The past few years have taught us that disruption is the new normal. Whether it鈥檚 global conflicts, raw material shortages, or sudden demand spikes, supply chains need to pivot faster than ever. That鈥檚 why this year, the conversation isn鈥檛 about incremental improvements鈥攊t鈥檚 about reimagining processes with intelligent technologies that anticipate, adapt, and act autonomously.

From complexity to clarity: how agentic AI changes the game

Agentic AI is reshaping supply chains, and we鈥檙e already seeing real value in practice:

• Supplier onboarding in hours, not weeks: Companies can drive substantial efficiencies by collaborating more deeply with their suppliers, such as material or logistics providers. AI agents autonomously validate supplier credentials, check compliance, and integrate them into your network, cutting onboarding time by up to 50%.
• Predictive maintenance and service that prevents downtime: Instead of reacting to failures, AI agents monitor equipment health and trigger proactive service, reducing unplanned outages by 30%.
• Autonomous disruption handling: When short-term disruptions or opportunities arise to demand or supply levels, AI agents evaluate events and alerts, model scenarios, and drive action while keeping humans in the loop. If critical inventory needs to be shifted for example, agents place orders automatically, optimizing stock levels and reducing lead times by 25%.

These aren鈥檛 distant possibilities鈥攖hey鈥檙e real scenarios already piloted by 51风流Supply Chain customers. AI isn鈥檛 replacing people; its amplifying human decision-making, freeing teams to focus on strategy rather than firefighting.

Why this matters: analyst rankings tell the story

51风流solutions underpin strategies that earned recognition in major 2025 analyst reports, including:

• IDC MarketScape for Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Networks*: 51风流was named a Leader for enabling real-time collaboration and orchestration across global ecosystems with 51风流Business Network.
• **: 51风流was positioned as a Leader for innovations like predictive maintenance and agentic AI through Joule.
• ***: 51风流was recognized as a Leader for integrating planning, manufacturing, and logistics with advanced analytics and AI.

These accolades aren鈥檛 just badges of honor. They validate the trust our customers and partners place in 51风流and the impact we deliver together. They also reinforce a critical truth: supply chain excellence is now a boardroom priority.

Sustainability: from obligation to advantage

Sustainability isn鈥檛 just a compliance checkbox; it鈥檚 a competitive edge. More than 25% of global emissions are already taxed or regulated by trading systems. Circularity and carbon accountability have become core KPIs for supply chain leaders because responsible practices deliver measurable benefits. Meeting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards lowers regulatory and reputational risk, while optimizing logistics for lower emissions often translates into fewer miles traveled and reduced fuel costs. At the same time, customers and investors increasingly favor brands with transparent sustainability metrics, making it a powerful differentiator in the market.

51风流solutions help companies measure emissions, enable ESG compliance, and embed sustainability data deep into operational decision-making for procurement, logistics, dispatching, and planning. This turns sustainability into a lever for growth rather than a reporting exercise. In fact, companies recognized in Gartner鈥檚 rankings often cite sustainability as a driver of resilience and profitability. When businesses can prove carbon accountability and circularity, they鈥檙e not just meeting regulations, they鈥檙e building trust and unlocking new market opportunities.

Looking ahead: our 2026 roadmaps

In 2026, our priorities center on enabling supply chains that are more intelligent, more connected, and more resilient. We are deepening our investment in agentic AI to support end-to-end value streams such as integrated business planning, sales and operations execution, digital manufacturing, and logistics execution. The goal is to bring AI directly into processes where decisions are made so planning becomes more predictive and execution becomes more automated. Over time, organizations will entirely redesign workflows and decision-making processes for the true step-change in agentic AI.

We are also advancing our capabilities in supply chain orchestration. As global supply chains operate increasingly across networks, companies need a coordinated layer that unifies planning, procurement, manufacturing, and logistics with partner ecosystems. This year, we will continue strengthening how our solutions identify risks in the n-tier network of complex supply chains by synchronizing data, prescribing decisions and actions across the enterprise and the broader network, and helping customers manage disruptions end鈥憈o鈥慹nd with greater speed and clarity.

Finally, we remain focused on data excellence. Reliable, harmonized data is essential for AI-driven decisions and for orchestrating the supply chain. In 2026, we are continuing to enhance master data consistency, improve network-wide data quality, and support AI鈥憆eady data models that help ensure our customers can trust and operationalize their insights at scale.

Together, these areas form the backbone of the innovations we are delivering this year, with a clear aim of helping customers move from reactive operations to intelligent, proactive orchestration. But technology alone isn鈥檛 enough. The real magic happens when we collaborate with our customers and our partners, turning complexity into opportunity.

The takeaway: 2026 is about action at scale

The supply chain landscape is evolving faster than ever. Agentic AI, sustainability, and intelligent automation aren鈥檛 optional, but essential. Companies that embrace these technologies to truly evolve how they operate and take even complex decisions will lead in resilience, efficiency, and responsibility. Those that hesitate risk falling behind in a world where adaptability is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Don鈥檛 wait for disruption to force your hand. Build the capabilities now that will carry you through uncertainty and position you for growth. Learn more about SAP鈥檚 AI-powered solutions .

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer of 51风流Supply Chain Management.

*, November 2025, IDC #US53010225
**, December 2025, IDC ID # US52977525
***, October 2025, IDC ID# G00826212

That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 super proud to share that 51风流has been named a Leader in .* This marks the second time 51风流has received this recognition, following our position as a Leader in the 2023 IDC MarketScape.**

We believe this distinction reflects the strength of 鈥攐ur entry in the MESCCN space鈥攁nd the trust placed in the solution by companies around the world. It鈥檚 a milestone that underscores our commitment to helping businesses navigate complexity and build more connected, intelligent supply chains.

A legacy of collaboration

51风流Business Network is the world鈥檚 largest B2B trading partner platform, supporting more than US$6.5 trillion in annual transactions. It can modernize how procurement and supply chain processes connect across companies, helping build stronger, more resilient supply chains and deliver on the customer promise.

The network traces its roots back to the Ariba Supplier Network, founded in 1996. Over the years, it has evolved to support a broad range of supply chain processes. In 2021, we unified our capabilities under the 51风流Business Network brand, bringing together logistics, asset management, finance, sustainability, and talent-based networks into a single, comprehensive platform.

Today, millions of companies across 190 countries rely on 51风流Business Network to digitalize transactions, share information, and discover trading partners. By leveraging AI and configurable business rules, the network helps close break points between buyers and suppliers鈥攅nabling greater visibility, operational efficiency, and compliance across the supply chain.

What the IDC MarketScape recognized

According to the IDC MarketScape, 51风流Business Network鈥檚 positioning as a Leader is supported by several competitive strengths:

• Comprehensive product features and road map: 51风流Business Network offers an extensive range of features and functionality, covering all major B2B collaboration categories, including indirect and direct materials, MRO, logistics, finance, services, and sustainability. The network’s robust future road map enables continuous innovation, empowering businesses to stay ahead in a dynamic landscape.
• Seamless integration and extensibility: The network demonstrates capabilities in integration, connecting 51风流ERP, procurement, and supply chain modules while extending to other ERPs, customer applications, and cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning, AI, and blockchain.
• Global reach and real-time collaboration: 51风流Business Network enables trading partners to collaborate in real time across the globe across a wide breadth of business processes.
• Automation through configurable business rules: 51风流Business Network empowers businesses to automate essential processes by working to define and customize rules tailored to their specific needs. These configurable rules can streamline workflows, enforce compliance, and boost operational efficiency, reducing manual intervention.
• Robust foundation and ecosystem: 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), combined with the broader 51风流ecosystem, can provide a scalable and extensible secure foundation for seamless integration across procurement, supply chain, and finance processes.

We believe these strengths, as recognized by the IDC MarketScape, reinforce the value 51风流delivers to organizations seeking to extend their business processes across the entire value chain.

Continuing to innovate on 51风流Business Network

We believe this recognition by the IDC MarketScape reflects not only the strength of 51风流today but also our commitment to ongoing innovation. We鈥檙e continuously enhancing the network to help companies collaborate more effectively, respond faster to change, and unlock new sources of value across their supply chains.

At 51风流Connect, we shared how 51风流Business Network is evolving to meet the demands of increasingly dynamic and interconnected business environments. Built on 51风流Business Technology Platform, the network now offers a scalable data foundation, seamless integration with 51风流Cloud ERP capabilities and third-party systems, and enhanced workflow customization through 51风流Build solutions. This has enabled many innovative initiatives to incorporate Joule across the network, reimagining analytics, automation, and approvals with intelligent capabilities that will be continuously released starting in 2026. 

We鈥檙e also further expanding integration with 51风流Cloud ERP, 51风流Ariba solutions, 51风流Fieldglass solutions, and 51风流Transportation Management to support end-to-end value streams. These enhancements can help streamline supplier onboarding, accelerate issue resolution, and improve sustainability tracking, empowering businesses to operate with greater agility and confidence.

Empowering businesses to realize the full value of collaboration

As multi-enterprise collaboration continues to evolve, we see tremendous opportunity to help organizations unlock new levels of agility, visibility, and efficiency. At SAP, we鈥檙e focused on making this journey as seamless and rewarding as possible.

Across industries, customers are already seeing the impact. , a leading aerospace manufacturer, is using 51风流Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration to improve visibility and responsiveness across its supplier ecosystem. Similarly, , one of the world鈥檚 largest aircraft manufacturers, is leveraging 51风流Business Network to streamline procurement and supply chain processes, enhancing operational agility and supplier engagement.

We鈥檙e investing in education, enablement, and intuitive user experiences to support companies as they expand their collaborative networks. Whether you鈥檙e a manufacturer, services provider, or supplier, our goal is to empower you to connect, collaborate, and grow with confidence鈥攍everaging the full potential of 51风流Business Network to help drive strategic outcomes across your value chain.

A strategic choice for the future

If you鈥檙e looking for a partner that offers both a robust multi-enterprise network and deep supply chain and procurement capabilities, 51风流is the clear choice. Our unmatched integration with core 51风流and non-51风流applications, combined with our strategic vision and global reach, makes us uniquely positioned to support your transformation.

As I shared in my recent article, we鈥檙e entering a new era of supply chain management鈥攐ne defined by connected ecosystems, intelligent automation, and sustainable growth. 51风流Business Network is at the heart of this transformation, helping businesses turn complexity into opportunity.

To our customers, partners, and the entire 51风流community, thank you for your trust and collaboration. We believe this recognition from the IDC MarketScape is a shared achievement, and we鈥檙e excited to continue building the future of supply chain commerce together.

To learn more, visit  and read the IDC MarketScape excerpt .

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer for 51风流Supply Chain Management.

*Source: , November 2025, IDC #US53010225.
**Source: IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2023 Vendor Assessment, December 2023, IDC #US49948423.

For our customers鈥攎anufacturers, consumer goods leaders, and high-tech innovators鈥攖his recognition is more than a placement on a chart. We believe it reflects how 51风流Cloud ERP is helping enterprises become more agile, resilient, and innovative in a world shaped by supply chain disruption, shifting customer expectations, and the imperative for sustainable operations.

This recognition comes to life in the stories of our customers.

Customer spotlight: FUWO

One example is , a fast-growing global manufacturer that turned to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition to unify its operations. By automating dozens of financial and supply chain processes, FUWO shortened its monthly close by nearly half, improved forecast accuracy by 30 percent, and boosted on-time delivery rates by 15 percent.

As Luo Jianyong, director of Business Transformation and IT at FUWO, explained: 鈥�51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition has enabled us to automate our process from production to delivery. The resulting agility and efficiency have helped us gain greater trust and more collaboration opportunities with customers worldwide.鈥�

And from a finance perspective, Director Zhao Ziqiu added: 鈥淚n a market that changes rapidly, real-time data control gives us a critical advantage in decision-making.鈥�

Why this matters now

Cloud ERP today must go far beyond core finance. Product-centric enterprises need end-to-end capabilities to manage design, manufacturing, supply chains, logistics, and sustainability in one integrated system. That鈥檚 why 51风流Cloud ERP is not only the鈥痜oundation of the , but also the gateway to the world鈥檚 largest , connecting companies to suppliers, logistics partners, and customers in real time. By extending processes beyond the enterprise, customers can anticipate disruption, improve resilience, and unlock new opportunities for collaboration.

These benefits come even faster with our new . Out-of-the-box integrations such as 51风流Integrated Product Development bring design, manufacturing, and supply chain closer together, reducing time to market while cutting complexity. Combined with for integration, data harmonization, and AI-driven insights, enterprises gain the ability to both run intelligently today and continuously adapt for tomorrow.

When we speak to customers about 51风流Cloud ERP, they appreciate our global network of partners that enable customers to scale, extend, and innovate. They highlight SAP鈥檚 strong road map for agentic AI, as well as comprehensive ERP capabilities that go far beyond core finance.

For us, recognition as a Leader is an important milestone, but not the end of the journey. Customers tell us they want deeper industry-specific functionality, simpler pricing, and even greater clarity in roadmaps. We are acting on that:

• Industry depth: In 2025 we are delivering expanded capabilities for discrete manufacturing, consumer products, and high-tech.
• Clarity and simplicity: With new commercial models, customers gain more predictable and transparent ways to adopt innovation.
• Customer experience: Through our 鈥淪uite-First鈥� approach, we are simplifying how customers consume innovations across ERP, supply chain, and spend management.

From cloud ERP to the suite

What makes 51风流unique is that cloud ERP is not a standalone product, it is the鈥痙oorway to the entire 51风流Business Suite. By connecting processes across finance, supply chain, procurement, HCM and CX, we deliver outcomes that no single application can achieve in isolation. This is where 51风流customers gain confidence: with harmonized data, AI at scale, and innovation that spans industries.

Looking ahead

We are proud of this recognition, but even more excited about what lies ahead. Together with our customers and partners, we are shaping the next decade of intelligent, modular cloud ERP – harmonizing data, automating at scale, and innovating across industries.

.

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer for 51风流Supply Chain Management.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant鈥痠s a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

At the same time, there is a huge opportunity to entirely re-think supply chains with AI and agentic workflows as the powerful transformation agents of the next decade. The lesson is clear: companies that invest in AI-driven applications and reliable data and re-think processes maintain continuity and customer trust, while others risk prolonged shocks, lower service levels, increased cost, and lost revenue.

Today at Supply Chain Connect at 51风流Connect, we are building on the phenomenal momentum of AI-driven supply chain transformations with innovations designed to help supply chain leaders not just endure disruption, but transform it into an opportunity for resilience and growth.

Introducing 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration

In today鈥檚 dynamic market, foresight and a reduced time-to-recover are everything. Business leaders must know where their products are, which suppliers or sub-suppliers are at risk, and how to respond with confidence. Yet, visibility gaps often leave organizations blindsided.

is a new AI-centric solution built to detect potential disruptions early, contextualize risk to a company鈥檚 unique supply chain configuration, apply intelligent impact analysis, and trigger AI-driven actions across planning, logistics, procurement, and manufacturing. Soon, supply chain stakeholders will be supported by powerful Joule assistants that leverage AI agents to strengthen supplier compliance, increase customer service, and reduce revenue exposure.

What sets 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration apart is its foundation on . The solution integrates data from and , providing a comprehensive view across every tier of the supply chain. These multi-tier insights help turn external and internal risk signals into prioritized actions, boosting operational efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction.

Set to be available in the first half of 2026, 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration is the next step toward a future where businesses can anticipate global shifts before they escalate with a severe business impact.

Advanced AI capabilities and unified scenario simulations optimize supply chain planning

51风流is enabling its customers to reimagine supply chain planning to become faster, smarter, and more connected with . This evolution of the product combines intelligent automation, a harmonized data model, and AI-driven capabilities to enhance forecasting, streamline processes, and help planners focus on critical decision making.

A harmonized planning area now supports both time-series and order-based planning, allowing users to move seamlessly among strategic, tactical, and operational levels, which ultimately enables seamless telescopic planning. New harmonized scenario simulations reveal the impact of alerts and risks to orders across all planning horizons. Embedded AI strengthens forecasting and inventory management, while characteristic-based planning adds right-fidelity supply planning to optimize stock and capacity matching for critical industries such as fashion retail, high-tech, life sciences, or consumer products.

The new Configurable Planner Workspace provides a unified interface where planners can monitor performance, simulate scenarios, and act immediately 鈥� guided by , SAP鈥檚 copilot, which delivers contextual assistance and actionable insights from forecasts, supply plans, and multi-echelon inventory.

AI capabilities are currently in beta mode and planned for general availability in Q2 2026, while all other enhancements are now generally available.

New Joule Agents accelerate decisions and automation across the supply chain

51风流introduces three new聽聽for supply chain management, designed to automate critical, time-consuming tasks and empower teams to focus on strategic decision-making. These agents embed AI-native automation directly into 51风流Cloud ERP, 51风流Cloud ERP Private, and 51风流Business Network workflows, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.

• Production Planning and Operations Agent: Automates prerequisite checks for releasing production orders, validates material, capacity, and scheduling, and can recommend workarounds or release orders instantly 鈥� shortening order-to-delivery cycles and reducing costs. General availability is planned for Q1 2026.
• Change Record Management Agent: Supports product managers and engineers by reasoning over problem reports and change requests, recommending next steps, and initiating changes, which improves governance, traceability, and decision speed. General availability is planned for Q2 2026.
• Supplier Onboarding Agent: Streamlines onboarding in 51风流Business Network by reasoning over supplier details, orchestrating invitations, validating data, and handling escalations, which enables procurement teams to scale faster while focusing on strategic supplier development.

With these agents, 51风流is embedding intelligence deeper into day-to-day supply chain workflows, accelerating decisions where they matter most.

Upgrading 51风流Business Network to meet customer needs

Global commerce is more interconnected than ever, but too many organizations still operate with fragmented procurement and logistics processes. 51风流is introducing upgrades to 51风流Business Network, the world鈥檚 largest B2B platform, facilitating over US$6.3 trillion in annual commerce across 190 countries.

• Availability on 51风流BTP: 51风流Business Network now runs on 51风流BTP, providing a modern data foundation and enabling organizations to coordinate deals at scale. It connects easily across 51风流and third-party systems, introduces a unified global directory with guided onboarding, and offers workflow customization through 51风流Build. Joule integration will be available in January 2026, bringing embedded AI to analytics, automation, and approvals across the network.
• Network-centric integration across the business suite: Rolling out later this year, 51风流Business Network will support end-to-end value streams with 51风流Cloud ERP, 51风流Ariba, 51风流Fieldglass, and 51风流Transportation Management. This will accelerate dispute resolution, improve emissions tracking, and enable AI-assisted navigation.
• Simplified supplier data access: By Q4 2025, users will be able to search for suppliers directly from their ERP interface, eliminating manual onboarding. Buyers will gain faster access to new vendors, reducing activation costs and expanding visibility.

Together, these innovations enhance 51风流Business Network with intelligence, reach, and usability 鈥� delivering embedded AI, seamless business suite integration, and ERP-native supplier discovery.

51风流launches new logistics management solution

51风流is announcing , a new cloud-native solution designed to complement operations of large distribution centers with capabilities to support smaller, local, and regional warehouses. This will help establish multi-tier distribution networks that strengthen resilience and increase delivery speed.

Fully connected to 51风流Cloud ERP Private and 51风流Business Network for Logistics, the solution centralizes inventory, shipments, and partner coordination. Unlike standalone tools, it extends ERP capabilities directly to satellite warehouses, drastically reducing manual tasks and ensuring consistency across networks.

Built-in AI capabilities guide operational decisions, eliminating silos and strengthening collaboration across logistics ecosystems. 51风流Logistics Management will be available in Q1 2026.

Doehler, a global producer of technology-driven natural ingredients for the food, beverage, and nutrition industry, will leverage the solution in its warehouses to manage its production sites, samples and spare parts.

鈥�51风流Logistics Management is set to deliver lean process automation and accelerated transformation for most of our more than 50 production sites, sampling operations and technical warehouses,鈥� said Dr. Michael Merget, Chief Operating Officer of Doehler Group. 鈥淲e see its powerful, integrated AI capabilities not as an add-on, but as the core intelligence that will define the future of our logistics.鈥�

Looking ahead

Resilient, intelligent, and collaborative supply chains are no longer aspirations 鈥� they are necessities. Together, these innovations reflect SAP鈥檚 vision for a fully orchestrated supply chain. The next generation of supply chain technology will empower businesses to detect disruptions early, harness data at scale, and consistently exceed customer expectations. By leading with intelligence and foresight, companies can transform crises into opportunities and position themselves to thrive in a world defined by uncertainty.

For more details on all announcements made this week, please refer to the .

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer for 51风流Supply Chain Management.

The innovations we unveiled represent a fundamental shift in how businesses can approach their operations in an increasingly complex global landscape. The positive energy from our customers and partners reinforces my belief that we鈥檙e on the right path with our AI-first, suite-first, network-centric strategy.

Unifying the supply chain ecosystem

The cornerstone of SAP鈥檚 latest offerings is the significant enhancement to the and solutions. These improvements create a more unified and intelligent ecosystem for supply chain management, addressing the multifaceted challenges businesses face today.

Key innovations strengthen end-to-end business processes in . The simple handover of complex product data — such as bill of materials, recipes, or material price estimations — streamline the transition from product development to production with . Additionally, the integration of service orders into enables advanced manufacturing processes for service and repair processes. Changes in production orders are seamlessly synchronized with the shop-floor execution for highly adaptive processes.

Launched in February, 51风流Business Suite is a comprehensive set of integrated solutions, combining cloud ERP, business applications, , and 鈥� powered by the . At Sapphire, 51风流introduced cloud suite packages designed to align with specific line-of-business needs. The 51风流Business Suite package for 51风流Supply Chain Management offers a comprehensive, AI-driven, and network-enabled solution to help customers integrate data, operational processes, and supply chain functions, delivering greater flexibility, transparency, and responsiveness while supporting sustainability initiatives and metrics.

The introduction of smart guided execution in 51风流Digital Manufacturing supports compliant manufacturing in life sciences, chemicals, and regulated fast-moving consumer goods businesses, through intelligent process guidance and a new electronic batch record system. This helps ensure traceability and compliance while reducing errors and improving overall production quality.

Customers in asset-intensive industries, such as utilities, travel and transportation, and energy and/or natural resources, benefit from advanced asset health monitoring capabilities in . 聽An enhanced management of time series data 聽and Internet of Things (IoT) device integration is enabled based on . This allows businesses to leverage real-time data for predictive maintenance and asset optimization, potentially reducing downtime and maintenance costs.

By introducing connected supply chain processes that bridge various 51风流applications and cloud ERP, 51风流is offering improved data flow, AI-driven insights, and end-to-end process optimization across supply chain and core business functions. This integration is not just about connecting the dots, but creating a seamless flow of information and actions that can transform business operations.

How Joule and agentic AI are revolutionizing supply chain management

Our commitment to AI-driven solutions was evident in several key innovations. SAP鈥檚 AI copilot, , is poised to transform supply chain operations. By the end of the year, Joule will enable supply chain planners — for example, demand or supply planners — to quickly and easily interpret supply planning results through intelligent analysis of demand, inventory, and supply planning in 51风流Integrated Business Planning. This capability will significantly enhance decision-making processes in supply chain planning.

Simultaneously, SAP鈥檚 expansion of agentic AI across 51风流Business Suite marks a significant leap toward autonomous supply chain operations.

Key agents announced include:

• Maintenance Planner Agent: Streamlines maintenance planning and coordination
• Shopfloor Supervisor Agent: Proactively manages shop-floor disruptions, such as machine failures, and performs necessary rescheduling to maintain productivity
• Field Service Dispatcher Agent: Autonomously schedules and optimizes service orders in 51风流Field Service Management

These agents, set for general availability in the fourth quarter of 2025, promise to transform planning into a proactive, continuous process by monitoring various data sources, surfacing relevant context, and recommending actions.

Enhanced 51风流Business Network capabilities for supply chain orchestration and sustainability

51风流announced significant enhancements to , the world鈥檚 largest B2B platform facilitating over US$6.3 trillion in annual commerce across 190 countries. These new capabilities are designed to revolutionize supply chain orchestration by providing unprecedented visibility, efficiency, and compliance in supply chain processes.

New improvements include more streamlined compliance and quality control for mass upload of certificate documents for suppliers and buyer-controlled document mandates for specific certifications.

To enhance supply chain efficiency and sustainability, new advanced logistics collaboration features offer enhanced greenhouse gas emissions tracking with actual transportation data integration and extended ocean freight support with new tendering and dispute handling functionalities.

Another key improvement focuses on enhanced asset management, with cloud-based ERP integration for better synchronization control, bi-directional integration of materials and models, and automated equipment creation through AAS file uploads and integration of quality inspection checklists.

All enhancements are scheduled to be available by the end of 2025, offering businesses across industries the opportunity to simplify tracking of critical certifications, improve compliance, reduce delays, and support regulatory adherence and sustainability goals across the supply chain.

By integrating actual transportation emissions data, businesses gain more accurate carbon footprint analysis, empowering them to better balance operational efficiency with environmental responsibility.

, with data federation, is planned to be available in Europe and KSA by the end of the third quarter of 2025. Additionally, , with data federation, is scheduled to be available in Europe and KSA by the end of the fourth quarter of 2025.

The road ahead

As we continue to roll out these new capabilities throughout 2025, I鈥檓 more convinced than ever of SAP鈥檚 commitment to ongoing innovation to drive value for our customers. In a world where global uncertainties, risks, and disruptions require a delicate balancing act between adaptability and productivity, 51风流Business Suite for supply chain management stands out. It leverages intelligence and all relevant internal and external data to provide the insights needed to make the right decisions, enabling business to adapt and thrive.

Our vision is clear: a future where supply chains are not just reactive systems but proactive, intelligent networks that can anticipate disruptions, optimize operations, and drive business growth.

I鈥檓 excited about the journey ahead and look forward to seeing how these innovations will transform businesses across industries.

For those who couldn鈥檛 join us at 51风流Sapphire, I encourage you to join us at , where we鈥檒l dive deeper into these innovations and showcase even more exciting developments in our innovation road map.

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer of 51风流Supply Chain Management.

At SAP, we believe in empowering manufacturers to bring out their best. By connecting processes beyond the silos of individual functions and by converging and contextualizing critical data, we are laying the foundation to leverage cutting-edge technologies like generative and agentic AI. This strategy helps businesses build more sustainable, resilient networks that are adaptive to overcome unforeseen risks and seize bold new opportunities.

This vision will be on full display at , the world鈥檚 leading trade fair for industry, where we will showcase how 51风流is revolutionizing manufacturing through the following key areas.

New paths with 51风流Business Suite

offers a comprehensive solution that transcends traditional ERP systems. By leveraging seamlessly integrated, end-to-end supply chain processes in the cloud, supported by context-rich business data and real-time analysis, artificial intelligence and predictive algorithms, we help companies manage their supply chains efficiently while responding to new requirements with agility.

In an era of mass customization, this agility is crucial for maintaining competitiveness. Transparent access to manufacturing data allows companies to manage their production capacities more flexibly and recover from short-term supply disruptions better. We empower companies to meet new customer requirements promptly and efficiently, reducing costs and shortening time-to-market for new products.

One example is digitalizing service operations with . This optimization of the entire service order process — from customer demand to spare parts planning and finally technician and tool planning, dispatching, and execution — allows manufacturers to streamline their operations and enhance overall efficiency in a single, unified experience.

Applications that drive excellence

In manufacturing, downtime is costly. That鈥檚 why our digital applications play a key role in vertically connecting machines and devices through critical manufacturing data with enterprise processes. By optimizing production processes, reducing downtime, and increasing transparency, we鈥檙e turning reactive maintenance into a predictive strategy.

provides manufacturers with the ability to coordinate complex and short-term changes to customer orders on the shop floor across multiple functions, ensuring smooth operations. Our new embedded IoT technology based on our partnership with in allows operators to monitor asset health with plug-and-play simplicity. Meanwhile, the integration of for product design and sourcing and for collaborative product data management is enhancing collaboration with direct material suppliers, orchestrated through the 51风流business network.

Real-world success stories, like , demonstrate the tangible benefits of our solutions. SMA Solar achieved a 15 percent increase in supply chain workforce productivity, 10 percent improvement in overall supply chain planning costs, and 10 percent lower inventory carrying costs and stock turnover rate using 51风流Digital Manufacturing for electronics manufacturing.

The power of data

To enable automation in mass production with individualized requests, companies need real-time integration of operational, sustainability, and business data. 51风流provides real-time access to data-driven insights, eliminating delays and silos with instant access to unified data across 51风流and non-51风流systems. This enterprise-wide operational alignment connects supply chain data with finance, human resources, and other business areas, streamlining processes and reducing costs.

further enhances this capability by providing a comprehensive platform for data management and analytics. Moreover, our AI-powered predictions and insights help improve sustainability by optimizing energy consumption, eliminating waste, and minimizing environmental impact.

Integrating AI for greater efficiency

Companies today need to redefine their business management by integrating automation and AI-driven decision intelligence into their business processes. 51风流solutions enhance productivity and efficiency across all business processes, from product development to execution and continuous process improvement.

offers planning analytics, what-if simulations, and real-time information for sustainable and risk-resilient decision-making. The new AI-assisted planning capabilities with allow supply chain planners to customize Excel add-in planning views using natural language commands, streamlining daily tasks and strategic decisions.

Joule revolutionizes 51风流IBP by introducing intuitive conversational search, navigation, and transactional capabilities. By harnessing natural language processing, it effortlessly interprets user queries and instantly retrieves relevant information, significantly enhancing overall user productivity. This ability allows even highly experienced planners to understand the outcome of complex optimization and machine learning-based planning algorithms revolutionizing their user experience and ultimately increasing user adoption of these advanced AI-based technologies.

In 51风流Digital Manufacturing and 51风流Asset Performance Management, machine learning-guided visual inspection enables the execution of multiple inspection tasks such as for production and maintenance quality or even automates the process entirely, reducing human errors, improving product quality, and lowering operational costs.

Joule in 51风流Integrated Product Development facilitates help-content discovery with conversational access to development documentation, covering idea-to-market processes such as collaboration, formulation, and handover. Users can inquire naturally, access relevant documentation, and receive concise summaries, enhancing efficiency and decision-making.

For the manufacturing industry, 51风流Field Service Management with AI provides technicians quick access to equipment service history and key job details, improving diagnostics and first-time fix rates. This increases operational efficiency, reduces downtime, and enhances customer satisfaction.

Lastly, the integration of Joule with allows transportation planners to use simple natural language searches to find order details and reduce manual errors by autonomously cross-referencing multiple data sources.

Join 51风流at Hannover Messe 2025

Visit 51风流in t Hannover Messe 2025 to discover how our modern manufacturing, supply chain, and cloud ERP solutions can help your business, regardless of its size. Experience firsthand how we鈥檙e maximizing the impact of technology, running resilient and sustainable supply chains, and unlocking the power of business networks.

Meet our experts and industry-leading partners to learn how manufacturing and supply chain processes in the cloud can help you succeed in an AI-enabled world. Together, let鈥檚 bring out your best and shape the future of intelligent, sustainable manufacturing.

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer for 51风流Supply Chain Management at SAP.

According to the , 63% of respondents 鈥渉ave an AI strategy linked to business objectives鈥� to improve operational efficiency, business resilience, and increase employee productivity.

Our objective in this digital, adaptive, autonomous supply chain journey is to utilize the breadth of AI technologies to assist customers in achieving their business goals and drive significant value regardless of their current maturity level in business practices and technology.

Business Challenges in Integrating AI

Business leaders see significant challenges in integrating AI into business applications and processes, especially when trying to make sense of vast amounts of unstructured data. These challenges specifically stem from:

• Data quality: Data is inconsistent or not reliable nor current.
• Organizational Readiness: Organizations continue to rely on on-premise systems that pose challenges around stale data, integration, and scalability.
• Volatility: Global AI regulations are constantly evolving, for example the EU AI Act. Technologies such as large language models (LLMs) are also rapidly changing in performance and price with new models and providers popping up almost weekly.

These challenges underscore the need for a thoughtful approach to integrating AI into supply chain processes. delivers a comprehensive set of relevant, reliable, and responsible AI solutions that effectively tackle many of these hurdles and ensure seamless AI adoption throughout your supply chain processes.

• For additional insights into relevant, reliable, and responsible AI, see “Trustworthy AI Can Reinvent Companies and Help Resolve Global Challenges” from 51风流CEO Christian Klein.

Our Vision of AI-Enabled Supply Chains

For decades, 51风流has led the way in , empowering its customers to streamline their complex end-to-end supply chain processes for enhanced efficiency, agility, and resilience. The 51风流Supply Chain portfolio introduces innovation through various technologies, including AI, to transition your supply chain from digital to adaptive, with the ultimate vision of instituting an autonomous supply chain.

There are three possible maturity levels where you could stand in your business transformation. It is also important to acknowledge that different lines of business are on different maturity levels in an organization 鈥� while supply chain planning may already be somewhat adaptive, manufacturing operations may still be at the start of a digital transformation.

• Digital: Digitalization is the starting point. The 51风流Supply Chain portfolio automates manual processes, enabling a seamless, digital end-to-end business process and digitalizing paper-based systems. This results in better access to data, greater visibility, and control over the entire supply chain, setting the foundation. Most importantly, 51风流provides the tools and systems to get data ready for more advanced stages.
• Adaptive: This step is marked by an integration of cutting-edge technologies into business processes, including the use of predictive analytics and simulation for decision-making and Big Data, as well as the introduction of , SAP鈥檚 copilot for every supply chain cloud application. These technologies empower supply chain professionals with intelligent insights and recommendations, enhancing decision-making for greater agility and resilience.
• Autonomous: Next, we envision a path characterized by technological, procedural, and data enhancements that will propel the supply chain into an autonomous era. This transition will happen gradually but ultimately enable supply chains to operate autonomously with minimal human intervention, resulting in even greater efficiency, adaptability, and responsiveness. It empowers supply chain experts to focus on truly value generating activities and spending precious time on only the most critical disruptions and business opportunities.

Technologies that Lead Toward Autonomous Supply Chains

51风流has been developing innovative AI capabilities that are fully integrated across digital supply chain applications, catering to diverse customer technology readiness levels. For example:

• Optimization models, rule-based predictive analytics, and heuristics improve, for instance, transportation plans, production scheduling, supply plans and spare part fulfillment. This allows a powerful way to automate decision-making in balancing conflicts of interests, such as customer service levels versus supply chain cost.
• SAP-owned machine learning is applied across the 51风流Supply Chain portfolio; for example, in gradient boosting algorithms for demand forecasting, intelligent lead time predictions and failure curve analysis. 51风流also offers customers a 鈥渂ring-your-own-model鈥� approach to enable extensibility for specific domains such as visual inspection and anomaly detection.
• Generative AI, when embedded in digital supply chain applications and combined with Joule, will allow users to conduct complex business transactions in simple conversational ways. We will augment tasks like conducting what-if scenarios for supply chain planning, assisting in new product ideation, analyzing manufacturing issues to accelerate the onboarding of new equipment, and assessing advanced failure modes of assets with generative AI.

With these technologies, our goal is to support customers wherever they stand in their journey and help them move from a focus on mere digital transformation to highly adaptive processes — and ultimately toward autonomous supply chain systems.

Examples of AI Innovations

Let’s explore specific innovations delivered in the 51风流Supply Chain portfolio: These cases are classified according to their primary focus on digital, adaptive, and autonomous as a continuous journey. These innovations will be enriched over time and every business may find themselves at a different stage of maturity in different parts of their supply chain processes.

Digital

Intelligent Lead-Time Prediction for More Accurate Integrated Business Planning
This machine learning extension enables the extraction of historical lead times from goods movement data in 51风流S/4HANA and analyses outliers and key influential factors for lead time changes to predict future lead times. The results are then uploaded as input for planning runs within 51风流Integrated Business Planning, thus facilitating better decisions, and enhances plan adherence by considering the dynamic nature of actual lead times and future trends.

• .

Everstream Powered Risk-Aware Supply Chains for 51风流Integrated Business Planning
Critical data for decision-making can sit outside of the four walls of a company. Using external network data is imperative for better decisions based on supply chain risks in a digital transformation. This capability integrates external incident data — for example from Everstream Analytics — into 51风流Integrated Business Planning and enables companies to proactively anticipate and manage external risks in their supply chain planning process. This integration allows supply chain planners to perform risk-aware planning by actively reflecting external risks affecting their supply chain, such as geopolitical shifts, material shortages, global regulations, extreme weather events, and more. Figure 1 illustrates this innovation:

• .

Adaptive

Product Design and Formulation

51风流Product Lifecycle Management (51风流PLM): Generative AI for Recipe Formulation
In the process industry, technology plays a crucial role in recipe creation and formulation to meet consumer demands. A fast time-to-market of launching a new recipe, in compliance with local regulation and sustainability targets, can be paramount to the competitiveness of a company. Generative AI integrated into 51风流PLM assists in developing, enhancing, and customizing recipes, thus expediting product innovations, enhancing productivity, and supporting product compliance and sustainability for manufacturers of formulated products. Figure 2 illustrates this innovation:

• .

Logistics

51风流S/4HANA Transportation Management: Intelligent Goods Receipt Analysis
In high-volume logistics industries, the manual tasks involved in inbound goods receipt can be time-consuming and error-prone. By leveraging AI-based document extraction, this use case automates data extraction from freight documents, seamlessly integrating them into 51风流S/4HANA, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and time savings.

• .

Asset Operations

51风流S/4HANA Enterprise Asset Management: Intelligent Maintenance Order Recommendation
LLMs optimize maintenance planning, promote agility, and improve asset performance and reliability in 51风流S/4HANA enterprise asset management. In this innovation, generative AI supports users in the assessment of maintenance requests by recommending appropriate tasks and spare parts, thus enhancing operational efficiency. Figure 3 illustrates this innovation:

• .

Autonomous

Supply Chain Planning

51风流Integrated Business Planning: Interactive Planning Assistant
Demand, supply, and inventory planners often use complex machine learning algorithms. By using generative AI and conversing with Joule in natural language, planners can gain insights into the models’ variables, constraints, and decision processes, leading to much more informed decisions and proactive planning. 51风流helps customers boost explainability but also enable what-if scenario simulations for complex planning decisions. Figure 4 illustrates this innovation:

• .
• .

Manufacturing / Industry 4.0

51风流Digital Manufacturing: AI-Driven Visual Inspection
In industrial manufacturing, human-led visual inspection can lead to potential quality issues and is synonymous with a higher degree of manual labor. This capability applies computer vision AI into the production process to automatically identify defects and allocate non-conformance for production decisions, thus supporting a consistent and objective quality analysis that contributes to cost savings associated with reworks and recalls. Figure 5 illustrates this innovation:

• .

Join the evolution and embrace AI, whether you are in a digital transformation or already driving toward adaptability or are taking your first steps toward autonomous supply chains or functions.

More Details

Ready to revolutionize your supply chain using artificial intelligence? Here’s how to get started:

• Register in the to explore Joule in 51风流Integrated Business Planning for conversational search
• Dive into the IDC report “” for insights into AI’s pivotal role and its use cases in supply chain and operations

And stay tuned for more Early Adopter Care programs and updates on future innovations.

Dominik Metzger is head of 51风流Digital Supply Chain for 51风流Product Engineering.

To explore New York鈥檚 tourist sights, there is a mobile app that shows you the live visitor streams in one of the impressive skyscrapers. This allows you to decide the best time for a tour and to enjoy a view from the visitor terrace. The app also allowed registered users to change the colors of the illuminated antenna at night time, which was a great trick to impress any visitors I hosted in the city.

While this use case was certainly a great party trick, it is no comparison to the business value we see when equipping machines, equipment, transport boxes, containers, or devices with (IIoT) capabilities.

In the past year, manufacturers all over the world experienced significant disruptions that can impact globally optimized supply chains. Running resilient operations — highly productive and interconnected with a network of suppliers, contract manufacturers, logistics service providers, and customers — is key to weathering the storms of disruption.

Resiliency allows companies to withstand disruptions and, more importantly, to drive business process transformations of entire operating models. Thereby, technologies, such as IIoT and , have proven significant enablers. Optimized production, improved decision making based on higher visibility, and supply chain transparency are just a few examples of the many opportunities that IIoT provides.

At SAP, we see even more in it; we see the opportunity for companies to better understand their businesses, redefine business models, and meet new customer demands — all while achieving sustainability goals.

By embedding IIoT capabilities and making industrial data available to line-of-business and industry applications such as and , we enable new business processes, empowering customers to connect entire industry value chains.

Enabling Industry 4.Now with Smart Sensing

To help customers move more swiftly with their , we recently released 鈥渟mart sensing鈥� capabilities. The reason? Industry 4.0 requires the digital identification and localization of people, assets, machines, deliveries, and other business objects. Smart sensing technology helps to not just exchange this information between physical objects and enterprise applications, but also to track the associated business objects to automatically steer process steps and actions. Cloud technology enables not only the possibility to process large numbers of scanning events in parallel, but also provides a powerful decision and rules engine to “translate” insights to actions, allowing customers to leverage intelligence at almost every business process they can imagine.

The smart sensing capabilities are offered as part of 51风流IoT and enable customers to automatically correlate the movement of physical objects to specific process steps by scanning ID-tags such as RFID, barcode, QR code, or image recognition.

Let鈥檚 have a look at a few examples:

1. Smart Sensing Technology in a Logistics Scenario
Think about a manufacturer of high voltage batteries that sends the products out for delivery to an automobile manufacturer. Each movement of a physical item — for example, product, pallet, container, etc. — has an implicit meaning for the progress of the business process execution. Sending a battery out for delivery to a customer means “goods issue,” receiving a delivery means 鈥済oods receipt.鈥� By equipping these batteries with RFID tags, a 鈥済oods issue鈥� or 鈥済oods receipt鈥� can be created automatically in 51风流S/4HANA as soon as it passes an RFID gate at the warehouse dock, for example. Based on the scan event, it can be detected if the correct handling units and the correct number of handling units have been shipped. In this way, the battery manufacturer can reduce manual efforts and thereby also avoid human mistakes.

2. Smart Sensing Technology in a Handling-Unit Tracking Scenario:
Being part of one solution, we can now also combine the power of smart sensing tags with sensors for IoT. An example: By equipping the transport boxes of our batteries with IoT sensors, we can now automatically create a digital twin of these handling units based on an ID scan with smart sensing. As a consequence, conditions of the batteries — such as temperature, humidity, or shocks to the unit — are tracked during the transport and warehouse processes in real time. In case an issue occurs with the delivery, the sales or logistics manager will be notified in 51风流S/4HANA immediately and receives proposals on how to solve the issue. Such proposals can be to create a customer return, send an express replacement order, or to inform the affected customer about the situation. This increase of supply chain transparency enables the battery manufacturer to react faster and more effectively when issues occur and to ultimately extend the average lifespan of the batteries.

3. Smart Sensing Technology in a Production Scenario:
Another example taken from production is . During the production of our high voltage batteries, the manufacturer leverages Kanban, a scheduling system for lean manufacturing to improve manufacturing efficiency and to avoid excess inventory at any point in production. By equipping kanban containers or shelves with RFID tags, status changes — for example, empty, full, in use, etc. — are triggered in 51风流S/4HANA. This status update automatically triggers replenishment at the warehouse or at the supplier. The real-time analytics of location and retention time of raw material enables the manufacturer to optimize stock level as well as line runners鈥� routes.

Extending Smart Sensing Technology to the Edge

In order to provide reliable connectivity among machines, people, processes, and assets, the scenarios described above will soon be . In latency-sensitive scenarios, relevant business data from 51风流S/4 HANA business objects is synchronized from cloud to the edge nod such as a gateway in a factory or at a warehouse. Scanning events through auto-ID devices can now be enhanced with relevant business data locally. In this way, configurable business rules and actions can be instantly processed and analyzed at the edge. The consequence for the business is that no pallet, truck, or Kanban box will ever stand still, as even during intermittent Internet connectivity, the show will go on based on the edge compute right at the site.

The physical proximity of applications and devices make it easier to achieve low-latency responses and to optimize bandwidth consumption by sending only relevant data to the cloud. Compounded with various benefits in terms of data privacy and cost savings, it helps ensure business continuity and offline operations even for the most mission-critical processes when connectivity is not available or unstable.

Edge Containerization

Bringing software from the cloud to the edge happens via so called containers. A container consists of an entire runtime environment: an application plus all its dependencies and configuration files needed to run it, bundled into a single package. Containers provide the answer to the question of how software can run reliably when moved from one computing environment (cloud) to another (edge). Such containers may be only a few megabytes in size, which makes them ideal for running on edge devices with limited hardware resources.

Kubernetes is the de-facto standard for container orchestration in the cloud or edge. By embracing Kubernetes at the edge, 51风流moves toward a uniform approach in service management across cloud and edge. 51风流Edge Services provides a centralized fully fledged edge lifecycle management using Kubernetes for services and applications, including the possibility to deploy extensions, while enabling consistent execution across cloud and edge.

Bring Your Own Data Lake

IIoT and edge computing are critical enablers for connecting industry value chains, running businesses in real time, and driving a step-change in productivity. Yet our vision is to go one step further and empower customers to leverage more data than ever before. “Real world thing-data,” coming from machines, devices, industrial cameras, or sensors by themselves are useless. Only by combining IoT data, such as a detected shock of a sensor, with business data, such as deliveries, materials, or production orders, can we truly generate business value.

Our strategy of 鈥渂ring your own data lake鈥� will enable customers to integrate data from their own Big Data stores into 51风流applications. With this, customers can leverage and integrate different kind of data formats, allowing them to contextualize their “thing” data with application business data to transform from insights and analysis to action.

The potential of IIoT is not just in connecting millions of devices, or the antenna of a skyscraper with users, but to really turn the data they generate into intelligent insights and derive action. As the COVID-19 crisis amplified the need for business and supply chain resilience, IIoT will be embedded into more business processes than ever before — enabling entirely new business models. Through this, businesses can rapidly scale their productivity, product quality, sustainability, and even customer experience goals, leading to happy and engaged end customers.

For more information about IIoT, read:

• Delivering Speed, Agility, and Resilience with IIoT
• Business Resilience with IoT-Enabled Cloud ERP

Dominik Metzger is head of Product Management for Manufacturing and Industrial IoT at SAP.