SAP Implementation Thread - Share Your SAP stories here.

[Waffle]

(reminder _ I've worked at the same place for over 30 years, it just keeps getting bought out by different companies)

I've used SAP in the past for two different companies but in both cases the implementation never got past finance/purchasing and my use was very limited.  I basically entered vendors and purchase orders.   Now this company is serious about getting the entire company integrated on SAP and so far I am hating it. 

We're just starting the training and one of the issues is of course that there isn't enough time to do all the training and everything else that needs to be done. In my current production planner job, I have been designated as a "super user" which means, among other things that I will have to train other users.    We spent two hours on material creation yesterday and today my boss asked the trainer when we were going to review it and the trainer said that we weren't - "we're through with that". 

Please tell me it's going to get better.

[CarolinaKat]

Feb 3, 2015 13:32:07 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Please tell me it's going to get better.

-hug-no

[Deleted]

Used Oracle/JD Edwards my first 7 years and SAP the past 8, I really miss JD Edwards.

[The Captain]

I thank all that's good in this world that I haven't had to log into a mainframe for the past decade.  Sorry, I've got nothing for you.

[Waffle]

Then how on earth is it that the SAP people have been able to con all these companies into buying their software?

[Deleted]

I've also been in your exact same role as a superuser through a company wide implementation, let's just say life sucked for 2/3 months but I sure got a lot of thank you's for the long hours but that's about it. It wasn't because of the system but because in a large organization implementations are hell. I've been through 3 of them over 14 years.

[Lizard Queen]

I've only had a tiny bit of SAP through school, so I can't help you.  But I am  , as I've toyed with taking more training in it, as it's at a much reduced price through my college.  (Wondering if it would be worth my while)  

I did work with JDEdwards for years, then transitioned to an Intuit product.  I missed JDE, as the new product looked like it had a bunch of great bells and whistles, but when it came right down to it, they were a pita to implement (and somewhat buggy).  JDE was a nice work-horse. 

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Interesting thread.

One of the colleges ODS was very interested in (and them in him) but that didn't end up being "the one" touted the fact that its business students graduated with SAP certification.

DH -- an accountant -- wasn't impressed.  So, it's good to hear that maybe SAP is not all the school cracked it up to be.

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2015 14:08:13 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Then how on earth is it that the SAP people have been able to con all these companies into buying their software?

It is a workable system with a great sales team. It gets the job done, I just prefer other systems. Item setup is a nightmare though, I feel your pain on that it as I'm going through it now for a new business unit. The smallest thing wrong won't let you submit an order.

[siralynn]

SAP is just about the least user-friendly software I've ever worked with. Especially if there is no interface sitting on top of it and you're having to sit there entering an LS24 in order to LT01 in order to LB01 in order to MIGO with movement type 521, except when you need to MIGO with movement type 523 instead.

My company currently runs our training through the SAP learning system and it's TERRIBLE. We used to have a system based on Plateau (? I think?) The SAP system is super slow and takes half a gazillion clicks to do anything, even just read/understand an SOP. They've already decided that they're switching to a different system and are working towards yet another roll-out in 2017 or something.

[Waffle]

At one point our company was owned by an  overseas insurance/investment type conglomerate that pretty much left us alone and it was like we were one lone independent small business.  And we used a system called Navision that was geared more for small to mid sized companies  I loved it. But, then we were bought (again) by a larger company that already had some units on SAP, so of course, now they want to get the entire company on SAP.  Oh, if only I had been one of those super frugal people when I was younger, I could have just quit when they announced this!

I am leaving early (on time) today and going to bed early tonight, maybe I came come in with a better attitude tomorrow.  Nah, who am I kidding, this project has ruined me for at least the next 3 months. 

[Waffle]

Feb 3, 2015 16:20:39 GMT -5 siralynn said:

SAP is just about the least user-friendly software I've ever worked with. Especially if there is no interface sitting on top of it and you're having to sit there entering an LS24 in order to LT01 in order to LB01 in order to MIGO with movement type 521, except when you need to MIGO with movement type 523 instead.

My company currently runs our training through the SAP learning system and it's TERRIBLE. We used to have a system based on Plateau (? I think?) The SAP system is super slow and takes half a gazillion clicks to do anything, even just read/understand an SOP. They've already decided that they're switching to a different system and are working towards yet another roll-out in 2017 or something.

Maybe, I can forward this to the powers that be and see if I can get them to change their minds. Actually, our company org. structure is so mixed up, I'm not sure who the "powers that be" are. 

Slow, no it can't be slow. (That was sarcasm, in case you missed it) The consultants keep telling us how fast and easy everything is. 

[Sam_2.0]

We don't have SAP, but we are still running Oracle CIS from 1990's. The one where we log into the green screens is easier than the one with the interface, honestly, because the interface one crashes just about every day. We are supposed to be updating to CC&B and all other Oracle products over the next three years.  Job security though, right?

[Deleted]

I was in a role that used green screen AS400 5 years ago, it was a back to the future moment when I started, the same system I used in 1998 in college that was considered old then!

Happy keep the thread active over the next couple of months, definitely interested in hearing your experience through it.

[Waffle]

Oh, I'm sure I'll want to come here and vent over the next couple of months.  Hopefully, there will be some good news along the way.  Finance folks are welcome to post too.  It's just that I probably won't be able to relate too closely to their experiences.

[Formerly SK]

I've been through two company-wide SAP conversions (one of them when I worked at Intel just so you can imagine the scale).  The design/testing/implementation/training...UGH!!!  I don't even think SAP is good software.  Like a PP mentioned it isn't intuitive at all.  We also lost several reporting features, which made me wonder how the company can get people to buy their software in the first place.

[tskeeter]

Feb 3, 2015 16:20:39 GMT -5 siralynn said:

SAP is just about the least user-friendly software I've ever worked with. Especially if there is no interface sitting on top of it and you're having to sit there entering an LS24 in order to LT01 in order to LB01 in order to MIGO with movement type 521, except when you need to MIGO with movement type 523 instead.

My company currently runs our training through the SAP learning system and it's TERRIBLE. We used to have a system based on Plateau (? I think?) The SAP system is super slow and takes half a gazillion clicks to do anything, even just read/understand an SOP. They've already decided that they're switching to a different system and are working towards yet another roll-out in 2017 or something.

I call that SAP's Teutonic sense of flexibility.  Do it my way, dummkopf!

[Miss Tequila]

Feb 3, 2015 16:39:30 GMT -5 @aj said:

I was in a role that used green screen AS400 5 years ago, it was a back to the future moment when I started, the same system I used in 1998 in college that was considered old then!

Happy keep the thread active over the next couple of months, definitely interested in hearing your experience through it.

Lmao! That is what we use! We are part of a billion dollar conglomerate and we are using software from the 90s...or maybe 80s! And getting data out of it is a freaking nightmare!

[CarolinaKat]

Feb 3, 2015 14:08:13 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Then how on earth is it that the SAP people have been able to con all these companies into buying their software?

I think their sales team is full of hypnotists

[Waffle]

Feb 4, 2015 7:45:20 GMT -5 CarolinaKat said:

Feb 3, 2015 14:08:13 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Then how on earth is it that the SAP people have been able to con all these companies into buying their software?

I think their sales team is full of hypnotists

LOL - I tried to post the falling down laughing emoticon, but I kept getting some weird list of the thread instead.

[michelyn8]

Feb 3, 2015 13:51:48 GMT -5 @aj said:

Used Oracle/JD Edwards my first 7 years and SAP the past 8, I really miss JD Edwards.

I used both JDE (employer's software) and SAP (client's software) and don't care for either of them.  I use JDE the most and find it the most cumbersome user-unfriendly piece of crap I have ever used.  A multi-billion dollar company and I still have to run multiple reports and key and/or manipulate data in Excel to do an invoice in the format the client requires because no one can write a JDE report for me or provide training for me to do it for myself.  We are supposed to be migrating to a newer/different set up of JDE that our current owner's use this year. I've heard some things will be better but that I'll also be losing several customized things I use weekly. I'm not looking forward to it at all.

With SAP, I don't do any kind of entries anymore and just use it to look up information so my experience is limited.  Based on how I see things set up, I don't care much for it either though.

[Waffle]

@sroo4, I hope you are right, I do want it to get better, barring a miracle (or tragedy) I'll probably have to be here another 6 years or more, so I certainly don't want to spend all of them hating the system I'm working with.

On another note, I'll have to change the thread name soon. Opinions about SAP doesn't really capture the flavor it it's going to be an ongoing thread for the next few months - our go live is supposed to be sometime around April 1.  They haven't decided exactly when, yet.

[Deleted]

I use SAP easy and fine. How you like it is more to do with business knowledge of consultants helping design set up. SAP is very customizable, so if your design team stupid, then you get bad system. SAP easier than other systems with easier user interface.

You in training cycle? Decision on system was made long ago and company not stopping because you whine about it now. They already invest half a million at least to get into this system. Think harder how to communicate your problems in productive way. Suggest that training be re-designed to business use cases so it will make sense to users. Or ask to see how system is used for production planning at another company where already installed. These things will help you if it does not make sense today.

[Waffle]

Well darn! Taliare called me a whiner and then quit. Just in case Taliare is still reading, or anyone else read took my comment about trying to change the company's mind as serious. No, I was not serious, I am perfectly aware that as that the company already has other business units running on SAP and they are going to get us running on it also.

The consultant I've been working most closely with seems to really know her stuff (so far), but the amount of time I have to spend on this and my regular job is just ridiculous. The plant manager today told the guy who is heading up the project at the plant level that he could not have any day long training sessions (he was planning on starting those next week). And last evening I think we finally got the consultants to realize what we were talking about when we kept trying to convince them that the data we kept seeing in the test system was wrong. There are just so many errors.

We basically put liquids in bottles in cases. I saw a bom yesterday that had the UOM for a liquid as Case. Really!!!. Just very sloppy data migration. Another one took a unit that is purchased and received as one single item and expanded it into three separate pieces of material.  And there have been all kinds of numerical errors.  The data cleansing alone is going to take so much time and that shouldn't have been necessary, because the correct date is available in the legacy system, if they had just used it.