SAP AFS

Everyone knows SAP, its history and its functionality. But I think an understanding of SAP AFS is not as common, so I'd like to give you a brief introduction.

[[SAP AFS]] is the SAP solution focused on the Apparel and Footwear Industry (AFS stands for Apparel and Footwear Solutions). In the standard categorization of SAP’s industry specific solutions, AFS is categorized under “Consumable Products”.

SAP AFS is built on the SAP Core with valuable extra functionality to support the specific needs of the apparel and footwear industry. Among these are the ability to handle sizes (grids), ability to categorize products based on their common features (like country importing the goods, quality grade of the product) and the ability to handle seasonality.

Handling materials in sizes is a special requirement in the apparel and footwear industry. This is achieved with AFS Grid functionality. AFS grids are three dimensional in nature. In other words, there can be three variables maintained in the grid value. For example, if the user wants to separate products by labeled size (Small – S), side seam length (23”) and the collar size (16”) this can be achieved using AFS grids. All three variables will be maintained independently. Once these three variables are put together it will make a unique combination. The Grid value in the above example will look like “S-23-16”. This reduces the data volume greatly and reduces the complexities.

Categories are used in AFS extensively to categorize products which posses the same characteristics. For example, the same product can be graded as Quality-A and Quality-B after the quality checks. These products will have different market values and customer demand patterns. This can be replicated in SAP AFS easily using categories. The requirement and the supply will be handled based on the category allocation.

Seasonality is probably the most important aspect of the apparel and footwear trade. The same product can change its characteristics based on the season. For example, the color or some label details might change with the season. This is where AFS seasonality comes in to play. Seasonality is especially prominent in the SD (Sales and Distribution) module. But seasonality affects the full supply chain. Seasonal settings can be maintained in AFS in combination with Size and Category. This is of great use in effectively maintaining and managing the large volumes of data specific to the industry.