Deutsch 

GTM = Global Trade Management

SAP GTM (SAP Global Trade Management) is a module like MM (Materials Management) or SD (Sales and Distribution) within the SAP ECC (ERP), and it is to support a company for their purchase and sales businesses. Like the MM and SD modules it is already included into the SAP standard software. As the name "Global Trade Management" suggests, this module was originally developed for the trading business. But it can be used all over where goods will be purchased and sold, and not only within trading companies.
So SAP GTM can be used pretty much in any other industry!

With SAP GTM you will get a better overview of your trading business, eg documents flow, status of specified business and completeness, as well a profit simulation and much more. The handling for documents and processes are simplified compared to SD and MM, because the amount of document numbers and transactions for necessary work can be reduced. Further information are given for each of the following points. Details can be found on each item with the appropriate link.

The GTM consists four core elements:

• Trading Contract
  The trading contract (TC) is the central document for order entry (sales and purchase) in the GTM module. There are single sided TCs to handle just a sales or a purchase order, as well two sided TCs to handle a sales and a purchase within one single document at the same time.

• Expense Management
  Planned and unplanned additional costs (trading expenses) can easily maintained directly in the trading contract. This can be done while creating or changing a trading contract, but also at later moments within the follow-on documents of the process. With maintainance of expenses already in the trading contract

• Position Management / Association
  With this you can link items of single sided sales and purchase contracts for different usage. This is possible in the trading contract as well within following process steps.

• Trading Execution Workbench
  With the Trading Execution Workbench (TEW) you can automize steps of follow-on processes and you can simplify them. For example, creation and handling of deliveries or invoices can be controlled by TEW.

Status control / management:
With an own status management with release procedures you will get a clear control over your trading contracts. For example, you can control hereby if subsequent documents can be created. Completeness checks as well risk checks can be managed within the trading contract as well.

Enhancements / Project:
However, one additional important information to SAP GTM must be mentioned also: not everthing as in the standard modules SD and MM is given by SAP GTM!
Many things can not set up directly out of GTM to control SD and MM or others, and must therefor be developed within a implementation project. Reason for this is, that not all in SD and MM already existing funtions are to find within SAP GTM. Nevertheless even these things are also expected in GTM for handling a daily businesses, since the trading contract shall be the central element. Therefore the implementation of SAP GTM is very often a developement project, which is connected to time and costs! Already for the TEW it was mentioned, that you can define your own added process steps.

SAP GTM is an open system with many expansion options, which are very often used in all projects. Only on this way most of the requirements of most trading companies and other industries can be realized. And exactly these enhancements has to be done in time within an implementation project!
In many implementation projects with SAP GTM I and my colleagues collected a lot of experience with it. Many of these experiences we merged into a template, which we offer now as an AddOn GTM X1. This will still not replace an implementation project and it is not a ready to run solution, but it will save a lot of time and budget  within implementation of SAP GTM!