A short guide to SAP Screen Personas

The rise of mobile devices in recent years has brought about a revolution in warehouse management. These handheld powerhouses, equipped with intuitive applications, have become indispensable tools for warehouse operators, enabling them to enhance operations, minimise errors, and boost overall efficiency.

In this article, we will delve into the extended possibilities of SAP EWM by adding SAP Screen Personas. Explore with us how SAP Screen Personas cost-efficiently simplify mobile applications and make the lives of warehouse floor users so much easier.

First, let’s have a look at what the numbers say about the usage and the impact of mobile device applications in warehouse management.

• Smartphone Proliferation: According to a report by the Pew Research Center, as of 2021, 85% of American adults owned a smartphone. With similar trends observed globally, mobile devices have become ubiquitous tools not only in personal life but also in the workplace.
• Mobile App Usage in Warehousing: Research conducted by Gartner in 2020 revealed that over 60% of logistics and supply chain professionals relied on mobile applications for daily tasks, marking a significant shift towards digital solutions in logistics execution.
• Productivity Boost: A study by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) found that integrating mobile devices and applications in warehousing led to a 30% increase in productivity compared to traditional methods.
• Error Reduction: The Aberdeen Group reported that companies using mobile device applications in their warehouse operations experienced a 25% reduction in error rates, leading to improved customer satisfaction and cost savings.
• Real-Time Visibility: With mobile apps, warehouses can achieve real-time visibility into inventory levels, order statuses, and shipments. In a survey conducted by DHL in 2021, 73% of logistics professionals cited real-time visibility as a top priority for enhancing operational efficiency.

While SAP Screen Personas is great for enhancing the user experience on various devices, its capabilities on mobile devices were somewhat limited. Therefore, SAP introduced the Slipstream Engine with version 3.0 SP16 of the Screen Personas. This component allows you to render classical SAP GUI Transactions (Dynpro/WebDynpro) into Fiori flavours on mobile devices such as tablets or phones. Slipstream Engine is an SAP UI5 application that runs in a browser and obtains screen definitions from the Internet Transaction Server (ITS). Unlike SAP GUI for HTML (Web GUI), Slipstream Engine was engineered to run on mobile devices. Hence, Slipstream Engine provides an alternative browser-based rendering approach for SAP GUI screens that helps improve mobile warehouse operations.

Building mobile applications follows a simplified process compared to building desktop applications, using the SAP Screen Personas editor with strong low-code functionalities. If you are building apps to run in Slipstream Engine, we recommend building them using the SAP Screen Personas editor running in Slipstream Engine (as opposed to in Web GUI). Like the rendering differences with other members of the SAP GUI family, there may be slight rendering differences between Web GUI and Slipstream Engine.

The goal of SAP Fiori is to “keep simple things simple”. SAP Screen Personas allows organisations to bring the simplicity of the role-based SAP Fiori experience to SAP users in SAP ECC, SAP Business Suite on HANA, and SAP S/4HANA. It can also be used to simplify custom Z-transactions. Using SAP Fiori, you can develop whatever you need from the ground up using SAP UI5 controls and the SAP Web IDE.

With SAP Screen Personas you can

• personalise the screens according to the business requirements by following the no-code principles,
• automatically fetch information using the scripting engine,
• and use the editor to bring scattered (but relevant) information onto a single screen. This requires minimal development effort.
  
  
  To summarise, SAP Screen Personas enable “personalisation without programming”.
  
  
  

The main difference between SAP Fiori and SAP Screen Personas is that SAP Screen Personas is meant to redesign an existing transaction with little effort and tailor the transaction to the end user's specific needs.

In contrast, SAP Fiori allows users to create entirely new applications. For many areas and devices (desktop, smartphone, table), SAP Fiori provides ready-made responsive apps that enable access to various systems.

Unlike Fiori, the interface design options offered by Screen Personas are not particularly complex but are very effective and easy to implement.

SAP Screen Personas is an extremely useful tool for improving warehouse operations and speeding up processes such as inventory management and order fulfilment. The tool improves the usability of existing SAP GUI applications on mobile devices through configuration and customisation, making them accessible to users with minimal development skills. It differs from SAP Fiori, which allows you to create completely new applications and interfaces, but usually requires more in-depth development work.

Essentially, both SAP Screen Personas and SAP Fiori lead to improved mobile warehouse operations. The choice between the two depends on your specific use case and your goals for improving the usability of SAP applications.

Would you like to learn more about the topic? Or do you need support with the application of SAP Screen Personas or the extension of your SAP EWM solution? Get in touch with us!