Arch announces Floe 220: The Unified Designer for SAP Communication
Arch announces Floe 220: The Unified Designer for SAP Communication
The latest version of Floe now has the capability to generate business communication in different formats to support different communication channels.
With Floe 220, organisations can use a single design tool for each type of SAP communication.
We believe that SAP generates too many PDF documents, but there are some scenarios where PDFs are absolutely necessary, for example, for export documentation such as quality certificates and customs invoices. Customers often need a receipt for tax purposes, so PDFs are useful for that purpose. PDFs are also useful for documents like payslips and tax forms for employees where a password can be added to protect the data.
Any Floe template can be rendered as a PDF document.
Floe originated as an HTML email tool. The Floe templates can be used as the body of an email. In this way, plain emails with PDF attachments can be replaced by dynamic, graphic-rich emails, with no need for an attachment.
Complex output requirements, such as nested tables and repeating content are handled easily. Dynamic rules for including content fragments are handled in the designer without the need for any code.
Letter
Business letters, rendered as PDFs with an email attachment can be built in the Floe designer. Simple use one template for the letter and a separate template for the email, and set one as an attachment to the other.
SMS
Floe templates can be used for text messages, with easy addition of SAP variable data.
Web Portal or Chatbot
When a document is requested from a web portal, this can be generated on demand by Floe, in either HTML format or PDF format, to be displayed directly within the portal or downloaded. In either case the template is exactly the same and the calling API requests the type of document.
Benefits
There are various advantages of using Floe:
[1] Skillset collapse
The call to trigger Floe needs to be added in ABAP from the calling program, workflow or output program. Additional business logic can be added in Floe’s user-exit framework, to manipulate data or make additional database selections. But this is the only technical skill required.
There is no need for expertise in SAPScript, Smartforms, Adobe LiveCycle Designer, HTML, CSS, SAPUI5 or JavaScript.
This means that all your SAP communication requirements can be delivered easily with simple ABAP skills.
[2] Replace Legacy Output Technologies
The old SAP output technologies – SAPScript, Smartforms, Adobe Forms can be discontinued except for specialist requirements such as label printing.
Output templates will be managed using a single, consistent approach, which is easier and more flexible.
[3] Business ownership
The Floe Designer is made for business users, so they can take ownership of the business communication content. When changes are required, there is no need to wait for IT, the key business users can make the change, test and implement.
Floe Drive
Floe 220 also includes Floe Drive, a cloud-based image repository, so that all images for all your SAP communication can be centrally managed and easily added into output templates.
Availability
Floe 220 will be available in late November 2021.