Managing LSMW project hierarchy for efficiency and oversight

LSMW stores conversion objects in a hierarchical format within projects and sub projects. Limiting the storage of objects used for a single SAP implementation to a single LSMW project enables team leads to easily find objects distributed over team resources, oversee progress and contribute to the development process.

Limiting objects to meaningfully defined subprojects within a single project allows for the recycling of source code, standardization of translations and distribution of user-defined routines. Maintenance, validation and testing requirements are reduced by ensuring that projects are managed properly.

Easy management

Objects that are given meaningful names and stored in the correct subproject under a single LSMW project are easier for a team lead to find. LSMW comes with a convenient project-encompassing overview that allows a team lead to see every object with name, description, creation date and owner.

Translation tables can be used to enrich transactional data from legacy systems. Financial data, sales data and purchasing data are just a few of the many transactional documents that come from legacy systems with the legacy vendor number, legacy customer number or legacy material number and need to have that number translated to a new number generated by SAP as part of the transporting of master data. A simple translation table can be used to assign objects to specific company codes, purchasing groups or tax codes based on information from the legacy system.

User-defined routines can be used to perform enhanced translations or transformations on legacy data based on requirements. A simple form that uses a legacy number and changes an SAP number in an LSMW object is easier to standardize and maintain when there is only a single shared copy. For example, a form used to translate a legacy vendor number for Accounts Payable documents should be the same tool used to translate legacy vendors numbers for Purchase Orders.

Meaningful subprojects

A great way to group objects is by SAP module in subprojects named after that module. Storing financial document objects like APs, ARs and G/L in a subproject called FICO is a great start. All material-oriented objects like Material Master, Classifications, Characteristics and BOMs can be confidently stored in a subproject named MM. Here is a list of modules with their descriptions:

SAP Modules

SD Sales & Distribution Module

MM Materials Management Module

FI/CO Financials / Controlling Module

HR Human Resources Module

PP Production Planning Module

PP-PI Production Planning for Process Industries Module

IM Inventory Management

PM Plant Maintenance Module

PS Project Systems Module

SM Service Management Module

QM Quality Management Module