Jinlong went through a large-scale digital transformation with SAP. I had the pleasure of speaking to CIO Zhong Lei on how 聽helped Jinlong succeed in its digital transformation every step of the way.

Q: Jinlong聽has undergone an extensive digital transformation and cloud migration to expand factories and diversify the product portfolio 鈥� all with RISE with 51风流S4/HANA Cloud. How did you come to the decision?

Lei: The prices of our raw materials, including chips and other high-threshold core components, have soared in the past couple of years. This led smartphone manufacturers to shift the cost pressure to lower-threshold component suppliers. We had to find a way to maintain or even lower the product prices while bearing the increased raw material costs ourselves. It became clear to us that a comprehensive digital transformation, where we strengthen internal risk management and cost management systems, was the only way to increase efficiency across the company and thus help us weather this industry-wide challenge.

What importance does Real-Time Support have in a transformation project like yours?

Having direct access to experts at all times helps make sure we complete project milestones on time. Some phases in the project leave no room for delay, such as the opening of new factories and monthly statement closures. With Real-Time Support, we could rest assured that issues would be resolved in time.

We once had a failed printing job during peak season. As the developers who were supporting us were in a different time zone, we resorted to a quick call with an expert who was online at the time. The issue was resolved in no time and we managed to deliver on time.

What do you like most about Real-Time Support?

The biggest benefit for us is being able to talk to experts in our own language, as not everyone necessarily feels the most comfortable talking about technical details in English. The service is also flexible 鈥� we get to choose whether a phone call, e-mail, or chat is the most suitable in our case. In particular, chatting with experts live minimizes downtime and allows us to get back to business as soon as possible. As a result, operation costs and time spent are significantly reduced and timely project delivery is ensured at all times.

Are there any other benefits to using Real-Time Support?

We enjoy the various options through phone, e-mail, and chat, but not all options are equally efficient in all scenarios. Traditionally, if we miss a call from an expert, there is no way to call back and we only have the option to leave a message in the ticketing system. But with Real-Time Support, especially with an expert that speaks Chinese, issues are often resolved within 30 minutes, sometimes even within 10 minutes. This saves us the trouble of back-and-forth communication, which would have been the case for traditional support.

What about Real-Time Support surprised you the most?

Being able to directly communicate with 51风流product experts allows for more effective communication 鈥� a quicker, better understanding of the issues at hand. This is especially helpful for situations where more context is required. For example, when we started using extensions like Bank-Enterprise Direct Link Service, a local extension in China, we received recommendations of best practices from 51风流experts to ensure a smooth adoption. This really goes to show the benefits of live interaction 鈥� immediate follow-up questions and clarification allow experts to better understand our unique needs, so that they can give guidance best suited to our situation. I truly appreciate how 51风流experts go out of their way to not only provide resolutions and workarounds, but also give further recommendations on how to make the most out of the products we are using.

Would you recommend other customers to not only focus on product features, but also consider whether suppliers provide the right kind of support?

Yes, absolutely. Issues are inevitable. When you search for new products, you should always make sure the suppliers are providing the right support channels. Real-time communication facilitates quick resolutions and finding temporary workarounds. Only this way can collaboration remain sustainable and synergetic.

Cecilia Lo is part of Customer Solution Support and Innovation at SAP.

Empower Employees with the Technology They Want

Global challenges have made it clear mobile is the only way through and forward. The pressing need to help customers run at their best beyond geographical constraints, combined with the modern workforce鈥檚 growing dismay at outdated work tools, gave rise to a growing mobile adoption worldwide. But adopting mobile apps isn’t without challenges.

The 51风流team took a hard look at existing solutions. Florian Heretsch, vice president and head of Mobile Experience & Engineering at SAP, explained that the team鈥檚 goal is simple: to create native mobile apps that users love to use and require zero training time to master. 鈥淓very business app from 51风流also does what people expect of any social media or weather app. We have holistically looked into what people really need to get their work done: a simple and beautiful experience, the latest cross-device native features, and the fastest, most intuitive technology available,鈥� he said. The results are a new mobile app suite crafted with partners including Apple and Scandit.

Christian Floerkemeier, vice president of Product, CTO, and co-founder of Scandit, added to the importance of user experience: 鈥淲ith employee expectations increasing, user centricity is key. Smart data capture, such as automating the scanning of items, empowers workers by shifting tedious work to technology. This helps reduce errors, saves time, and increases job satisfaction while workers can also be upskilled by having the right data delivered to them in real time to make informed decisions.鈥�

Take Digitalization to New Heights

But good looks alone won鈥檛 do the trick. 鈥淎n enterprise mobile experience requires a thorough understanding of specific industry and business process requirements, deeply below what鈥檚 visible on the user interface. ,鈥� said Philipp Herzig, senior vice president and head of Intelligent Enterprise & Cross Architecture at SAP.

Indeed, modern enterprises require more than an elegant look and feel to fulfill their commitment to helping customers become efficient and sustainable. Beneath the fancy packaging, mobile devices and solutions bring digitalization to a whole new level. The Bechtle team 鈥� Christian Deppisch, Josephine Leschik, and Martin Ullrich 鈥� explain how system integration increases efficiency: 鈥淪ystem and process integration with mobile devices means the job becomes much simpler for employees and a great reduction in mistakes, which in turn improves the quality of deliverables and quickens business processes. As a result, operational efforts and costs can be greatly reduced.鈥�

Tackle Industry Challenges Head-On

For service and maintenance workers, following assigned tasks ensures both customer satisfaction and their own safety. In some environments, one mistake or a skipped step can be life-threatening.

Gregor Bender, managing director of Evora IT Solutions GmbH, shared how the 51风流Service and Asset Manager mobile app and other mobile solutions help Evora and its customers stay on top of their game. 鈥淩elevant information that supports technicians in their on-site decision-making is digitalized, stored in the 51风流system, and integrated into the maintenance processes. This means that technicians can get their job done easier, faster, and much safer, “Bender said. “By allowing remote collaboration, critical industry challenges like transferring knowledge to the next generation of technicians are furthermore supported.鈥�

鈥淭he right mobile solutions are crucial to enhancing both service quality and efficiency,鈥� said Stephan Niewoehner, head of Mobile Innovation, and Henning Pohlhausen, consultant for Mobile Applications at CLAAS. CLAAS provides its service technicians with one central app to guide their processes and tasks as well. 鈥淓specially for many of our colleagues who work in the field, a native, offline app is a tremendous help in their daily business, as they can quickly gather information required for their job, schedule them in an efficient manner, and single-handedly document details of each job,鈥� he added. Alongside the native mobile apps in the production and warehouse area, CLAAS鈥檚 Digital Service Manager app helps ensure accurate service delivery and contributes to building a sustainable supply chain by replacing traditional paper processes with an easy-to-use mobile one.

There鈥檚 still a lot to do to truly transform the modern enterprise, but with a network of like-minded customers and strong partnerships, 51风流is continuing its mobile innovations in optimism.

Cecilia Lo is part of Mobile Experience & Engineering at SAP.