SSA Mobile Services. Fundamentals Guide

Transcription

1 SSA Mobile Services Fundamentals Guide

2 Copyright 2004 by Baan International B.V., a subsidiary of SSA Global Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or by any means, including, without limitation, photocopying or recording, without the prior written consent of Baan TM International B.V. Important Notices The material contained in this publication (including any supplementary information) constitutes and contains confidential and proprietary information of Baan International B.V. By gaining access to the attached, you acknowledge and agree that the material (including any modification, translation or adaptation of the material) and all copyright, trade secrets and all other right, title and interest therein, are the sole property of Baan International and that you shall not gain right, title or interest in the material (including any modification, translation or adaptation of the material) by virtue of your review thereof other than the non-exclusive right to use the material solely in connection with and the furtherance of your license and use of software made available to your company from Baan International pursuant to a separate agreement ( Purpose ). In addition, by accessing the enclosed material, you acknowledge and agree that you are required to maintain such material in strict confidence and that your use of such material is limited to the Purpose described above. Although Baan International has taken due care to ensure that the material included in this publication is accurate and complete, Baan International cannot warrant that the information contained in this publication is complete, does not contain typographical or other errors, or will meet your specific requirements. As such, Baan International does not assume and hereby disclaims all liability, consequential or otherwise, for any loss or damage to any person or entity which is caused by or relates to errors or omissions in this publication (including any supplementary information), whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. Baan International B.V., is a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Global Technologies TM, Inc. Trademark Acknowledgments SSA Global, SSA and the SSA Global logo are trademarks of SSA Global Technologies, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Baan is a trademark of Baan International B.V., in the United States and/or other countries. All other company, product, trade or service names referenced may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners. Publication Information Document code Release Document title : U7853B US Publication date : May 04 : SSA Mobile Services : Fundamentals Guide

3 Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Architecture Business information Transaction data Master data Business document Chapter 3 Functional flow Job sheet Quotation Invoice General hour Service inspections Chapter 4 Benefits of SSA Mobile Service Chapter 5 New features

4 ii Table of Contents

5 About this Guide This document provides an overview of the SSA Mobile Service application. This document contains the following chapters: Chapter 1, Introduction, provides a brief overview of SSA Mobile Service application. Chapter 2, Architecture, describes the high-level architecture of the application. Chapter 3, Functional flow, illustrates the main functionality in SSA Mobile Service. Chapter 4, Benefits of SSA Mobile Service, details the advantages of using SSA Mobile Service application. Chapter 5, New features, provides the new features in the current SSA Mobile Service 2.2 version. Terms and abbreviations used in this document FSE SSA MS Field Service Engineer SSA Mobile Service 2.2 application Send us your comments We continually review and improve our documentation. Any remarks/requests for information concerning this document or topic are appreciated. Please e- mail your comments to kd@baan.com. In your , refer to the document number and title. More specific information will enable us to process feedback efficiently.

6 iv About this Guide

7 Chapter 1 Introduction 1 SSA Mobile Service is a Web application that enables field service engineers to work offline or online. The application enables service organizations to track the activities of service engineers in a real-time environment. A field service employee can use SSA Mobile Service to do the folllowing: Connect to the back-end ERP application. Download only those assignments that are assigned to the field service engineer. Accept or reject the assignments based on the parameters defined by the administrator. Carry out the assignments at the customer site. Carry out extra assignments at the customer sites, if required. Report progress or completion of either job sheets or assignments at regular intervals to the back office. Create quotations or invoices for job sheets. Print the draft or final copy of the quotation or invoice. Add attachments, which can be in the form of Microsoft Word documents, pictures, or any other format, such as *.doc or *.jpg files, with the job sheets and upload these attachments to the Web server.

8 1-2 Introduction Note Quotation and invoice functionality is available to the users based on the user interface you use to access the application. The user interface can be classified into Theme 1 or Theme 2 user interfaces. Use master data available in the client to look into useful backend information, such as details of installation, customer, reference activity, and so on. You can use this master data to create new assignments at the site Register inspections for the required assignments at site in SSA Mobile Service. Update the back-end ERP to notify the actions performed and costs incurred while implementing a job sheet. Report hours spent on general tasks, which are not directly related to job sheet implementation, for example, lunch, breaks, and so on. View updates sent by the SSA Mobile Service user available on the Web server. From the Web server, these updates can automatically be processed to the back office at regular intervals or manually. The SSA Mobile Service user can see the process results in the client to check the processing results. In case of any error in processing, erroneous records will be present in the error report. The SSA Mobile Service user can then correct these errors and resend the updates to the back office. Work in tandem with the service organizational requirements. Create and report the data related to the service inspections the field service engineer undertakes at the customer location. You can upload details related to the service inspections to the back-end ERP. SSA Mobile Service drastically decreases the time spent on interaction (by paper or mail) between the service company and the field service engineers and, in this way, helps cut costs.

9 Chapter 2 Architecture 2 SSA Mobile Service (SSA MS) is a Web-based application, based on the Microsoft Windows platform. The Web application uses Microsoft Internet Information Server as the HTTP Server, running on the Windows 2000 Server operating system. The RDBMS used by SSA Mobile Service is Microsoft SQL 2000 Server.

10 2-2 Architecture The following figure illustrates the high-level run-time architecture of the SSA Mobile Service application. The SSA MS client is a Web page that you can download and store in the field service engineer s client system. To synchronize the master data to the Web server, you can use the SSA Service Synchronizer (SSS) application. From the Web server, the master data is synchronized to the client system. Similarly, the service orders that are created and maintained in the backend ERP are also synchronized directly from the back-end ERP to the client system. You can download the service orders from the back end view the service orders as job sheets in the client. To work on the client, the field service engineer can either connect to the Web server or work as an independent entity. When the field service engineer is connected to the Web server, the FSE can report updates in regard to the job sheets, general hours and service inspections to the Web server

11 Architecture 2-3 The updated data is synchronized to the back-end ERP at regular, predefined time intervals using automated service or can be carried out manually whenever required. If the field service engineer is not connected to the Web server, the FSE can not only create new job sheets, general hours, and enter the service inspection details in the client, but also modify the downloaded data. The FSE can connect to the Web server to report the new and updated data to the Web server. From the Web server, the updated data is synchronized to the back-end ERP at regular, predefined time intervals using automated service or can be performed manually whenever required. The SSA MS client, which is a Web page, hosts a Microsoft ActiveX DLL to provide offline functionality. The ActiveX DLL enables interaction with business information stored in client system and run-time creation of user interface screens using XSL (Extensible Style Sheets) templates. The following sections describe the business information in more detail. Business information Business information is imperative for the application. Business information downloaded into the client system is classified into: Master data: The engineer uses this business information to perform service activities, for reference purpose only (read-only), for example, customer location details, site/ installation details, the spare parts reference list, and so on. Transaction data: The engineer uses this business information to work on service activities. For example, information regarding assignments that must be carried out, inspections that must be performed, and so on.

12 2-4 Architecture While master data is stored in a Microsoft Access Database file, transaction data is stored in XML (Extensible Markup Language) files, as illustrated in the following figure:

13 Architecture 2-5 Transaction data Transaction data is extracted from the back-end ERP and downloaded into the client system in real-time environment. SSA Baan OpenWorldX and BOIs are used to exchange transaction data between the SSA MS and the backend ERP, as illustrated in the following figure: The following figure illustrates how the exchange of transaction data between the client system and Web server occurs in the form of XML documents, using Microsoft s XML Parser:

14 2-6 Architecture Transaction data uploaded from the client system is stored in the database server and sent to the SSA Baan ERP server, using periodic processes. SSA Baan OpenWorldX and BOIs are used to synchronize the data between the database server and the back end. Master data To extract master data from the ERP database, you can use the SSS Service Synchronizer (SSS) application and store the data in the database serverfor each ERP company. Microsoft Access Database files are then generated for each ERP company, and for each service center (SC) defined in each company, as shown in the following figure. The generated database files are then downloaded into the client system. Microsoft Access database, present in client system, is updated periodically with the changes that occur in the back-end ERP database. To extract the changes in the ERP master data, you can use the SSS application, which in turn uses SSA Baan OpenWorldX and BOIs to retrieve the modified data. This data is then sent to the client system in the form of XML documents.

15 Architecture 2-7 The master data that is stored on the client system enables the field service engineer to work offline, that is, even if the FSE is not connected to the Web server. Business document Interaction with transaction data is designed based on the concept of the business document. A business document contains the information that the user requires. A business document is based on the model of a real-life business entity from a user perspective, for example, a work order, sales order, and so on. You can use the business document to implement the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture pattern for the user interface layer in the SSA MS application. The concept of business documents is modeled on the lines of paper of a paper-based office. In addition to the business information, the business document contains instructions on how the user interface layer in SSA MS Client that describes how the business information must be presented to the user; whether the information can be modified; the type of actions the user can perform on the Business Document; and so on.

16 2-8 Architecture

17 Chapter 3 Functional flow 3 The SSA Mobile Service supports the following types of business documents: Job sheet Quotation Invoice Service inspection General hours These business documents are imperative for the functioning of SSA Mobile Service. The following sections provide more information on each of these business documents. Job sheet A job sheet details work that the field service engineer must carry out. The following information is available on the job sheet: Details of the customer. Installation details, which include the details related to the serial number of installation, location address, and so on.

18 3-2 Functional flow Service activities assigned to the service engineer to carry out at the customer s site or service activities for the service engineer to perform proactively. Materials that are required/used by the service engineer and sundry costs incurred for implementation of the job sheet. Hours spent in implementing the job sheets. Inspections that must be conducted on the installation. A job sheet originates from the back-end ERP or the client system. The functional flow of a job sheet that originates from the back-end ERP consists of the following steps: 1 The service order is created in the back-end ERP. 2 The service order is downloaded from the back-end ERP to the SSA MS Client. 3 View the service order in the form of a job sheet in the SSA MS Client.

19 Functional flow Report the job sheet or specific assignments that are linked to the job sheet as being in progress or as completed from the SSA MS client to the Web server. Note that if a quotation or an invoice is linked to the job sheet, the data related to the quotation or invoice amount is also reported to the back end. 5 The reported data is stored on the Web server. 6 The data that is stored on the Web server is synchronized either automatically or manually from the Web server to the back-end ERP at required time intervals. 7 The data related to the synchronization process from the Web server to the back-end ERP, which indicates whether the process is successful, is stored on the Web server. 8 The process data that is stored on the Web server must be synchronized either automatically or manually from the Web server to the SSA MS client. 9 The system automatically deletes the job sheets that are successfully processed to the back-end ERP. The user can correct the errors, if any, in the job sheets while processing. 10 After the job sheets are deleted in the SSA MS client, the job sheet process is complete. 11 If you have corrected the errors in the job sheet, you must return to Step 4 and start the reporting process.

20 3-4 Functional flow The functional flow of job sheet that is created in the SSA MS Client consists of the following steps: 1 Create a job sheet in the SSA MS client. 2 Report the job sheet as in progress or as completed from the SSA MS client to the Web server. Note that if an invoice is linked to the job sheet, the data related to the invoice amount is also reported to the back end. 3 The reported data is stored on the Web server. 4 The data that is stored on the Web server is synchronized from the Web server to the back-end ERP at regular, predefined time intervals. 5 The data related to the synchronization process from the Web server to the back-end ERP, which indicates whether the process is successful, is stored on the Web server. 6 The process data that is stored in the Web server must be synchronized either automatically or manually from the Web server to the SSA MS client. 7 System automatically deletes the job sheets that have been successfully processed to the back-end ERP. The user must manually correct the errors, if any, in the job sheets that are not successfully processed. 8 After the job sheets are deleted in the SSA MS client, the job sheet process is complete.

21 Functional flow If you have corrected the errors in the job sheet, you must return to Step 4 and start the reporting process. Quotation A quotation is a type of proposal that offers goods or services for a particular price and terms of sale based on the customer requirement. A quotation includes the details related to the customer name, the customer configuration, the currency used by the customer, and the terms of sale and discounts offered to the customer. The functional flow of the quotation created for a job sheet that is downloaded from the backend ERP consists of the following steps: 1 The FSE can estimate the cost of the task specified in the job sheet that is synchronized from the back-end ERP. 2 Create a quotation based on the estimated costs. 3 The FSE creates a quotation for either all the assignments or only specific assignments that are linked to the job sheet. Therefore, if more than one assignment is linked to a job sheet, you can have more than one quotation, and so on. However, for an assignment, you can have only one quotation. 4 You can print the draft or final version of the quotation. If you print a draft quotation, you can make further modifications. 5 You must accept the quotation for further execution. To accept the quotation, print the final version of the quotation. 6 The details related to the accepted quotation are copied to the job sheet to which the quotation is linked. 7 You must run the job sheet as described in the previous section in this chapter. The functional flow of the quotation that is created in the SSA MS client consists of the following steps: 1 The FSE can take additional tasks that are not specified in the synchronized job sheets at the customer site. 2 For the additional tasks, the FSE can estimate the cost of the task. 3 The FSE uses the options available in the SSA MS client to create a new quotation, based on the estimated costs.

22 3-6 Functional flow 4 You can print the draft or final version of the quotation. If you print a draft quotation, you can make further modifications. 5 You must accept the quotation for further execution. To accept the quotation, you must print the final version of the quotation. A new job sheet is created based on the details specified in the quotation. 6 Carry out the job sheet, as described in the previous section in this chapter. Invoice An invoice is a type of document that provides details of the goods sold and that lists the prices that must be paid under particular conditions. An invoice is created in the SSA MS client and is linked to a job sheet. The functional flow of the invoice consists of the following steps: 1 The FSE must run the job sheet that is either synchronized from the backend ERP or created in the SSA MS Client. 2 After the FSE successfully completes the tasks specified on the job sheet, based on the actual cost of completing the task, the FSE can create an invoice. 3 You can print the invoice. You can also include the digital signature of the customer before you print the invoice. 4 The FSE can receive the payments for the invoice and also enter the details related to the mode of payment and the payment amount. 5 Based on the details specified in the invoice, the job sheet to which the invoice is linked is updated. 6 The FSE can synchronize the job sheet, along with the details related to the invoice amount and the payments received from the customer, to the backend ERP.

23 Functional flow 3-7 General hour The general hour business document enables you to record the time the service engineer spends on activities that are not related to a service activity. This business document always originates from the client system. The functional flow of a general hour business document consists of the following steps: 1 The field service engineer creates the general hours business document in the SSA MS client. 2 The FSE reports the general hours from the SSA MS client to the Web server. 3 The details related to the general hours are synchronized from the Web server to the back-end ERP. 4 The details related to the synchronization process, which indicates whether the process is successful, are stored on the Web server. 5 The process data that is stored on the Web server must be synchronized either automatically or manually from the Web server to the SSA MS client.

24 3-8 Functional flow 6 The system automatically deletes the general hours records that have been successfully processed to the back-end ERP. You can manually correct the errors, if any, in the other records. 7 After you delete the general hours in the SSA MS client, the process is complete. However, if you have corrected the errors, you must return to Step 2 and start the reporting process. Service inspections The service inspections business document enables you to record details related to the inspections undertaken by the service engineer at the customer site. The service inspection-related activities are not related to the service activity that is specified in the job sheet or assignment. This business document originates from the client system and is not related to the job sheets or the assignments.

25 Functional flow 3-9 The functional flow of a service inspection business document consists of the following steps: 1 The field service engineer creates the service inspection business document in the SSA MS client. 2 The FSE reports the service inspection details from the SSA MS client to the Web server. 3 The details related to the service inspections are synchronized from the Web server to the back-end ERP. 4 The process results related to the synchronization process, which indicates whether the process is successful, are stored in the Web server. 5 The process results that are stored in the Web server must be synchronized either automatically or manually from the Web server to the SSA MS client. 6 The service inspection details that have been successfully processed to the back-end ERP are automatically deleted. 7 After the service inspection details are deleted in the SSA MS client, the process is complete.

26 3-10 Functional flow

27 Chapter 4 Benefits of SSA Mobile Service 4 A service organization benefits in several ways by using the SSA Mobile Service application. The benefits include the following: Offline Working: The FSE must remain connected to the Web server only to download business information and upload changes the engineer makes to the back office. In between download and upload, the FSE can work offline on job sheets, quotations, and invoices. In addition, the FSE can also enter the details related to the general hours and service inspections. Create a Job Sheet: When the FSE is at the customer site, and if the FSE senses a problem, or if the customer requests, the FSE can create a new job sheet and report either progress or completion of the job sheet. Create and print Quotation and invoice: Users who use a Theme 1 user interface can make use of the quotation and invoice options, which enable users to estimate the cost of the task specified in the job sheet, and create quotation for the estimated cost and create invoice for the actual costs. The FSEs can also take up additional tasks that are not specified in the synchronized job sheets at the customer location and estimate the cost for those activities. Based on the estimated costs, the FSE can create a quotation. After the FSE completes the tasks for which the quotation is created, the FSE can create an invoice based on the actual costs. The FSE can also receive the payments for the invoice.

28 4-2 Benefits of SSA Mobile Service The FSE can also print the draft and final copies of the quotation and invoice, along with the customer s digital signature. The ability to create quotations and invoices at the customer site, based on the task on hand, results in bringing down the total lead time for a call, which includes the time when the job sheet is created for a specific call to the time when the job sheets are successfully completed and payments are received.

29 Chapter 5 New features 5 Effectively plan Preventive maintenance: While at the customer site, the FSE can plan the schedule for preventive maintenance. Configuration know-how: FSE can access installation or configuration information readily available in offline mode. Software requirements minimal: The software requirements for SSA Mobile Service are minimal, which makes working with the SSA MS client easy and convenient. Status reporting: The FSE can report the status of the job sheets assigned to them. Ease-of-use: The current version of the application provides user-friendly interface with intuitive icons, which enables users to navigate with ease.

30 5-2 New features Several features are now included in SSA Mobile Service 2.2. These features have an added advantage, which makes the solution user-friendly. The following list provides the new features in the current version of SSA Mobile Service: User interface The Theme 2 user interface of the SSA MS application provides you with the Microsoft Outlook type of view. In other words, an overview of all the details related to the assignments that are scheduled for execution on the current date, on the date that is a day after the current date; the assignments that are pending, the items that have been reported to the backend; the items that have been sent to the backend; and the details related to the errors, if any, which the system has encountered while sending the items to the backend all appear on a single page. You can use the hyperlinks provided for each one of the entities appears on this page to view the details. In addition, the Theme 2 user interface provides you with a feature called the Single Page Cost Line view that enables you to view all the details related to the job sheet, and the assignments linked to the job sheet, in a single page. In other words, you can view the details related to the job sheet, assignments linked to the job sheet, additional details related to the material, labor, other cost, inspection and hours spent details for the assignments on a single page. This enables the users to not only view but also to print all the details easily and effectively. Service inspection details The FSE can carry out service inspections that are not related to the activities specified in the job sheet or assignment and enter the details in the form of a service inspection business document in the client. These details can subsequently be uploaded to the back end. Quotation and invoice creation The FSE can create quotation or invoice for a specific job sheet irrespective of whether the engineer is connected to the back end. The created quotation or invoice can subsequently be uploaded to the back end. Document printing in Microsoft Word format The FSE can print the draft or a final copy of the quotation or the invoice that is linked to a job sheet in the form of a Microsoft Word format. You can add the digital signature of the customer or business partner to the quotation or the invoice when the invoice is printed.

31 New features 5-3 Attachments You can link attachments to either the job sheet or to specific assignments. The attachments can be in the form of Microsoft Word documents or pictures. These attachments, which are related to the job sheets, are uploaded to the Web server and synchronized to the back end.

32 5-4 New features