Henning Sanders
Introduction
In our series “Omnichannel challenges and solutions”, we explore common issues that retailers face in their daily operations. We explain their root causes and show how SAP cloud solutions can help successfully overcome these challenges.
In this second article, we take a closer look at how SAP Order Management Foundation (OMF) serves as a centralised platform for viewing order status information.
Why do many businesses lack a central status overview?
A sales order represents a customer’s order and serves as the classic sales document in SAP. Each sales order goes through several stages in its lifecycle: it is created, passed on to logistics, invoiced, paid for by the customer, shipped – and in some cases, even returned later, causing the process to run in reverse.
This process often involves multiple service providers, such as shipping services, payment service providers, or dropshippers. This means that at any given time, the ERP system only reflects part of the overall picture, leaving a complete, central overview missing.
Why is a central status overview useful?
Having all order status information in one central place comes with some clear benefits, such as:
1. Proactive detection and resolution of issues
Issues with a sales order can be identified early on, addressed directly, or proactively communicated to the customer – for example, if an item has been shipped but fails to arrive within a specified time period.
2. Transparent customer information
Customer enquiries can be handled quickly and competently, as all relevant information is available in one central location.
3. Centralised coordination of follow-up actions
Actions such as shipping confirmations can be triggered centrally based on events. The event trigger itself can come from various sources – for example, from a dropshipper or directly from the ERP system – which also makes the system highly scalable.
The sales order process often involves multiple service providers, such as shipping services, payment service providers, or dropshippers. This means that at any given time, the ERP system only reflects part of the overall picture, leaving a complete, central overview missing.
SAP OMF – the solution
SAP addresses these challenges with its Order Management Foundation (OMF) solution. OMF handles incoming sales orders and coordinates their processing. With configurable rules, the system can, for instance, determine that shoes are routed to ERP System A and trousers to ERP System B – a feature that proves extremely useful in practice.
What’s more, through our projects at RBOmnishore, we’ve discovered an even greater advantage of SAP OMF – its ability to provide a central overview of order statuses. With the help of so-called activities, all information related to a sales order is brought together in one place. The data comes from different systems – such as ERP systems, payment service providers, or shipping services – and is processed via events or webhooks using the SAP Integration Suite. This means that the customer service team has all the key information they need, clearly available in one central view.
In addition, these activities can trigger their own events, which the system can respond to automatically. For example, whenever a SHIPPED event is received – no matter the source – an email can be sent directly to the end customer. This approach makes the system landscape both modular and scalable: new dropshippers can be integrated quickly, without the need to modify any follow-up (e.g. customer-facing) processes.
Summary
SAP OMF provides a centralised platform for managing order statuses. In today’s landscape, where ERP systems often no longer display all relevant data, OMF serves as an ideal solution. Across our implementations, the architecture has proven to be both scalable and flexible – with implementation costs kept comparatively low.
Sound interesting? How about a demo?
Want to learn more about SAP OMF? Get in touch with us today – we’d be happy to show you the solution live in our demo system.
Articles recommended for you
Omnichannel challenges and solutions (1) – Managing overselling
Managing product availability from a single, centralised location is essential in omnichannel retail to avoid overselling. SAP’s cloud-based Order Management for Sourcing and Availability (OMSA) provides a robust solution to meet this need – and in this article, we’ll take a closer look at how it works.
Omnichannel challenges and solutions (3) – Pricing and promotions
Having different prices and promotions across sales channels can lead to confusion – and extra internal effort. In this article, we explore how SAP Omnichannel Promotion Pricing (OPP) provides a central solution for ensuring consistent pricing and promotions in omnichannel retail.
Omnichannel challenges and solutions (4) – Efficient data transfer
High transaction volumes can put significant strain on POS systems and ERP landscapes. This article explains how SAP Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit (OSTA) enables efficient transfer of POS data to ERP systems.
