable SAP solution, companies must carefully assess their specific requirements and develop a well-structured, holistic roadmap. This ensures they implement a tailored digital resource planning solution capable of meeting both current challenges and future demands.
Time is a decisive factor in this case: The faster companies take measures to close the skills gap, the more likely they are to secure a competitive advantage.
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