There are various ways of creating and editing a work breakdown structure. The Project Builder is a clearly-structured tool in SAP Project System (SAP PS) that is extremely user-friendly and allows projects to be edited quickly and efficiently.
You can use the Project Builder to maintain any object in SAP PS, except for the assignment of production resources and tools (PRT). Context-sensitive menus, Drag&Drop, and the option of defining your own worklist and set of templates help you edit your projects more easily. The Project Builder consists of a window divided into three areas: the structure overview is in the top left of the window, the worklist in the bottom left, and on the right is an area of displaying and editing data. The structure contains the selected project data of the current project with its hierarchical relationships. You use the worklist to store frequently-used projects, networks, and WBS elements on a user-specific basis. The worklist always displays a list of the last five projects edited. The templates are used as a set of proposals while a project is being edited from which you can incorporate new elements in the project and integrate copy templates. The work area displays a detail view of the selected object in the structure and allows you to access the overviews of lower-level objects directly. You
use the work area to edit the individual project elements. You can navigate between the various views (detail views and overviews), graphics, and project planning board quickly and efficiently in the Project Builder in order to maintain the structures.
Figure 9: Project Builder
You use operative indicators to define the characteristics of a WBS element, and to specify what tasks the WBS element will assume during project execution:
• WBS elements for which you want to plan costs are flagged as planning elements.
• WBS elements to which you want to post actual costs are flagged as account assignment elements.
• WBS elements where you want to plan or post revenues are flagged as billing elements.
Each WBS element is assigned its own company code. Since different company codes can be assigned to the various WBS elements in a project, this means that it is possible to process projects across companies. You can assign profit centers, business areas, persons responsible, partners (internal and external), and cost centers responsible for the project to WBS elements. These assignments are used mainly for reporting purposes (see unit entitled “Reporting”). For example, this data allows you to analyze a large number of projects together by business area and person responsible using project summarization. You can also analyze the project key figures of several projects in your cost center hierarchy or profit center hierarchy. When documents are assigned, the business area and profit center are derived from the corresponding WBS element. This information can be used later for reporting by business area or in
Profit Center Accounting. You can generate cost-center-based settlement rules for costs projects. You can specify in the system that an e-mail should be sent to the person responsible for the project entered in a WBS element if the budget is exceeded.
You can also use SAP Partner Processing to assign customers, vendors, personnel numbers, system users, work centers, shipping points, HR organizational units, and other objects to WBS elements. When you do so, the system conducts checks against existing SAP master data.
Figure 10: Operative Indicators and Organizational Data
The “Maintenance Options” diagram shows different ways of creating and extending work breakdown structures. You can use the Project Builder to create and change WBS elements. You can do this on detail screens or in the list of WBS elements. You can use the hierarchy graphic to change WBS elements (by double-clicking them).
You can also create new WBS elements, and insert these in the hierarchy (connect mode). In addition to maintaining projects manually in the Project Builder or using the hierarchy graphic (1, 2), you can also use existing project structures or standard projects as templates to copy from. When you create a new WBS, you can use an existing WBS, a section of the project hierarchy, or a standard WBS as a template to copy from. You can also incorporate WBS elements from other projects or from a
standard WBS in an existing WBS (3, 4). Other transactions are available in addition to the Project Builder, for example the project planning board for creating and editing a WBS.
Figure 11: Maintenance Options
You can analyze and edit the structure of the WBS in the hierarchy graphic. For example, you can create new WBS elements or cut and paste subtrees from the hierarchy. You can call up the hierarchy graphic in various functions of Project System (for example, in the Project Builder or project planning board, in cost planning, scheduling, budget management, or in the information system).
Figure 12: Hierarchy Graphic
Exercise 2: Work Breakdown Structure
Exercise Objectives
After completing this exercise, you will be able to:
• Create and edit work breakdown structures using the Project Builder
Business Example
You are planning the construction of an elevator for your company. In order to plan and then execute and monitor this investment project, you create a suitable work breakdown structure using the Project Builder.
Hint: In the following exercises, ## indicates your group number (## = 01, 02, and so on).