Connect the SAP business partner to its supplier review in Seal
Seal’s SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition organisation library makes selected business partners available to quality work. A supplier review can reference the partner and capture standard identity fields with a content-based Seal version. Bank details, addresses and transactions are outside this library’s scope.
Choose the source route
Set up the business-partner library
SAP documents SAP_COM_0008 for business-partner integration, including its Business Partner OData API. Its communication arrangement defines the external system’s API access. SAP: Business Partner integration and SAP_COM_0008.
In Seal: For Seal’s current library, use the Public Edition API URL and a dedicated communication user with Basic authentication. In Settings → Integrations → Set up SAP S/4HANA, test the connection, choose partners and Seal groups, review the copied fields, then enable the library.
Keep a manufacturing extension separately scoped
SAP’s business-partner scenario concerns master data. The existence of an arrangement does not establish the operation or retry contract for a material movement. SAP: Business Partner integration and SAP_COM_0008.
In Seal: If the project also needs a BOM or consumption posting, specify a separate interface with its edition, operation, transaction identities and recovery evidence. The supplier library alone cannot provide manufacturing transaction history.
Prove partner selection, access and the assessed capture
Use a Public Edition test tenant, two distinguishable business partners and two Seal test groups. One group should use the library; the other should have no library access through any membership. Keep the first evaluation limited to identity references and optional copies so the result can be checked end to end.
Download the first-run procedure and receiving checks
Prepare the inbound communication arrangement
The SAP administrator creates a dedicated communication user, assigns it to the communication system and creates the SAP_COM_0008 arrangement with Basic authentication for the inbound service. Record the test tenant, arrangement and API URL supplied by that setup. Use the communication user credentials in Seal’s setup, not a business user’s browser session.
Check: The SAP owner can identify the arrangement and its inbound user. The endpoint belongs to the intended Public Edition tenant. Keep the username’s purpose and credential owner in the handover, while keeping its password out of screenshots and downloadable evidence.
Connect and constrain the initial population
Open Settings → Integrations → Set up SAP S/4HANA. Enter the API URL and communication credentials, then choose Test and connect. Select the intended test partner and Seal group. Review the copied-field preview before enabling the library; record that field list with the evaluation.
Check: The selected partner key and displayed identity agree with SAP. Confirm that bank details, addresses and transactions are absent from the intended copy. A request for those fields changes the project scope and needs a separate supported design.
Inspect the reference as the actual reviewer
Open a test supplier assessment as a user in the intended Seal group and choose the selected partner. Inspect the available reference and optional captured copy. Repeat the selection as a user in the unrelated group, checking that this user has no other membership granting access.
Check: The permitted user can identify the correct partner; the unrelated user cannot browse the library through unintended group access. Check any separately shared assessment or captured record under its own permissions too: library access and access to an already shared review are different questions.
Capture the assessment’s identity basis
For the fictional SUP-045 example, retain the first identity capture with the assessment and inspect the reference mode used. Record the source environment, partner key, retrieval time, copied values and actual content-based Seal version. Capture-A below is a readable placeholder for that version.
Check: A reviewer can reconstruct which identity supported the assessment. Do not label the content hash an SAP revision, and do not use the existence of the partner reference as evidence that the supplier is qualified.
Evaluate a later change without rewriting the earlier decision
With the test-data owner, change the test partner’s name in SAP and retrieve it through the supported library workflow again. Compare the copied values and resulting capture. Reopen SUP-045 to inspect its earlier evidence, then document whether the supplier owner needs a reassessment.
Check: The earlier assessed identity remains identifiable and the later changed content can be inspected separately. Record the observed retrieval behavior; this test does not establish continuous synchronization, a refresh interval or complete SAP audit-history replication.
What belongs in the supplier identity handover
Use the actual field preview from this library. The labels below describe review evidence rather than additional SAP fields promised by the connector.
Scroll across to see every column →
| Evidence | Worked value | What to establish |
|---|---|---|
| Environment and partner | Test tenant / 100045 | Resolve the source key without matching solely on a display name. |
| Selected library group | Supplier reviewers (test) | Verify access using the intended member and an unrelated user. |
| Copied-field list | Saved setup preview | Confirm exactly which identity values were included. |
| Assessed capture | SUP-045 / capture-A | Identify the actual Seal version supporting the assessment. |
| Change assessment | Name changed / owner review pending | Retain the supporting supplier evidence and unresolved decision. |
A completed first-run review note
Fictional outcome format for a test run; this is neither an API request nor evidence that the checks have run in your tenant.
Review: SUP-045
Source: Public Edition test tenant / partner 100045
Selection: one partner; Supplier reviewers (test)
Copy scope: saved identity-field preview
Original assessment: capture-A / North Coast Materials Ltd
Later observation: capture-B / North Coast Process Materials Ltd
Library access: intended member passed; unrelated member denied
Open action: supplier owner to assess the name-change evidence
Manufacturing transactions: outside this evaluationThis note separates a successful connection test from the remaining supplier decision. Replace the capture placeholders and access outcomes with observed evidence before using it as a project handover.
A partner changes name after a supplier assessment
Fictional review projection, not an SAP response schema. The two capture labels stand for different content hashes produced by Seal; they are not literal hashes or SAP revision numbers. Field availability must agree with the library’s copied-field preview.
Scroll across to see every column →
| Source information | Example identity or value | Why it stays distinct |
|---|---|---|
| Source identity | Test tenant + partner 100045 | Keep the SAP environment and partner key. Two tenants can contain the same partner number; two partners can share a display name. |
| Assessed capture | SUP-045 → capture-A | Retain the values supporting the assessment. Verify the selected reference mode preserves this basis when a later capture is available. |
| Later copied content | capture-B | A content change is a reason to inspect the affected review; the content hash is Seal’s version of the copy, not SAP’s event sequence. |
| Qualification evidence | Supplier assessment and its scope | Identity answers who the record concerns. Approved activities, sites and materials need their own supporting review. |
The same partner ID links both observations. Preserve the identity assessed for SUP-045 and examine the later change against supplier evidence. A new capture identifies changed copied content; it is not proof of a new legal entity, an approved supplier, or a complete SAP change history.
Inspect the source and proposed destination records
Source example
{
"system": "SAP public-cloud test tenant",
"partner": "100045",
"observations": [
{
"at": "2026-09-10T09:00:00Z",
"name": "North Coast Materials Ltd",
"capture": "capture-A"
},
{
"at": "2026-09-12T09:00:00Z",
"name": "North Coast Process Materials Ltd",
"capture": "capture-B"
}
]
}Proposed Seal records
{
"review": "SUP-045",
"partner": "100045",
"assessedIdentity": {
"name": "North Coast Materials Ltd",
"capture": "capture-A"
},
"laterObservation": {
"name": "North Coast Process Materials Ltd",
"capture": "capture-B"
},
"assessment": "Check the name change against supplier evidence",
"qualification": "Determined by the supplier review, not the copied identity"
}Run these cases against the proposed Seal mapping
These are worked test inputs and expected outcomes to verify in your configured connection.
Two partners share a name
Input: Use two test partner keys with the same display name, selecting only the intended key.
Expected: The review resolves the selected partner by environment and key. It neither merges both partners nor grants selection to the other key because its name matches.
A user belongs to another permitted group
Input: Check a test user who is absent from the selected group but has a second membership that grants the same access.
Expected: Explain the effective membership before declaring the access control broken. Repeat with a genuinely unrelated user and record both results.
The copied identity changes after assessment
Input: Run the two-capture example and inspect the existing SUP-045 evidence.
Expected: The assessed identity and later observation remain distinguishable. Supplier qualification is reconsidered only through its review, not automatically granted by the latest name.
A manufacturing team asks for stock movements
Input: Try to specify a consumption-reconciliation report from the selected partner library alone.
Expected: The missing transaction evidence is explicit. The handover scopes a separate manufacturing operation and recovery contract instead of implying that SAP_COM_0008 setup has enabled it.
What to bring to the implementation review
Retain the tenant and arrangement identifiers, copied-field preview, selected partners and groups, effective-access results, capture comparison and supplier owner’s open actions. This gives the implementation team a bounded, reviewable library setup and gives quality reviewers a usable identity trail.
Diagnose the failure from the source evidence
The connection test fails
A browser login and the inbound communication user serve different purposes. SAP sample: communication settings and Basic authentication.
Compare the Public Edition API URL, communication user and inbound authentication in the arrangement with the Seal setup. Record the returned error and test time. Resolve credentials through the setup screen; exclude passwords from the review packet.
A partner is absent for a reviewer
Connection success, partner selection and Seal group access are distinct checks.
Have an administrator check the selected partner key and enabled library, then repeat the lookup as a member of the intended group. Compare with an unrelated group without broadening access just to make the test pass.
The name changed but the supplier decision did not
Copied identity and qualification are separate records with different meanings.
Open the capture used by the assessment, compare the later identity, and ask the supplier owner whether the change affects the assessment’s scope. Preserve the original decision and record any required reassessment.
Apply this to your records
Use this with the SAP business-partner library first-run procedure. Retain the actual configuration and evidence, then record what happened in each receiving exercise. Expected behavior is printed as a prompt; your observed result starts blank.
Download the blank working review
Write your working notes here
Notes stay in this tab and are not submitted. Download them before leaving to keep a copy. Use record references to identify your evidence.
Record the Public Edition test tenant, API URL, SAP_COM_0008 arrangement, dedicated communication-user identity and successful Seal connection test. Retain the copied-field preview and selected library groups; exclude credentials from the notes.
List selected partner keys and their source environment, optional captures and the reference used by the supplier assessment. Record the actual Seal content-based versions and what changed between captures; do not label them SAP revision numbers.
Record effective group membership and observed access for the intended reviewer and an unrelated user. Compare the identity used by the assessment with the later capture. Explain the supplier owner’s review separately from business-partner selection.
Input: Use two test partner keys with the same display name, selecting only the intended key. Expected: The review resolves the selected partner by environment and key. It neither merges both partners nor grants selection to the other key because its name matches. Record the actual input/evidence references, observed result, whether it matches the expectation and any unresolved issue.
Input: Check a test user who is absent from the selected group but has a second membership that grants the same access. Expected: Explain the effective membership before declaring the access control broken. Repeat with a genuinely unrelated user and record both results. Record the actual input/evidence references, observed result, whether it matches the expectation and any unresolved issue.
Input: Run the two-capture example and inspect the existing SUP-045 evidence. Expected: The assessed identity and later observation remain distinguishable. Supplier qualification is reconsidered only through its review, not automatically granted by the latest name. Record the actual input/evidence references, observed result, whether it matches the expectation and any unresolved issue.
Input: Try to specify a consumption-reconciliation report from the selected partner library alone. Expected: The missing transaction evidence is explicit. The handover scopes a separate manufacturing operation and recovery contract instead of implying that SAP_COM_0008 setup has enabled it. Record the actual input/evidence references, observed result, whether it matches the expectation and any unresolved issue.
Identify the configuration/mapping revision tested, reviewer, open issues and owner for each next action. Cite the retained source and destination evidence. A filled note is not itself an accepted test; record the review decision through your actual process.
Unanswered sections remain marked ‘Not recorded’ in the download.
Evidence needed to finish
The selected partners and effective access agree with the intended library scope, copied fields match the preview, and the earlier assessment’s identity remains identifiable. Any name-change assessment is assigned to the supplier owner. BOMs and movements are separately scoped work.
Use the connected evidence in a review
Ask neil to prepare SUP-045’s supplier evidence brief: identify the source partner and assessed capture, explain the later name change, and list the evidence still needed for the supplier owner’s decision. Seal brings the identity and its quality context together so the review can focus on the actual change.
Scope a separate ERP consumption exchange →