Lesson 2 of 5
Storyline design
12 min
An integration storyline is one business story told through the system, in which each step uses the real output of the step before. It is not a collection of separate scenarios run in the same week. The test is whether the chain holds.
Contoso's demand-to-cash storyline
Contoso's main storyline begins with a fleet order that the warehouse cannot fill from stock, so it pulls planning, purchasing and production into the order-to-cash flow, and ends with the period close that shows whether the money adds up.
- Fleet orderGreat Lakes Fleet Services orders 200 alternators CMC-ALT-100 from plant 1710; availability check shows a shortage
- PlanningMRP for plant 1710 creates planned orders for alternators and purchase requisitions for rotors CMC-RTR-200
- ProcurementRequisitions become a PO to Lakeside Components; goods receipt of rotors into plant 1710
- ProductionPlanned orders convert to production orders; components issued, operations confirmed, alternators received into stock
- Delivery and billingDelivery from shipping point 1710, goods issue, billing document to the fleet customer
- CashIncoming payment from the customer; payment run pays Lakeside Components
- CloseProduction order settlement, variance analysis and period-end checks for company code 1710
Building it from scope items
Each segment of the storyline corresponds to standard SAP Best Practices content, which gives you steps, roles and expected results to start from: BD9 Sell from Stock for the order-to-cash steps, J45 Procurement of Direct Materials for buying rotors, BJ5 Make-to-Stock Production for discrete manufacturing, and J58 Accounting and Financial Close for the period end. The storyline is what stitches them together: the scope items show each process, the storyline proves the joins.
| Segment | Standard content | Owning team | Handoff out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet order and availability | BD9 | Order to cash (Maria) | Requirement visible to planning |
| MRP | BJ5 planning steps | Plan to produce | Purchase requisitions to procurement; planned orders to production |
| Buy rotors | J45 | Procure to pay | Rotors in unrestricted stock; supplier invoice posted |
| Make alternators | BJ5 | Plan to produce | Finished alternators in stock at 171A |
| Deliver, bill, collect | BD9 | Order to cash | Open receivable, then cleared |
| Pay supplier | J45 / accounts payable | Procure to pay with finance | Supplier item cleared |
| Close | J58 | Record to report (Dan) | Period results reviewed |
Choosing the branches
One happy path is not enough, but trying to test every variant end to end is impossible. Pick a main storyline and a few branches that exercise the riskiest handoffs:
- Partial supply: Lakeside delivers 300 of 500 rotors; production can only build part of the order; the customer receives a partial delivery and two invoices.
- Price variance: the supplier invoices rotors above the PO price; the invoice is blocked and released; the variance flows into product cost.
- Second plant: the same story through plant 1720 Chicago, with its $156 standard cost and shipping point 1720.
- Credit block: the fleet customer exceeds its credit limit after the order; delivery must wait for release.
- Does the branch cross a team boundary?Yes → candidate for integration · No → leave to string tests
- Does it change a posting or a quantity that later steps depend on?Yes → include as a branch · No → next question
- Has this handoff failed before, in legacy or in earlier cycles?Yes → include · No → sample in a later cycle
Writing the storyline document
A storyline document is shorter than you might expect, because it reuses the teams' scenarios. It needs: the business story in two or three sentences; the segments in order, each pointing to the scenario that performs it; the handoff each segment produces, with the documents to pass on; the expected results that span segments, such as the margin on the order; the branches; and the entry criteria (data, roles, periods, jobs). Process owners from every team should review it together, because each one will spot assumptions about their area that the others made.
Keep the number of main storylines small. Contoso ran four in cycle 1 and seven in cycle 2. More storylines mean more data, more collisions and more coordination; a handful of well-chosen stories, each proven to the last cent, gives more confidence than dozens run halfway.
What would you do?
Priya's draft integration plan contains 120 scenarios copied from the teams' string tests, to be run in the same two weeks. Each team uses its own customers, products and POs. What is the main problem?
- A storyline is one business story in which each step uses the previous step's real output.
- Build segments from scope items such as BD9, J45, BJ5 and J58; the storyline proves the joins.
- Assign each segment to an owning team and name its handoff.
- Add a few branches for the riskiest handoffs: partial supply, variances, second plant, credit.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Why use one connected storyline?
2. Which scope item covers make-to-stock discrete production?
3. Which branch best tests a risky handoff?
4. What should each storyline segment record besides its owner?