Automatic Business Configuration Subsystem for ERP Consistency

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems require manual configuration by experienced consultants, making it difficult and labor-intensive to determine and implement necessary business functions and their dependencies, especially in complex business systems.

Innovation Solution

An automatic business configuration subsystem (ABCS) within the ERP system models dependency relations as rules, automatically determining which business elements need to be selected and implemented based on business requirements and dependency relations, using a rule semantics module, deduction framework, and consistency maintenance framework to ensure functional completeness and consistency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If manual configuration by experienced consultants is used, then configuration accuracy and reliability are improved, but labor intensity and time consumption increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveconfiguration accuracyVSAvoidtime consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service configuration through automatic dependency analysis and recommendation generation. The configuration system automatically analyzes business requirements, determines necessary functions and their dependencies, and generates configuration recommendations without requiring manual intervention by experienced consultants, thus reducing time consumption while maintaining configuration accuracy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical manual analysis process with an automated computer-based system. The system uses algorithms to automatically analyze business requirements, determine function dependencies, and generate configuration recommendations, substituting the manual mechanical work of consultants with automated computational processes that are both faster and equally reliable

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Adaptability or versatility

If manual configuration process is used, then complex dependency relations can be handled with expert knowledge, but the process becomes increasingly difficult and error-prone as system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehandling complex dependenciesVSAvoidconfiguration difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces manual expert analysis with automated computational algorithms that can handle complex dependency relations. The computer-based system systematically analyzes business requirements and automatically determines necessary functions and their dependencies, eliminating the increasing difficulty and error-proneness associated with manual configuration of complex systems

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides feedback mechanisms that automatically validate configuration choices and identify inconsistencies. By continuously analyzing the configuration state against business requirements and dependency rules, the system guides users through complex configurations with real-time feedback, making the process easier and more reliable even as system complexity increases

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If comprehensive knowledge of ERP system and its capabilities is required, then configuration quality is improved, but the barrier to entry and operational complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveconfiguration qualityVSAvoidknowledge requirement

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system acts as an intermediary between business requirements and ERP configuration. Instead of requiring users to have comprehensive knowledge of ERP system capabilities, the automated system translates business requirements into appropriate configuration recommendations, shielding users from complex ERP knowledge requirements while maintaining high configuration quality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system enables non-expert users to perform configuration tasks by automatically providing guidance and recommendations. Users simply input business requirements, and the system self-servingly generates configuration recommendations, eliminating the need for users to possess comprehensive ERP knowledge while ensuring configuration quality through automated analysis

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS8428981B2Method and system for automatically maintaining the consistency of an information system

Publication Date: 2013.04.23 SAP SE

AI summary

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system maintains a plurality of business elements. Each of the business elements represents a business function that may or may not be needed depending on a customer's business requirement. A scoping process is a process which determines what business elements are required according to the customer's business requirement and the relationships exist among some of the business elements. The ERP system provides an automatic business configuration subsystem. The automatic business configuration subsystem maintains a set of rules. Each of the rules representing a relationship between two business elements maintained at the ERP system. The automatic business configuration subsystem automatically determines which business elements are required and need to be implemented based on the set of rules. The automatic business configuration subsystem may also automatically determine whether statuses of the business elements are consistent with each other in view of the rules.