鈥淲e executed this change management successfully by leveraging our own playbook on ourselves,鈥� , Global Chief Technology/Information Officer, Bain & Company, told SAP. 鈥淛ust as we have done [with clients] multiple times across the globe, in partnership with SAP.鈥�

The 鈥減laybook鈥� is Bain鈥檚 methodical guide to modernizing an organization鈥檚 enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. And it played a vital role in Bain鈥檚 own ERP journey.

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, Bain explained the process behind the implementation: 鈥淛ust as we advise our clients, we began with an airtight case for change, [leveraging] the migration as not just a check-the-box IT exercise but an opportunity to simplify our operations and ultimately transform our business.鈥� Bain accelerated its cloud transition with a project plan that combined implementation best practices from 51风流with Bain’s own change management and process redesign best practices.

The company鈥檚 airtight case, jointly developed by its IT and finance teams, was its need to simplify operations while rapidly growing worldwide.

Growing globally and customizing cumbersomely

Bain enjoyed significant growth over the last two decades, expanding into 65 offices across 40 countries and growing its workforce by nearly a factor of five to more than 18,000 employees, while also scaling further via about two dozen acquisitions. To keep pace with all that growth, it continually customized its homegrown ERP platform.

But that led to silos across offices and org charts, Razdan said. There were also problems scaling and integrating acquisitions, some of which ran on different platforms than Bain.

鈥淲e wanted to set up a platform that solves problems of today and sets us up for the future,鈥� Razdan said. 鈥淭hat was the business case.鈥�

After months of searching, Bain chose 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition for its standardized processes, industry best practices, and continual innovation, Razdan said.

鈥�51风流S/4HANA was the best fit for Bain,鈥� Stephen Mackey, Bain鈥檚 EVP of Global Finance, said. 鈥淚t future-proofed our technology stack, enabled us to get the data that we needed to make business decisions, and also positioned us to be able to grow.鈥�

The aim was standardized core processes — kept clean with zero customizations, thanks in part to apps capable of add-ons and upgrades as needed. The next step would be driving adoption to assure successful change management.

How Bain managed change, Bain鈥檚 way

Bain鈥檚 ERP transformation playbook is full of hard-won lessons from the company鈥檚 own experience and research, according to Razdan. These include what Bain consultants have learned both from successful and more challenging implementations.

From the start, Bain was crystal clear about its case for change, according to Razdan. The company prioritized change management, which meant IT partnering with finance; it also meant cultivating a mindset conducive to change.

鈥淲e owned the change; we identified a group of high performers within our finance and our IT teams. This community of super-users could readily identify and deal with any of the problems that typically arise in an implementation of this size and scale,鈥� Mackey said. 鈥淭his was less just changing their technology; it鈥檚 changing employee behaviors and setting us up for how we want to grow and change processes going forward.鈥�

Bain also wanted to stick with industry best practices via 51风流standards. And keeping customizations off the platform, unlike Bain鈥檚 previous ERP environment, 鈥渨ould make life easier,鈥� Mackey said.

鈥淎dopting a clean core with minimal customizations means that we can absorb any changes that occur in the platform,鈥� Mackey said. 鈥淚t also gives us the ability to integrate our future acquisitions in a way that鈥檚 effective for Bain.鈥�

Why metrics and transparency were crucial

鈥淲e actually set up a program to be always measuring the value,鈥� Razdan said. 鈥淵ou have internal stakeholders, you have external stakeholders, you have partnerships; we kind of built an ecosystem of governance and partnership that enabled us to keep everybody on the same page because transparency and communication is critical to success.鈥�

Gauging progress via transparent key performance indicators was all the more impressive, given that most of this happened during the worldwide, pandemic-driven move to remote work.

鈥淲e could assess the implementation, as we went through it, to keep us on track [and] course correct,鈥� Mackey said. 鈥淭his enabled us to do the implementation from end-to-end in under three years, which was an incredible achievement.鈥�

A big-bang implementation also helped, according to Razdan. Bain thoroughly examined its business, as well as the complications of running multiple systems in parallel.

鈥淚t was a bold decision and, looking back, I鈥檓 really proud of it, particularly about the people and the partnership,鈥� Razdan said. 鈥淲e would not have done it any other way.鈥�

鈥淛ust the beginning鈥�

Since going live in July 2023, Bain runs all core financials around the world on the 51风流platform. Real-time data enable better, faster decision making, while automated core processes have reduced manual work, which helps Bain execute seamless updates as well as onboard acquisitions more efficiently.

鈥淲e have set up a great foundation with 51风流in terms of how we apply our own playbook,鈥� Razdan said. 鈥淚 think this just the beginning for our partnership; I鈥檓 really excited for the next phase.鈥�

鈥淲e create devices that promote independence,鈥� Alejandro Erick Franco, CIO and vice president of Information Technology at American Printing House for the Blind (APH), said in an interview at 51风流Sapphire. This includes APH鈥檚 , which also renders images via equally finger-friendly 鈥渢actile graphics.鈥�

There鈥檚 also APH鈥檚 older navigation app that can help low-vision or blind users find restaurants and venue facilities, or pinpoint any of the booths at, say, a massive .

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That innate spirit of innovation also led APH to develop eBRF, a revolutionary new braille file standard that has the potential to standardize both digital braille and tactile graphics — and slash wait times for physical braille textbooks — leading Fast Company to name APH one of its .

After all, 鈥渆mpowering people鈥� is part of APH’s . That is why accessibility at the heart of its solutions, according to Franco. And accessibility within the software is why APH runs SAP, as well as hopes to be on the cutting edge of AI development at the company.

Designing accessibility into everything

According to Franco, 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition will help APH and other organizations employ low-vision and blind individuals who, until now, might not have been able to use a computer. So, it is vital that websites and user interfaces, for instance, render in an inclusive format that enables these workers to accomplish tasks on their own.

鈥淭he software is designed with accessibility in mind,鈥� Franco told 51风流during an interview for its . 鈥淚f you are a person that鈥檚 low-vision or non-sighted, you can follow it — and follow it in an organized fashion that makes it really easy to navigate.鈥�

This tech-enabled independence also includes work that previously depended on help from a sighted person, such as requisition forms, according to Franco.

鈥淣ow, they can do it alone,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to be able to navigate better without a cumbersome system, they鈥檙e going to be able to run their reports.鈥�

Franco isn鈥檛 talking out of turn. He and APH understand their customers鈥� pain points.

Understanding the business case

Though tech is a big part of APH鈥檚 business, it鈥檚 also a manufacturing facility that produces books, textbooks, and tests in braille and large print, Franco noted. The Kentucky-based nonprofit also .

So, APH also understands the intricacies of supply chains, production, and compliance. Myriad modules within 51风流S/4HANA have proven to be significant enablers for APH鈥檚 business, according to Franco.

鈥淲e can take an order; we can order material,鈥� Franco said in . 鈥淲e can produce it, we can ship it, we can invoice 鈥� but also [offer transparency] for the [nonprofit] reporting that we have to do.鈥�

Looking forward, APH has its sights set on AI.

Embracing the future with AI

鈥淲e want to use what 51风流is going to be launching in AI, and also educate the AI 鈥� train the AI so we can benefit from it,鈥� Franco said. 鈥淲e would love to have an AI system where if, let鈥檚 say, a school needs a textbook for a sixth grader from biology, we can use AI to translate that textbook into braille.鈥�

AI could also help APH improve eBRF and create tools to help develop an even better braille format, according to Franco. Combined with 51风流S/4HANA and GROW with SAP, which helps midsize organizations quickly and reliably adopt cloud ERP, APH wants to expand how eBRF and other technologies can help low-vision and blind users achieve their independence.

鈥淎nybody can use the software — if you鈥檙e low vision, if you are in the blindness field, or don鈥檛 see,鈥� Franco said. 鈥淲e utilize 51风流in our manufacturing facility; now, we would like to see other organizations utilize the software, if it鈥檚 service, if it鈥檚 manufacturing, if it鈥檚 creating something.鈥�

Working for new opportunities

Franco said there are very few ERP software companies that develop for low-vision and blind users, and few organizations that hire low-vision and blind employees. APH is looking to change that by helping technology reach the next level, putting accessibility at the center of design, training, and utilization.

鈥淏y using 51风流S/4HANA Public Cloud, they can employ somebody who鈥檚 blind, somebody who鈥檚 low-vision, and give them a better work environment,鈥� Franco said. 鈥淕ive them the opportunities that they don鈥檛 have today.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 no longer just good enough to sell products; you have to sell products with IT services,鈥� Valvoline Global director of Enterprise Architecture David Beach said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now creating a standardized framework of how to do that.鈥�

Valvoline Global chose a 鈥渂ack to standard,鈥� known as a greenfield, approach — removing custom codes and add-ons — for agility, Beach said. Instead of reacting to a business demand, which often requires lengthy development times that result in cumbersome point-to-point integrations, an experience layer can now connect vendors, customers, suppliers, distributors, and internal users within Valvoline Global鈥檚 environment.

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鈥淲e鈥檙e really trying to flip the equation to stay standard and also be able to offer those services,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to anticipate in advance to have standardized ways that we can connect or communicate with 51风流S/4HANA.鈥�

That meant modernizing a bespoke environment without losing functionality.

Standard bearer

鈥淥ur main objective to going to 51风流S/4HANA was to return to greenfield,鈥� Beach explained. 鈥淎nd we needed a tool set to manage that. This is where came in.鈥�

51风流Signavio software provides a vendor-agnostic approach, according to Beach. This enables Valvoline Global to manage business processes across all its enterprise systems, whether they鈥檙e 51风流or not.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the big thing with [SAP] Signavio,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to allow us to consolidate all the data — from 51风流systems, from Salesforce systems, from manufacturing systems, EH&S systems — all coming together into a single business process and a single business process repository.鈥�

And individual business units no longer try solving problems only with solutions available within silos, according to Beach. Now the company aligns each business process with the appropriate technology, and within standards.

鈥淲e wanted to make sure we hit the 90 percent mark on matches of our business processes to standard SAP,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淸SAP] Signavio was a key piece to be able to govern that process.鈥�

But what about the other 10 percent? And how do you get buy-in from users?

Agility driving adoption

According to Beach, when there is a justification to deviate from a standard process, such as an upgrade that changes a business process, the company relies on 51风流Signavio Process Manager, a modeling platform for business process management.

鈥淎t the end of the day, the most important deliverable is that, even though we might have custom processes, we have a tie-in back to the 51风流best practice,鈥� Beach said. And Valvoline Global鈥檚 newfound agility also helped drive adoption. 鈥淭here was synergy to return to standard. It was very important from an organizational perspective.鈥�

Agility was also a 鈥淣o. 1 business case鈥� for Valvoline Global鈥檚 return to standard, according to Beach. And he expects that to serve the company well as it continues to embrace artificial intelligence (AI): 鈥�51风流is coming up with AI strategies, but that鈥檚 going to change more and more as time goes on. You need to be able to adopt rapidly.鈥�

Charting AI鈥檚 path forward

鈥淲e realize that to adopt AI, we have a good handle on data,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e identified the innovators in the company and we have enabled them as sort of like the pilot.鈥�

That means Valvoline Global鈥檚 early adopters get full access to its AI tools. And, to ensure this remains a business-led effort, these trusted users report back about how they鈥檙e adopting AI, helping Valvoline Global chart its path forward.

鈥淚t all comes down to the data… not just from 51风流systems; it鈥檚 coming from all the systems across our business,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淸SAP] Signavio is going to be that conduit as the feeder to AI solutions in the future.鈥�

And, in addition to methodically managing business processes with 51风流Signavio, Valvoline Global鈥檚 51风流S/4HANA journey includes , which help map the company鈥檚 digital transformation.

鈥淸SAP] LeanIX has all the business capabilities, down to the system architectures, so that is a big piece,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just preparing for the future. There鈥檚 an aggressive growth strategy, so we have to prepare for things like M&As. And with toolsets like Lean IX in place, we鈥檒l be able to accomplish that.”

Have your processes in place

鈥淲here I see the biggest value with AI,鈥� Beach said, 鈥淸is if] a customer comes in and has a requirement, AI eventually can take that customer requirement, and it will write the integrations itself.鈥�

That鈥檚 only possible with a predefined standardized framework. And, in a low-code, no-code environment, it can also lead to greater ROI and faster development times — down from months to about a week.

鈥淭he big recommendation is to use tools like [SAP] Signavio and [SAP] LeanIX as vehicles to accomplish your business requirement,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to be able to influence change, but have systematic processes in place.鈥�

鈥淧owerCo will develop and produce battery cells for the VW Group in best quality, in large numbers,鈥� Andreas Eckle, CIO of PowerCo SE, told the audience during a live session at Hannover Messe trade fair. 鈥淭he gigafactories are set up to a standard factory design.鈥� This ensures the same processes, the same equipment, and the same workflows at all its locations, he explained.

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Three Gigafactories from Scratch

鈥淐onstruction is in full swing at the first standard factory in Salzgitter, Germany, only about 70 kilometers from Hannover. It serves as a blueprint for all PowerCo鈥檚 gigafactories,鈥� Eckle said. Cell production in Germany will start in 2025; Valencia, Spain, and St. Thomas, Canada, will follow soon. In future, the Salzgitter plant is to reach an annual capacity of up to 40 GWh鈥攅nough for about 500,000 electric vehicles. The three gigafactories in Europe and North America will have a total volume of up to 200 GWh.

Eckle pointed out that producing battery cells is a completely new business for Volkswagen. 鈥淚t is not manufacturing cars anymore; it is chemistry. We go all the way from mining to the complete cell and recycling,鈥� he said. At the same time, cell production is a very relevant topic for sustainability, so PowerCo has to make sure that the complete supply chain is committed to Volkswagen鈥檚 sustainability standards. The company鈥檚 scope will include new business models based around reusing discarded car batteries and recycling the valuable raw materials they contain.

The battery cell manufacturer started from scratch: 24 months ago, not only the factory had to be built but the staff for the startup company had to be recruited, too. Now there are about 1,500 employees in different areas, from research and development to operations, and they are the basis for building the company. The same applied to the IT landscape: it first had to be set up.

Standards Accelerate Implementation

Eckle said: 鈥淲e have a very high demand that we need to satisfy for electric vehicles, and from our understanding this will only work if we have the right standards in place.鈥� Stephan Fester, Global Battery Best Practice lead at SAP, who was on stage with Eckle, agreed: 鈥淲ithout standards you will never have the performance you need to set up a factory at this scale in no time.鈥� Fester described how 51风流and PowerCo connected in 2022 and defined a project scope for the first phase in only two days.

In 2023, the project team set up an system and realized three go-lives. They began with the processes that a startup typically needs at once: 鈥淭he first initiative was to manage and spend money and recruit, employ, and manage people,鈥� Fester said. He told the audience that it was around March or April when the project partners heard of the big opening ceremony that was planned for the go-live of PowerCo.

With that hard deadline in mind, they started with the accelerated deployment service for recruiting, onboarding, and workforce management with 51风流SuccessFactors solutions. 鈥淣ormally this takes 12 weeks,鈥� Fester recalled. 鈥淭he 51风流team said it normally takes at least eight weeks, but PowerCo challenged us with a time frame of only five weeks!鈥欌�� This was a good example, he explained, of how a standard can accelerate implementation. They also set up material accounting, financial closing, and vendor invoice management.

鈥淎nother very important factor for success was that we as 51风流wrote the concept according to our understanding of the requirements. PowerCo carried out a review and confirmed it,鈥� Fester explained. 鈥淲e didn’t ask PowerCo what it wanted, because it couldn’t specify that at the time. We understood the business and designed and implemented it based on our experience.鈥�

Synchronize Business and IT Planning

In June 2023, the project team delivered the first version of logistics management. Fester explained the concept: 鈥淲e synchronized the setup plan of the factory with the IT plan. If we know the first truck will arrive at the factory at a certain day, that means the capabilities to manage the truck and the material handling need to be available prior to that.鈥�

Enhanced logistics were implemented in November, like in-warehouse processes, batch management, and returnable packaging management. At the beginning of 2024, integrated business planning went live, and more logistics processes were implemented. The next phase is already planned and set-up with product lifecycle management and other systems.

Fully Operational in Six Months

鈥淲e set up a cloud ERP system in less than six months, fully operational,鈥� Fester said. PowerCo CIO Eckle added that this timeline only worked out because critical defects were resolved quickly and effectively in task force mode. The success of the 51风流S/4HANA implementation project is also shown by the 51风流Quality Award PowerCo received in 2024. 鈥淲e are proud of what we have achieved,鈥� Eckle concluded, 鈥渂ut we still have a long way to go. The Salzgitter factory opening is the first major milestone, with two other openings following.鈥�

PowerCo is now well positioned for future business development. The current cloud ERP system serves as the central foundation for cell production. It will also support future business models like recycling of battery cells and the energy storage system business.

Based in Germany, Raumedic designs, develops, and produces polymer- and silicone-based solutions for customer-specific medical and pharmaceutical applications, as well as products for intensive care. It offers a variety of products ranging from a single medicine tube to more complex systems such as kits for liver transplants or infusions. This diversity brings about very complex production and assembly processes. The company has over 70 years of experience in the industry; its more than 1,300 employees work in five locations in Europe and the U.S.

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Making the Shop Floor More Efficient

A manufacturing execution system (MES) is a comprehensive, dynamic software system that monitors, tracks, documents, and controls the process of manufacturing goods from raw materials to finished products. Providing a functional layer between enterprise resource planning (ERP) and process control systems, an MES gives decision-makers the data they need to optimize production and make manufacturing plants more efficient. This is especially relevant in the highly regulated market Raumedic operates in.

The company’s MES strategy stagnated due to the old MES reaching the end of its life cycle. 鈥淲e could not plan any further rollouts in our plants in the U.S. and Estonia. We had no support to get new change requests for innovation in our system, no usability improvements, and finally no AI scenarios could be implemented,鈥� Vogler said.

Avoiding Wrong Decisions

When evaluating and choosing the right software partner for its new MES, Raumedic needed to avoid the wrong decisions of the past, Vogler explained. 鈥淲e wanted a strong provider with a future-proof solution and an excellent partner network in the background,鈥� he said. The company鈥檚 vision was to set up a basis with its new MES solution and develop it toward a digital production platform. For its five production plants, it was also important to work with a global template approach.

Raumedic鈥檚 project team opted to rigorously test the cloud-based 51风流Digital Manufacturing solution and, in March 2023, started the proof-of-concept phase. The team began with a small, discrete industry and assembly scope for the pilot plant in Germany and planned to use this blueprint as an accelerator for the worldwide rollouts and implementations.

The employees in the pilot plant were very motivated because the new solution could not only relieve them of time-consuming routine tasks, but also help ensure compliance both now and in the future. With their previous system, employees still had to document on paper every quality management and GxP compliance process 鈥� GxP refers to the many “good practice” guidelines and regulations that apply to organizations that manufacture products consumed or used by humans or animals. The new 51风流system could handle all this digitally, saving time and increasing compliance. In Raumedic鈥檚 regulated market environment, regulatory compliance is a strategic advantage that enhances market access, builds trust, mitigates risks, and attracts investment.

Concept for Long-Term Success

After rigorous testing, the team concluded that the solution was ready for the company鈥檚 complex production processes. 鈥淲e collected over 300 requirements and evaluated them for possible usage in 2024,鈥� Vogler said. 鈥淚 am very proud that we implemented 75 requirements into a demo landscape.鈥� He said that the team carried out the end-to-end manufacturing execution process with an integration of one use case from the shop floor. They got the confirmation for the production planning with all relevant production values back to the system. 鈥淭he result was very convincing, and so at the end of last year our top management confirmed 51风流Digital Manufacturing as our new MES solution.鈥�

As a next step, a global template will be set up and implemented in a process-oriented manner via 51风流ERP Central Component (51风流ECC). The go-live is planned for Q1 2025. In parallel, 51风流ECC will be transformed to 51风流S/4HANA by 2026, using the Cloud Integration capability within 51风流Integration Suite, and rolled out to the other plants.

鈥�51风流Digital Manufacturing is our central, future-proof, state-of-the-art MES solution. It forms the basis for securing Raumedic鈥檚 strategic goals in the production environment and adds value to all our business processes,鈥� Vogler concluded.

The new CDO had two specific goals: first, to standardize processes across all subsidiaries and create a template for any newly acquired business to follow, and second, to upgrade Kaiser鈥檚 outdated legacy system to 51风流S/4HANA.

He embraced the challenge, recognizing that comprehending the business processes was an essential first step for long-term success. He also was aware that this challenging task could only be accomplished with a strong partner, engaged contributors, and a powerful IT tool. This is where digital consultancy and 51风流partner and the business process transformation portfolio came into play.

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Long-Term Success with End-to-End Processes

Significant change management was required as colleagues needed to transition from instinctive decision-making to a data-driven approach. 鈥淭his was not merely an IT project, but also a business one,鈥� Vehreschild said. 鈥淚t was imperative to engage the various stakeholders right from the outset and eliminate any obstacles to change.鈥� He said it was important to look at the end-to-end processes and not just focus on one department or process, because 鈥渆very process impacts other departments and their processes as well.鈥� The backing of management was also crucial for the long-term success of the project, he emphasized.

To bring all stakeholders and their needs under one roof and gain a common understanding of the transformation project, Vehreschild hosted a series of workshops. 鈥淪ome of the long-serving employees from different subsidiaries had never met before, and now they discussed their process challenges. Intercultural interaction was very important,鈥� he said.

The transformation team, supported by Valantic experts and their wealth of knowledge and experience, opted for a decentralized approach. They started with the company鈥檚 Swiss subsidiary, subsequently expanding to other locations. They had three main topics on their agenda: 51风流best practices, performance of the processes, and immediate impact through quick fixes.

Transparency Across All Systems and Processes

Frank Franzlik, head of Process and Project Engineering, Valantic ERP Consulting, described how the business process transformation project started: 鈥淥ut of the full 51风流Signavio portfolio, we first used 51风流Signavio Process Manager. The solution helps to document, model, and simulate business processes. The scope for this involved the four core processes of Kaiser: order to cash, purchase to pay, demand to supply, and record to report. Second, we implemented 51风流Signavio Process Insights, which identifies, analyzes, prioritizes, and monitors a customer’s most critical business processes and alerts them when an issue arises.鈥�

Vehreschild expressed great satisfaction with the results of these preliminary measures: “For the first time, we achieved transparency across all our systems and processes, each associated with specific numerical values.” It only took the project team about one week to implement the whole system.

In the workshops, the team introduced the concept of best practices and process management with 51风流Signavio solutions to their colleagues in all locations and showed them the performance of their current processes with concrete examples like throughput time or cash discount. 鈥淭hey were able to link the process and performance then, understanding which lever to adjust to enhance efficiency,鈥� Vehreschild said.

Immediate Impact Leads to Acceptance

The business partners saw immediate impact. 鈥淲e were able to offer quick solutions to problems in the processes that had developed over a long period of time,鈥� Vehreschild said. 鈥淥verall, everyone involved was very satisfied with the new approach.鈥�

鈥淣ow, the advantage is that anytime there’s a process discussion within our production or sales department, everyone says 鈥楲et鈥檚 solve it with 51风流Signavio!鈥欌�� he said, noting that his colleagues now understand the portfolio’s functionality, know its potential, and realize they can use it as a flashlight to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Talking about lessons learned, the CDO said: 鈥淣ever underestimate the power of a community! It encompasses uniting varied departments and cultures, promoting dialogue, and providing opportunities for interaction.鈥� He also said that working with a strong partner like Valantic was crucial for the success of the project.

Franzlik of Valantic gave an outlook on the further joint path of the partners: 鈥淭hanks to the insights gathered from 12 distinct workshops, we are now positioned to establish a road map for successful 51风流S/4HANA implementation,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e aim for a decisive road map, our so-called 鈥楪PS,鈥� to assist Kaiser on its digitization journey.鈥�

Manufacturing-X was launched as part of the Industry 4.0 platform, with the aim of promoting digital ecosystems and establishing an international standard for data exchange. It is an industry-wide initiative of the German government with various projects for different industrial sectors.

“The realization that the digitalization of industry is inevitable has become the norm over the past few years,” says Georg Kube, head of Industry Data Ecosystems at 51风流SE. “A variety of use cases for different industries and new business models have been developed. They are successful 鈥� but only as long as companies work with other companies with which they already have a close partnership.”

“The most well-known of the [Manufacturing-X] projects is certainly Catena-X for the automotive sector,” Kube says. “The common aim of all these projects is to establish a new form of data exchange.”

For example, an automaker that wants to digitally integrate its direct suppliers typically requests all the data about the supplied parts from its partners, and the suppliers usually feel comfortable providing this data because of the trust that has grown over the years between the partners.

But it鈥檚 different when data is needed from companies without a direct business relationship. “A typical example is the determination of a vehicle’s CO2 footprint,” Kube says. “Suddenly, information about the CO2 footprint of the smallest plastic parts is needed, which may come from companies in the supply chain with which a company has never had direct contact. It’s not easy to access that data.”

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Trust Is the Catalyst

Companies are often very hesitant to share data freely. And for good reason: potential inferences about their cost structure or the nature of their production can be drawn from the data.

“On the one hand, as companies, we hesitate to give out our data. But on the other hand, we rely on the data of others in order for digitalization scenarios to be successfully implemented,” Kube explains. “We want to address this problem within the framework of Manufacturing-X through a new [approach to] industrial data sharing.”

“The promise,” Kube continues, “is that the digitalization, which we can currently complete up to 70%, can be fully implemented.”

Information Transfer 鈥� But Secure

“What companies lack the most today is knowledge,” Kube says. “We constantly hear from 51风流customers that they would pay to find out what their own customers are doing with the products they have sold to them.”

For example, a manufacturer of robot grippers receives few insights after selling its product about where the grippers are located and what they are used for. If this were not the case, the manufacturer could make much more informed decisions about which generation of products the market needs, or whether a completely new model needs to be developed.

However, customers have concerns that this information could lead to inferences about the nature of their production and the finished product, or that this type of application might be prohibited.

With Manufacturing-X, a scenario has been created in which data sovereignty remains with the owner of the data, but the data can be provided within a narrow framework with a legal and technical structure that prevents abuse. This is the essence of a whole range of use cases in areas such as manufacturing-as-a-service, sustainability, and others.

“These use cases basically exist independently of Manufacturing-X,” Kube explains. “Most of them are neither new nor original. They just could never be fully implemented because trust in data exchange was lacking 鈥� and Manufacturing-X finally creates the conditions for this.”

SAP鈥檚 Role

As an enterprise software company, 51风流has a strong interest in completing the digitization of its customers.

“The digitalization of industry works very well with 51风流products,” says Heiko Flohr, head of Product Management, 51风流for Discrete Industries & Industry Networks, at 51风流SE. “Most of the world鈥檚 leading companies use 51风流in some way to digitize its next-generation processes. Therefore, it is clear from our perspective that we must support and drive this emerging industry standard for data exchange.”

Kube notes that medium-sized companies in particular often suffer from the unavailability of data. “For this customer group, we offer a comprehensive, easily consumable application portfolio with ,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he goal is to establish industrial data sharing according to Manufacturing-X standards as a solid part of this portfolio and enable our customers to collaborate more effectively and trustfully with their supply chains.”

Within Manufacturing-X, new sovereign data exchange formats are to be created for the industry, based on European Union values such as transparency, controllability, portability, and interoperability. “We work very collaboratively and with a focus on implementation in various industry-specific initiatives to make this vision a reality,” says Mirko Paul, head of Industry Cloud Architecture at SAP. “Based on state-of-the-art, cloud-based architectures and the scalable technology standard of 51风流Business Technology Platform, we ensure that these new standards are compatible with 51风流applications from the outset and pre-integrated for relevant business processes.”

At the same time, 51风流opens its own products and applications that are already on the market. Products and solutions such as and products in the areas of supply chain and sustainability are to be equipped with connectors that will allow them to work with this new standard.

鈥淥ur mission is to help the customer be fast-moving,鈥� Takuya Sakai, general manager of Hitachi High-Tech Corporation鈥檚 Digital Transformation Business Group, said in after appearing in an 51风流TechEd keynote last year. 鈥淎nd our corporate vision is a simplified customer process.鈥�

So, in the name of speed and simplicity, Hitachi High-Tech did more than just modify its solution architecture; the Tokyo-based subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. opted for a greenfield 51风流S/4HANA transformation. That meant designing and building a new environment customized for its specific needs.

And it did so via an ambitious digital experience program with the goal of helping to simplify its customers鈥� high-tech processes across nano-technology, analytical and medical, as well as other business categories.

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Jumping into the Greenfield

Hitachi High-Tech had run 51风流ERP as the backbone of its global business since the 1990s, enabling decades of smooth operation and implementation, as well as allowing regions to tailor development to their specific needs. But it also resulted in about 9,000 add-ons 鈥� coding added over the decades to enable bespoke functionality 鈥� from reports and input screens to complex manufacturing-related processes.

Add-ons can help users customize software for specific tasks. But, especially over time, they can become unwieldy, hindering the organization鈥檚 agility and adaptability.

鈥淎fter our digital experience project, we made the decision to jump into a greenfield so that we don鈥檛 transfer all that from our legacy system to our new 51风流S/4HANA platform,鈥� Sakai said. 鈥淲e changed processes, and we changed technologies.鈥�

Indeed, the jump into a greenfield 鈥� implementing a new system on a virtual blank canvas, without migrating pre-existing data, customizations, and more 鈥� helped Hitachi High-Tech slash its 9,000 legacy add-ons to a mere 800 add-ons, according to Sakai. And Hitachi High-Tech developed most of those new add-ons side-by-side via 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP); not altering code helped minimize modifications, which safeguarded stability, agility, and speed.

And, Hitachi High-Tech stopped add-on development completely on 51风流S/4HANA, according to Sakai.

How Two Tiers Equal One Clean Core

In its greenfield, Hitachi High-Tech built a two-tier model: one tier featured 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition for the company鈥檚 small and midsize sales offices overseas, allowing them to use relatively simple ERP tools, while the other tier runs 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition for Hitachi High-Tech鈥檚 larger domestic manufacturing.

鈥淪ide-by-side development on 51风流BTP…allows for faster upgrades,鈥� , 鈥済iving our people more immediate access to improved functionality.鈥�

Moving operations from an increasingly customized 鈥� and, therefore, cumbersome 鈥� legacy system to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud offered flexibility, speed, and security, . This can be useful when demand surges, for example, or for offering more frequent upgrades.

But the two tiers still need to exchange data. That鈥檚 where 51风流BTP fits.

鈥淲e have to integrate two ERPs, so that鈥檚 why we set up 51风流BTP between the two tiers,鈥� . 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to keep our 51风流S/4HANA core clean…so we use 51风流BTP as a business hub and a development foundation.鈥�

Building a Simple, Smart Digital Process

鈥淯sing 51风流BTP, we can build a simple, smart digital process without touching our 51风流S/4HANA core,鈥� Sakai said, echoing what he shared during his 51风流TechEd keynote appearance. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 very, very powerful because we can introduce new functions to the user…and we believe 51风流BTP is very important for accelerating our business.鈥�

Sakai appeared at 51风流TechEd to tell the story of Hitachi High-Tech鈥檚 greenfield transformation, during which employees had to adapt to new process, screens, and reporting. They ended up with every office digitally connected, which proved to be a tremendous benefit.

And that type of business case is 鈥渢he most important thing鈥� in a transformation, according to Sakai.

鈥�51风流is not just a software company, but also something like transformation company,鈥� Sakai said. 鈥淥f course,鈥� he added with a smile, 鈥渢he system also is very important.鈥�

Two weeks ago, 51风流joined global business leaders, political changemakers, decision-makers, and representatives from civil society for a week of focused discussions on the transition to a low-carbon, circular economy. Across dozens of in-person and virtual sessions, 51风流reaffirmed its commitment to enabling a more sustainable world through an ERP-centric, cloud-based, AI-enabled approach.

At Climate Week, SAP鈥檚 focus on AI, precise carbon accounting, and expanded commitments to nature conservation highlighted its proactive approach to addressing the climate crisis.

AI鈥檚 Role in Advancing Sustainability

A major topic during New York Climate Week was the role of . Key discussions highlighted how AI can assist chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and their teams in managing the complex data necessary for effective sustainability initiatives. By processing disjointed and multimodal data, AI empowers companies to monitor, predict, and optimize their systems, leading to improved sustainability outcomes across supply chains and energy grids.

AI serves not only as a tool for automation but also as a strategic ally, embedding sustainability into core business processes. Last month, 51风流shared two innovative AI-driven use cases: 51风流Sustainability Control Tower, AI-assisted ESG report generation and emission factor mapping capabilities. These capabilities help companies enhance carbon footprint calculations and streamline sustainability reporting. With real-time data, companies can make decisions faster and align with their sustainability goals.

However, the discussions also acknowledged the challenges associated with AI deployment, including high energy consumption, potential biases, and data privacy concerns. Addressing these challenges is crucial for ensuring AI’s sustainable application.

Sector-specific applications of AI were also explored. In the energy sector, AI can optimize consumption patterns, while in construction and consumer goods it can aid in waste reduction and resource efficiency. By integrating AI with 51风流solutions, companies can enhance supply chain optimization, route planning, and demand forecasting.

Toward More Precise Carbon Accounting

Another critical topic at Climate Week was the need for companies to accurately track, report, and manage their carbon emissions while aligning their environmental impacts with financial operations. To thrive in today鈥檚 regulatory landscape, organizations must adopt robust sustainability management systems. With regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) on the horizon, businesses are transitioning from voluntary to mandatory reporting, navigating over 600 global regulations and frameworks.

To address these challenges, 51风流will make the 51风流Green Ledger solution generally available in December 2024. This innovative solution can integrate carbon and financial data, helping provide the real-time visibility essential for precise carbon accounting. This integration not only helps enhance compliance, but can also allow companies to gain a competitive edge by speeding up action towards sustainability.

Expanding Commitments to Nature Conservation

Starting in 2024, 51风流is enhancing its net-zero strategy by committing to nature conservation and financing global climate projects for carbon removal and carbon reduction. It aims to plant and protect 25 million trees by 2030 and invest in wetland conservation. These initiatives align with SAP鈥檚 goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030, 20 years ahead of the original timeline.

51风流believes that financing climate projects beyond its value chain is essential to restoring ecosystems and fostering resilient, low-carbon economies. This comprehensive approach supports broader climate action and shifts corporate perceptions, demonstrating that sustainability is integral to long-term business success, not merely an operational add-on.

Leading the Charge

Through an ERP-centric, cloud-based, AI-enabled approach, 51风流is well-positioned to lead the charge toward a more sustainable future while enabling customers to navigate the complexities of climate action. As always, collaboration and commitment from all sectors will be vital in driving truly meaningful change, and COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be an opportunity for the sustainability community to unite in accelerating global action, fostering new partnerships, and advancing innovative solutions.

By integrating technological innovation with strategic sustainability initiatives, 51风流is not just adapting to the evolving landscape of sustainability, but is actively shaping it and charting the course for a resilient, low-carbon economy where businesses can thrive while safeguarding the planet for future generations.

Hear from 51风流Sustainability executives and customer Ambipar at Climate Week 2024 and listen to our on how data and tech drive corporate sustainability.

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Monica Molesag is sustainability communications lead at SAP.

Agritech, or agricultural technology, looks to improve yields and efficiency on farms using technology, and Mindsprint helps customers digitally transform sustainably. The Singapore-based technology and business services firm鈥檚 services include digital transformation, cybersecurity, and more 鈥� which requires a robust landscape.

鈥淣ow, we have added almost every product that 51风流has into our environment,鈥� Amit Jain, senior vice president and head of 51风流at Mindsprint, said. This includes moving to 51风流S/4HANA as well as running 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, 51风流Concur solutions, 51风流Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain, and more. 鈥淲e work very, very closely with 51风流鈥� not just on the product side, but also on the services side.鈥�

This has helped Mindsprint stay nimble and continue serving its customers 鈥� and their customers 鈥� as market demands have shifted.

Transparency for All

鈥淧eople are not going to the shops anymore,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淧eople want to order everything online.鈥�

COVID-19 helped accelerate that shift, giving rise to food startups and other e-commerce sites, according to Jain. And Mindsprint uses logistics, finance, and manufacturing solutions within 51风流S/4HANA to help those customers meet growing online demand and add transparency to the process.

鈥淲hen you talk about the food supply chain, people want to be sure that the food that they鈥檙e eating is good 鈥� so they鈥檙e able to trace the origins of the food,鈥� Jain said.

Toward that end, Mindsprint also relies on 51风流to help refine transportation management every step of the food鈥檚 journey, from farms to ports and all the way to consumers, according to Jain. And between each of those trips, proves to be important, as different foods require different temperatures and other conditions.

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Tech-Driven Conservation

鈥�51风流continues to be the core of everything that we do, but we also use other technology like blockchain,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淏lockchain helps us track our supply chain of our products end-to-end.鈥�

Mindsprint uses sensors on farms as well as in its products, according to Jain. This includes the company鈥檚 large palm plantations, where farmers can monitor frond health, which can help conserve resources and prevent rot.

鈥淲e can actually use the technology to track each and every palm tree we have in plantations to figure out which are green palms, which are the yellow palms,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淭hat way we can remove the yellow palms before they become rotten.鈥� This dangerous turn from healthy green to sickly yellow or brown .

These agricultural sensors can also help a farmer better allocate water to specific fields 鈥� or even individual plants 鈥� that need it and not irrigate those that don鈥檛. This can help improve the crops and their yields, Jain noted. Additionally, it helps protect a resource that is all too rare and precious in some communities.

鈥淚t also helps us conserve water,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淓very drop saved is a lot of importance.鈥�

Track and Trace Everything

The agritech industry is focusing heavily on supply chains, according to Jain. And that鈥檚 where Olam and Mindsprint are seeing the biggest benefit from 51风流technology.

鈥淲e are able to optimize our supply chains; we are able to track and trace everything that we do,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淭hat has helped us save a lot of money.鈥� The technology also helps Mindsprint make more sustainable choices, improve transportation, and even select the right logistics partners, according to Jain.

鈥淎ll those decisions are made using SAP,鈥� Jain said.

鈥淚f you have your consumers 鈥� in our case 鈥榝ans鈥� 鈥� benefit at the heart of everything that you do, everyone is going to win,鈥� Josh Ehren, Gibson Brands global head of Direct-to-Consumer, told 51风流at NRF 2023. 鈥淚t is not just a technology that goes into it; it is an understanding of how you communicate.鈥�

communications strategy is playing lead, informing how tech enables its fan engagement, Ehren stated after a fireside chat with , now part of SAP, at SAP鈥檚 booth. And the Nashville-based guitar manufacturer鈥檚 fanbase extends beyond its legendary Les Paul collab and into its family of brands that include amps, pedals, , and more.

鈥淲e have the most amazing, loyal, obsessed fans for our instruments and for our brands,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our job to make sure that we connect with them in the ways that they want to connect with us 鈥� and [in] an easy way for them.鈥�

This is where technology joins the band.

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When Tech Plays Rhythm

Technology helps Gibson understand what each fan wants, what makes an individual鈥檚 journey unique, and how fans interact with the brand, according to Ehren. And fan journeys can range from a noob who has never touched catgut all the way to an artist who makes her living strumming six strings.

鈥淭hat is a massive span of different individualized types of fans that we connect with,鈥� Ehren said in an . 鈥淲e take that information, and that鈥檚 how we can actually craft how we stay connected with them.鈥�

This might mean inviting the aforementioned novice to a try a lesson via or to watch a video on , according to Ehren. Or it could include recommending select accessories to an artist for a specific guitar in his quiver.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 really how we are utilizing that [tech] to connect,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淲e go through all the way to the end of that spectrum.鈥�

Gibson wasn鈥檛 the only brand at NRF singing the praises of a strategy/tech duet. Other retailers also see tech-driven engagement as essential for growth.

Everything from A to G

Before the pandemic, American home improvement retailer Lowe鈥檚 Companies Inc. updated its legacy e-commerce platform, according to Chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison. Similar to Gibson鈥檚 broad customer spectrum, Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe鈥檚 serves everyone from full-time contractors to a new homeowner鈥檚 first do-it-yourself (DIY) project.

鈥淚f we had not made those investments in retail fundamentals, it would have been a catastrophically bad environment for our customers and for us as a company,鈥� Ellison said during . 鈥淲e put the investments in place…continuing to grow our online and omnichannel capabilities, merchandising, selection 鈥� making sure we serve our pro and DIY customers at the highest possible level.鈥�

Such savvy use of tech and data can help organizations ensure they鈥檙e serving all segments of their customer base, as Gibson鈥檚 Ehren noted. He advocates for both internal stakeholders and those across Gibson鈥檚 vast dealer network to let the data tell them what is and isn鈥檛 working.

鈥淭hat data is really going to help us understand: Are we connecting with our fans? To what extent are we connecting with our fans? Is it working?鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淭hat will inform our road map. That will inform how we optimize…Data is absolutely imperative in everything that we do.鈥�

This includes how Gibson meets customer experience challenges, especially those that are even bigger than competing for share-of-wallet.

Putting Customers First Ensures That Everybody Wins

鈥淚t starts with the share-of-time,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 the biggest hurdle.鈥�

The point of sale can鈥檛 be the end of a customer鈥檚 journey, according to Ehren. Gibson wants its fans to rock on 鈥� and on, and on.

鈥淚 care way more about getting over the hurdles of getting a share of their time because that means that I鈥檓 telling the right stories [and] connecting with them,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淚f we can keep people playing…they鈥檙e happier, they鈥檙e engaged, and it works for us as well.鈥�

All of this engagement supports the entire business 鈥� regardless of where they buy, according to Ehren. His job as global head of D2C is to help them decide on the right products for their individual needs.

鈥淚f they want to understand a little bit more about this guitar, a little bit about more about this amp, etc., and then go to gibson.com or to the , or to one of our dealers 鈥� wherever they want to make that purchase 鈥� they are absolutely able to,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淎nd I encourage it because, again, everyone wins.鈥�

Derek Klobucher is a video producer at SAP.

鈥淢ore and more of our users are coming online…[and] they still want to have the similar guidance and the systems they had in-store,鈥� Ganna Lobachevska, the touchpoint owner of Product Finder and Product Guidance at , told 51风流at NRF 2023 for a new video. 鈥淥ur overall goal is to make it easier for our users to find the right accessory for their job.鈥�

Of course, making something easy to do on the front end is seldom easy to build on the back end. And that was Bosch鈥檚 challenge when helping online shoppers narrow their search for the perfect jigsaw blade, drill bit, or abrasive wheel from a truly massive accessory portfolio.

鈥淎ny company with a wide range of products has to think how they can simplify the user journey…and how they can make it easier for the customers to find the right product,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淲ith the Bosch , we provide a solution that makes it easier and faster.鈥�

Building that easier, faster solution meant finding a high-tech way to satisfy a peculiar demand by online shoppers.

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When Brick-and-Mortar Set the Bar (Almost) Too High

Selecting a specific power tool accessory for a specific job 鈥� and ensuring it鈥檚 compatible with your specific power tool 鈥� are big reasons that people historically shopped at brick-and-mortar stores, according to Lobachevska. It makes sense, right? You can consult with a knowledgeable human sales associate.

But Bosch鈥檚 e-commerce customers expect the same in-store-style expertise via a quick and painless online exchange, according to Lobachevska. And she doesn鈥檛 seem worried.

鈥淭he Accessory Advisor guides the user through a series of very simple questions,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淚n the end, they have three perfect recommendations for the work they want to do.鈥�

It鈥檚 pretty much an online conversation that yields the right product, according to Lobachevska. And Bosch found the right tech 鈥� and partners 鈥� to make these virtual dialogues happen.

Tech to the Rescue

鈥淲e realized that there is a need for a better user guidance,鈥� Lobachevska said of Bosch鈥檚 decision to go with , a Boston-based digital commerce search platform and partner solution in SAP鈥檚 industry cloud. 鈥淚t offered us the best.鈥�

Zoovu鈥檚 Semantic Studio translates technical jargon into e-commerce-friendly prose, which saves time for both Bosch data managers and shoppers. A few artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted questions later, and these accessory hunters have enjoyed a smooth, seamless customer experience.

鈥淭his means that our customers spend less time searching for a product,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淎nd when they purchase the product, it鈥檚 the right one and they are more satisfied.鈥�

This increases efficiency, according to Lobachevska. It also cuts down on returns and poor online reviews.

Powering Forward

Whether in-store or online, Bosch digital assistants and 51风流Marketing Cloud connect to improve Bosch鈥檚 data analytics, business insights, and customer experience, . Those digital assistants have already helped enhance the customer experience for more than 1 million Bosch shoppers across more than 35 global markets, boosting engagement up to 65% as well as increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

And still more can be done by connecting all of that to the Accessory Advisor, according to Lobachevska.

鈥淲e would like to connect the Bosch Accessory Advisor with our CRM system, which is basically 51风流Marketing Cloud,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淭his will allow us to gain business insights, to build better personas, and to make the user experience even better because it鈥檒l be more personalized.鈥�

鈥淲e do that by using the biodiversity of this region, the Cerrado in Brazil,鈥� Francisco de Blanco, S.Oleum co-founder and CEO, told 51风流at the company鈥檚 headquarters, an innovative farm just outside Jo茫o Pinheiro.

Why the Brazilian outback? This tropical savanna is home to the maca煤ba, a highly adaptable oil-producing tree with a penchant for scrubbing harmful CO2 from the air. Maca煤ba fruit yields advanced vegetable oils (AVOs) and high-protein food 鈥� and it can be 15 times more productive than soybeans.

鈥淲e are restoring the landscape that was deforested…Macau虂ba was native here many, many years ago,鈥� Felipe Morbi, S.Oleum co-founder and Agroforestry VP,聽 said. 鈥淣ow we are bringing back these trees, and also all the other species, to restore this biodiversity.鈥�

S.Oleum seeks to accomplish this scientifically, using maca煤ba and other crops in an integrated crop-livestock-forest approach, according to Morbi. The goal is to create working farms that rejuvenate degraded, low-yielding soil 鈥� and that sequester into the soil more carbon than they generate.

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Science-Based Approach to Reforesting the Cerrado

鈥淲e are looking for the balance of the system,鈥� Morbi said in a new . 鈥淲e will measure the amount of carbon in the soil, the moisture, the biodiversity in terms of the plants we have, and also native animals coming back to the area.鈥�

Toward that end, S.Oleum is starting small, but aiming big. Most of the current crop grows on a 700-hectare, or more than 1,700-acre, pilot farm. But S.Oleum intends to plant more than 65 million additional maca煤ba trees by 2029, which would reforest 180,00 hectares 鈥� about 444,800 acres 鈥� in Brazil鈥檚 southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

Over time, maca煤ba trees also help improve the nutrient and moisture capacity of the soil, making it easier to grow other crops, according to de Blanco. And S.Oleum increases farm productivity by growing carefully chosen crops in between rows of maca煤ba trees, such as sunflowers, peanuts, and yucas.

鈥淚f you do it right, agriculture as a system is positive for the environment,鈥� de Blanco said. 鈥淧lants that were deforested a few decades ago, they are currently in a poor state because they were depleted by poor management…We believe there are better ways, and that鈥檚 what we are pursuing here.鈥�

An innovative case in point: maca煤ba trees increase a biome鈥檚 carbon sequestration levels. Removing this greenhouse gas helps more than the planet; S.Oleum also generates revenue by selling carbon credits and building trust via its data.

Any Little Bit of Data

鈥淎ny little thing, any generation of data that R&D is currently developing, is extremely important,鈥� Mirelle Santos, S.Oleum Agroforestry R&D manager, said. 鈥淲e want to deploy technologies as dictated by those urgent needs.鈥�

This could include remote sensing via drones that run fruit-recognition software, according to Santos. This would help S.Oleum gather and compile data quickly, without human error 鈥� and without sending workers, who must dress in personal protective equipment (PPE) to defend against snakes, mosquitos, the brutal Cerrado sun (even in winter), and dangerous maca煤ba thorns, which grow even on seedlings.

S.Oleum鈥檚 intricate business model combines agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, and carbon offsetting 鈥� and that leads to a lot of complexity. 51风流technology will be an important differentiator for this small enterprise, as well as a foundation for its future growth.

鈥淲e have a big project to run; so, a lot of people, a lot of machines, a lot of suppliers,鈥� Morbi said. 鈥淎nd we need everything in the right moment, in the right way.鈥�

How to Best Manage ESG Metrics

鈥�51风流is different because it is recognized as one of the most reliable ERP systems on the market, not only based on the technology,鈥� de Blanco said. 鈥淎lso, because it has well-established and well-defined processes.鈥�

Standardizing processes was 鈥渆xtremely important鈥� for S.Oleum both internally and to inspire customer, stakeholder, and regulatory confidence, according to de Blanco. 51风流will also enable S.Oleum to run its circular enterprise as well as record, report, and act on its sustainability data.

鈥淲e have a very integrated system, and a very circular way to produce things,鈥� de Blanco said. 鈥淔inding out where waste is generated 鈥� and where it鈥檚 being used 鈥� is very important to ensure the carbon intensity and the circularity of our systems at our entire site…This is where 51风流helps us.鈥�

51风流S/4HANA, 51风流Ariba solutions, 51风流Concur solutions, and 51风流SuccessFactors solutions will help standardize all of S.Oleum鈥檚 processes, which will improve transparency and compliance, according to S.Oleum IT Director Marcio Propp. To help better manage and understand its myriad environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, the company has also begun implementation of and .

鈥淚t is super important that we have a very robust core system in place because it will serve as the basis for all our other processes…and practically all niche applications focused on digital agriculture connect with this core with SAP,鈥� Propp said. 鈥�51风流is an agribusiness market standard, and it makes perfect sense for S.Oleum to be part of this ecosystem.鈥�

That鈥檚 a big deal because compliant, transparent ESG metrics are crucial to S.Oleum鈥檚 success, according to de Blanco.

A Matter of Trust

鈥淪omewhere around one-third of our revenues come from carbon credits,鈥� de Blanco said. 鈥淭his is our, let鈥檚 say, core business…to convert sustainability into revenues and financial results.鈥�

That will require trust. 51风流core technologies, such as 51风流S/4HANA Cloud and , will help S.Oleum keep that trust, thanks to a reliable foundation of sustainability data and robust, auditable ESG metrics for reporting.

鈥淢y advice for companies that are starting their sustainability endeavor: do it as quick as you can,鈥� de Blanco said. 鈥淎nd do it attached to science.鈥�

For more information on how 51风流helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit聽.

Top photo credit S.Oleum

Enter Replacements Ltd., which offers to help customers identify, restore, or repair damaged pieces of history. Since its founding in 1981, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based retailer has preserved and archived more than 450,000 patterns; these represent about 11 million pieces of china, crystal, silverware, and other collectibles.

鈥淲e want our customers to continue their traditions, to gather with their family and friends, to give that gift to their family member, to help them start their own collection,鈥� Replacements Chief Marketing Officer Lihn Calhoun told 51风流for a new at NRF 2023. 鈥淪o we want to find the customers, understand what they鈥檙e looking for, and match that together.鈥�

Data and analytics are vital in Replacements鈥� efforts to connect customers with the right piece, according to Calhoun. This includes how Replacements stores and archives each item; how the company presents products and services to the customer; and how 鈥� and how often 鈥� to send personalized, meaningful communications.

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How To Better Understand Your Customers

Replacements puts a premium on learning about its customers鈥� interests and collections, according to Calhoun. Doing so is crucial to helping each shopper find exactly the right item among the aforementioned 450,000 patterns and 11 million pieces.

鈥淗aving that information in our technology platform 鈥� and being able to aggregate that in a useful way 鈥� allows us to better connect each piece to that new person to create that new story,鈥� Calhoun said . 鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing that right from the start, in terms of collecting that customer information, understanding the patterns of interest, and making that connection.鈥�

The COVID-19 pandemic hastened Replacements鈥� transition to ecommerce and, therefore, smoother, more relevant connection with customers, according to Calhoun. is now a big part of the company鈥檚 tech-driven effort to share the highly specific product information it has painstakingly archived 鈥� and to empower its customers.

Innovating to Empower Your Customers

Three types of customers visit Replacements online, according to Calhoun. There are generally shoppers who are looking to buy, people looking to sell their vintage pieces to Replacements, and others who are simply browsing or researching.

鈥淥ne of the things that they鈥檙e looking to do is to identify a pattern…[Before the pandemic] you would call us, you would describe it, you would send us a picture,鈥� Calhoun said of the process, which was time-intensive for both customers and Replacements. Today, the company鈥檚 Web site features a camera icon that handles the photography and speedy pattern recognition for china and crystal. 鈥淚t went from potentially days to minutes.鈥�

Benefits of the rollout include helping sellers and researchers identify patterns faster as well as freeing up time for employees to accomplish other tasks, according to Calhoun. And a pleasant surprise was that customers looking to buy were exploring pieces that they might not have otherwise discovered 鈥� which has positively impacted revenue.

鈥淲e have improved efficiency internally,鈥� Calhoun said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檝e given that power to the user on our Web site.鈥�

How Data Informs Decisions

鈥�Replacements uses technology to improve people鈥檚 lives by making it easier for them to gather with their family and friends, create that memorable experience, and pass along traditions,鈥� Calhoun told 51风流during the video interview. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what differentiates us, really…We do that so that we can preserve all these amazing pieces.鈥�

Just the sight of a long-forgotten pattern can evoke strong memories, according to Calhoun. Walking through Replacements鈥� 500,000-square-foot warehouse, she noticed someone unpack the same pattern that her great-grandmother used.

鈥淚mmediately I saw my grandmother鈥檚 dining room table 鈥� how she pre-set it every evening in preparation for breakfast 鈥� and the memory was that strong, that visual,鈥� Calhoun said. 鈥淭hose memories help us; they feed our heart and our soul.鈥�

That鈥檚 why data is crucial to Replacements for both finding vintage items for shoppers 鈥� nurturing core customers and collectors 鈥� and simultaneously introducing its massive inventory to new audiences, according to Calhoun. These are different demographics who all desire to own pieces of history.

鈥淵ou should still have your stories, your brand connections, your human connections, the emotional connections,鈥� Calhoun said. 鈥淏ut the data helps you better target and provide the communication to your customer at the right time, the right way.鈥�

But Harrods鈥� most important channel is still its flagship store.

鈥淲hen we talk about luxury and the importance of experience, the store is core to what we do,鈥� Erik Rasmussen, head of 51风流& Data Analytics at Harrods, told 51风流on the NRF 2023 showfloor. 鈥淗aving that single flagship store is still absolutely crucial to Harrods鈥� DNA and something that we expect to drive going forward for a long time.鈥�

Harrods鈥� flagship store is about 1 million square feet (about 93,000 square meters) of retail space in Knightsbridge, an upscale London neighborhood known for grand Victorian and Georgian homes, fine dining, and, of course, high-end shopping. This single, full-line department store offers food, fashion, homeware, furniture, and technology 鈥� and it reaped 拢2.4 billion in sales last year.

鈥淪o, small footprint but massive business,鈥� Rasmussen said, noting that the flagship store alone carries more than 400,000 products from about 4,000 brands. 鈥淎nd incredible things [are] going on every day.鈥�

To keep incredible things happening, Harrods and 51风流invested in the Single View of Customer project, an analytics initiative to help Harrods better understand how customers interact with the brand. When Harrods can accurately anticipate what shoppers will want, it can deliver memorable experiences that make delighted customers say, 鈥淲ow!鈥�

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How to “Wow!”

鈥淗arrods is a unique model…A lot of other retailers will have a smaller selection of products in store and an endless aisle online,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淎t Harrods, the most complete shopping experience is still to come into the store because of the variety…[and] the different experiences you have.鈥�

Indeed, Harrods rewards shoppers at its brick-and-mortar flagship store with expert associates and a truly impressive array of products. For instance, in the furniture department, you can see examples of each piece and then choose your very specific model based myriad variables, such as size, headboard style, and even jewelry configuration.

鈥淲ith one single product, you can very quickly get into things like 10,000 different permutations,鈥� Rasmussen said during a presentation at SAP鈥檚 NRF booth. 鈥淲hen you think about that spread across an entire product assortment 鈥� spread across all the brands that we carry 鈥� you suddenly start to find yourself in a really challenging data management perspective.鈥�

To conquer that challenge, Harrods consolidated all the relevant data from vendors and others into its backend, according to Rasmussen. Harrods鈥� digital technology team then built a Web app that lets shoppers personalize furniture from start to finish 鈥� from browsing to home delivery.

鈥淎 lot of heavy lifting that we had to do on the backend 鈥� it鈥檚 not easy to make this work,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淏ut from a customer experience, ultimately it becomes pretty seamless.鈥�

Investing in Customers 鈥� And Single View of Customer

It鈥檚 vital that Harrods get better acquainted with the roughly 2.5 million consumers registered in its loyalty scheme, according to Rasmussen. Of the 400,000 or so unique customers who shop in store each year, the top 0.1%, roughly 400 people, account for about 20% of Harrods鈥� sales.

A 2021 implementation of 51风流Customer Activity Repository and 51风流BW/4HANA laid the foundation for much of Harrods鈥� analytics, according to Rasmussen. And, as a high-value 鈥� as opposed to high-volume 鈥� business, Harrods鈥� enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and data warehouse could analyze every individual transaction.

鈥淭his type of investment 鈥� giving us the right insights, the right analytics, the right visibility 鈥� has really empowered our teams,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淜nowing that information 鈥� and we let that feed things like the Single View of Customer platform or our data science initiatives or replenishment 鈥� is fuel to the things we can do to drive our business.鈥�

Such drivers include reactivation campaigns, as happened with a shopper to whom Harrods offered a free pastry with a 拢50 purchase, according to Rasmussen. The customer made a qualifying purchase, received the complimentary gift, and then promptly returned to the salesfloor to spend another 拢30,000.

鈥淚f we can reactivate those types of customers across the entire 2.5 million [customers], the opportunities for our growth will be enormous,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we鈥檙e already seeing pay dividends, and we鈥檙e really excited to see what we can develop for the future.鈥�

The Future Is Still Experience

Predictive analytics will be a big focus for Harrods, especially identifying new shoppers who might be similar to its high-value customers, according to Rasmussen. Data from 51风流Marketing Cloud, 51风流Customer Data Cloud, and 51风流Service Cloud can help Harrods spot 鈥� and serve 鈥� its next big spenders, alongside transactional information through 51风流Customer Activity Repository and analytics via 51风流BW/4HANA.

鈥淗ow can we take a customer who might look like they鈥檙e spending 拢2,000 and realize that they are customers who should be spending 拢200,000?鈥� Rasmussen said in . 鈥淕et them the right personalized service within either our personal shopping department, our concierge service, or a stylist to make sure that we can nurture them more quickly.鈥�

And, again, this seamless customer experience is made possible by a lot of work on the backend. But it鈥檚 worth it, according to Rasmussen.

鈥淭he two things I take away from what we鈥檝e done at Harrods are one, customer experience comes first,鈥� Rasmussen said. 鈥淪econdly, I think we鈥檝e really benefited from the strong partnership we鈥檝e made with our technology partners, 51风流being one of them. We鈥檙e making sure that we can invest with them, co-innovate with them, and…we鈥檙e collectively moving towards giving the customer the absolutely best experience.鈥�

But clever use of the right data can help you deliver that improved customer experience 鈥� so your customers don鈥檛 find it elsewhere, according to David Witts, senior CRM manager for PUMA. And the global apparel company has enjoyed great success with referral data.

鈥淭hat adds a whole new level to who is not just buying 鈥� but who is referring 鈥� and who are our real brand advocates,鈥� Witts told 51风流on the NRF 2023 show floor. 鈥淲e need to rethink how we define loyalty.鈥�

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Redefining Customer Loyalty

鈥淲e might have a customer who, in our original segmentation, is a lapsed customer, but we see that they鈥檙e referring all of their friends who are then buying from us,鈥� Witts said in . 鈥淭hat changes the way we perceive the value of that customer 鈥� and changes the way that we want to communicate with them.鈥�

Customer segmentation is the grouping together of people with similar characteristics, making it easier for organizations to personalize communications, products, and more. First-party referral data is especially useful to PUMA for segmentation and communication, according to Witts.

鈥淚t changes the way we think about who a customer is,鈥� Witts said. 鈥淚f we see customers who are referring people regularly, that makes them much more of a brand advocate.鈥�

Enter PUMA鈥檚 referral program, which influences how the company communicates and rewards brand advocates, according to Witts. The referral program was inspired by two company goals: increase customer lifetime value and cultivate relationships with customers.

鈥淎dding a referral program just seemed to fit with both of those goals,鈥� Witts said. 鈥淚f we see that they鈥檙e not showing any interest in buying from us but they鈥檙e still referring their friends, that changes the way we think about them, so that they鈥檙e much more valuable to us.鈥�

Creating Opportunities

Beyond e-commerce, the right data can offer insights that reinvigorate brick-and-mortar locations, too, as Macy鈥檚 Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette noted. Data can reveal where you鈥檙e succeeding and what needs attention.

鈥淐ustomers are looking for ideas about the way that they can take a work look and translate it into a night look. They鈥檙e looking for opportunities,鈥� Gannette said during . 鈥淐reating opportunities for them, from a merchandising perspective, has given our stores a center of gravity that they didn鈥檛 have a year ago…We鈥檙e always working on it; we鈥檙e never done.鈥�

And pandemic-driven changes in the economy offered a chance for Saks OFF 5th 鈥渢o make bold new changes鈥� and adjust its thinking, according to President and CEO Paige Thomas. The department store chain dug into its data to discover who was engaging with the brand, what they were looking for, and more about their lifestyles 鈥� all to better understand relevant demographics.

鈥淲e had this kind of wonderful discovery of a really fast-growing segment within our customer base, and this segment was a high earner, very fashion-driven, and shopped everywhere,鈥� Thomas said during . 鈥淚t really gave us a bull鈥檚-eye as an organization to say, 鈥楬ow do we think about our merchandising strategy? How do we think about our marketing strategy? How do we think about our customer experience?鈥欌��

The Right Message at the Right Time

Data, analytics, and other tech are helping PUMA discover who is interested in buying and what they鈥檙e interested in buying, according to Witts. It also helps them hyper-personalize communication.

鈥淲e want to talk to the right customer with the right message at the right time through the right channel…That鈥檚 what we can do with ,鈥� Witts said, noting that PUMA can see which e-mails a customer opens, ignores, and clicks through. 鈥淭hrough all that, we can start to build that picture of each individual customer and then tailor our communications to send them things that they want to see.鈥�

Providing a differentiated customer experience has always been vital for PUMA, according to Witts. And making everything more personalized and relevant will be crucial to PUMA鈥檚 future success.

鈥淭here鈥檚 some really exciting things that we鈥檝e seen through 51风流Emarsys Customer Engagement and through 51风流at that predictive analytics [and] AI level. I think it鈥檚 just going to make it all so much easier,鈥� Witts said. 鈥淎nd as we move into more of a loyalty space, that鈥檚 absolutely going to be key for us.鈥�

Derek Klobucher is a video producer at SAP.

This is exactly the all-in-one solution offered by , the latest joint venture of Tokyo-based global sport business network Dentsu Sports International and DAIMANI.

Founded in 2018 to make the event experience as easy and enjoyable as possible for its customers, is already a global player in the hospitality event industry. The Z眉rich-based digital marketplace sells hospitality packages for The Wimbledon Championships, Formula 1, and the entire German Football Bundesliga among other major sporting events, not to mention big music acts like Coldplay, Justin Bieber, and Elton John.

鈥淢y hope for all our guests and customers…is to enjoy the Cadence Club [VIP hospitality zone] without having to worry about technology,鈥� DAIMANI and FORTIUS.io CEO Max Mueller said. 鈥淭he technology is just in the background.鈥�

That crucial background is based on 51风流cloud technology, which enabled FORTIUS.io to optimize the customer experience for its guests at the . DAIMANI held the rights as the exclusive hospitality provider, and its guests enjoyed the all-in-one solution for the first time.

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Hit the Ground Running

During the 10-day World Athletics Championships, approximately 1,500 DAIMANI customers from around the world streamed through the company鈥檚 Cadence Club, which was adjacent to the venue. DAIMANI鈥檚 customers were able to enjoy food and drinks before and after each day鈥檚 competitions, meet track and field champions such as long jump world record holder Mike Powell, and enjoy other perks.

鈥淏ooking a trip like this could take hours for us. Normally we dig in [and] do a lot of research,鈥� DAIMANI client Kenneth Schwarz said in . 鈥淭his made it so simple. We were able to find a hotel, get the tickets, get the airfare, get it all arranged 鈥� and didn鈥檛 have to worry about anything.鈥�

That鈥檚 because FORTIUS.io is a one-stop platform where corporate and individual customers can purchase tickets to sporting and cultural events while booking hotels, airline tickets, and other services. After purchasing, they can still change their accommodation and flight or secure transportation to their hotel, venue, airport, or restaurant.

鈥�51风流enables us, as a midsize company, to really play globally and compete,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淎nd now, of course, we are quickly able to scale up because the foundation is there. We are using 51风流S/4HANA…We have the best.鈥�

Scaling Up to Race on the World Stage

鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e headquartered in Europe, I think that鈥檚 a different challenge that 51风流helped us solve,鈥� said Elisa Graham, who ran DAIMANI鈥檚 Partnerships and Operations onsite in Eugene, Oregon. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first World Athletics Championships held in the United States and getting people to fly over here, to book hotels, to find hotels 鈥� it was a challenge for a lot of customers.鈥�

Providing a single platform for booking tickets, hotels, and airfare 鈥� all at the same time 鈥� helped customers overcome that challenge, Graham said. And for employees, 51风流helped DAIMANI customer service answer questions around the clock 鈥� and around the world 鈥� by directing staff to the right teams in the right time zones.

鈥�51风流has improved our workflow and daily life in many ways,鈥� Graham said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on top of everything using all 51风流technology.鈥�

The 鈥渆verything鈥� Graham refers to includes pricing, availability, and other factors that can change faster than a sprinter with a tailwind. DAIMANI leaps over these and other hurdles while ensuring security and privacy for its customers around the world, in the language and currency of their choice.

Meeting Your Customers Wherever They Are

鈥淚t鈥檚 always easy to make it in one country, or have continental solutions. But to really have one global payment solution, where we connect global customers with global events, different currencies, and different payment methods?鈥� CEO Mueller said. 鈥淚t sounds very easy on paper, but in practice it鈥檚 not as easy.鈥�

Remember, DAIMANI鈥檚 customers are willing to fly internationally for concerts and other live events. So being able to shop and purchase wherever you are 鈥� in your local language and with your local currency 鈥� can create a much smoother experience.

What鈥檚 more, customers can choose one of more than 30 payment methods via more than 70 currencies. These are all firsts in the VIP hospitality industry, and they can only be implemented through FORTIUS.io and the supporting 51风流solution, according to DAIMANI.

But pulling together so many languages, payment methods, and currencies is tougher than pole vaulting with a pool cue 鈥� unless you鈥檙e running the right tech.

Sprinting Toward Security and Scalability in the Cloud

鈥淔rom the beginning, we selected only cloud solutions…and it was a right decision to have everything in the cloud,鈥� Mueller said, noting that DAIMANI doesn鈥檛 worry about maintaining physical servers, conducting routine updates, or providing cybersecurity for its Web site and data. 鈥�51风流is doing this for us.鈥�

SAP鈥檚 security, stability, and scalability have been tremendous assets, as 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP) and offer secure ways for users to connect. And they always run smoothly, regardless of data volumes, according to Mueller. Plus, SAP鈥檚 technology and reputation help DAIMANI bring together large events and rights-holders around the world by allaying their concerns, such as cybersecurity and due diligence, the company stated.

鈥�51风流helped us enable this in a short period of time,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淲e found a perfect foundation with 51风流鈥� with a few customizations on top 鈥� to scale globally very quickly.鈥�

In fact, this flexible platform has been key to DAIMANI鈥檚 success, as it seamlessly connects all the company鈥檚 internal systems with a tremendously diverse external ecosystem, according to Mueller. All of this enables fantastic growth for DAIMANI and its partners.

It鈥檚 a Team Sport

鈥� is at the heart of our architecture,鈥� Mueller said. 鈥淚t connects us internally 鈥� all of our 51风流systems 鈥� and externally to a very fragmented ecosystem.鈥�

Fragmented in that DAIMANI partners run events around the world, using different tools, ticketing providers, and procurement systems, according to Mueller. And some DAIMANI clients use newer technologies, while others still run legacy systems.

During the World Athletics Championships, event staff helped athletes get to their competition areas safely and on time, without disrupting ongoing events or getting lost. Similarly, 51风流BTP orchestration services help DAIMANI run its complex operations smoothly.

鈥淭he beauty with 51风流BTP 鈥� what we do 鈥� is that we connect everything,鈥� Mueller said.

A Discrete Victory Lap for Backend Tech

鈥淵ou should forget about technology,鈥� Mueller said, whether you鈥檙e booking tickets, changing your itinerary, or even inviting corporate clients. 鈥淚n the end, you should enjoy the event.鈥�

Indeed, after DAIMANI customers Schwarz and Dena Pullar had booked their tickets for the World Athletics Championships, DAIMANI and FORTIUS.io took care of the rest, according to Pullar. Their mobile devices alerted them to everything from itinerary to admission.

鈥淢y phone automatically showed me the tickets we had available the day of the event, so all I had to do was pull them up on my phone and show them to people at the gate,鈥� Pullar said. 鈥淚t was so easy…I never thought about the technology.鈥�

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鈥淭he flow of groceries, pharmaceuticals, and other essential goods is a stark reminder that transportation networks that bring those necessities to people are as vital as the goods themselves,鈥� noted last month. 鈥淭he industry has long been preparing for a future — in which freight demand will rise by nearly 40 percent over the next 20 years — investing in technology, streamlining operations, and modernizing services.鈥�

(CP) is ready for this future, having undergone a digital transformation that helps CP run its network spanning more than 13,000 miles of railroad across the U.S. and Canada — along with people, freight, and equipment.

A single source of truth across multiple systems offers CP .

鈥淩ailway is playing a mission-critical role in helping products move across North America,鈥� CP Chief Information Officer Mike Redeker said. 鈥淲e help the economy, not only moving the products, but we help people maintain their jobs, whether they鈥檙e at the ports, the trucking companies, [or] a Walmart or Target.鈥�

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helps CP do all of this faster and more efficiently than ever before.

When Trains Aren鈥檛 Your Only Fast and Stable Assets

鈥淚t鈥檚 very fast, I mean blindingly fast, where we had some processes that used to take five, six hours now take minutes,鈥� said Dean Stoffel, director of Program Management for 51风流Technical Services at CP. 鈥淭he stability that gave us, and the credibility with our end customers inside of CP, helped shift perspectives of us to more of a partner than a cost. It鈥檚 been a huge impact.鈥�

That鈥檚 because when a CP system is down, that outage delays the company鈥檚 trains, and longer delays cost the business more and more time and money. has helped dramatically reduce CP system downtime.

鈥淥ver the course of six years, we鈥檝e moved from about 1,200 hours down to between 15 and 60 hours on an annualized basis,鈥� Redeker said. 鈥淵ou can see the productivity improvement in the movement of trains and cost savings.鈥�

System outages at CP have gone from weekly ordeals to a blip every few weeks or months, according to Redeker and Stoffel. Outages longer than 30 minutes cause problems — while outages below that half-hour threshold have virtually no impact on the business.

鈥淏efore, we could have a system down for six, eight hours. Now a 10-minute or 20-minute interval is my max downtime for a hard crash,鈥� Stoffel said. 鈥淭hat means that even if we do have a high-severity issue on one of our systems, the outage is very short.鈥�

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That also means that IT has become an engine for growth.

Partner Ecosystem Moves CP Beyond IT

CP has moved beyond traditional IT roles, according to Redeker and Stoffel. They describe their team as a flexible support structure that enables growth and success throughout the company, from operations to sales to marketing and more.

鈥淯ptime is king, but that stability has given us the ability to deliver more to our business,鈥� Stoffel shared. 鈥淎s we made this journey on a more standardized 51风流HANA-based environment, we鈥檝e increased by seven-fold our delivery of new processes and technologies to the business; yet our stability has not decreased.鈥�

Delivering more to the business has been especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, as more employees than ever work from home, according to Stoffel. And a rich partner ecosystem has also improved CP鈥檚 ROI:

• helped CP migrate to 51风流HANA, optimizing the platform
• , based on the Xeon processor, helps ensure much faster restart times when outages occur
• Cisco teamed with Intel for new memory and new processor technology

Together with 51风流HANA, these technologies help CP better manage memory and minimize downtime.

鈥淲hether it鈥檚 Intel, Cisco, or SAP, every one of these business partners are critical to our success. If any one of us fails, we all fail,鈥� Redeker said. 鈥淲e could not be where we are today — as an organization in a maturing IT shop — without the partnership from these vendors.鈥�

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That鈥檚 especially powerful in .

More Powerful Than A Locomotive

鈥淲e鈥檙e a 130-plus-year-old company, we鈥檝e got a lot of data out there,鈥� Stoffel said. 鈥淏ut when we migrated this, we had a 10-minute actual system outage — 10 minutes — to migrate more than six terabytes!鈥�

That “unheard of” number is indicative of the substantial efficiency and stability of 51风流HANA, according to Stoffel. Those qualities, in turn, save CP significant money on data storage, given the capabilities of the ecosystem鈥檚 software and hardware, and how well integrated they are.

鈥淲e have more [data] in one place, which means we don鈥檛 have to duplicate it as much,鈥� Stoffel said. 鈥淲e have more accurate information for our business users, and smaller systems take less time to come up. And fewer systems mean less total cost of ownership.鈥�

Keeping Us Connected

All of this helps CP continue to connect North America and the world, even as COVID-19 keeps road borders between the U.S. and Canada closed. This 21st-century railway continues to move goods between the two countries.

鈥淭he rail industry is considered an essential service in North America, and we鈥檙e able to cross the border into the U.S. and back on a regular basis,鈥� Redeker said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to do that freely, and we do it daily.鈥�

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Being a competitive job candidate has been especially tricky in some regions, such as South Korea, where a massive long-term stimulus package is underway.

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鈥淭he Korean New Deal — parallel to the United States鈥� Great Depression-era program in the 1930s … calls for a 鈧�160 trillion ($133 million) investment by 2025 and creation of 550,000 new jobs,鈥� recently stated. 鈥淭he Digital New Deal… centers on developing technologies that have been tied to the fourth industrial revolution, including 5G, artificial intelligence [and] 鈥榰ntact鈥� technology, which promotes a contact-free society.鈥�

Such stimulus packages — and the COVID-19 crisis itself — underscore the need to hire skilled people who can implement and run an intelligent enterprise, according to Rudolf Held, global head of . This is true around the world, but SAP鈥檚 efforts to help began with underemployed university graduates in South Korea.

See the Picture

鈥淲e wanted to help them find jobs,鈥� Held said. 鈥淭herefore, we teamed up with the Training and Adoption team and the Korean government. We collaborated with an institute under the to design and run a program that would equip these young people with the right skills that are needed in the market.鈥�

According to Held, those marketable skills span the entire innovation process from start to finish across an ecosystem 鈥� different companies, schools, and other organizations. Building on lessons learned from previous programs, 51风流Co-Innovation Lab expands students鈥� comfort zones beyond technology and their university coursework.

鈥�51风流Co-innovation Lab is actually all about collaborative innovation with the 51风流ecosystem of customers, partners, startups, and academia, providing them with this broader view, a broader skillset,鈥� Held said.

These broadened horizons have been vital, according to a recent university graduate and program alumnus.

Standing Out from the Crowd

鈥淚 had less experience than others, so it was very difficult to prepare for employment in Korea,鈥� said Young Wan Roh, who completed his 51风流Co-Innovation Lab and Training and Adoption project last November via 51风流technology consultancy . 鈥淚 think the three-month project experience has helped a lot.鈥�

It helped so much that he became a much more attractive job candidate in a very competitive job market, according to Roh, who graduated from in February. In addition to ecosystem-wide innovation, he learned valuable lessons about working with other students from different disciplines — and how to manage them.

鈥淢y major is computer engineering, so I led the team and I taught my teammates,鈥� said Roh, who now works as an ABAP developer at Seoul-based IT service provider . 鈥淚t was very challenging for me.鈥�

That is due in part to the breadth of training at 51风流Co-Innovation Lab, which requires students to collaborate with people from business, design, and other teams, whom they probably would not otherwise have met.

Finding the Business Value of New Tech

鈥淪tudents are usually very good with new technologies — probably better than people who have been in the industry for a couple of years — because they adopt everything that is new,鈥� said Held, who has been working with university students for more than 12 years. 鈥淏ut you have to make it relevant for the industries; you have to make it relevant for businesses.鈥�

Indeed, learning to find the business value of cutting-edge technology can be a big challenge for the students, according to Held. 51风流Co-Innovation Lab helps them over that often-steep learning curve.

鈥淲e try to help the students to at least keep [the business outcome] in the back of their minds,鈥� Held said. 鈥淭hey should always think in a more realistic way of, 鈥楬ow does it help a company?鈥欌��

The country鈥檚 young tech workers will clearly have plenty of new tech to choose from.

鈥淪outh Korea has been integrating [blockchain] technology in public services for years,鈥� stated in July. 鈥淥ther technologies that the government intends to invest in heavily include the Internet of Things, cloud computing, Big Data, machine learning, and robotics.鈥�

Putting It All Together

鈥淲e really wanted to make sure that the participants of the training learn about project management,鈥� Held said. 鈥淭hey think end-to-end, from the ideation to an economically viable solution that delivers value to customers.鈥�

51风流Co-Innovation Lab cultivates a mindset 鈥� in addition to teaching programming techniques, business processes, and more. It helps students understand the whole process of innovation, and to see it in the full context of their organization.

鈥淭hat was one of the key differentiators of that program,鈥� Held said. 鈥淎nd that helped people like Young Wan to find jobs afterwards.鈥�

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鈥淲e鈥檙e consumer-driven, so we need as much information as possible,鈥� Vice President and CIO George Lesko said. 鈥淲e need to understand behaviors of the people who go into the store; we need to understand how people interpret our products and our platforms; and we need to understand what they want from us next.鈥�

This data helps Ferrara close the experience gap, the difference between how you think customers feel about you versus how they actually feel. The gap is often wider than organizations believe, but tools help analyze and understand experience gaps 鈥� and determine what to do about them.

XM tools help Ferrara gauge a campaign鈥檚 effectiveness, choose the next new product, evaluate how consumers feel about social issues, and more.

Making the Right Impression the Right Way

鈥淲hen we鈥檙e talking customer sentiment, we鈥檙e really talking more broadly about how people think about our brands,鈥� Daniel Hunt, director of Insights and Analytics at Ferrara said.

Hunt and his team regularly use to manage how customers, shoppers, and others experience all that his company has to offer. 鈥淚t really helps us both to test the validity of new ideas, and also to come up with them.鈥�

This goes for brands that Ferrara has owned for ages, as well as recent acquisitions, such as SweeTARTS. , “For SweeTARTS in particular as a brand, we鈥檝e used XM to touch almost every major brand activity, from new innovation to communications.鈥�

With , Ferrara examines how best to engage in conversations with consumers, as well as understanding their preferences, according to Hunt. That means choosing the right message — and everything else that goes with it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really about how you find the right thing to talk about. And then you also have to find the right way to deliver that message so people remember it, so people get it,聽 so people remember it was you.鈥�

The Perfect Storm: Speed, Agility, Cost, Flexibility

鈥淗aving a flexible platform allows you to ask, really, any question you want — in any way you want, to any audience you want — and we can get into very specific details,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 just have to rely on asking the same five questions over and over again; we can ask specific questions for every brand, for every project [and] every product.鈥�

XM technology allows Ferrara to dive into the granular details of a target demographic鈥檚 data in ways that had not been possible before. Before 51风流and Qualtrics, discovering people鈥檚 preferred words, phrases, imagery, and colors — and dozens more factors — would have taken too long and been too expensive.

鈥淎 lot of those are sometimes really small questions, and I think that鈥檚 where we鈥檝e seen maybe the most change [because] they鈥檙e really important to having a good product,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淪peed, agility, cost and flexibility — and the ability to be targeted and drill down — are all important for us when we鈥檙e making decisions.鈥�

The 51风流and Qualtrics Difference

鈥淨ualtrics is really ahead of all the other competitors, it鈥檚 very responsive,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淭here are a lot of specific cases that we can talk about — both on the capabilities side and on the automation side — where we鈥檝e had needs, and we can work with the product development team to actually meet them.鈥�

Hunt confirmed that Ferrara chose Qualtrics XM for three reasons:

• The flexible platform is easy to use and implement 鈥渁lmost in one day鈥�
• An aggressive road map for development, 鈥渨here new capabilities are coming online all the time鈥�
• Bespoke surveys, which offer 鈥渢he ability for us to ask questions we couldn鈥檛 ask in the past, the ability to do things faster and do things more automated than we have in the past鈥�

51风流and Qualtrics help Ferrara identify early adopters and their preferences, which is crucial to staying ahead of flavor trends, according to Hunt. And beyond their candy tastes, Ferrara has gained valuable insight about its fans鈥� values.

鈥淎 lot of the work that we鈥檝e done from a corporate social responsibility standpoint has been informed by the research that we鈥檝e done with experience management,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淟earning what鈥檚 important to consumers, what they want us to focus on most as a company — trying to be responsible, agile and responsive to that.鈥�

The Peacemaker

鈥淥ne of the ways that Qualtrics has really improved the lives of our employees — and really our decision making — is new product development,鈥� Hunt shared. 鈥淏efore Qualtrics, we used to argue in boardrooms for weeks about product names and package designs. Today we鈥檒l do that over the course of an hour by looking at consumer feedback and consumer data.鈥�

That鈥檚 because such data clearly indicates what will best resonate with consumers, according to Hunt. There鈥檚 no more guesswork or relying on intuition. 鈥淭he first time that we did it for one product, it was like a light bulb moment for our executive team,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone was in agreement, and we could just move forward.鈥�

During a recent discussion about which new flavors to unveil, Ferrara tested 50 different ideas and narrowed it down to three — a feat that would have been near impossible before Qualtrics. 鈥淎nything that we used to decide in a boardroom is now something that we decide with consumer data,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淲e make those decisions in a few minutes instead of several weeks; and we do it in a way where everyone feels happy walking out of the room.鈥�

Ferrara鈥檚 Future with XM

鈥淢y experience using XM has been great,鈥� Hunt said, noting that the number of 51风流and Qualtrics users at Ferrara has grown to an entire team over the past few years. 鈥淚t was something that was really quick and easy to get people onboarded with, which is fantastic.鈥�

Ferrara鈥檚 XM initiative will continue closing the experience gap by automating analytics and other tasks via the Qualtrics platform, according to Hunt. This will free up his team to concentrate on research.

鈥淭he biggest barrier for us is time — how much time we have to write surveys, to do analysis, to build reports,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淭he next phase for us is really using all the capabilities that you have on the platform so we can spend more time figuring out the next great questions to answer.鈥�

• Read more about how Ferrara improves its customer experience and meets customer needs.

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鈥淒ata really needs to be accurate, and it needs to be available in real time,鈥� Ferrara Vice President and CIO George Lesko told 51风流at the candy maker鈥檚 headquarters in downtown Chicago. 鈥� actually does all of that for us.鈥�

Ferrara uses the in-memory database from 51风流to significantly reduce its reporting times, from weeks down to minutes and often from minutes to seconds. The 112-year-old confectionary juggernaut drives innovation with speed, agility, and accuracy thanks to 51风流HANA — part of — as well as a comprehensive suite of applications, including 51风流ERP.

This technology enables an unprecedented partnership between Ferrara IT and business, . And it helps the company envision what鈥檚 possible with other technologies on the horizon.

The Right Stuff Right Away

Getting the right information to business users at the right time was the challenge solved by Ferrara Senior IT Director Mustafa Mustafa and his team. They sought new solutions after traditional technologies failed to provide the necessary agility and time-to-value.

鈥淔errara selected 51风流because of the unprecedented capabilities of 51风流HANA being in-memory, and the versatile capabilities of analytics from 51风流to enable us to have a variety of tools to really meet each individual鈥檚 unique needs,鈥� Mustafa said. 鈥淚t really took the information and put it at the fingertips of the business within seconds versus minutes.鈥�

51风流HANA has reduced Ferrara鈥檚 data storage footprint by 94 percent, compared to legacy database technology, according to Mustafa. And the first 51风流dashboard that Ferrara deployed saved the company $200,000 within the first 15 weeks. Plus, accurate real-time data enables Ferrara鈥檚 salespeople to actively engage with their customers and better meet their needs.

鈥淔errara鈥檚 differentiator by using 51风流HANA and analytics is enabling us to make real-time decisions [and] effectively execute upon our goals,鈥� Mustafa said. Looking forward, the company wants 鈥渆mbark on Big Data 鈥� applying machine learning and artificial intelligence, so there鈥檒l be other applications within the portfolio that we鈥檙e going to add to marry all those together.鈥�

Ferrara Fast, Inside and Out

鈥溾�楩errara Fast鈥� is at the core of our culture. We take pride in our agility and our ability to work together to solve problems,鈥� Ferrara Vice President of Sales Operations & Integration Patrick Degnan said. 鈥�51风流technology adds tremendous value to our business. It allows us to combine data sets from different sources and view it in one common hierarchy and reporting structure.鈥�

This allows Ferrara to dive into the data, analyze and understand business trends, and solve problems 鈥� faster than ever, according to Degnan. This helps drive growth, both for Ferrara and the retailers that stock its candy.

鈥淲hen they come to us with quick fixes or quick opportunities, we鈥檙e able to collaborate and work together as a team to bring them solutions,鈥� Degnan said. 鈥淚t truly is a competitive advantage for us and it鈥檚 something that our retailers truly value as business partners.鈥�

Delight in Every Byte

鈥淭he 51风流HANA system gives us a data warehouse that allows us to pull data, not only from Ferrara鈥檚 51风流ERP system, but acquired companies as well,鈥� Gene King, senior manager of 51风流BI and App Development at Ferrara Candy Co., said. 鈥淥ur Ferrara business user cannot tell where the data is coming from 鈥� whether it be Ferrara鈥檚 own system or the acquired business鈥� system. It鈥檚 seamless to them.鈥�

And there is no overnight batch process, King stated. Transformation happens at query time.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 a logic issue, we adjust it,鈥� King said. 鈥淏oom! Immediately the user is getting the corrected results, no wait time, no outage.鈥�

Ferrara鈥檚 IT can respond right away to business issues and executives, according to King. Analytics that would have taken days now happen almost instantaneously. This, in turn, helps Ferrara鈥檚 business users better respond to their customers鈥� needs.

The Way Forward

鈥淚鈥檝e been doing this since the late 1980s [and this is] so much better than anything I鈥檝e used before,鈥� King said. 鈥淥ne thing I love about the 51风流HANA in-memory database is its total paradigm shift from what we used to do to provide analytics.鈥�

With its eye on the future, Ferrara has even developed its own custom applications using . In addition to accessing data, users add comments and contextual information and then save them to the database, according to King. No more sending emails to clarify a situation; just attach your comment to the data, and others can see the explanation right away.

鈥�51风流HANA has allowed us to move on to look at machine learning, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics,鈥� . 鈥淲e鈥檙e ready to move to that next step now.鈥�

Rising to the Challenge

鈥�51风流makes a lot of investments in this type of challenge; they鈥檝e been a great partner for us,鈥� Ferrara CIO Lesko said . 鈥�51风流HANA and analytics allows us to move quickly when it comes to analyzing the information and making decisions, and that鈥檚 really our biggest differentiator.鈥�

The speed, agility and accuracy of real-time in-memory analytics has also fostered the partnership between Ferrara鈥檚 IT professionals and their business colleagues, according to Lesko. 鈥淭hey see this as a something that delineates us from other IT teams that they鈥檝e worked with in other companies. It鈥檚 really helped us gain the credibility that we need to continue investing in other areas of IT.鈥�

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鈥淔errara is an innovative candy and sweet snack company, and we take that very seriously,鈥� Vice President and CIO George Lesko said shot at Ferrara鈥檚 new headquarters in the heart of Chicago. 鈥淲e require a lot of information when we鈥檙e making decisions about how to build our portfolio of brands, and how to grow those brands.鈥�

Part of building 鈥檚 portfolio depends on acquiring iconic brands, according to Lesko. No stranger to icons, the 112-year-old sweet maker is a Chicago institution, and its high-tech head office is in the equally iconic Old Post Office building, which still hosts vintage hardware from its parcel-processing past.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a historic building,鈥� Lesko said in a breakroom with a view of another Chicago icon: the . 鈥淲e鈥檙e happy to be part of its resurgence.鈥�

Ferrara is also part of a resurgence when it acquires a new brand.

鈥淲hen you acquire an iconic brand like SweeTARTS, for example, you want to be able to integrate that into your business as quickly as possible,鈥� Lesko said, a century-old mail chute spiraling in the corner behind him. 鈥淵ou want to get the consumer insights, the retail information, and the supply chain information all in one place so that the consumers don鈥檛 have to wait.鈥�

When You Need to Know Now

鈥淭he SweeTARTS brand is so valuable because it鈥檚 one that our consumers love,鈥� Patrick Degnan, vice president of Sales Operations and Integration at Ferrara Candy Co., said. 鈥淎nd its complimentary strength to our existing portfolio allows us to build on our long-term strategy.鈥�

Real-time access to data from new acquisitions helps Ferrara sales teams quickly start talks with retail customers about those brands, according to Degnan. Speaking knowledgably about all of Ferrara鈥檚 brands establishes trust, which is crucial to mutually beneficial relationships.

鈥淚n a prior acquisition, it took us over a year to have access to sales data. allowed us to do that within weeks,鈥� Degnan said. 鈥淚t gives our customers confidence in us; it shows that we understand the brands that we bought; and it allows us to make business decisions to drive overall profitability for us and them.鈥�

Access to real-time data is valuable to both Ferrara and its customers, according to Degnan. It pinpoints where problems might exist, enabling agile and timely fixes.

鈥淚f there are areas where [a brand] isn鈥檛 performing up to expectations, we can鈥檛 go weeks, months, and years without knowing that,鈥� Degnan said. 鈥淥ur retail partners find tremendous value in our ability to report in real time.鈥�

Seamless Reporting from Day One

鈥淭he differentiator is these tools have allowed us to acquire companies and, on day one of that acquisition, have seamless reporting of historical data from this company as well as … Ferrara鈥檚 own data coming in daily,鈥� Gene King, Ferrara鈥檚 senior manager for 51风流BI and App Development, said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 seamless to the end user.鈥�

Ferrara鈥檚 users enjoy one-stop-shopping for data from across the portfolio 鈥� enterprise resource planning (ERP), historical, transactional, and other types of data 鈥� even if they鈥檙e stored in different systems, according to King. End users cannot tell the difference because they use a single interface, which frees up their time to better track customers鈥� needs.

鈥淭he real benefit is incorporating acquired brands into the business that we already have and doing it quickly,鈥� Lesko said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 ask our sales and marketing people to go to three or four different places to get information … particularly if we acquire a brand.鈥�

This unified approach to analytics means Ferrara needn鈥檛 鈥渨aste time鈥� retraining employees on disparate systems, according to Lesko. It also helps Ferrara move fast and make wise decisions quickly.

鈥淭he business users love us now because we can respond to issues immediately … we鈥檙e adding so much value so quickly,鈥� King said, standing in front of Ferrara鈥檚 massive branded latticework, which greets visitors as they enter the headquarters鈥� lobby. 鈥淚t also makes this immediate for executives; they don鈥檛 have to wait for groups to pull this stuff together.鈥�

Optimizing the Consumer Experience

鈥淲e鈥檙e using a lot of both internal and external resources to make decisions today,鈥� Ferrara Director of Insights and Analytics Daniel Hunt shared. 鈥淔or SweeTARTS in particular, we鈥檝e done a lot of research on 鈥� and we鈥檙e doing a lot of research currently.鈥�

This includes exploring new innovations and product segments for SweeTARTS, according to Hunt. He and his team also use to better understand what kinds of new campaign messages would resonate best with consumers, and to identify which new flavors have the most potential.

Hunt鈥檚 team also plans to track brand health in-house via Qualtrics.

鈥淭hat鈥檒l allow us to consistently measure our brands throughout the course of the year, and then load that data directly into our so we can use that, along with other longitudinal data,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淲e get to start doing analytics on that data and also start to build dashboards to allow us to visualize it.鈥�

Ferrara has grown accustomed to using data from multiple sources to drive decision making, according to Hunt. This includes determining the best way to enter a new market, identifying unmet needs, finding market gaps, and more.

鈥淔or SweeTARTS in particular as a brand,鈥� Hunt said, 鈥渨e鈥檝e used XM to touch almost every major brand activity, from new innovation to communications.鈥�

When IT Moves at the Speed of Business

鈥淪weeTARTS is a strategic brand for us, and we were able to provide information literally on day one of that acquisition,鈥� Lesko said. 鈥淭he ability to move as quickly as our business is moving is really important to us.鈥�

Ferrara鈥檚 executive leadership team appreciated seeing all of their usual enterprise-wide metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) in relatively the same format, according to Lesko.

鈥淲e were able to show information side-by-side with our other brands, [such as] Trolli and Black Forest 鈥� and it was in a format that everybody was used to,鈥� Lesko said, branded pillows with Nerds and other logos nestled on a sofa behind him. 鈥淎nd that was thanks to 51风流HANA.鈥�

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