1 Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education Integrating SAP into an Online Engineering Technology Class: Issues and Outcomes Jeff Cunion Engineering Technology Department Tarleton State University Brigitte Barbier Engineering Technology Department Tarleton State University Abstract SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is considered a standard among thousands of companies around the globe. Since employers are interested in hiring SAP trained college graduates, hundreds of educational institutions have incorporated SAP into primarily their business school curriculums. Not all implementations have been successful, however, and there is little information in the literature regarding the use of ERP systems in Engineering Technology programs and the outcomes. This case study describes our reasons for implementing SAP into Engineering Technology courses and the challenges encountered during the first-time delivery in an 8-week online Manufacturing Management course. It also describes the self-reported student knowledge outcomes determined by comparison of a pre-course and post-course survey. It was expected that students would have learned basic SAP navigation and input skills and gained an appreciation for how ERP systems are an integral part of manufacturing operations. This case study concludes with the lessons learned and looks ahead to further SAP learning rollouts to other classes. Introduction and Problem There are numerous examples in business and Management Information Systems (MIS) literature regarding the need for hands-on ERP system training in college curriculum, such as Hepner and Dickson 1 , Kohers 2 , and Bandera 3 , et al. Best practices used in providing this education in the same type of schools are also covered, such as with research by Stewart 4 et al and Hymen, Holmes, and Cappel 5 . In addition, the state of ERP systems’ education in business and MIS education has been documented 6, 7 . However, incorporation of ERP systems such as SAP into mechanical, manufacturing, or industrial technology programs remains largely undocumented. This may be due to the limited number of course hours in traditional technology topics and associated accreditation requirements. As the majority of graduates from these programs at our institution ultimately go to work for manufacturing companies where ERP systems are utilized, we find value in incorporating hands-on SAP use in our courses although we do not have a clear understanding of student perceptions of ERP systems like SAP in particular. Moreover, we do not know if the SAP exercises we employed resulted in the intended student learning outcomes. Therefore, in this paper we provide an overview of SAP and the SAP University Alliance system, describe our rationale for teaching SAP and the particular course SAP was adopted in, describe the issues we encountered and typical issues encountered in other educational institution implementations, and explain how we dealt with these potential implementation issues during the rollout of an initial 8-week online Manufacturing Management course. We present the results of
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Integrating SAP into an Online Engineering Technology Class: Issues and Outcomes
Jeff Cunion
Engineering Technology Department Tarleton State University
Brigitte Barbier
Engineering Technology Department Tarleton State University
Abstract
SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is considered a standard among thousands of companies around the globe. Since employers are interested in hiring SAP trained college graduates, hundreds of educational institutions have incorporated SAP into primarily their business school curriculums. Not all implementations have been successful, however, and there is little information in the literature regarding the use of ERP systems in Engineering Technology programs and the outcomes. This case study describes our reasons for implementing SAP into Engineering Technology courses and the challenges encountered during the first-time delivery in an 8-week online Manufacturing Management course. It also describes the self-reported student knowledge outcomes determined by comparison of a pre-course and post-course survey. It was expected that students would have learned basic SAP navigation and input skills and gained an appreciation for how ERP systems are an integral part of manufacturing operations. This case study concludes with the lessons learned and looks ahead to further SAP learning rollouts to other classes.
Introduction and Problem There are numerous examples in business and Management Information Systems (MIS) literature regarding the need for hands-on ERP system training in college curriculum, such as Hepner and Dickson1, Kohers2, and Bandera3, et al. Best practices used in providing this education in the same type of schools are also covered, such as with research by Stewart4 et al and Hymen, Holmes, and Cappel5. In addition, the state of ERP systems’ education in business and MIS education has been documented6, 7. However, incorporation of ERP systems such as SAP into mechanical, manufacturing, or industrial technology programs remains largely undocumented. This may be due to the limited number of course hours in traditional technology topics and associated accreditation requirements. As the majority of graduates from these programs at our institution ultimately go to work for manufacturing companies where ERP systems are utilized, we find value in incorporating hands-on SAP use in our courses although we do not have a clear understanding of student perceptions of ERP systems like SAP in particular. Moreover, we do not know if the SAP exercises we employed resulted in the intended student learning outcomes. Therefore, in this paper we provide an overview of SAP and the SAP University Alliance system, describe our rationale for teaching SAP and the particular course SAP was adopted in, describe the issues we encountered and typical issues encountered in other educational institution implementations, and explain how we dealt with these potential implementation issues during the rollout of an initial 8-week online Manufacturing Management course. We present the results of
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
a class survey that measured if students’ understanding of ERP systems increased, SAP system use skills increased, and whether students are interested in learning more about SAP in particular.
Methodology An exploratory, single case study8, 9 was used to document the issues and results for the first-time rollout of an 8-week online engineering technology course that included a SAP component. The class selected was ENGT 4346 Manufacturing Management. This class was selected because it discusses modern manufacturing principles and how Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems like SAP are connecting all areas of a company such as accounting and finance, sales and marketing, production and materials management, and human resources as well as supply chains, vendors, and customers. The Manufacturing Management course is required for students pursuing the face-to-face Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MET) as well as the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) online completion degree in Manufacturing and Industrial Management (MIM). The class was offered online and 16 of the 22 students originally registered for the class were MIM students. The remaining six students included one MET student, four Industrial Technology students, and one post-baccalaureate student. Of the original 22 students who began ENGT 4346 Manufacturing Management, 19 completed the course, but only 17 completed the entire SAP component. Fifteen of the original 22 students were classified as either juniors or seniors pursing a BAAS MIM degree. The remaining six students included four seniors and two post-baccalaureates. Of the students who did not complete the SAP component, the students were seniors or post-baccalaureate and only one student was not a MIM. To help understand if learning was achieved and to gauge students’ interest in additional SAP training, a preliminary and post survey instrument was used. Mean gain scores were analyzed to determine differences in students’ perceptions in conjunction with a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.
Overview of SAP and the SAP University Alliance
ERP systems like SAP allow organizations to share data in real-time with employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders, and provide positive impacts on productivity, customer service, quality, and profitability10. SAP is the world’s largest provider of ERP software and serves over 437,000 customers in more than 180 countries11. In addition, 92 percent of the Forbes Global 2000 use SAP in some fashion. The latest SAP S4/HANA (High-Performance Analytic Appliance) product is arranged in functional modules related to typical business system functions including:
• Buy (Material Management – MM) • Sell (Sales and Distribution – SD) • Make (Production Planning – PP) • Track (Financial Accounting and Controlling – FI and CO) • People (Human Capital Management – HCM) • Store (Warehouse Management – WM) • Project (Project System – PS) • Maintain (Enterprise Asset Management – EAM) • Services (Customer Support – CS)
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
The first instance of incorporating an ERP system into a business school curriculum was at California State University – Chico in 199612 with their use of SAP. Since then, the SAP University Alliance program has been developed, where for an annual fee, external hosting of SAP S4/HANA through sites at California State University-Chico and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is provided. Three overseas universities offer hosting services as well. Over 1200 educational institutions are currently Alliance program members. Membership includes access to technical expertise, curriculum, and exercises developed by academic practitioners, thereby eliminating many of the issues that may be encountered during implementation which will be discussed later in this paper. A useful, introductory tool provided through the University Alliance program is the Introduction to SAP S4/HANA using Global Bike curriculum. Three modules from this curriculum - Navigation, Sales and Distribution, and Materials Management - were used in our Manufacturing Management course under study.
SAP S4/HANA can be operated in two unique modes; Fiori and Graphic User Interface (GUI). The new Fiori version presents transactions in a Windows-like mode (Figure 1) and is well suited for tablet and mobile phone use (data may be accessed through cloud applications). The traditional GUI mode (Figure 2) of SAP S4/HANA is what we elected to use to teach students as it is the standard preference in industry. Pros and cons of the different modes are beyond the scope of this paper.
Figure 1. SAP 4/HANA Fiori Screens (https://www.sap.com/products/s4hana-erp.html)
With both Fiori and the GUI versions, individual users or system administrators can set-up user profiles to access commonly used transactions that are germane to their business function. Figure 2 shows the expandable menu of folders with subfolders and individual transaction functions that are used in conjunction with the Global Bike product. Under the Logistics folder, there are the Sales and Distribution (SD) and Materials Management (MM) folders/transaction functions that are relevant to our Manufacturing Management course. The SD and MM functions are employed in our course since we touch on ERP, purchasing, inventory, and warehousing from the textbook side of the course.
Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Figure 2. SAP Global Bike Starting Menu (GUI)
Rationale
ERP systems are business systems and manufacturing is an integral part of many businesses. Industries are interested in hiring new graduates for work in diverse fields, including manufacturing, with hands-on experience with an ERP system such as SAP13, 14. We find that the majority of our graduates, whether they are Mechanical Engineering Technology, Manufacturing Engineering Technology, or Industrial Technology majors, ultimately go to work in manufacturing businesses. We believe active, hands-on practice with SAP reinforces business and manufacturing processes learned through textbooks and other coursework and provides a bridge between theory and industry practice. The students’ exposure to SAP’s Purchasing, Inventory, Material Requirements Planning, and Production functions in particular equip students for the manufacturing engineering and production management jobs they ultimately obtain. Moreover, the literature shows business graduates with SAP knowledge receive starting salaries15, 16 as much as $10,000 higher per year17 than their counterparts who have no knowledge of SAP systems.
Our intent to include SAP into our online courses in particular is dictated by the continued expansion of demand for online courses. Hwang and Cruthirds18 noted that twenty-six percent of all students pursuing two and four year degrees take at least one online course based on Department of Education data for 2013. That number has increased to over thirty percent based on fall 2016 data19. In addition, our department strives to align coursework with industry-based certifications and SAP offers a certification based on successful completion of three courses with substantial SAP content that should add to a student’s employability.
Tarleton Manufacturing Management Course Overview
The online ENGT 4346 Manufacturing Management course is a foundational undergraduate course which provides an overview of basic manufacturing principles and techniques.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Manufacturing Engineering Technology students are required to take this course as well as Manufacturing and Industrial Managements students who are pursuing an Industrial Management concentration. For other engineering technology students, however, this could be the only manufacturing related course a student might take.
Table 1 lists and describes the module/topics covered in the course and reflects how SAP topics are integrated into this particular course. SAP specific topics are noted in bold. Download instructions for the SAP application are provided to students early in the course to allow time to resolve any technical issues. Navigation and transaction input case studies are incorporated at the end of the course to reinforce theoretical concepts covered which are related to purchasing and materials management. Notably, SAP content could be added to every other module listed in Table 1 short of statistical process control (SPC).
Barriers Encountered During Implementation
The first issue facing any educational organization in deploying an ERP system such as SAP into curriculum is likely the determination of a pedagogic strategy. Ruhi20 summarizes the methods found in the literature quite well. At the “macro” level, a choice can be made between a standalone or multiple course approach. The standalone course approach dedicated to the particular ERP system in use can give students exposure to multiple ERP system functions without problems associated with incorporating specific system functions into individual courses.
Though the single course method is easier to implement, assuming expert faculty are dedicated to the effort, the multi course approach can offer deeper learning opportunities for individual functions. That is, from a manufacturing or industrial technology standpoint, a deep-dive into Material Requirements Planning (MRP) functions in a supply chain course, routing sheet functions in a manufacturing processes course, quality SAP functions in a quality course, etc. might offer that opportunity. Particular teaching practices in individual courses include traditional lectures with a hands-on component, case studies, simulation games, and integrated capstone projects.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Table 1. ENGT Manufacturing Management Course Modules and Descriptions
Module/Topic Description SAP GUI Download Instructions
Students are provided SAP download instructions early in the course in order to have time to resolve any issues.
Introduction to Supply Chain Management
Overview and history of operations management and supply chain management. Measures of productivity presented.
Quality Management History of quality movement and basic quality tools presented. Lean and Six Sigma covered. Product yield, cost per unit, and quality productivity ratios are presented.
Statistical Process Control
P-charts, C-charts, X-bar charts, and R-charts are constructed.
Product Design Concurrent engineering, reliability measures, design for manufacture, and quality function deployment are included topics.
Process and Technology
Project, batch, mass, and continuous methods are covered along with breakeven analysis. Manufacturing technologies such as Computer Aided Design the Internet of Things, and Product Lifecycle Management are defined.
Capacity and Facilities Design
Lead, lag, and average capacity strategies are explored. Product, process, cellular, and fixed layouts are defined. Line balancing problems are solved.
Supply Chain Strategy and Design
Supply and value chains are defined. Bar codes, and radio frequency identification techniques are presented. Supply chain key performance indicators are addressed.
Resource Planning Enterprise Resource Planning systems are introduced. Product structures, item masters, and bill of materials are described. The Materials Requirements Planning systems are described. This chapter sets the stage for work with SAP. Introductory SAP navigation exercise is performed using SAP supplied Navigation in SAP Systems Case Study. Additional SAP and instructor developed PowerPoints and video’s are provided.
Global Supply Procurement and Distribution
Procurement, outsourcing, and spend analysis are defined. Warehousing, distribution, and logistics systems are introduced. Students perform their first graded SAP assignment. A new customer is created along with a customer inquiry and quote. Stock is checked, a sales order is input, delivery is initiated, issue of goods is posted, the customer is invoiced and receipt of payment is recorded. The instructor grades this assignment by verifying students have input each document into SAP.
Inventory Management
Concepts of dependent and independent demand, ordering costs, and shortage costs are identified. Continuous and periodic inventory methods are defined. ABC inventory classification and reorder point systems are presented. Economic Order Quantity problems are solved. The second and final graded SAP exercise is accomplished. Supplier and material masters are created, stock /requirements are checked, requests for quote and purchase orders are created, and goods receipt and invoices are input.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
There are several other barriers faculty may encounter when attempting to implement SAP into online or face-to-face curriculum. Barriers found in the literature are listed in Table 2 along with deterrents, if any, that may prevent SAP implementation failure. Integration into business courses can be more difficult as can be attested to by our own university’s business school which attempted to employ SAP in its curriculum and failed23.
Table 2. Barriers in Implementing SAP in Educational Institutions
Barrier Source for Barrier Deterrent Training of academic staff Shadaram, Sachez-
Contreras21
Stewart, Gable, Andrews, Rosemann & Chan4
Barnes & Ferguson22
SAP Boot-Camps SAP University Alliance Program Gradual deployment to courses
No champion Freed23(Former Tarleton Business Department Head)
Faculty coordinator, up-front buy-in
No faculty buy-in. Resistant faculty due ta added work and curriculum change
Freed23(Former Tarleton Business Department Head) Barnes & Ferguson22 Wilson & Lindoo24
Slow, incremental rollout into courses
Curriculum development costs
Stewart, Gable, Andrews, Rosemann & Chan4
Use SAP Alliance curriculum
Students do not understand business processes, integration, and terminology
Barnes & Ferguson22 Incorporate an overview/review of ERP systems in courses with SAP content
SAP University Alliance cost ($8000 per year)
Barnes & Ferguson22 McCann & Grey17
Management buy-in
Technical issue resolution such as GUI download. Server availability.
Wilson & Lindoo24
McCann & Grey17
Use of SAP University Alliance Program
Funding for training, infrastructure, and issue resolution.
Corbitt & Mensching12 Use of faculty coordinator in conjunction with SAP Alliance Program Slow rollout of courses
Issues Encountered During Our Initial Implementation
To first introduce SAP into our engineering technology curriculum, we chose an 8-week online Manufacturing Management course because it was the next logical course that would contain SAP content. We would have preferred to begin with a 16-week face-to-face course; however, we had already subscribed to the Alliance program and saw no reason to delay implementation.
Although 22 students began the course, only 19 students completed the course and only 17 of these students completed the SAP post-course survey. Of the 17 students who finished the SAP modules, only seven students encountered any problems and the problems encountered were
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
minor. Only seven students experienced any difficulties with SAP requiring faculty intervention and of the seven students, only two of the students required assistance more than once.
During the course, there were a total of 20 incidents reported by students. The types of errors could be broken down into three general categories – log on issues, problems with the actual lesson, and system requirement problems. There were a total of eight log on issues with the most common being a forgotten password or logon ID which required the faculty to reset the password and/or notify the student of the log on ID. Nine problems were lesson related and the issues were mainly input issues with students not understanding the requirements or not in-putting the correct values. Only two system issues occurred in which one student was kicked out of the system repeatedly and another student had GUI issues. These issues were fixed with the students reloading the SAP program using the proper link.
Survey Results and Discussion
An eleven-question survey was administered at the beginning and end of the course. The survey used a Likert scale ranging from ‘1’ to ‘7’ with ‘1’ being “Strongly Disagree” and ‘7’ being “Strongly Agree” (see Appendix A). Given the small sample size of 17 students, we looked at the difference in the mean for each question to evaluate the responses in conjunction with a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test25. This data is displayed in Table 3 and represents the 17 students who completed the SAP assignments. Question 1 was related to basic ERP knowledge while Questions 2 through 9 related to specific SAP input skills. Results for these questions indicated students had gained insight into ERP systems and SAP functionality. Question 10 related to students’ perception of general ERP systems knowledge and results indicated that students believed they had gained an understanding of the value of ERP systems. Question 11 “I would like to get more experience with manufacturing related SAP modules” was of particular interest. The question was asked to understand students’ interest levels in learning more about SAP. The results showed a slight decrease in overall interest level for learning more about SAP. The enthusiasm seemed to have waned for 10 students slightly, but generally remained high and increased or remained at the high score of seven in five cases. No Likert score was lower than the neutral level of four as displayed in Table 4. We wonder if students’ interest would remain high after they complete more than one course with SAP content. Further, we wonder if a full standalone SAP course approach might be best going forward.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Table 3. Pre and Post Course Survey Results
No. Question Pre - Course Mean
Pre-Course
Std. Deviation
Post - Course Mean
Post-Course
Std. Deviation
Means Difference (Post-Pre)
1 I can explain what SAP is and what Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are.
3.235 2.222 5.705 1.046 2.470
2 I can navigate SAP and know how to search input fields for terms and can find definitions for particular fields.
2.647 1.966 5.764 1.200 3.117
3 I understand the concept of SAP Master Data vs. Organizational Data vs. Transactional Data.
2.647 1.800 5.647 1.996 3.000
4 I know how to display master data information about a particular customer.
2.176 1.424 5.882 1.452 3.706
5 I understand the terms Request for Quote and Purchase Order and know how to input these into SAP.
3.000 1.936 5.941 1.297 2.941
6 I can find how much a customer was billed for a particular item in SAP.
2.882 2.057 5.882 1.218 3.000
7 I can create a new customer in SAP, check stock status, and create and invoice for goods sold.
2.647 1.800 5.941 1.344 3.294
8 I can create a Material Master for a new item in SAP.
2.353 1.539 5.705 1.490 3.352
9 I can verify receipt of goods from a vendor in SAP.
2.588 1.905 5.882 1.363 3.294
10 I understand the value of ERP systems like SAP.
4.176 2.007 6.176 1.380 2.000
11 I would like to get more experience with manufacturing related SAP modules.
5.882 1.900 5.588 1.227 -0.294
* Mean gain scores were significant at a .05 α level.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Table 4. Question 11 Likert Score Responses
Likert Scores
Subject Before After Change
Question 11: I would like to get more experience with manufacturing related SAP modules.
At the end of the preliminary and post surveys, students were provided an opportunity to add comments regarding their inputs. These comments are presented in Appendix B. Comments by students regarding their SAP and ERP experience aligned with the Likert scores from the preliminary course survey. In the pre-course survey, the results indicated the students had little knowledge of SAP to begin with since only four of 22 students who commented indicated they had any SAP experience. Thirteen participants made comments on the Post-Course survey.
Four of these comments specifically indicated that they were interested in more exposure to SAP in their courses. Eight comments were positive regarding their experience with the system during the course, but did not specifically indicate SAP was desired in additional courses. One comment indicated the use of the system was difficult. From the course and our pre and post surveys, we found that students could successfully complete the SAP exercises in an online environment and gain an overall understanding of ERP systems. This allows us to introduce SAP in particular modules (such as human resources, accounting, and project management) into other online engineering technology courses to expand the introduction of SAP to more students. By providing more exposure to SAP in multiple online courses, students’ overall familiarity with the system will be increased. Increasing students’ knowledge of the interconnectivity of concepts in a manufacturing environment through an ERP system can allow more well-rounded workers who are sensitive to the idea that making changes in one area of manufacturing can have vast effects on other areas.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
As a more immediate practical application, students who complete courses with a significant amount of SAP materials in them are also eligible to receive a SAP certificate. Not only may students use this as an employable skill on their resumes, but it can also be used to differentiate those students who are more familiar and knowledgeable of the inner workings of SAP to provide manufacturing companies with a quicker payback of new hires. Finally, we found that the SAP University Alliance program with its training opportunities, Global Bike exercises, and California State-Chico points-of-contact for guidance and technical issues made the implementation of SAP in our course almost seamless and helped to resolve most of the implementation issues we found in the literature. Going forward, we intend to roll out SAP modules into two additional undergraduate courses and three graduate courses to further enhance students’ knowledge of SAP and allow them to receive a SAP certification to assist them in their real life job pursuits.
Conclusions and Future Research
Through our surveys, we found that our engineering technology students with basic instruction can easily master SAP navigation and perform transaction inputs. We learned that the SAP University Alliance program points-of-contact and pre-packaged Global Bike exercises and case studies helped immensely with our first SAP course. From our post-course survey, it was evident that the students are interested in getting more hands-on experience with SAP. However, additional study is needed to determine the optimal amount of training for engineering technology students. In addition, the use of standalone versus multicourse delivery methods need to be researched and considered from a manufacturing and engineering technology viewpoint instead of the traditional business curriculum view. In summary, providing students with hands-on experience with SAP can benefit both students and manufacturers. It is important to provide a clear transfer of ERP system knowledge from education to industry, and with our introduction of SAP into engineering technology courses, we are helping to provide industry-ready employees.
References 1. Hepner, M., & Dickson, W. (2013). The value of ERP curriculum integration: Perspectives
from the research. Journal of Information Systems Education, 24(4), 309-326. 2. Kohers, G. (2015). SAP and the introductory management information systems course.
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5. Haynen, R., Holmes, M., & Cappel, J. (2000). A framework for SAP R/3 Enterprise software instruction. The Journal of Computer Information Systems, 40(2), 79-85.
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12. Corbitt, G. & Mensching, J. (2001). Integrating SAP R/3 into a college of business curriculum: Lessons learned. Information Technology and Management, 1, 247. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019181210298.
13. Charland, P., Léger, P.M., Cronan, T.P., & Robert, J. (2015). Developing and assessing ERP competencies: Basic and complex knowledge. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 56( 1), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2015.11645798.
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21. Shadaram, M., & Sachez-Contreras, L. (2000, April 5 or 8). A plan to increase graduate enrollment at science, math, and engineering disciplines. Proceedings of the ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Paper 76C1.
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JEFF CUNION Jeff Cunion holds a PhD in Technology Management specializing in Manufacturing Systems from Indiana State University. After forty years of experience in aerospace manufacturing and maintenance, he is now an Assistant Professor at Tarleton State University. His research interests include aircraft manufacturing, maintenance, and the associated supply chains. BRIGITTE BARBIER Ms. Barbier is an Instructor in the Engineering Technology Department at Tarleton State University. Her interests are in technical communication and international project management. Ms. Barbier has a BA in International Relations and French from Michigan State University, a MBA from Grand Valley State University, and a MS in Quality and Engineering Management from Tarleton State University. Ms. Barbier has several years of international business experience in addition to teaching experience.
Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Appendix A
No. Question Likert scale
1 – Strongly Disagree 7 – Strongly Agree
1 I can explain what SAP is and what Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are.
2 I can navigate SAP and can search input fields for terms and can find definitions for particular fields.
3 I understand the concept of SAP Master Data vs. Organizational Data vs. Transactional Data.
4 I know how to display master data information about a particular customer.
5 I understand the terms Request for Quote and Purchase Order and know how to input these into SAP.
6 I can find how much a customer was billed for a particular item in SAP.
7 I can create a new customer in SAP, check stock status, and create and invoice for goods sold.
8 I can create a Material Master for a new item in SAP.
10 I understand the value of ERP systems like SAP.
11 I would like to get more experience with manufacturing related SAP modules.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Appendix B
Pre-Course Comments: Post-Course Comments:
Subject 1 I do not have any experience at all with this program. Answered N/A
Subject 2 Looking forward to using SAP and learning more about it. Current site uses MRP and Oracle.
Dropped course
Subject 3
When I see the letters SAP I think of Special Access Programs which is what we use in a classified program. I do not know anything regarding the SAP ordering program. I wish to learn more of what it is and how it works
No comments
Subject 4 I'm new to SAP software. No comments
Subject 5
I have not worked with the Systems Application & Product in processing data as I had been workshop and plant maintenance and less office work, but be part of planning teams.
As someone who had no previous experience of SAP software it had been a challenge to figure out what’s going on at the beginning. I like the step by step approach it gives, and the SAP pictures which you can compare your inputs to. The major challenge is it needs much practice, but the concepts are straight forward. I would like to get more experience with manufacturing related SAP modules.
Subject 6
I am Familiar with SAP but not comfortable enough to apply in a workplace environment and would like more hands on realistic approaches to learning the software,
It was put together wonderfully but it would suggest updating the look on the print outs to match the look of the new system. Some buttons have been moved in the update and where hard to find or labeled differently. Thanks for the great class!
Subject 7 I have not utilized SAP before; this is my first exposure to it.
More exposure to programs like SAP would be beneficial to those just entering this field. Possibly added as curriculum in other classes as well?
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Appendix B - Continued Pre-Course Comments: Post-Course Comments:
Subject 8 I have never used SAP.
Learning SAP was quite an experience. I can see the benefits of utilizing the system. Should I encounter SAP in the future, I feel I now have a foundational perspective to work with.
Subject 9 I look forward to learning more about SAP.
Exercises were helpful in familiarizing with the SAP platform.
Subject 10
I've used several systems similar to SAP and took part in implementing a new centralized system with my previous employer, however I have not used the SAP program before. I am confident that it will not be an issue and can be learned with ease.
Each system that operates similar to SAP is somewhat frustrating to learn initially, but once familiar with and comfortable it is a relatively easy process.
Subject 11 Was I supposed to do SAP first or will it be part of this class?
SAP is an awesome tool that I'm glad we are learning about and hopefully get certified before I graduate.
Subject 12
I have not used SAP much. I do know what it is, but it will take some trial and error for me to get it down
I found the system very useful, and it was not too horrible to navigate through
Subject 13
I use SAP on a daily basis for many different day to day functions. I use SAP for time and attendance which allows me to enter vacation, correct employee time issues and track attendance. I also use SAP for the production side of my job. We schedule all orders, print out "port" tickets for shipping and tracking finished goods, and track available parts/ materials. We also use SAP to monitor our production pounds and OEE.
I use SAP on a daily basis for my current job, but it was nice to see some of the other ways SAP can be used. Specifically for creating customer orders. I did feel that the SAP cases studies could have been better adapted for a learning environment. Since there is no completion notification for each step I could not tell if I have completed the step correctly. I know that this does not exists in the professional world, but any job that I have done that requires SAP to be used there is a certain amount of training that takes place due to SAP not being a very intuitive program. It takes user knowledge of the company's specific SAP settings to become comfortable using the program.
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Proceedings of the 2020 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Copyright 2020, American Society for Engineering Education
Appendix B – Continued
Pre-Course Comments: Post-Course Comments: Subject 14 No comments. Dropped course
Subject 15 No comments.
Thank you for your guidance and patience with me through this process of learning SAP. It was a challenging but fun exercise.
Subject 16 No comments. Dropped course
Subject 17 I have never used these systems but I would like to learn.
The lessons provided for SAP were very difficult to follow due to the format of SAP having some changes. I did not learn much from the lessons as it felt I was just going through the motions inputting data that had little meaning to me. Overall SAP was confusing and difficult to operate.
Subject 18 This is my first time ever using SAP so I don't have any knowledge of the system.
No comments
Subject 19
I am looking forward to work on SAP. I have only been familiar with a software called AS400 in the last year.
This was a really great way to be introduced to SAP software and understand ERP systems better!! Thank you.
Subject 20 No comments. No comments. Did not complete SAP Assignments.
Subject 21
I use SAP at work but some of the modules may be different for this course. It sounds like fun learning ne modules I have not seen before.
After going thru the SAP modules I experienced more fields I have not seen before and seen other sides of the business thru SAP.
Subject 22 I look forward to learning more about ERP systems and how they will benefit me in my career.
