Work flow management - SD

Question

Dear Friends,
1.Can somebody throw light on Work Flow management?
2.How is SD integrated with Work flow and what are the business processes that needs work flow in SD?
3.Is it like a Work flow consultant is required to handle this or can we handle the workflow from SD end itself?
Thanks
Isaac

Answer 1

Hi,
Few points on workflow was prepared by me and screen shots are not there. You can refer
ALE, EDI and IDOC Technologies for SAP by Arvind Nagpal
For further detail.
if the requirment is minimal then SD consultant can handle otherwise Workflow consultant is required.
Introduction
The workflow management system provides procedural automation of steps in business process. A business process can consist of several steps. Historically the tasks have been coordinated manually or by some means of communication (sticky note, email, shouting and so on). The common problem in these approaches is in efficiency; each lacks a way to trace where a task is, who executed (or executing) it, and how much time is required.
In contrast, workflow management system ensures that the right work is sent to the right person at the right time in the right sequence with the right information. The ALE/EDI interface mainly uses workflow for exception (or error) handling.
Application of Workflow in ALE/EDI
Error Notification
Error notification is the primary use of workflow. When exceptions are raised in the outbound and inbound process workflow is started and handled as shown in the below flow diagram.
Active Monitoring
Active monitoring allows you to specify threshold values for the state of the system. If the system crosses the threshold limit, a person responsible for the system problem can be notified. For example you can have some one notified when the number of failed invoice IDOCS in the system exceeds 50.
Rule Based Inbound Flow
This application of workflow in ALE/EDI does not under the category of error handling. You can set up workflow to handle processing of an inbound IDOC. Normally, an inbound IDOC starts a function module that invokes the posting program to create an application document from the IDOC.       
In contrast, if you use a workflow, you can set up to do whatever is needed for your business process. SAP doesnu2019t provide standard workflows for the inbound ALE/EDI process, but you can develop your own workflows and tie them to the ALE/EDI process.
For example an incoming order change IDOC can be routed via workflow to a person for review. If the change requested are acceptable the IDOC can be posted.                                                                               
The Architecture of ALE/EDI Workflow
The components used in ALE/EDI workflow fall into two categories:-
u2022     PD-ORG (organizational) object
u2022     Workflow object
You can view and maintain these components by using the T-code SWLD (Area Menu for workflow).                    
                         PD-ORG
                                                                                Workflow
PD Organizational Objects
PD ORG object is used to represent the companyu2019s organizational structure in SAP. The following are the PD ORG objects.
u2022     Organizational Units (O)
An Organizational Unit can represent a department, physical location, division or subsidiary.
u2022     JOBS(C)
A job involves performing one or more business tasks. For example, sales order clerk, secretary and manager. Although it is possible to assign individual task directly to a position, it is advisable to group tasks together in a job and to assign the job to the position.
u2022     Position(S)
A position in a company represents his or her rank. If an employee is promoted, that person leaves his or her current position and is assigned to another position. For example, sales order clerk plant 1000, secretary of company code 1000 and manager of accounts.
u2022     Users (US)
A user is a person who has been granted access to the SAP system to use various functions.
All the above mentioned PD ORG objects can be created, changed and displayed by using following T-codes.
u2022     PPOCE  Create mode.
u2022     PPOME  Change mode.
u2022     PPOSE  Display mode.
Screen shot1.
Work Flow Objects
Business objects
A business object represents a business entity that has a definite state and various properties. You can carry out various functions on the object. A business object encapsulates the entire functionality of an object. A business object is given a name in SAP.
For instance, a standard material is assigned the name BUS1001006; it has properties such as material number, description, and material type. These properties are represented using attributes of the business object. The various operations that can be carried out on an object are implemented with methods. For example, if you want to create a material, you can call that business objects create method. An object also has different states. It exposes its various states by publishing events. For example, the material object has created event that is published whenever a new material is created.
The T-code for Business Objects is SW01.
Screen shot2.
Tasks (T or TS)
A task defines a piece of work that can be executed and tracked in the system. Technically, a task points to a method of an object as shown in the below screen shot. In addition, a task defines the text the purpose of the task, the triggering event based on which the task is started, the terminating event that marks the completion of the task, and a role that contains the rules to identify the person who is responsible for executing the task. A task can be started in response to an event triggered in the system. Tasks are categorized as
u2022     Standard  Task
Standard Task is provided by SAP and is client independent.
u2022     Customer Task
Customer Task is client dependent and is developed by customers.
The T-code for Tasks is PFTC.
Screen shot3.
Roles
Roles are workflow objects used to determine the person responsible for carrying out a specific task. Each task has a role assigned to it.
The T-code for Roles is PFAC.
Screen shot4.
Work item
A work item represents an instance of a task that needs to be executed. The work item can have various states that govern the operations allowed. The following table describes the various states of a work item and its effect on usability.
Status      Description
Ready     A work item is created and is visible to all selected agents.
Reserved      A work item has been reserved by a user and disappears from all the inbox of other selected users.
In process     A work item is being worked on and can be seen in the inbox of the user who started working on it.
Completed      A work item is complete and cannot be seen in the inbox of any user
The SAP INBOX
The SAP inbox is an interface to manage workflow items and SAP office documents. The below screen shot shows a list of work items in a useru2019s inbox. The SAP inbox contains separate buckets for office documents and workflow items. Office documents are email documents and workflow items are work items. You can display and execute the work items from the inbox. The inbox is highly configurable.
Screen shot5.
Error Notification Process
The error notification process comprises the following steps:-
u2022     Determining the task to be started.
u2022     Routing the error to a responsible agent as a work item.
u2022     Processing of the work item by the responsible agent.
Possible Agents versus Selected Agents versus Actual Agents
A task has three types of agents based on rights to execute:
u2022     Possible agents
Possible agents represent persons who can execute a task. Not all the possible agents get a work item when a task is started.
Possible agents are configured in the system by assigning a task to
several HR objects (job, position, Org unit). A task can be set to
General task, which means that it can be executed by any one.
u2022     Selected agents
Selected agents are the users who get a work item in their inbox. They
are determined by role resolution logic. Selected agents must be a
subset of possible agents. If the selected agent is not found, the work
item is sent to all possible agents. The selected agents are configured
in the partner profile and the IDOC administrator in T-code WE46.
u2022     Actual agents
The actual agent is the person who executes the work item from the inbox. A work item can have several selected agents but only one actual agent. When a selected agent executes a work item, the actual agent for the work item is established, and the work item immediately disappears from the inbox of other selected agents. However, if an actual agent realizes that he or she cannot resolve the problem, the user can replace the work item, causing it to reappear in the selected agentu2019s inboxes.
Level of Agents in ALE/EDI process
Level 1
If a partner profile is located for the problem, the organizational object specified at the message level (inbound or outbound) in the partner profile is notified.
Level 2
If level 1 is cannot be identified because of the problem locating the record, the level 2 organizational object specified in the General View of the Partner profile is read.
Level 3
If neither level 1 nor level 2 can be identified, the system reads the EDICONFIG table for IDOC administrator and sends a notification.
Processing by the Responsible Agent
u2022     The steps necessary to fix an error for which a work item is generated are as follows.
u2022     Execute work item to display the error. Examples of errors include problems in the control record, errors in IDOC data, and incorrect configuration.
u2022     The cause of the problem can usually be determined from the error message. If applicable, additional error information is also available for certain type of errors (for example application errors).
u2022     After the cause of the problem has been determined, it must be fixed outside workflow (or in some cases, within workflow). The recovery procedure depends on the nature of the problem.
-     If the error is in the IDOC data, the IDOC can be edited and then reprocessed from workflow.
-     If the error requires restarting the process from the beginning, the IDOC has to be marked for deletion to stop it from further processing and to clear the work item from the inbox.
-     If the error involves an IDOC that has not been created yet, the work item merely informs the person about the error.
Important T-codes
T-code      Description
SWLD      Area menu for work flow
SBWP or SO01     Sap inbox
SW01     Business object builder
PFTC      Task/ Task Groups
PFAC      Roles
SWU3     Maintain standard settings for SAP business workflow
PPOM     To change ORG structure
SWUS      Start workflow(Test Environment)
SWI15     
SWI13     Task profile for user
Books Referred
ALE, EDI and IDOC Technologies for SAP by Arvind Nagpal