2023-12-27：SAP課程
楔子：
英文介紹
My first encounter with operating the SAP ERP system dates back to over twenty years ago when I was studying at National Chengchi University. At that time, my senior classmate Chi-Chun Chou (now teaching at California State University, USA) invited me to join a training course on the SAP R/3 system. A sponsor provided a budget of 100,000 NT dollars, allowing both Chi-Chun and me to attend a week-long training on the SAP FI (Financial Accounting) module and CO (Cost Management) module. The official SAP comprehensive training for one module lasted five weeks, with a fee of 250,000 NT dollars per person. Each of us received a sponsorship of 50,000 NT dollars, which we used to register for the first week of two modules' courses.
I enrolled in the SAP CO module. It was my first exposure to an ERP system. Apart from me, most attendees were seed learners sent by major enterprises preparing to implement or already in the process of implementing SAP systems. There was also a graduate student from Chung Yuan Christian University's Department of Computer Science. They had all paid 250,000 NT dollars for a complete five-week course. The graduate student from CYCU was executing his advisor's project, which required consecutive attendance in several transaction modules and a complete ABAP course. (Funding in the STEM field indeed seems to be abundant!)
The SAP system was incredibly complex. In the initial two days of the course, I struggled to grasp the concepts and frequently sought clarification on operational details from the enterprise learners around me. By the third day, I began to comprehend better, and by the fourth and fifth days, I was able to explain the SAP system's design to the enterprise learners who had assisted me during the first two days.
That one-week course opened a window for me. I spent a lot of time afterwards reading SAP's functional documentation. Even though I didn't have the opportunity for hands-on practice, reviewing numerous charts and figures in the documentation provided me with a deep understanding of the SAP R/3 system. I also created a case study on configuring a virtual multinational enterprise SAP R/3 system, which I presented at a seminar. It later became supplementary material for my AIS (Accounting Information Systems) course.
Before the winter break in early 2023, I received information about the National Central University ERP Center offering a Train the Trainers (TTT) course in Taichung for SAP S/4HANA ERP system. Having relatively more free time during that period, I enrolled in the training program. During the February winter break, I attended a five-day course at National Taichung University of Science and Technology. NTUST is situated in the city center, providing convenient access to nearby dining, accommodations, and transportation. On the first day, I met Professor Gui-Huei Cheng, the accounting department head at National Taipei University, and we sat together in adjacent seats during the course. Professor Cheng mentioned that she had attended the same course during the previous year's winter break. However, at that time, the instructional materials had just been compiled and contained numerous errors, resulting in suboptimal learning outcomes. Professor Cheng, who is enthusiastic about learning new technological knowledge, signed up for the course again. Being an experienced participant, she was a great help to me during the five-day course. Apart from me, my colleague Professor Zhe-Hong Lin from the Accounting Department and Professor Su-Fen Liu from the Marketing Department also attended the event.
The five-day course covered modules such as Sales and Distribution (SD), Procurement (MM), Manufacturing (PP), Financial Accounting (FI), and Controlling (CO), making it highly intensive. After the course, there were online certification exams held over two weekends. After thorough preparation, I successfully obtained three SAP S/4HANA ERP certifications: Distribution Module, Production Planning and Manufacturing Module, and Financial Module.
Following my participation in the training and obtaining the three certifications, I immediately persuaded both NPTU and National Chengchi University to join the SAP University Alliance. This step would enable the introduction of SAP ERP courses in the curriculum. National Chengchi University took swift action through its accounting department, paying 100,000 NT dollars to join the alliance. Therefore, in the fall semester of 2023, the AIS course I taught at National Chengchi University incorporated SAP ERP Lab content, allowing over 120 enrolled students to use their dedicated accounts to learn and operate the SAP S/4HANA ERP system.
Due to the course not being specialized in ERP, it was inappropriate to utilize an entire official ERP textbook published by the NCU's ERP Center. Therefore, I developed my own teaching materials for the course. Based on the official textbook, I authored operation manuals for the SD and MM modules. I organized the operational steps by capturing screenshots of the system interface displayed on the computer during the operation process, and corrected numerous errors found in the official textbook. It can be said that after reviewing the teaching materials I compiled and practicing within the SAP system once, there is less need for additional hands-on practice. This is because the content of the materials enables students to develop a vivid familiarity with the system interface.
中文翻譯
我最早開始學習操作 SAP ERP 系統，是在二十幾年前回政大進修時，周濟群學長 ( 現在在美國加州州立大學任教 ) 找我一起去上 SAP R/3 系統的培訓課，當時有外部廠商贊助 10 萬元，讓我和他各去上一週的 SAP FI 財務會計模組及 CO 成本管理模組的課。那時 SAP 官方完整的培訓課，一個模組為期五週，每人收費 25 萬元。我們一人獲得 5 萬元的贊助費用，就用來報名上兩個模組第一週的課程。
我上的是 SAP CO 模組。那是我第一次接觸 ERP 系統，除了我以外，來上課的大部分都是準備導入或正在導入 SAP 系統的各大企業派出來的種子學員，也有中原大學來的一名資工系碩士生。他們都是繳了 25 萬元來上五週的完整課程，中原的碩士生則是執行指導老師的計畫案，他要連續上好幾個交易模組，以及整套的 ABAP 課程 ( 工科的研究經費真是充裕啊！ ) 。
SAP 系統實在太複雜了，前兩天的課程，我還摸不著頭緒，頻頻向週邊的企業學員們請教操作的細節。到了第三天，比較能進入狀況，第四、五天就可以反過來解釋 SAP 系統的設計架構讓前兩天幫助過我的企業學員們理解。
那次為期一週的課程，幫我打開了一扇窗。我後來花了很多時間閱讀 SAP 的功能說明文件 (documentation) ，雖然沒有機會上機操作，但藉由檢視說明文件中大量的圖表，還是能對 SAP R/3 系統有深入的認識。我還寫了一個虛擬的跨國企業 SAP R/3 系統配置個案，在研討會發表，也成為我教授 AIS 課程的補充教材。
我在 2023 年初的寒假前，收到中央 ERP 中心開設 SAP S/4HANA ERP 系統師資培訓課程 (TTT) 的訊息，那段時間比較有空，就報名參加培訓。在二月份寒假期間到台中科技大學參加為期五天的課程，台中科大在市中心，附近的食宿交通都非常方便。第一天報到時就遇到熟識的台北大學會計系主任鄭桂蕙教授，我們就坐在隔鄰座位一起上課。鄭教授說她前一年寒假已經上過一次這個課程，但當時使用的教材才剛編好，錯誤很多，學習的效果不太好。對科技新知充滿學習熱情的鄭教授就再報名一次，已經算是老鳥的她也在五天的課程中幫了我很多忙。屏大除了我，我會計系的同事林哲弘老師及行銷系的劉素芬老師也來共襄盛舉。
五天的課程教了銷售 (SD) 、採購 (MM) 、製造 (PP) 、財會 (FI) 、管會 (CO) 等模組，非常緊湊。課程結束後，分兩個周末舉辦線上證照考試，經過一番寒徹骨，我也順利取得三張 SAP S/4HANA ERP 證照：配銷模組、生管製造模組、財務模組。
參加培訓並取得三張證照後，我立刻遊說屏大及政大加入 SAP 的校園聯盟，以後就可以開設 SAP ERP 課程。政大動作很快，由會計系出面，付 10 萬元簽約加入聯盟，因此我 112-1 學期 (2023 年秋季班 ) 在政大開設的 AIS 課程就增加 SAP ERP Lab 內容，讓一百二十幾位修課的學生使用自己專屬的帳號學習操作 SAP S/4HANA ERP 系統。
因為不是專門的 ERP 課程，不適合採用官方出版的整本 ERP 教材，所以我就自編授課講義。我以官方教材為基礎，自己撰寫 SD 及 MM 模組的操作講義，把操作過程中的系統畫面逐一截圖編成操作程序，並修正教材中仍然存在的諸多錯誤。可以這麼說，看了我編的講義，並在 SAP 系統上操作過一次後，就不太需要再上機操作了，因為講義內容就可以讓學生對系統畫面產生歷歷在目的熟悉感。
發表時間：2023/12/27 著作人：周國華老師