Demystifying SAP Connectivity to Ignition
- 2. Moderator Don Pearson Chief Strategy Officer Inductive Automation
- 3. Today’s Agenda • Introduction to Inductive Automation and Sepasoft • Connecting SCADA and SAP/other ERP systems • The Sepasoft Business Connector Suite: Overview and use cases • Group discussion wrap-up • Q&A
- 4. About Inductive Automation • Founded in 2003 • HMI, SCADA, MES & IIoT software • Used by 48% of Fortune 100 companies • Over 2,200 integrators • Ignition 8 released in April, 800 improvements already made Learn more at: inductiveautomation.com/about
- 5. One Universal Platform for HMI, SCADA, MES & IIoT: • Unlimited licensing model • Cross-platform compatibility • Based on IT-standard technologies • Scalable server-client architecture • Web-managed • Launch on desktop or mobile • Modular configurability • Rapid development and deployment The Ignition Industrial Application Platform
- 6. About Sepasoft • An Inductive Automation Strategic Third-Party Module Partner • Develops & supports MES Modules for Ignition • Incorporated in 2003 • Hundreds of companies in a variety of industries depend on Sepasoft MES software • 600+ MES implementations worldwide • 30+ MES-Certified System Integrator companies
- 7. Speakers Keith Adair MES Product Manager, Sepasoft Joseph Dolivo Principal, Digital Transformation, 4IR Solutions Travis Cox Co-Director of Sales Engineering, Inductive Automation
- 8. SCADA and ERP Systems Overview Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) ● Used primarily by operators & others on the plant floor ● Controls industrial processes ● Gathers & processes real-time data ● Records historical data ● Helps keep efficiency high and downtime low Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) ● Software for managing and automating business processes ● Collects, stores, manages & interprets data from business activities ● Shares data across departments ● Helps increase efficiency and reduce production & transaction errors ● Uses databases maintained by a DBMS
- 9. SAP ERP Software • SAP ERP is widely considered the industry standard for on-premise ERP software • Helps companies to eliminate information silos, automate core processes, and make better decisions
- 10. Benefits of Connecting SCADA with SAP/ERP • Prevent downtime • Increase operational efficiency and transparency • Make regulatory compliance easier • Improve quality control and quality assurance • Increase and accelerate data access • A single source of truth for data • Add important context to plant-floor data • Send real-time data into ERP • Retrieve and synchronize schedules, work orders, and more
- 11. Obstacles to Connecting SCADA with SAP/ERP • SCADA/OT is proprietary, ERP/IT is more open and standards-based • SCADA is real-time, ERP is transaction-based • ERP is database-oriented, SCADA is not. • Often requires configuration, scripting, middleware, and specialized SAP/ERP knowledge & skills
- 12. Connecting Data Through the Ignition Platform Total System Integration
- 13. Connecting Data Through the Ignition Platform Total System Integration
- 14. The Business Connector and Interface for SAP ERP ● The Sepasoft Business Connector and the Interface for SAP ERP modules enable seamless integration between various versions of SAP and Ignition-powered manufacturing floors ● Fully integrated with the Ignition ecosystem ● Interface for SAP ERP module is certified by SAP Labs
- 15. What is the Business Connector? It provides intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces for: ● Developing business logic ● Transforming data ● Mapping data between Ignition and other systems
- 16. Transforming Data with the Business Connector ● Intuitive mapper allows users to transform raw SAP output into user’s desired structure
- 17. What is the Interface for SAP ERP Module? ● It enables the Business Connector to establish a connection to an SAP Server in a safe, secure and fully certified manner ● Uses SAP’s Java Connector library to communicate ● Features built-in Business Connector charts that cover many standard use cases
- 18. How does the Business Connector Work? The Business Connector suite consists of up to three modules working in tandem: ● Business Connector Module ○ Provides the sequencing engine and mapping functionality ● Interface for SAP ERP Module ○ Allows Business Connector to communicate with SAP systems ● Web Services Module ○ Allows Business Connector to communicate with ERP systems that use REST or SOAP APIs
- 19. The Value of the Business Connector Module • Business Connector ○ Built on standards (ISA-95, B2MML) ○ Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) ○ Intuitive Ignition integration ○ Seamless MES integration • Interface for SAP ERP ○ Minimal configuration ○ SAP® Certified ○ Built-in templates
- 20. What versions of SAP are supported? ● Certified & Supported: ○ SAP ECC 6.0 ● Supported: ○ SAP R/3 (3.1I and above) ○ SAP S/4HANA On Premise ○ SAP S/4HANA Cloud ■ Using Web Services ● Unsupported: ○ SAP BusinessOne currently requires additional middleware.
- 21. Demo: Executing a Goods Receipt
- 22. Sepasoft Business Connector and Sepasoft MES • The Business Connector Suite enables users to retrieve MES data from SAP, including material definitions, operational data, work orders, schedules, and more. • For example, users are able to retrieve Production Orders and Process Orders and save them as MES Work Orders and MES Schedules • These can be distributed across all Gateways in the user’s MES Enterprise
- 23. Demo: Download Process Orders from SAP
- 24. Using the Business Connector Suite as Middleware • The Web Services module empowers users to create REST and SOAP APIs from within their own Ignition Gateway • This capability, in tandem with the Business Connector Suite and Interface for SAP ERP, empowers users to securely provide ERP data to other systems that may not be able to communicate with SAP directly APS SS LIMS SOAP SOAP REST
- 25. Demo: SAP Middleware with the Web Services Module
- 26. Group Discussion Wrap-up • How can Ignition and the Sepasoft Business Connector Suite help more industrial organizations to get started or get further on the path of OT-IT Convergence / Digital Transformation?
- 27. Group Discussion Wrap-up • What can we look forward to from Sepasoft in terms of MES and ERP connectivity solutions?
- 30. Sepasoft Training Find Video Training Courses about Sepasoft Modules at: www.sepasoft.com/learn