ERP Archives - 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center

Zespri upgrades 51��S/4HANA digital core and begins next stage of supply chain digital transformation

51��ANZ — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:55:20 +0000

51��NEWSBYTE —2 October 2024��–��(NYSE: SAP) today announced that Zespri, the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, has kicked off the second phase of its digital transformation with SAP.

The move follows the completion of its first tranche of work that resulted in avoiding more than NZD$1 million in infrastructure costs over 6 years, 15,000 hours saved in productivity, and $2.2m in profit and loss savings. The team’s focus on a ‘clean core’ – infrastructure that separates core applications from custom modifications – also enabled a recent seamless upgrade of its platform that would previously have required significantly more resources.

The successful establishment of the core technology to digitally enable its finance and supply chain processes will see Zespri move into the second stage of its ambitious, multi-year Horizon transformation programme.

“Zespri’s transformation is entirely focused on creating sustainable, long-term value for our kiwifruit growers by ensuring robust digital platforms enable offering consumers the world’s leading portfolio of branded kiwifruit all year round,” said David Scullin, Chief Digital Officer at Zespri. “Our partnership with 51��has so far seen us distribute more than 193 million trays of kiwifruit across 51 countries through our digital platforms to meet growing global demand.”

“And this is just the start. The next phase of our work will see greater focus on data to improve decision-making, simplify operations, modernise with innovation, and provide higher returns to our grower community.”

As part of that program, Zespri has purchased 51��Sustainability Control Tower as part of its RISE with 51��implementation. The solution will enable Zespri to record, report, and act on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, embedded into its business processes.

Ongoing investment in digital transformation

Zespri has been transforming its operations with 51��since 2021, having gone live with 51��S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and 51��Integrated Business Planning in 2022. The implementation also includes capabilities, including , , the 51��Extension Suite, and SAP-endorsed partner solutions from OpenText, Tricentis, and Celonis.

“Our Horizon transformation program is designed to amplify and enhance our business capabilities and creating a seamless, user-friendly experience across our operations,” continued Scullin. “By deepening our use of 51��RISE and S/4HANA, we’ve created a robust, clean core that can scale for success, fuel our data-driven ambitions, and unlock the full potential of our customer, grower, and staff ecosystem.”

Zespri has also invested in an innovative AI-powered Quality Control software with SAP-partner��. The implementation included a specialised mobile app and artificial intelligence engine designed specifically for the fruit and vegetable industry. The new app has modernised quality control processes, achieving 5 per cent improvement in the quality and efficiency of the supply chain, enhancing inspection productivity by 25 per cent, and ensuring that every piece of fruit meets rigorous standards before reaching the consumer.

Angela Colantuono, President and Managing Director of 51��Australia and New Zealand, said: “In the same way kiwifruit growers invest in their orchards and nurture them over time to create something magical, Zespri’s transformation has really shown the value of focus, innovation, and excellence in delivery.

“Zespri has long been one of our most forward-looking customers. As we begin the next phase of their ambitious RISE with 51��program, I look forward to the innovative ways Zespri will continue to grow and delight consumers, boost sustainability, and maintain its amazing returns for growers.”

The post Zespri upgrades 51��S/4HANA digital core and begins next stage of supply chain digital transformation appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Powerlink Queensland selects RISE with 51��to leverage full benefits of 51��Business AI

51��ANZ — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 04:04:13 +0000

51��NEWSBYTE — August. 7, 2024 — today announced Queensland government-owned transmission network service provider, , has selected on Microsoft Azure to drive further improvements in data management, asset management and visualisation, and efficiencies through 51��Business AI.

Powerlink is a leading Australian provider of electricity transmission network services, with a network extending 1,700 kilometres (km) from Cairns to the New South Wales border and comprising 15,449 circuit km of transmission lines and 152 substations.

The organisation has selected RISE with 51��as it enters the next phase of its transformation, driving further improvements in its operations and delivering faster time to value by leveraging the full breadth of 51��Business AI. This includes SAP’s AI copilot, , which has the ability to enable its people to quickly extract critical information on company services as well asset and financial information using natural language capabilities.

This follows Powerlink’s implementation of 51��S/4HANA and 51��Analytics Cloud in 2022 and 51��Sustainability Control Tower in 2023, which has given the organisation’s teams enhanced analytics, efficiencies in budget planning and improved financial reporting capability.

Powerlink Chief Executive Paul Simshauser said the latest implementation had also strengthened the organisation’s sustainability reporting through the consolidation of auditable climate-related metrics aligned to Australian and International standards

“Powerlink has a long-standing relationship with SAP, reaching a 25-year milestone this year, that has delivered significant value to our organisation with recent uplifts in data management, automation and self-service,” Mr Simshauser said.

“We opted to accelerate our move to RISE with 51��as it is a natural progression of our digital transformation and AI advances. With many of our mission critical processes already running on SAP, having the ability to leverage 51��Business AI capabilities will deliver tremendous value to our people.”

Powerlink’s General Manager Business IT and Digital Delivery, Mark Pozdena, said the move to RISE with 51��also offers Powerlink a range of new capabilities. This includes increased platform security and functionality such as new visualisation tools for the administration of critical asset information used organisation-wide in the management of a vast and growing transmission network.

“We plan to move to RISE with 51��by the end of the calendar year to take advantage of new innovations within the platform and offer new capabilities to our people,” Mr Pozdena said. “Importantly, RISE with 51��offers increased security and availability, which is critical to us in this day and age.”

Speaking at 51��Now ANZ in Sydney this week, Angela Colantuono, President and Managing Director, 51��Australia and New Zealand said, “Every organisation today requires cloud-enabled systems and processes to unlock untapped productivity gains.

“For Powerlink Queensland, turning to RISE with 51��and leveraging the full breadth of 51��Business AI will help achieve faster time to value for many of its organisational processes, empowering its staff through data-driven analytics so they can focus on delivering improved experiences for its customers.

“Furthermore, new innovations in 51��Sustainability Control Tower will enable Powerlink to automatically report on its environmental, social and governance data, significantly reducing the amount of time and effort required for reporting and driving further productivity gains.”

The post Powerlink Queensland selects RISE with 51��to leverage full benefits of 51��Business AI appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Leveraging 51��S/4HANA to Address 2024 Top Finance Priorities

Mark Barry — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 05:59:52 +0000

I had the opportunity to speak at the #Mastering51��event on May 22nd, shedding light on how 51��Customers utilising S/4HANA can navigate and address the leading financial priorities for 2024.��

Off the back of a report by The Hackett Group: 2024 Finance Key Issues – January 2024, The CFO Agenda by Shawn Fitzgerald, Jim O’Connor and Tom Willman. Looking at the top three priorities I provided practical advice based on existing capabilities that organizations may be unaware of and could implement today.�� Below is a summary:��

The top 3 finance priorities for 2024 are hardly unexpected, with organisations continuing to focus on managing costs, gaining access to insights to support informed decisions making and securing�� working capital to execute plans. The key insights that I derived from the report are:��

1. Cost Management and Optimisation

Finance increase workload will continue to create productivity and efficiency gaps – in other words we need to find a way to do more with less.��

Finance are counting on technology to fill the gaps – currently high levels of dissatisfaction as not necessarily seeing expected benefits.��

Wise to explore as part of a deliberate and sustainable cost reduction approach – expected over next five to seven years result in a 40% reduction in SG&A costs and staff

2. Cash Flow Performance, Liquidity and Working Capital��

Cost of Working Capital is on the rise, with liquidity coming at a cost premium��

Finance must optimize working capital – by focusing on strengthening supplier terms, inventory management and collections management.��

3. Data (Timeliness, Completeness, Reliability), Insights and Actionable Analytics��

Organisations are not fully deploying data-related technologies��

Staff need to be trained and upskilled on using tools��

Need greater access to self-service and data discovery tools��

Need to implement advanced analytics tools��

��

With S/4HANA you have a technology that is designed to improve productivity and efficiency and drive automation it is important that you leverage the underlying technology and the functional capabilities so you don’t fall into a trap of not seeing the benefits of your investment. Below is a snapshot of the practical advice I shared:��

Cost Centre Budget Availability Controls – new in S/4HANA is the ability to activate Budget Availability Controls on the Cost Centre. Once enabled this allows you to fully leverage the Cost Centre Budget Report.��

Fig 1 – Cost Center Budget Report��

��

Situation Handling – proactively alerts users to exception events that require attention, proposing resolutions or automating the resolution process driving efficiency. You can see this in action based on a Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt example: ��

��

Business AI – Joule is SAPs AI Copilot which is powered by Generative AI and designed to empower users in executing everyday tasks more efficiently. Launching this year, you can see an example here: ��

��

Cash Flow Analyzer – provides a clear cash position insights with visibility of future cash flows supporting the ability to make decisions.��

��

Embedded Analytics – with S/4HANA there are over 250 analytical apps that enable real-time reporting via self-service approach driving insights to action. We looked at the different styles of embedded analytics from Smart Business KPIS, Overview Pages, Analytical List pages, Multi dimensional Reports and Dashboards.��

��

Fig 2 – Example of Multi-dimensional report – Trial Balance��

��

Advanced Analytics – On top of the embedded analytics within S/4HANA introducing opens the opportunity to:��

Use Just Ask – ability to ask questions in natural language and get answers using .��

Predictive Planning – combining the planning with predictive forecasting to accelerate the planning cycle.��

Time series Forecasting – predict future values of a series based on historical data.��

Smart Predict – the ability to build trusted and actionable predictions without the need to be a data scientist.��

��

For more information on these Advanced Analytics topics take a look at .��

��

In conclusion, let’s break the mould and not be one of the companies in the survey that have invested in technology yet did not realise the expected benefits, instead let’s cultivate curiosity and explore the realm of possibilities. While I have imparted a few tips, they merely scratch the surface of what can be achieved. I encourage you to take the following steps:��

��

Take time to review the Fiori Application Library for Analytical Apps applicable to your organisation or role. ��

Explore the integrated Automations & Business AI that are currently available. ��

Identify manual tasks and consider employing 51��Build for automation.��

��

By embracing curiosity and investigation, you’re one step closer to streamlining your finance processes and focusing on driving your business forward.��

The post Leveraging 51��S/4HANA to Address 2024 Top Finance Priorities appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

To RISE or Not To RISE

Vaibhav Mathur — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 06:52:18 +0000

This is a key decision facing most organisations that run their estate in an on-premise environment or natively on a hyperscaler and are thinking about the future.

It is not an easy decision to make and requires deep analysis relating to their current operating model, the resource and skill mix available and SAP’s future roadmap and strategy. Organizations also need to identify the expected operational, commercial and process benefits to justify the move to RISE and change their status quo.

Having been associated with since its inception, I have seen how SAP’s offering has matured over the years. 51��is making significant investments into the operational and delivery capabilities of RISE. SAP’s strategy has also evolved to fully support this cloud model. It is my firm belief that NOW is the right time for customers to decide and move to RISE with SAP. Here are some of the reasons.

Maturity

RISE with 51��was launched by SAP’s CEO, Christian Klein in January 2021. Since then, the offering has matured significantly. The commercialisation of a large proportion of SAP’s ��previously on-premise solution offerings has occurred to allow them to now be offered in the cloud model.

There has been significant investment in tools, automation and people so that the delivery of the cloud service is world class. The ‘Enterprise Cloud Services’ or ECS organisation is the delivery arm of 51��for the RISE offering where these investments have occurred.

ECS supports the operational delivery & support of the RISE offering and is separate to the implementation services which implements S/4HANA. ECS is purely involved in the operational, day-to-day, business-as-usual (BAU) maintenance and management of customer’s 51��landscape under RISE.

New Board Area – Customer Services & Delivery

At the start of 2024, a new board area was established called, ‘Customer Services & Delivery’ which brings together all the resources involved in the architecture and delivery of RISE and associated services. This board area now has architecture and pre-sales teams involved in architecting our customer’s cloud solutions (Cloud architects), the services teams that implement the S/4HANA capabilities (Services teams) and the teams involved in the actual day-to-day operational delivery of service for RISE customers (ECS team).

This was a strategic decision and is extremely important as it reflects the internal transformation within 51��as it expands from an engineering, product development, and a sales organisation, into a cloud service provider ensuring customer success through adoption and delivery of cloud services and focuses on achieving successful customer outcomes.

Our customers will gain from RISE with 51��by utilising SAP’s expertise and experience in managing S/4HANA customers globally and benefiting from SAP’s focus on customer adoption and outcome driven approach.

You can read about these here.

Incentives

Since RISE with 51��launched, 51��has been listening to customer feedback and has released the RISE with 51��Migration and Modernisation program in Jan 2024. The news article is here.

Through this program 51��recognises the complexity of the transformation required and offers to actively support customers on their journey to the cloud and to help make the transition easier.

The program offers customers a Migration Methodology to provide guidance across their migration journey, providing roadmaps for innovations, and more significantly, it offers commercial incentives for customers moving to RISE.

This incentive is called the RISE Transformation Incentive and is a limited time fund through till the end of 2024 that 51��has created to support customers moving to RISE. Through this program, 51��customers can leverage this fund and receive incentives in the form of credits as a means of offsetting some of the costs involved in their transformation journeys.

This incentive will be offered to current 51��S/4HANA and 51��ECC on-premise customers moving their 51��landscape to RISE and they will stand to gain credits as a percentage of the amount of their RISE with 51��subscription. These credits can be utilized to offset either the on-premise maintenance costs, implementation services costs or the cost of the RISE subscription fee itself.

To date I have engaged with several customers that have benefited from this incentive. It is my view that this incentive fund represents a significant opportunity for customers to initiate their move to RISE in 2024.

Partner Ecosystem

When RISE was first launched, our partner ecosystem was quite apprehensive. However, over time, our partners have also understood that RISE with 51��is at the core of the 51��Cloud Strategy and have now jointly worked with 51��to tailor their own offerings based on the RISE implementation methodologies.

Several of SAP’s partners have also become RISE customers including Accenture, IBM, Wipro, HCL, Microsoft, which further goes to show the strength of the offering and the trust that partners, most of whom have their own 51��practices, bestow upon 51��in managing their 51��landscapes for them.

So, if you are sitting on the fence and trying to decide whether the time is right to move to RISE, I would say that 2024 is definitely the year you should make the decision and take the plunge. I can safely say that you will get the kind of support from 51��that you would have never seen before!

The post To RISE or Not To RISE appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

AWS and 51��Unlock New Innovation with Generative AI

51��News — Wed, 29 May 2024 21:10:12 +0000

Generative AI hub in 51��AI Core integrates with foundation models in Amazon Bedrock to deliver generative AI-driven insights and streamline manual processes for enterprise customers.

SEATTLE and WALLDORF��— Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), and��(NYSE: SAP) today announced an expanded, strategic collaboration to transform modern cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) experiences and help enterprises drive new capabilities and efficiencies with generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Together, AWS and 51��are striving to make it easier for customers to adopt the RISE with 51��solution on AWS, to improve the performance and efficiency of 51��workloads running in the cloud and to embed generative AI into an enterprise’s entire portfolio of business-critical applications.

“AWS was the first cloud provider certified to support the 51��portfolio and today, thousands of enterprise companies run 51��solutions on AWS to get the most out of their mission-critical applications,” said Matt Garman incoming CEO at AWS. “Now, AWS and 51��are making it faster and easier for companies to apply generative AI to their core business data to become more efficient, responsive and sustainable.”

“Partnerships like this collaboration with AWS are critical as we embed generative AI solutions across our ERP applications so that customers can drive innovation at an accelerated pace,” said Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer of 51��SE. “In addition to delivering modern cloud ERP to our joint customers, we are excited to support Amazon on their own transformation journey as they adopt RISE with 51��for pioneering areas such as Project Kuiper, Amazon’s satellite initiative intended to increase global broadband access.”

Generative AI Models from Amazon Bedrock Available on the Generative AI Hub in 51��AI Core

The generative AI hub in 51��AI Core infrastructure provides customers with secure access to a broad range of large language models (LLMs) that can easily be integrated into 51��business applications. With the integration of generative AI models from Amazon Bedrock such as the Anthropic Claude 3 model family and Amazon Titan, 51��customers will be able to access high-performing LLMs and other foundation models (FMs) to build applications customized with their own data. Tens of thousands of customers use Amazon Bedrock to easily, quickly and securely build and scale generative AI applications using FMs from leading AI companies such as AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Cohere, Meta, Mistral AI, Stability AI and Amazon.

With this integration, 51��customers may accelerate the adoption of generative AI and modernize key business processes built on 51��solutions. These innovations can be used in embedded use cases within RISE with 51��and the intelligent scenario lifecycle management functionality as an integration component or side-by-side directly on 51��Business Technology Platform (51��BTP). 51��and AWS plan to expand the use of Bedrock capabilities in the generative AI hub to further enable embedded AI functionality within SAP’s portfolio of cloud solutions and applications. This includes additional use cases across finance and product lifecycle management.

51��to Use AWS Chips to Train and Deploy Future 51��Business AI Offerings

SAP’s use of��AWS Graviton3 chips to support 51��HANA Cloud��helps to deliver performance gains, cost savings and energy efficiency to SAP. By using Graviton3-based Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances, 51��has realized up to 30% better compute for analytical workloads and an estimated 45% reduction in carbon footprint for 51��HANA Cloud. Now 51��and AWS are collaborating on the next generation of Graviton4 for 51��HANA Cloud and additional 51��applications to continue to improve performance and efficiency. Based on the success of running 51��HANA Cloud on AWS Graviton, 51��plans to use AWS Graviton to support 51��solutions and applications such as 51��BTP, 51��Datasphere, 51��Analytics Cloud and the 51��Cloud ALM solution.

51��plans to use��and��chips, purpose built for AI and machine learning (ML) workloads, for training and deploying future 51��Business AI offerings. Using Trainium and Inferentia2-based instances in a proof of concept, 51��engineers trained and fine-tuned generative AI LLMs in two days versus 23 days with comparable Amazon EC2 instances. By leveraging Trainium’s specialized architecture designed for efficient ML model training, 51��can accelerate the development process while maintaining high levels of accuracy and reliability.

Increased Performance for RISE with 51��on AWS

Thousands of customers have selected RISE with 51��on AWS to run their largest, most complex, global 51��solution implementations. Now generally available, the next-generation Amazon EC2 High Memory U7i instances offer up to 32TiB of memory in a single instance and provide customers the memory and flexibility they need to support expanding 51��HANA database requirements. Amazon EC2 High Memory U7i instances are the first DDR5 memory-based 8-socket offering by a leading cloud provider to improve the performance of memory-intensive applications such as 51��S/4HANA Cloud as part of RISE with SAP.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper Selects RISE with SAP

Amazon companies, including Twitch, Zappos.com and Zoox Inc., already use 51��software on AWS to support their operations. And now Project Kuiper—Amazon’s satellite broadband network—is deploying RISE with 51��to support its complex supply chain and manufacturing operations and get the best performance and most value out of its mission-critical 51��software. Running 51��solutions on AWS allows Kuiper to take advantage of the latest 51��capabilities embedded in RISE with 51��to help drive impactful transformation, accelerating company decisions and enhancing overall performance and productivity.

Hundreds of millions of people lack adequate internet access and Project Kuiper’s goal is to help close the digital divide by delivering fast, affordable broadband to a wide variety of customers operating in places without reliable internet connections. Delivering on that vision requires Kuiper to build satellites at an unprecedented rate. RISE with 51��allows the Project Kuiper team to leverage the most reliable and scalable infrastructure to run a modern, cloud ERP as a managed service, so they can focus on innovation instead of IT management.

To learn more about the 51��and AWS partnership, tune in to the��, June 3-5, in Orlando.

The post AWS and 51��Unlock New Innovation with Generative AI appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Navigating the Course: A Synopsis of ENR Exec Connect Lunch

Anton Kroger — Mon, 27 May 2024 23:22:26 +0000

The race towards a sustainable future is one defined by diligence, strategy, and innovation, rather than mere good fortune. Australia, often referred to as the “Lucky Country” due to its abundant mineral resources, is now seeking to carve out a well-deserved space in this rapidly transforming landscape. A fascinating discussion unfolded at the recent Exec Connect lunch event where top executives in the mid-tier mining sector exchanged thought-provoking insights on the sector’s challenges and opportunities.

Navigating Challenges of Start-Up Mining

One dominant theme was the challenges faced by startup miners and service companies.

Foremost amongst these hurdles is the lengthy and convoluted approval process overcome by a lack of understanding amongst government officials. The need for enhanced education and an overhaul of the approval system was strongly emphasised. Labor market issues and insufficient expertise on junior boards also emerged as significant concerns.

It was pointed out that China’s processing capabilities outstrip Australia’s, largely due to being more adept at navigating bureaucratic hurdles. Collaboration, coordination, and taking a holistic approach to processing were, therefore, advocated as crucial strategies for Australia’s mining sector.

Key issues highlighted included difficulties in attracting the necessary talent, managing the investment sequence for expansion, and contending with commodity price cycles. The panellists underscored the importance of investing in knowledge building and engaging trainers in fostering a skilled workforce.

The event also brought forth an interesting comparison between the approaches of South American countries and Australia in the realm of rare earth minerals. Participants noted the agility, hard work, and willingness to embrace new technologies as key factors fuelling South America’s lead in this space.

The Changing Role of CFOs

One of the most striking aspects of the discourse was the continually evolving role of CFOs, particularly in light of digitisation and the growing focus on sustainable projects. Finance leaders were encouraged to prioritise digital strategy, integrate technology, and introduce carbon accounting.

The CFO’s role essentially needs to be both proactive and strategic, harnessing technology to meet not only contemporary challenges but also pre-empt future trends, including regulatory shifts and the necessity for certified mineral sources.

Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence

is certainly a new buzzword – but how much of a role we see it playing was an interesting discussion. In some sense Mining companies have been using AI in operations for some time, using advanced algorithms to optimise plants and even go as far as automating truck fleets etc.. So in the operational space AI will just evolve to become more of an evolution on what they are doing. In other areas of the business however the opportunity for AI is still largely under explored. Some ideas however were discussed like using AI to help advance recruiting and writing more effective job descriptions as an example. Automating back office roles was also seen as beneficial especially if that gave some additional advantage to M&A or growth opportunities.

In conclusion, as Australia navigates its way through the race to a sustainable future, hard work, innovative thought, efficiency, and long-term planning emerged as key touchstones from the discourse at the ENR Exec Connect Lunch. By addressing these themes, Australia’s mining sector can reclaim its position of leadership in the global market.

For more information on how to grow your business and make decisions fast please .

The post Navigating the Course: A Synopsis of ENR Exec Connect Lunch appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Smart move: how Invetech is leveraging the power of the cloud to embrace AI

SAP — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 07:21:54 +0000

Medical and life sciences manufacturer Invetech is transitioning to cloud ERP to take advantage of artificial intelligence.

Invetech is on a journey towards adopting more sophisticated technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), across its operations, supported by everything that SAP’s cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has to offer.

The business, which specialises in product design, engineering and manufacturing services for the medical and life sciences industries, recently achieved a 26-week 51��S/4HANA transformation, with help from SAP’s partner Deloitte.

It had previously relied on a 20-year-old system as its tech backbone and urgently needed a new, public-cloud-based system to help run its global operations and take previously outsourced manufacturing in-house.

Shifting to a public cloud was important to Invetech, because it meant its underlying digital platform would be continually updated. The company would never again be concerned about whether it was running on outdated technology.

“We went live on 30 January this year and shipped our first product within the first month,” says Janet O’Meara, vice-president of finance at Invetech.

O’Meara says the switch to SAP’s cloud-based ERP platform will support the future growth of the business.

“We don’t want to rest on our laurels. So now it’s about using 51��S/4HANA to the best of its capabilities, then moving into improved reporting and analytics and harnessing automation and AI.”

The future of AI in business and society

51��AI innovation principal Dr Kim Oosthuizen says AI is a technology that people have already used for many decades, but often take for granted.

It’s only recently that the broader population has been able to use AI’s power in a more active way, Oosthuizen says, with the rapid adoption of ChatGPT, an AI-based natural language model.

“ChatGPT can respond to any question we ask, which has prompted great public awareness,” she says. “This is compelling businesses to adopt it, with��they feel pressure to implement and incorporate AI into their business strategies. AI has also promoted some fear about how it will be used in the future, but the positive from that is it’s making us rethink how we need to use AI.”

AI is clearly here to stay. But with data showing that��are using some form of AI in their work without informing their bosses, we may need to find ways to bring AI into the way we work in a more structured way.

Using AI to address current challenges

AI can be used to help us resolve many of our most pressing challenges, including falling productivity levels, Oosthuizen says.

“We have the opportunity to use AI to modernise business processes,” she says. “But it’s not technology we leave to someone else. To become AI-enabled, we need the entire organisation to work together. AI is for everyone and we need to include our business colleagues when we use it, because we will enjoy real benefits when we scale it.”

Oosthuizen says some businesses are using AI for small pilot projects, but the real opportunity lies in exploring its capacity to drive a business forward. It’s also important to understand AI is not a panacea, which is why it’s vital to assess how it’s currently being used in a business and to define clear problems that it can be used to resolve. It’s an obvious solution for automating highly repetitive and manual processes, for instance.

Against a backdrop in which AI is often misperceived by society, thanks to the way it’s represented in movies such as The Terminator and other popular culture, it’s essential to reframe AI for a business context, Oosthuizen says.

“That will help employees trust it, use it and scale it. It’s not a set-and-forget technology and it’s important to ensure it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing and producing usable data.”

51��can help businesses make the transition to AI across critical business processes for a range of functions, including finance and sales. For instance, AI can be used to identify customers who are more likely to pay their invoices late, and improve target marketing by pinpointing clients who are more likely to make a purchase. AI can also automate and document processes across the supply chain and create job descriptions for new roles.

AI is embedded across SAP’s cloud-based ERP platforms, underscored, 51��says, by a commitment to ethical and responsible practices. 51��is confident that AI can be a powerful tool for its customers – one that can help them unlock value and remain competitive in the long term.

The post Smart move: how Invetech is leveraging the power of the cloud to embrace AI appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Unpacking cloud ERP for growing businesses: harnessing agility, speed and visibility

SAP — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:47:41 +0000

Here’s how tomorrow’s global leaders are rapidly adopting cloud ERP to support their success

Fast-growing companies are increasingly moving to cloud ERP to transform their operations and take advantage of international opportunities. This positions them for future success and allows them to leave clunky legacy systems behind.

Cloud ERP is enterprise resource planning software accessible over the web, delivered as a service. It connects to data sources, equipment and other applications. This technology helps businesses adapt to challenges in the operating environment and thrive in challenging times.

51��Asia Pacific Japan’s senior vice president and head of enterprise cloud, Peter Moore, says now more than ever, leading organisations are intelligently automating processes and securing access to data-driven business insights.

“Fast-growing businesses across our region are increasingly embracing SAP’s cloud ERP, with more than 90% of new customers adopting cloud ERP over traditional, on-premise ERP,” Moore says.

The New Zealand-headquartered pipe and tank manufacturer Bailey is a prime example. In just five months, the business was able to implement a range of cloud solutions, including:

51��S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
51��Business Technology Platform
51��Signavio business process management and transportation management
51��Intelligent Spend and Business Network

The project was managed by Realtech, an 51��partner, and achieved a host of benefits including eliminating many paper-based processes and improving efficiencies. Plus, staff now have all the tools they need to work remotely and on the road.

Bailey’s chief executive officer, David Bailey, says a fast rollout and having the right support team were critical.

“We’re growing quickly as a company and have other things we need to focus on,” he says. “We knew a speedy implementation of 51��cloud solutions might be hard, but the benefits would be worth the effort. And we were right, with our staff enthusiastically embracing the new technology and significant business benefits already being realised.”

Leading the market

SAP’s cloud ERP includes a range of features that set it apart and support firms on their digital transformation journeys.

Moore says: “Everyone’s talking about AI, but the difference with SAP’s cloud ERP is that we have embedded AI. This unlocks high volumes of data and integrated, real-time analytics that can help uncover innovative business models to drive new revenue streams.

“The suite of intelligent technologies our customers can access with SAP’s cloud ERP includes machine learning and robotic process automation. We’re committed to continuous innovation across the platform and cloud ERP helps our customers innovate and adapt.”

Within SAP’s cloud ERP, machine learning algorithms analyse large volumes of data to extract valuable insights. These insights can help identify patterns, trends and anomalies in the data, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and enhance their operations.

Additionally, robotic process automation streamlines repetitive and rules-based tasks, reducing human error, speeding up processes and freeing up firms to focus on revenue-generating activities.

Working with specialists

When you’re a fast-growing business with global ambitions, it’s essential to operate on infrastructure that’s the right size for this purpose. This is why so many firms are choosing to move to Grow with SAP, a specialist cloud ERP for mid-market enterprises.

“We have embedded industry best-practice content within Grow with 51��to help our customers access the content for which 51��is known as a market leader,” Moore says. “Grow with 51��is scalable, flexible and addresses industry and line of business needs.”

Grow with 51��has everything enterprises need to support their success. It includes:

51��S/4HANA Cloud public edition, a ready-to-run cloud ERP that delivers continuous innovation.
The 51��Business Technology Platform, which includes 51��Build, a low-code solution that helps accelerate software development and automation.
Package activation services, which include advice and tools.
A growing ecosystem of support to help customers quickly adopt new technologies.
Continually updated community and learning resources, delivered with trusted partners.

The 51��cloud ERP advantage

An adaptable cloud ERP is vital for growing companies that want to shake off the legacies of the past.

“These organisations need an ERP that’s modern, with the ability to leverage best practice, which is what cloud ERP delivers,” Moore says.

It also gives firms agility: the ability to rapidly respond to the changing market and customer requirements. This is especially important for companies with growth potential because they have to react quickly to seize opportunities.

“They need to be able to open new locations, launch new products and services and make strategic decisions, supported by technology,” Moore says.

An example is Restaurant Brands, which has implemented many 51��solutions, including 51��S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, across its operations. The Auckland-headquartered firm operates franchises such as KFC and Pizza Hut, with more than 350 stores across Australia, New Zealand and the US, which serve hundreds of thousands of customers every day.

Moore says: “The business has grown rapidly through acquisition. So it relies on a cloud ERP that can grow and evolve with it, without needing to dramatically increase the number of people needed to run the business. Restaurant Brands has been able to use our technology to automate processes and be more productive so it can scale it at pace.”

The enhanced visibility that SAP’s cloud ERP offers Restaurant Brands makes it easy for the firm to connect to suppliers, consumers and its team. “They also have greater transparency over cashflow, which allows them to easily see where they should focus and invest,” Moore says.

Cloud is the future

Many organisations are focusing on building a path to cloud ERP.

“What’s important is to do it at a pace the business can handle, taking advantage of industry best practice and getting ready for the innovation that’s coming,” Moore says.

“It’s all about being more productive and having access to the data assets within the organisation to be able to drive bigger, impactful, sustainable business outcomes. We’re excited to help our customers secure their future business success.”

The post Unpacking cloud ERP for growing businesses: harnessing agility, speed and visibility appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Five tips from the top: How leading disruptors do things differently

51��News — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 01:21:20 +0000

The world has changed, and it’s up to every business to think about how AI and real-time access to data and insights will shape their future and their paths to growth.

Navigating the business environment is an extraordinary challenge. Every day, organisations must respond to trends, threats and an ever-changing economic outlook. But still, many achieve extraordinary success. Here are five of the top lessons future disruptors can use to drive their businesses forward.

1. It’s about trends, not what’s trendy

Amy Webb is a futurist and the founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute. She recently spoke at the��, and told attendees that what’s important is not what’s trending, but what trends are shaping the business. “And there’s a lot for you to be paying attention to this year,” she said.

Webb’s focus is on how different trends interact. “Because when businesses can’t see interconnectedness, it’s like looking at the world through a pinhole. What we’re looking at is how the trends bump into each other and new intersections because those convergences create the future. You are never going to be able to map that without ERP [enterprise resource planning] software and the cloud because you need data from many different places.”

2. Think through how your business can benefit from AI

Artificial intelligence is an umbrella term that encompasses many different technologies. It’s about automation, productivity and providing a window into your operations. It’s an incredibly powerful tool, and it’s vital to become familiar with the current AI landscape.

“Understand what AI is, what it can do and what it doesn’t do, because you need to start formulating a plan for the future,” Webb says. “This involves thinking about how your organisation coexists with and truly benefits from these tools.”

3. Begin your AI journey with a data audit

Start by understanding the data your organisation is generating. Identify who is in charge of it, its nature and any metadata that might exist.

“These may not be sexy questions, but they’re very important,” Webb says. “Because you’re leaving money on the table if you don’t know what data you generate or what you could be generating. You’re never going to know what insights you might be able to glean.

“Figure out what the signals are and look for intersections. This is how we use artificial intelligence and it’s the same process any organisation should follow to figure out its future.”

“These may not be sexy questions, but they’re very important” – Amy Webb

4. Use ERP to manage your transition to the cloud

As cloud architecture evolves, it becomes easier to use. There’s no need to employ highly technical people or staff to reap the cloud’s benefits.

Julia White, chief marketing and solutions officer and a member of the 51��executive board, who also spoke at the 51��Growth Summit, says the wonderful thing about cloud-based solutions is the access they give any size organisation to the most sophisticated business applications.

“Growing companies with only a small IT team can access the same powerful business capabilities as much larger organisations,” White says. “Cloud drives performance and makes you more agile and flexible. It’s a way to think through the future.”

Corporate food franchisee Restaurant Brands is one business that is forging ahead with its digital transformation, adapting to change and freeing up more resources across the organisation to focus on opportunities for growth.

Thuy Le-Kim, group systems accountant and product owner at Restaurant Brands, wanted a system that would be able to grow and evolve with the business. After implementing 51��solutions, the business now has consistent processes, which means it can increase in size without needing to dramatically increase the number of people running the business.

5. Use AI and automation to resolve choke points in the supply chain

51��works with some of the world’s largest companies, whose supply chains are often the choke points in their operations. This is because many businesses are still managing their supply chains in the same way as before the pandemic and other recent global events. But supply and demand dynamics have fundamentally changed.

Webb says: “It’s not enough to rely on historic data when you’re thinking about your supply chain; you can’t assume what was true before will be true going forward. Over the past few years, there has been a big push to automate the supply chain through AI cloud.”

When you’re running different scenarios and simulations, AI can help you figure out what might be possible in the supply chain, given current or potential conditions.

“People who work in financial planning already do this,” Webb says. “They use no, slow, medium and fast growth scenarios and apply them to the supply chain. Then, use cloud-based, automated tools to figure out how production needs to change through demand forecasting and analytics. Artificial intelligence then becomes a very strong use case throughout the supply chain and logistics industry to unlock business opportunities.”

It also starts to resolve choke points and streamline decision processes. “You want to reduce uncertainty as much as possible. So consider many different scenarios and automate some steps to help you make decisions.”

White says that ultimately it’s about embracing the technology and using it to your advantage: “I know sometimes it can feel overwhelming, but it’s about taking that first step and embracing it because that’s what’s going to underpin growth.”

This article originally appeared in The Guardian Labs

The post Five tips from the top: How leading disruptors do things differently appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Bailey Implements 51��Cloud for Improved Transparency and Mobility

51��News — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 06:24:08 +0000

AUCKLAND — New Zealand owned pipe and tank manufacturer, Bailey, has completed a rapid implementation of multiple 51��cloud solutions, significantly reducing its reliance on paper-based processes and increasing efficiency and mobility for the company, (NYSE: SAP) today announced.��

Bailey, formerly Bailey Tanks, began operations in 1973 and manufactures plastic water tanks and pipes for the primary industries and construction sectors. Relying on an outdated, heavily customised, legacy system to manage a fleet of 14 truck and trailer units across the country, and dependant on a largely paper-based production process, Bailey began moving its operations to the cloud in February 2022, to become agile, more mobile and have access to greater functionality and process visibility.��

The implementation, which took just five months, was managed by 51��Partner, Realtech and comprised of solutions including: 51��S/4 HANA Public Cloud, , 51�� business process management and transportation management, and 51��Intelligent Spend and Business Network.��

Almost nine months on, Bailey is already realising significant business benefits. Production at its two manufacturing sites in Auckland and Christchurch are completely paperless, with tablets and screens now on the factory floor. This marks a significant departure from the previous system, where orders were printed on paper and changes required staff to find, amend and reprint orders manually. Another benefit realised was greater visibility into Bailey’s just-in-time manufacturing and integration with its fleet of trucks, which allows staff to better manage changing customer and transport requirements.��

David Bailey, Chief Executive Officer at Bailey, said a fast rollout and having the right support team were key to the successful implementation.��

“We’re growing quickly as a company and have other things we need to focus on. We knew a speedy implementation of 51��cloud solutions might be hard, but the benefits would be worth the effort. And we were right, with our staff enthusiastically embracing the new technology and significant business benefits already being realised.”��

“Keeping up with the dynamic nature of planning is now simple and can be managed from anywhere in the world. Our people also feel more connected and empowered, and we now have a really scalable solution which gives us plenty of headroom to manage the growth trajectory we’re on.��

“Getting the right partner is critical for a project like this. Realtech had a good, structured approach and a detailed plan. They managed the project well, ensuring critical milestones were met and providing regular updates. Having access to direct product support from the 51��team and after sales support also allowed us to move quickly and confidently as an organisation”, continued Bailey.��

Sofiane Ainine, Head of MidMarket, 51��Australia and New Zealand, says that Bailey is proof that 51��is fit for manufacturing companies of any size.��

“Implementing 51��cloud solutions, including 51��S/4HANA Public Cloud, in just five months shows the value 51��is��delivering for our customers. The improved visibility, mobility and integration made possible by our cloud solutions gives Bailey the ability to adapt quickly to change and provides the organisation with a springboard for future growth.”��

Andrew Spicer, Managing Director, Realtech New Zealand, says we always look forward to collaborating with customers who have a clear vision and are eager to enhance their business operations.��

“Bailey was proactive in their approach to deploying 51��S/4HANA Public Cloud and was open to innovative ideas for process improvements; it is great to see where our knowledge and insights have significantly contributed to their business success.”��

“At Realtech, we have always taken great pride in our work, and seeing our clients achieve their objectives through collaborating with the team gives us immense satisfaction.”��

Bailey is now looking at how it can further improve its processes and workflow management.��

The post Bailey Implements 51��Cloud for Improved Transparency and Mobility appeared first on 51��Australia & New Zealand News Center.

ERP Archives - 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center

Zespri upgrades 51����S/4HANA digital core and begins next stage of supply chain digital transformation

Powerlink Queensland selects RISE with 51����to leverage full benefits of 51����Business AI

Leveraging 51����S/4HANA to Address 2024 Top Finance Priorities