what is SAP workflow

The next article in our introductory series of “What is…” is simply to define what exactly SAP Workflow is and does.  What is SAP Workflow?  

SAP Business Workflow (it’s official name) is a workflow engine embedded in the SAP ERP software.  This blog will get into nitty gritty details on every aspect of SAP workflow, but this article will start with a high-level introduction.  An old sales pitch from SAP is that SAP Workflow ensures “… the right work is brought in the right sequence at the right time to the right people.”  The same pitch brags about a 40 percent time savings using SAP Workflow vs. paper-based processing.

Effectively, an SAP Business Workflow application consists of 3 different areas of development capability and predefined workflow applications that have been delivered by SAP.  The three levels of workflow development are the workflow template (maintained in the workflow builder), the task definition, and the ABAP Code managed in either the business object repository or the ABAP Classes.

The workflow template manages the sequencing of events.  The workflow builder is a graphical editor, in which you can add and remove steps into the sequence, create loops and conditions, and create and wait for events.  There are the standard graphical editing capabilities such as “cut and paste”, and “click and drag”.  This makes high level editing of a process simple for someone with little or no development background.  In other words, you don’t have to be able to code to work in the workflow builder.  SAP offers a course on the workflow builder, and it is the first in a series of courses towards being a certified workflow consultant.

The next level is the task definition.  Tasks manage the description of the work item, which doesn’t sound like much, but becomes a hassle when you’re emailing the step in a multi-lingual environment, as the description becomes the body of the email.  Decision steps also use the description of the task for the decision screen, so it’s not small beans.  You can also manage the triggering and terminating events at the task level.  This becomes interesting if you want a one-step workflow or have an asynchronous call.

The third level is the ABAP code.  This can be managed in two locations: the business object repository (BOR) or the ABAP classes.  Both are object oriented and are places you can use ABAP code to define objects with their key identifiers, attributes, methods, and events.  The BOR is the older environment but has more business logic already defined.  ABAP classes are newer and are more user friendly to use for modern developers.  This is where you code the business logic, security checks, data validations, etc.  

So that’s SAP Business Workflow in a nutshell.  You can manage any business object such as a purchase order, through a process of approval via the workflow builder (sequencing of approvals), task definition (text for approval step and preparatory emails), and BOR (making sure the correct GL is chosen).  In a day of paperless processing and digital signatures, performing this approval compared to sending a piece of paper by snail mail presents a significant improvement.

The workflow engine can also be used for many other objects, such as shop floor orders, sales quotations, engineering change requests, and invoices from suppliers … the list goes on.   Once the workflow has been triggered the system can enforce deadlines, escalate, send email prompts, and take users directly to screens that require processing.  All in a framework that allows for simple administration and reporting.