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SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

  • 1.  SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-22-2021 04:31 PM
    Hi, 

    My company is currently working to implement SAP S/4 Hana and we have had many discussions on defining the proper functional location. 

    Our current strategy has the lowest replaceable assembly as the functional location (eg pump, transmitter, vessel) and defines equipment as the replaceable device installed (eg serial number for pump that can be removed). This is the standard that I have always experienced in industry. Our consultant is proposing moving the functional location up one level, something I haven't seen before or experienced how practical this is. 

    How do your companies define a functional location? 

    Thanks, 

    Sean

    ------------------------------
    Sean Elverd
    Operations Leader
    Trinseo LLC
    Dalton GA
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  • 2.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 07:10 AM
    Hi Sean,
    As per my industrial experience across different organization FLOC should be defined at LRU level.

    Regars,
    Sovan Paul
    --
    Regards,
    Sovan Paul



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 07:45 AM
    Hi Sean

    I don't disagree with your consultant, but one of the beauties of SAP is the flexibility to define data structures that meet your own specific needs. 

     I've seen functional locations used to define "systems" that would correspond to the blocks on a flow diagram.  The pump (if it's redundant, both pumps) along with the check valve, isolation valves, etc.  share a functional location.   Similarly the vessel and its agitator, inlet and outlet piping, heating and cooling components, etc. are grouped into a functional location. 

    The LRU approach also works, and the "right" answer is whatever makes the most sense in your specific situation. 

    I sincerely hope this helps.

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    Daniel K Corman, CMRP
    Houston, Texas, USA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 07:50 AM
    The method that I'm most familiar with is to define the functional location as the location where a specific processing function takes place. "Function" in this case is defined as something that is being done to change the state of the material being processed, e.g. reacting, heating, stamping, casting, or packaging it. The vessel itself (or furnace, etc.) and all of the pumps, transmitters, and so on that support the function are at the equipment level, subordinate to that functional location. This provides a true hierarchy, rather than a 1:1 functional location to equipment relationship.

    That's the arrangement that makes the most sense to me, but for situations where processes change from time to time and a transmitter or pump isn't always assigned to the same vessel, the 1:1 mapping that you described may be more appropriate.

    ------------------------------
    Dale Nicholson, PE, CMRP, CRL
    Reliability Engineer
    Evonik Corp
    Lafayette IN
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-26-2021 10:35 AM
    I agree with the comments made by Dale Nicholson. FLOC's are the location of processing functions and equipment are discrete maintainable/replaceable/movable items. ISO 14224 provides a framework to develop a hierarchy to collect the data on different levels for different functions of your organization. Any components/parts are sub set of an equipment and managed via equipment BoM. 

    ------------------------------
    Abrar Ahmad
    Manager - M&R Integration
    Suncor Energy Inc
    Calgary AB
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-27-2021 07:43 AM

    I agree with Dale… your last level of Functional Location is a specific location where the function happens providing a service to the sub process or sub system. the primary asset at that FLOC level is the full assembly and replaceable units would subordinate equipment to that complete assembly allowing for your Maintenance Items/BOMs to be developed under each sub assembly. 



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    David Stoops
    Corporate Reliability Excellence SME
    Cargill, Inc.
    Bedford IN
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 08:54 AM
    It always depends but in my opinion your using the functional location as the bill of materials. I would agree with your consultant.

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    Jody Witham CMRP, PMP, STS
    Dallas GA
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 09:14 AM
    Hi Sean,

    Functional Location (FL) should be defined to at least 3 levels. Our company uses 4 levels to set FL's (which includes the site location). Example:

    XXXX-YYYY-ZZZZ-AAAA

    Level 1 - Xs: Site/Plant/Group (Plant 8500)
    Level 2 - Y's Department/Area (Dept. 72 + Parent Asset 01)
    Level 3 - Z's: Asset Section (Infeed)
    Level 4 - A's: Function (the action or 'ing) (i.e. Delivery Feeder that is feeding the sheets into the press)

    Result: 8500-7201-INFD-DLFD

    IF your site is the only one, you could just go with 3 levels if all your assets have IDs. Just an idea.



    ​​​

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    Daniel Vega
    Reliability Manager - PDM Techologies
    Hope Mills NC
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 11:45 AM
    Daniel - we have something similar and implemented globally across hundreds of sites:

    Level 1 - Site ID
    Level 2 - Process unit, e.g., polycarbonate manufacturing
    Level 3 - Process areas, e.g., raw materials, reaction, distillation, packaging, etc
    Level 4 - Asset, e.g., pump, instruments, etc.
    Level 5 - Optional for PCT loops

    Bill of materials reside in level 4 & 5

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    Ben Moreno
    Bayer Crop Science
    Houston TX
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-23-2021 10:11 AM
    Edited by Niel Datingaling 07-23-2021 10:12 AM
    Hi Sean,

    Just to recommend, maybe you can look at ISO 14224 which discusses how CMMS shall be set up both Maintenance and Reliability will benefit. As I know SAP was designed to accommodate various modules involving Finance, Purchasing, and Management which for me makes it complicated and ending up not addressing to be useful with the specific Department.

    Regards,
    Niel

    ------------------------------
    Niel Datingaling
    Consolidated Water Co. Ltd.
    George Town
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-27-2021 10:32 AM
    Sean,

    Here is what our SAP Expert said,

    "The official SAP definition for a Functional Location is as follows:

    An organizational unit in Logistics that structures the maintenance objects of a company according to functional, process-oriented, or spatial criteria.

     A functional location represents the place at which a maintenance task is performed.

     …while an Equipment item is defined as:

    An individual, physical object that is maintained as an autonomous unit

     In the purest sense, Equipment items are designed to be able to be moved around, and tracked via the Valid From/To dates.  As a result, some organizations only create Equipment for items that move, but not for items never intended to move (ex. a Vessel).  It is typical in these cases to create a 1:1 relationship between the individual item Functional Location and Equipment

     The challenge is that Functional Locations are never designed to be moved, or re-organized.  So if you want to re-structure your hierarchy later, it is best to have any maintainable item as an Equipment.  This allows for the freedom to adjust the structure without having to archive the maintainable item's history.  This sounds like what your consultant is suggesting.

     You can still create Serialized Equipment items for those which move around, as a portion of the overall Equipment item registry.

     This approach is fairly common, with probably well over half of the clients we have assessed applying some form of this approach."




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    Rick Wheeler
    Executive Director, Asset Management Services
    Life Cycle Engineering
    Charleston SC
    rwheeler@lce.com
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 07-27-2021 11:29 AM

    Hello Sean,

    These are great replies from others. I have some experience with this effort. I led the conversion of nine plants to SAP and had to build the Functional Locations (FLoc) from scratch. From your description, I have to agree with your consultant's approach. The strategy we took to build the asset structure was to use the FLoc as, more or less, an address to define the asset by a process within the production line. We defined the higher levels by standard production processes within our manufacturing (Raw Material Receiving & Storage, Refining, Drying, Pressing, Finishing, etc.)  Lower levels were developed by the plant independently to handle different machines which we broke down to system and subsystems. Here is an example of what we had for a structure with five levels.


    Plant                      XX04                   This a particular manufacturing site (Corporate defined)

    Product Line       TFM002               This is a product line # 2 of multiples at this site  (Corporate defined)

    Process                PRESSG                This defines the production process within that line  (Corporate defined)

    System                 HEATING             This is the thermal heating system for the pressing process  (Plant defined)

    Subsystem          CIRCPMP             This defines the Circulating pumps in that system    (Plant Defined)


    XX04-TFM002-PRESSG-HEATING-CIRCPUMP

     

    The next level was the Equipment, which was the level we wanted to track asset history at. In some cases they were the same as the replacement part. This is where serialized assets/spare parts come into play. A great tracking tool but takes discipline to maintain from both maintenance and the storeroom.

     

    A rule of thumb is to not end up with a FLoc with only one object in it, as others have mentioned, or with 20+ objects. A good test of how well your structure is built is to ask someone in operations to find a specific asset in the FLoc/Equipment structure. They should be able to navigate to the specific asset by following the process flow.


    Best of luck.


    Dan Oliana

    671 Consulting

    705-206-6502




    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: SAP Functional Location Structure Best Practices

    Posted 08-16-2021 06:51 AM
    Hi Sean,

    Just to add to the other excellent responses on this topic...
    I'd suggest that the requirements of Functional Locations be considered on the overall basis of implementation of the new SAP S/4 HANA. HANA supports a variety of data analytics and the right design and processes that generate data are important. For example, how is the individual equipment being defined (usually an internally generated number), is the concept and process of Rotables Management being adopted. Additionally at what level do you want to see the Maintenance History?

    I've seen in my experience Positional Functional Location (Pos FL) being defined at the last level (e.g. Pump, Motor) where the SAP Equipment is installed and dismantled as per need (moved across FLs). For fixed Equipment like Heat Exchangers, Filters, Vessels you could consider only Functional Location (without Heat Exchanger being defined as an Equipment in SAP). Alternatively the complete fixed equipment can be defined as an Equipment and installed in its FL (based on business needs). It is better to define this philosophy well in advance.

    Where Pos FL and Equipment are defined for Pump etc. the Maintenance History would be available at both Pos FL and SAP Equipment Level (e.g. a Pump or Motor might move across various Pos FLs). For example, one would want to know the no. of times an Equipment has been replaced at a Pos FL and also the different POs FLs where an Equipment moved in its lifecycle. The FL Structure could be like
    Site-Sector-Process Plant/Unit-Area (say Reaction)-Sub Area (say Reactor Circulation Pumping System)-Pos FL (Reactor Circulation Pump with its fixed Foundation, Base Frame, Piping etc.). Then the Pump is created as an Equipment in SAP. Similarly the Motor would have its own POs FL (with its fixed base frame, Elect. Cables etc.) and get installed in its Pos FL. Where the Equipment is also defined as a Rotable (a combination of SAP Material No. and the Unique SR. No. of the Equipment), both Equipment View (SAP Equipment and its Master) and Material View (SAP Material and its Master) would get created in SAP. 

    As Instrumentation Assets are huge in number and also have their individual P&ID Tags, special consideration is required, for example, does one want to define Pressure Transmitter as a Pos FL and Equipment (i.e. does one want to see the Maintenance History of Transmitters?).  

    Hope this helps. Thanks

    ------------------------------
    Sundar Naranammalpuram P.
    Navi Mumbai
    Maharashtra
    India
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    Original Message


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