SAP IS-U

Utilities : Electicity / Gas / Water & wastewater

Generation -> Transmission > Distribution -> Customer service & Billing
Master data === Meter reading -> Billing -> Invoicing -> Contract
accounting

Master data
There are 2 different types of master data: technical and business. These are
shown in the graphic below:

Business Data: Any master data that is used for billing a customer for the
services provided is grouped under Business data. For e.g., a business partner
who is a person or an organization.

Technical Data: Any master data that is used for actually providing the services
are grouped under Technical Data. For e.g., a device or a meter that is installed
in a customer location.
Business data
Business Partner: A business partner could be a person, an organization, a
future customer, a contact person or even an installer who is licensed to provide
the utilities services on behalf of the utility company.
Contract: A contract is the legal agreement that the business partner has
entered with the utility for a particular service ( each contract for each service
eg: water, gas..)
Contract Account: A contract account is a logical way of grouping various
contracts. The contract account is used for maintaining the payment, dunning
and collection rules that are common to a group of contracts. It is through the
contract account, the business partner is linked to the contracts. Multiple
contracts can be grouped under a single contract account however, a contract
can be linked only to one contract account. Also, multiple contract accounts can
be linked to a business partner, however a contract account can only be linked to
one business partner. In case of big commercial establishments or utility paid
apartment complexes, the contract accounts may be used to group multiple
suites or apartments under a single business partner, so that the payment
responsibility lies with the business partner.

Structure used to bill the posting data for contracts or contract items
for which the same collection/disbursement agreements apply.
Contract accounts are managed on an open item basis within Contract
Accounts Receivable and Payable

Technical data

Connection: The connection provides the technical link between the utility grid
and the installations.
Connection Object: This refers to the physical location where the various
services are provided. It is the service address and usually the address of the
house but in case of apartment complex could be different than the address of
the apartment that actually consumes the service. Device locations (discussed
above) take the address of the connection object with additional qualifiers to pin
point their location. For e.g., in my house, as I said, there are two device
locations. The address of these locations will still be my house address but the
additional qualifier would be basement, hallway etc. In SAP, the connection
object is nothing but a plant maintenance functional location object.
Since an address is allocated to a connection object, the connection object links
premises, device locations and connections to the postal regional structure.
Premise: This refers to the spatial unit or the enclosed structure to which the
utility services have to be rendered. It is attached to the connection object and
takes the address of the connection object but the premise also has other
attributes attached to it.
Installation: It is at the installation level various billing schema, rate tariffs and
billing procedures are attached for the services provided. Groups together the
devices and registers that belong to the same division and are allocated
to the same premise, and that are therefore billed together. Also, every
installation is attached to the premise so that actual supply point can be linked
with the site where the services are provided. Point to note that is there is a one
to one relationship between installation and contract.

Device: It refers to the physical device, it could be an electric meter, gas meter,
regulator, sensor etc. Every device has a unique serial number and in SAP a
utility device is a nothing but a equipment with a serial number. Every
utility device will have a material number created in SAP as well. Usually
each service (electric, gas, water) etc will have at the least one device. It is
through the device reads that the utility can measure the consumption of the
service.
Device Location: This refers to the physical location of the device. More than
one device can be in a device location or each device can be its own location. For
e.g., in my house, the gas meter is outside the house but the water meter is
inside the house. So these would be treated as two device locations that have
two individual devices installed. Device locations are handy to capture the coordinates so that when there is a maintenance activity to be performed on the
device, it is easy for the field personnel to locate the device.
Grid: The grid is an object in the SAP IS-U system that corresponds to the service
area or part of the service area of a distributor.
Point of Delivery POD: This is a globally identified unique service point where
a utility service is provided. In a deregulated market (a topic in itself), there are
multiple service providers providing a customer different services. For e.g,, a
utility company will be providing the actual electricity and any associated
infrastructure around it whereas another provider will be able to provide billing,
customer service and other related services. So, in a deregulated market, it
becomes important to uniquely identify service point and it is done using the
point of delivery data object. There is a 1:1 relationship between point of
delivery and installation.

Device Category: This groups the various devices in to different categories

based on the technical characteristics. This enables us to maintain the data that
is common for a group of devices, there by grouping them in a logical way. Some
examples of device categories are Meter, Transformer, Pressure regulator etc.

Contract partner: when a contract partner is created in the background a

standard (Sales and Distribution) customer is created.
Installer: the person assigned by the utility company to carry out installation
activities.
Contact person: acts as mediator/liaison to an organization with which business
contact is linked.
FPP1 Create Business Partner / FPP2 Change Business Partner / FPP3 Display
Business Partner / BP Maintain Business Partner
Tcodes:
Connection object :

ES55 Create /

ES56 Change /

ES57 Display

Premise : ES60 Create / ES61 Change / ES62 - Display

Device location : ES65 Create / ES66 Change / ES67 - Display
Installation : ES30 Create / ES31 Change / ES32 - Display
Contract - ES21 Change / ES22 Display / ES27 - Change All / ES28 - Display
All
Contract account : CAA1 Create / CAA2 Change / CAA3 - Display
BP: FPP1 Create Business Partner / FPP2 Change Business Partner /
FPP3 Display Business Partner / BP Maintain Business Partner

Master Data
The process to create master data in the standard SAP IS-U sistem is:
1) Create Technical Objects:
1.1 Create Connection Object
1.2. Create Premise
1.3 Create Installation
1.4. Create Device
1.5 Install Device in the Installation
2) Create Business master data

2.1 Create Business Partner

2.2 Create contract account
2.3 Create Move In (Move the business partner into the premise).
Another prerequisite would be to have billing master data in the
system:
These are the steps to create a billing master data construct.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

Configure billing classes

Configure Rate types
Define Rate
Create regster operands
Define fact groups
Create Schema
Create Rate category
Create Rate Determination.

BAPIs for IS-U Business Partner

BAPI_ISUPARTNER_CHANGE BAPI for Changing Business Partner. Some fields
are not support by this BAPI for example, BUT000-BPEXT in this case an
alternative is BAPI_BUPA_CENTRAL_CHANGE or BUPA_CENTRAL_CHANGE
BAPI_ISUPARTNER_CREATEFROMDATA BAPI for Creating a Business Partner
BAPI_ISUPARTNER_GETDETAIL
BAPI for Displaying a Business
Partner
BAPI_ISUPARTNER_GETLIST
partners

BAPI: generates list of business

SAP IS-U Billing

Billing Cycle in ISU perspective starts with the creation of the Meter Reading
Orders (MRO) and ends in the creation of the respective invoices ( also, called as
Print Document).
Different stages in the Billing Cycle comprises of in the following order:
1. Creation of the Meter Reading Orders (MROs)
Note: While creating the MROs, Billing Orders (BOs) are automatically created in
the system.
2. Meter readings are uploaded in the system. The implausible records are
separated based on the validations maintained in the system and worked upon
according to the case specifically for the correction of the meter readings. For
example, High/ low consumption.
3. Billing is done (normally a daily batch process). As result, Billing Documents
are created.
4. Again, Invoicing is carried out (normally a daily batch process). The
implausible records are again snatched out in a exception list based on the
validations maintained in the system and worked upon according to the case
specifically for the correction of invoice amount.For Example, High/ Low Amount.
As a result, invoice document (Print Document) are created.
These records are sent for the printing.

The Steps involved are as follows:

1. Create Schedule master records:- EA43

2. Create meter reading orders: EL01 / Mass recording EL06
Download / Print Meter Reading Orders
Read the meter (outside SAP IS-U)
3. Enter Meter Reading Results: EL28
4. Check if billing order is billable: El28
5. Perform Billing Simulation: EA00
6. Perform Billing : EASIBI
7. Check for Outsorting: EA05
8. Perform Invoicing: EA19/EASIBI
Reversals: EA13
Meter Reading Correction: El27

https://blogs.sap.com/2016/03/28/sap-is-u-technical-master-datagenerator/

Device Management
This component manages technical data, installations, meter readings, and the
inspection of devices.
The device, device category, and device number in the Utilities Industry (IS-U)
component correspond to equipment, material, and the serial number in the
standard system.
The device number is created in MM with the function Goods Receipt. At
the utility company, the device is labeled with this number.
The device number can also be generated when you create a device in IS-U. The
device is identified by a unique material and serial number combination to
distinguish it from other pieces of material that may have the same serial
number. The equipment number is the same throughout the whole system.

Device Category in ISU is a material in MM. You have to first create a MM record
before you can create a device category with the same name/number. You will
get the opportunity to create it when you are creating the device category
(tcode EG01) also.
Once you create the device category, you can then create devices within this
category using IQ01. The devices are nothing but serial numbers on MM/PP
side.kes
Procedure
1. Choose Utilities industry >> Device management >> Technology >> Device
category >> Create. You branch to the initial screen for creating device
categories.

2. Enter the required data and choose a basic device category to be allocated to
the device category. Chose Continue.
- If a material exists for the device category specified, you branch to
the screen Create Device Category: General Data. Go to step 3.
- If no material exists for the device category specified, the Create MM
Material dialog box appears.
Material Master create Material MM01 = > Industry sector Utilities
Material type - ISUM (ISU device material ) => material master for IS-U
is automatically created in the background but need to extend with IS-U specific
data
Here you can create a material in MM in the background. Processing is then
continued on the next screen for device category maintenance.
3. Enter further data for the device category and if necessary add additional
basic device categories. Save your data.
(2nd option - You can only create the material master as a device category in IS-U.
When you do this, a smaller version of the material master is created
automatically in the background for MM. However, this material master does not
allow you to use all of the functions of MM.)
Result - The device category was created in IS-U. In addition, a material master
was created in the background. If you want to use all of the MM functions
available, you must extend the material master you created in IS-U in MM.
Basic device categories - Meter, transformer, sensor, counter, pressure
reg
Device inst

allation

Install, remove, and replace devices

Create device groups

Change rate data and technical data of devices that are already installed in a
utility installation.

IDoc ISU_DEVICE_CHANGE to transfer data from external systems to the work

process.
Device installation, removal, and replacement now contains the following
enhancements:
EDMD1001 (user-defined default values for installation, removal and
replacement)
This enhancement allows you to define default data for input parameters.
EDMD1001 (user-defined checks for installation, removal and replacement)
This enhancement allows you to implement your own input checks.

Device information record : The device information record is an object in the IS-U
system that enables the system to perform billing-orientated functions.
Device gropig : In this component you can group together devices that form a
logical unit. All devices in a device group must currently either be installed or
not installed.
Meter Reading
This component allows you to organize meter readings and meter reading
results. Devices are either read periodically for periodic billing or aperiodically,
such as for control meter readings and readings at the time of device
replacement, removal, or disconnection. Devices can also be read for a certain
activity, such as a move-in or a removal. In this case, the meter reading is
triggered directly by the activity, and not by the Meter Reading component.
Meter Reading Process

First, the meter reading order is created and printed as a meter reading
document or downloaded to an external entry system. The meter reading results
are either entered manually or uploaded. They are then validated and corrected,
if necessary. The results are then forwarded to the Contract Billing (ISU-BI)
component.

The following Business Application Programming Interfaces

(BAPI) are available in the Business Object Repository (BOR) for
selecting meter reading orders and results:

MeterReadingDocument.GetList (select meter reading

orders and results)

MeterReadingDocument.Upload (upload meter reading

results)
Meter reading org:

Street Route : component to define the sequence in which the devices in a

service territory are to be read. Doing this can optimize the meter readers route.

The following enhancements can be used for the street route:

EDMLSORT (IS-U: Sort Meter Reading Orders for Printout and

Download)
Meter Reading Order - MRO

This component allows you to create a meter reading order for each
register. The order contains register-specific data and information about
the planned meter reading, such as the meter reader and the scheduled
meter reading date. Meter reading orders can be created for:

Meter readers from the utility company

External meter reading companies

Meter reading by the customer

Single order creation
This function allows you to create single orders for a periodic billing. You
might need to create single orders for interim and control billings or if a meter
reading unit is handed over to another utility company, for example. You can also
create single orders for periodic billings if a specific order has to be created again
due to a mistake.
You can create individual orders for device installation, removal or
replacement, during move-in processing or for individual entry of meter
reading results.
You can create meter reading orders at the following levels:
Meter reading unit
Contract

Installation
Device

Single order creation may be based on either schedule records, which are
generated in scheduling (order creation for periodic meter reading), or on the
dates for meter reading and billing that you have entered (depending on the
meter reading reason).
Mass Order Creation
This function allows you to create meter reading orders for more multiple meter reading

Schedule records must already exist when you create mass

orders. Schedule records are created in the scheduling component.
units and dates.

Meter Reading Control

During meter reading order creation, you control the sequence of meter readings of
different categories. You have the following options: 1. u

can enter a fixed schedule

in the schedule master record for the meter reading unit. Eg: You want to
read meters every month. To reduce the number of meter readers, you
allow for two estimations and one subsequent reading by a meter reader.
2. You can define meter reading control settings in Customizing

Reversal
This function allows you to reverse all objects generated via meter reading order
creation, including:

Meter reading orders

Meter reading results (optional)

Billing orders

Order Output
This component allows you to:

Print meter reading documents

You can print meter reading orders or forms for meter reading by the
customer, depending on the type of meter reading scheduled.

Download meter reading order via raw data interface (RDI)

You can download orders as a spool file or an IDoc.
You can transfer orders via an RDI to external entry systems, such as MDE
devices (mobile data entry) and document readers (download), or print
them from external printing systems.
In both methods, the application form you use defines the data output. This
allows you to output essentially all data in the system.

Meter Reading Result Entry

Meter reading results are uploaded via an IDOC interface (CA-EDI) and imported
via direct input. Every meter reading result is validated.

You can use the following enhancements for meter reading results entry:

EDMFOLUP
This enhancement allows you to trigger follow-up actions after
uploaded meter readings have been validated.

EDMMR001
This enhancement allows you to add your own fields to the table of
meter reading results.
Independent and independent validations

1. Upload
You can upload meter reading results from external systems (such as MDE devices) using
a BAPI or IDoc of type ISU_MR_UPLOAD01 (upload meter reading results). The BAPI
method is called MeterReadingDocument.Upload.
There are two upload scenarios:
1. Meter reading orders were already created and downloaded in IS-U : Meter readings
are assigned to IS-U orders via the document number when they are uploaded
2. There are no meter reading orders in IS-U/CCS : In this case you have to specify the
serial number and the register number to identify the device for which readings are to
be entered in IS-U/CCS. If the serial number is not unique, you also have to provide
the material number and device category.

2. Fast Entry With/Without Correction

You can use this function to enter a large number of meter reading results manually. Fast
entry is normally used for periodic meter reading ( with or without correction = depends
on validations)

3. Single entry
This function enables you to enter meter readings for a single customer, contract,
installation or device. You do not have to create a meter reading order before carrying
out single entry. However, if a meter reading order already exists, that order is taken into
account. If no meter reading order exists, an order is created using the criteria you have
entered. In the case of a meter reading reason that triggers billing, a billing order is
created.

Correction
Plausible meter reading results
This function allows you to correct plausible meter reading results. Eg: estimated
results corrected by actual results.The meter reading must not have been billed
already. A meter reading that has been billed cannot be changed until the billing
has been reversed. This function can only used to correct plausible meter
reading results.

Implausible meter reading results

Implausible meter reading results are reset when meter reading results are
imported via upload or when large amounts of data are entered as part of a fast
entry without correction. These meter readings can be processed further via the
function for correction of meter reading results.
Reversal
This function allows you to reverse all objects generated via meter reading order creation, including:

Meter reading orders

Meter reading results (optional)

Billing orders

Device Inspection
This component manages device inspections and certifications. If a device passes an inspection in
accordance with prescribed margins of error, it is certified for a certain period and can be reinstalled. A
device may be certified in one of the following ways:

As a device in a sample lot

Individually via periodic replacement

Individually via an SD order

There are two types of certifications:

The calibration validity of a device is renewed via an external certification carried

out in accordance with legal requirements by a recognized inspection office.

The quality of a device is inspected according to internal certification guidelines.