Release of S/4HANA 2023 round the corner and I didn’t find any SAP blog post or write up on the new features introduced with S/4HANA 2022 so thought writing this SAP blog post so you can leverage the innovation for customer benefit. This blog post include innovation released with FPS00, FPS01 and FPS02. New features in other processes were introduced which can be used in Oil, Gas and Energy industries, however generic innovation applicable across industries not covered in this blog.

The release of S/4HANA 2022 IS-Oil & Gas brings lot more innovation in Field Logistics comparing to other functionality of Oil and Gas. Release S/4HANA 2020 was major release with revolutionary changes made in the IS- Oil and Gas processes. In last two years SAP concentrating on Rise with SAP offerings for Oil and Gas industry by introducing Intelligence Enterprise and consolidating Energy business in the Oil and Gas specific solution. You may observed more innovation released by SAP in ‘Rise with SAP’ front comparing to S/4HANA on-premise system.

One of the key highlights of S/4HANA 2022 is its enhanced capabilities in Field Logistics which recently transformed from four-decade old RLM module. From exploration and production to refining and distribution, this new version offers total of 34 functionality which include 32 new and 2 enhancements in the function from earlier version. I will cover key innovation in this blog post.

New Features and Functionalities in S/4HANA 2022 Specifically Designed for the Oil and Gas Sector

1. Production Allocation – New – A new apps introduced for Production Cockpit. The Production Cockpit app allows Hydrocarbon Analysts to view allocation results for all the production networks that have already run allocation and approvals; this includes associated master data and transactional data.
2. Enhanced MM Invoice Generation for Subsequent Settlement – Changed – An option was introduced to create a delta Nota Fiscal along with the invoice posting. This feature enables Finance to manage invoice generation for subsequent settlements. In which the system transfers the net amount into the MM invoice, create a delta Nota Fiscal along with the invoice posting.
3. Stock Transport Order and Outbound Delivery in Process Receipts – Stock and Non-stock Items – New – This new feature enables you to view stock transport order-related information and outbound delivery-related information.
4. Pack Containers – New – This feature comes with many new functionalities in the area of the pack container function of the O&G business. You can do the below-mentioned task:

• • Assign items to containers and voyages.
  • Dispatch items
  • Scan the images to identify and filter the required containers with container IDs.
  • Assign and unassign to the container and perform sealing.
  • Assign and unassign voyages.
  • Enter the external reference number to store the transportation unit number.

5. Process Receipts: Stock and Supplier Items – New: This is a major new functionality added to the Field Logistics process. I am briefly highlighting the key functionalities introduced in 2022:

1. • Receive stock, non-stock, and supplier items at both the base plant and the remote plant.
   • Acknowledge receipt of the items after visual inspection.
   • Perform goods receipt and reversal for Field Logistics relevant use cases.
   • Receive third-party, rental, and non-stock items.
   • You can receive repaired items at the base location sent by third-party suppliers using purchase order items with item category L (sub-contracting).
   • Receive stock item at remote location after the goods issue for outbound delivery is completed for stock transport order.

6. Initiate Returns by Product – New – Again this features added in the field logistics area. This helps in the below functions:

1. • Initiate returns, search, and display initiated returns according to your filter criteria.
   • Change returns and dispatch products for returns.
   • Initiate returns for products that are batch managed or serialized, or have a valuation type.
   • Print handling unit or material label or both for multiple items in Initiate Returns by Product app. and may more.

1. Number Ranges for Manage Container Master Data – New – This feature is added in the Field Logistics area. This feature enables users to navigate the connected equipment using the Related Apps button to create containers, providing a manual container ID within a configured external range. Alternatively, the system generates a container ID from the internal number range if the field is left blank.
2. Manage Container Master Data – New – Again, these features are added in the Field Logistics area. In manage container master data, you can now:

1. • Create and display the container master data and maintain certification and rental details for a container.
   • Modify the container master data and search for containers based on one or more filter criteria (for example, container ID, container category, container type, equipment number, plant, and status).
   • Upload or download attachments when the container is in available or inactive status (object level and certificate level).

9. Fiori App for Maintain ACM Applications – New – This new app is applicable to Oil & Gas and Agriculture business. This apps created for ACM operation business role. With this apps, you can apply and reverse application documents to or from contracts and pricing lots (within the contracts). Users can also view the details of the application document and request spot contracts and accumulate to own contracts.
10. Initiate Transfers – New – Again, these features are added in the Field Logistics area. Initiate transfer functions help business to transfer items from one remote location to another location or within the same location. It also supports the return process. However, it will support rental items only.
11. Field Logistics Voyages – New – This function is also introduced within the Field Logistics area. Using these features, you can create voyages, providing a manual voyage ID within a configured external range. Alternatively, the system generates a voyage ID from the internal number range if the field is left blank. You can export container items or delivery items for a particular voyage in the form of an Excel or PDF.
12. Process Cross Plant-Receipt – New – This function is also part of the Field Logistics area. In the function “Process Cross Plant—Receipt”, you can perform goods receiving between base (supplying) plants and remote plants for deliveries (with or without handling units) that are dispatched with or without container assignments. It will have many options related to cross-plant receipt, like receiving the goods dispatched from the base at remote and vice versa, viewing the products dispatched without a container from the Shipment Items tab, etc.
13. Archiving and ILM Object for Handling Units in Process-Cross Plant Receipts – New – This feature is also part of Field Logistics. This function helps you to create and enable policies related to the handling unit ILM, create archiving variants archive the received handling units and display the archived items in archive explorer.
14. Ad hoc Items in Manage Logistics – Supplier Items – New – This feature, which is part of Field Logistics Innovation, enables you to create and move ad hoc items between the base and the remote plants. Ad hoc items are free-flowing items that are not linked to any purchasing document, like purchase orders. Ad hoc items are created from the Manage Logistics—Supplier Items application with additional authorization. It can be created with a source and destination plant at any base or remote plant to move the items in any direction as required.
15. Exclude Expenses and or Fees – New – This feature is included to cater Brazil localization. This feature was part of Agricultural Contract now it can be processed outside of Agricultural Contract Management. This function enables you to exclude expenses and or fees from settlement and invoice verification.
16. Move to Stock for a Non-stock Item – New – With these added features in Field Logistics, you can move a non-stock item into a stock item for two additional scenarios: at the remote plant, once it is received at the remote location, and at the base plant, once it is received back at the base.
17. Consolidation Group – New – This feature of Field Logistics enables you to pick and putaway incoming materials belonging to one consolidation group into the same bin using consolidation in EWM. The feature can also be used in the hold and cross-docking scenario.
18. Manage Field Logistics Voyages – New – With this feature of Field Logistics business can Create, display, or edit a voyage and maintain stages and perform actions such as dispatch, and set them to arrived.
19. Manage Logistics – Supplier Items – New – Field Logistics was the focus area for innovation in S/4HANA 2022 for IS-Oil. With this feature, you can create supplier items, rental items, or third-party items and search and display rental items and non-stock items according to your filter criteria. Also, some flexibility is provided in this innovation, like the ability to order directly for a single plant scenario, initiate transport for rental, third-party, or non-stock items from the base to the remote plant etc
20. Goods Receipt Reversal in Process Receipts – Stock and Non-stock Items – New – In the feature of Field Logistics, you can post cancellations of goods receipts for the inbound delivery or purchase order at the base or remote plant. Business can also perform goods receipt reversal at remote and base plants that support a guided step-by-step process that automates the cancellation of multiple documents. If all the necessary conditions are met, the goods receipt at the base plant can be reversed, which also results in the deletion of the subsequently created documents.
21. Kit Visibility in Field Logistics – New – By using this new feature within the Field Logistics area, you can customize the kit grouping on the maintenance order header or operation level. The user can do a logical grouping of all the equipment or materials required to perform maintenance operations that are supplied from the base for a specific maintenance order.
22. Supply Process Document Flow – New – With this new feature added to Field Logistics, you can view all the documents created end-to-end in the supply process when a set of products are raised as a request by the demand plant and understand the progress in the supply chain processes for Field Logistics.
23. Support Purchase Orders with Item Hierarchy for Services – New – With this feature of Field Logistics, you can create supplier items for a service line in the purchase order with item hierarchy activated. Item hierarchy in the purchase order allows to group items into an item set. This functionality can be used to group a service line and its corresponding supplier items.
24. Approval Workflow in Initiate Transfers – New – As a part of innovation within Field Logistics, with this feature, you can trigger an approval workflow to either approve or reject the transfer for a pre-configured team. This feature is enabled when the transfer of rental or third-party items are triggered from one remote plant to another in the Initiate Transfer
25. Multiple Base Plants – New – With this feature of Field Logistics, multiple alternate base plants are considered as possible suppliers to the remote location when there is a shortage of material at the default base plant. The scenario applies to more complex supply chains where, for example, multiple bases, consolidation hubs are in place. The alternative plants can be supplied from their available stock.
26. Dimension Update from Inbound Delivery – New – This feature of Field Logistics allows to update the dimension details of the non-stock items from the inbound delivery and also allows to create multiple inbound deliveries to handle partial and staggered delivery.
27. Issue to Order at Remote Plant – New – With this feature of Field Logistics,  you can issue orders for stock, non-stock, and supplier items at a remote plant. The action can be performed if the corresponding reservation is selected in the Process-Cross Plant Receipt application after an item is received and an action Issue to Order is triggered.
28. PRA Interest Processing – New – This feature is included in the PRA which enables you to calculate, review, and process interest on late royalty payments.
29. Generic Tax Reporting – New – This feature is added to the PRA for the US solution only. The user can process and generate data generically for the configured tax agency in the Process 2.0 framework.
30. Migration Objects for Production and Revenue Accounting – New – There are 11 new migration objects added in the PRA area. Migration objects are built for the initial migration of your data to the SAP S/4HANA system. A migration object can be created, but it can’t change or update existing data.
31. Initiate Returns by Maintenance Order – New – As part of Field Logistics, it helps the user to display the components of the maintenance order and initiate the returns for the product with respect to the maintenance order.

You can use this innovation of IS-Oil & Gas to meet the customer requirement.

Source: Time to time release of information by SAP O&G product lead and help documents provided by SAP.