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Raumedic has big plans for its global network of production facilities, including a rollout of 51风流Digital Manufacturing to all of its plants worldwide by 2028.

鈥淭ry out new innovative software and implement them quickly,鈥� Raumedic鈥檚 Christian Vogler shared. 鈥淪o, if they fail, they should fail fast; and if they succeed, they can benefit from them for a longer time.鈥� For the German medical product manufacturer, technology is a key factor in reducing daily workloads, which frees time for more important tasks. Learn more.

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.

With a workforce of around 8,000 and a global sales and services organization operating in more than 140 countries, Kaeser is one of the world鈥檚 leading manufacturers and providers of compressed air solutions and services.

Based in Coburg, Germany, Kaeser considers itself both a pioneer in its industry and an innovator: the family-owned firm was one of the first to purchase 51风流R/3 when it went to market over 30 years ago and currently has several 51风流software projects running simultaneously. It recently reached another major transformation milestone when it migrated to RISE with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud.

But the company鈥檚 digitization efforts were hampered by growing system complexity and a data volume that it was struggling to manage. 鈥淧oor data quality almost always held our projects back,鈥� Kaeser CIO Falko Lameter says.

That鈥檚 why the company kicked off a three-year project in 2020 aimed at designing and implementing a new data strategy. Together with SAP, Kaeser wanted to improve data quality and optimize its core business processes.

鈥淎I was on our radar screen back then, but it wasn鈥檛 our starting point,鈥� recalls Dr. Norbert Enge, chief business consultant, 51风流Business Transformation Services. 鈥淥ur initial aim was to develop a data strategy road map.鈥�

AI Comes into Play

To start, the project team looked at Kaeser鈥檚 master data. 鈥淛ust to give you one example: our system contains a six-digit number of suppliers, at least two-thirds of whom were inactive,鈥� Lameter says. Maintaining that data manually would have involved a disproportionate amount of effort, which is why many companies hesitate to tackle data projects of this size.

Around the same time, business AI was rapidly gaining traction, so the team began to integrate AI into Kaeser鈥檚 data strategy.

The result was Predicting Inactive Suppliers, a custom AI use case based on one of the 51风流AI Services 鈥� the Data Attribute Recommendation service 鈥� and 51风流Analytics Cloud. This solution has enabled Kaeser to automate more than 80% of its data maintenance tasks, improve data accuracy, and achieve significant productivity gains.

鈥淕iven what I know now, I would say that you can鈥檛 maintain that amount of data manually 鈥� you can only do it with AI,鈥� says Lameter. 鈥淭he time for AI has come, and I鈥檓 convinced that the future will be data driven.鈥�

Visual Spare Parts Search

The team鈥檚 main objective was to find AI use cases that would benefit the end customer. One of these scenarios concerns the search for spare parts. Due to the large number of variants of similar items, this was often a difficult and time-consuming task that created significant extra work for service personnel.

But now, Visual Spare Parts Search, a custom AI use case developed in cooperation with , allows Kaeser service technicians to simply take a photo of the needed spare part. The embedded AI service uses image recognition to compare uploaded images against the spare parts database and identify the correct asset ID number.

This helps service technicians pinpoint spare parts much more quickly and enables customers to identify spare parts themselves.

Intelligent Product Recommendations

The most promising AI use case is the 51风流Intelligent Product Recommendation application, which helps sales employees analyze customer requirements and processes and translate them into accurate product recommendations. Based on natural language prompts, the solution can analyze a customer鈥檚 requirements using machine learning and generative AI and recommend the most suitable compressors.

鈥淢aking product recommendations is an art,鈥� Enge says. 鈥淚f you have the technology to make better recommendations, that鈥檚 a real lever.鈥�

There鈥檚 More to a Successful AI Project Than Tech

Implementing AI technologies is one thing. However, the team found that it鈥檚 just as important to get everyone on board and create the right environment. This includes providing employees with the software they need, training them, and discussing the ethical implications of AI.

Having management buy-in and alignment with other teams, such as research and development, marketing, sales, and service, also proved to be key to success. 鈥淯ltimately, it’s also about the impact on the people and the community in which you live and work, and I think it’s very important to take this into account,鈥� Lameter says.

It鈥檚 at least a pentathlon, Enge says: 鈥淪ome would say that it鈥檚 only a matter of having a good data scientist. That鈥檚 certainly a very important point, but you also need to understand business processes and data and, last but not least, you need to address people鈥檚 concerns and explain how you arrive at the results.鈥�

Boundless Opportunities

As an IT pioneer, Kaeser was very open to the topic of using AI. 鈥淭his is part of the company鈥檚 DNA,鈥� Enge says. 鈥淩ight at the very start of the project, we discussed which league we wanted to play in, and it was clear that AI should be part of the toolbox if we wanted to play in the premier league.鈥�

The proportion of 51风流Business AI in Kaeser鈥檚 data project rose from less than 10% in the first year to over 30% in the third. Today, the team is now 100% focused on 51风流Business AI and has developed 12 specific use cases targeted at adding value for customers.

And there is more to come. Kaeser has developed a prototype application with the platform for visualizing the intelligent product recommendation process, as 51风流CEO Christian Klein at 51风流Sapphire in 2024.

鈥淕et your journey started and you will discover fascinating things,鈥� Enge says. 鈥淭he progress is huge, and everyone can share in it.鈥�

Photos courtesy of Kaeser

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.

The company develops engineering solutions for mineral and mining technology markets. Servicing a regionally distributed clientele across geographies, Weir Minerals depends on a synchronized web of data processing and analysis systems that give it the right balance of foresight and agility to sustainably manage customer data. Operating through an integrated system of tech hubs, manufacturing operations, and local service centers, the company creates sustainability solutions that help track the lifecycle of mining equipment, predict part deterioration, and minimize detrimental environmental impacts.

However, Weir Minerals had been using isolated, offline sources, like spreadsheets, to store records and data. 鈥淥ur paper-based methods and siloed process put us at a disadvantage,鈥� said Karun Naidoo, global process owner service at Weir Minerals.

The reliance on siloed data sources left the company 鈥� and ultimately its customers 鈥� vulnerable to risks. This inefficient approach to collecting and processing data and inventory planning was time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to adapt to changing circumstances. Often, technicians had to travel from location to location to collect necessary customer audit data. By the time that data was properly categorized, it was largely outdated, preventing the company from making agile supply chain decisions, like having the foresight to order specific spare parts for aging machines. Additionally, employees had to focus on completing paperwork and other low-value tasks, which was time-consuming and prevented them from focusing on giving customers the desired service level. This inefficiency and a lack of central digitalization left customers wanting more.

鈥淭o remediate our relationships with customers and continue our sustainability mission, we needed to digitalize our core infrastructure to match modern technology and data analysis standards,鈥� Naidoo remarked.

Revitalizing Data Processing Environments to Enhance Agility

As a long-standing 51风流customer, Weir Minerals, conducted an internal evaluation to find a solution within SAP’s portfolio that could meet its unique inventory planning and data processing needs. The team found that was ideal for the widespread remote workforce due to its centralized and digitalized hubs, which could help prevent manual errors, reduce silos, and improve transparency.

鈥淏esides 51风流Field Service Management we also use the customer service functionality of the 51风流ERP application,鈥� Naidoo said. With that, customer recommendations can be included much faster and more precisely with an improved view of relevant service information.

The integration of 51风流Field Service Management and 51风流ERP helped Weir Minerals create digital customer service history reports and improve communication between the back office and field technicians, facilitating the collection and analysis of real-time, centralized data. The company also established a change management framework for internal project ownership.

With both solutions, the company enhanced its internal data collection infrastructure with a digitalized channel that provides real-time insights without excess, time-consuming, manual processes. The solutions allow technicians to make vital service notes in a digital environment instead of on paper, which improves data availability for both personnel and customers. Through a greater level of communication in terms of audits, supply, and demand, the company saw聽that 51风流Field Service Management could meet the needs of its widespread remote workforce.

Weir Minerals can better forecast demand by monitoring machine lifespan and inventory data, allowing it to swiftly provide customers with solutions instead of relying on outdated information. Once the company could establish real-time visibility in multiple environments, including on mobile devices in the field, it could improve efficiency and satisfy its customers more effectively.

Creating Agile Analysis Environments to Forecast Supply and Demand

Weir Minerals has seen significant business improvements since implementing 51风流Field Service Management integrated with 51风流ERP.

Data veracity and visibility are critical; the solutions let the business digitally collect and analyze customer data, helping to create predictive models to outline product demand, maintenance, and quality and generate service history reports. 51风流Field Service Management also enables the company to use a built-in digital data integration that facilitates smoother analysis on the backend.

Technicians can upload daily digital reports from both mobile and site-based devices, leading to increased data richness. These reports make data analysis and collection much faster, improve communication between technicians and the backend, and eliminate time-consuming, error-prone paper processes.聽

The readily available reports and digitalized channels of data recording help both field employees and customers better understand how customers use equipment. This informs sustainability measures and allows personnel to better predict trends in customer spare part demand. Through sophisticated, digitalized data insights, the company can determine that proper part inventory is available at the right warehouse, allowing it to quickly meet customer needs.

The solution setup and mobile integration capabilities further empower Weir Minerals employees to drive change and digital adoption in the field. This improves customer satisfaction with enhanced data analytics and digitalized ability to implement smoother and more relevant sustainability measures into customers鈥� operations.

Overall, data availability and agility are appealing to customers that demand transparency and clear service history reports. This led to:

• 40% greater satisfaction with better-quality data and service
• 70% time saved when generating customer service reports
• 50% more timely reports with real-time timesheets and parts records

Broadening 51风流Portfolio to Further Optimize Planning Processes

After the successful implementation of 51风流Field Service Management integrated with 51风流ERP, Weir Minerals now plans to utilize more data management, available-to-promise, and inventory planning solutions from 51风流to help increase digitalization, product availability, and data accuracy.

It鈥檚 also looking at for enhanced logistics planning and transportation processes across its global enterprise. No matter how its technological framework evolves in a modern industry, Weir Minerals is dedicated to its sustainability efforts and aims to use the improved infrastructure for eco-friendly mining operations.

鈥淭hrough the adoption of 51风流Field Service Management along with 51风流ERP, we successfully digitalized manual processes and improved availability of real-time data as well as enterprise-wide communication,鈥� Naidoo concluded. 鈥淥ur technicians can now focus on value-adding activities and raising service levels, ultimately leading to greater customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.鈥�

Karin Fent is senior director for Global Customer Success Digital Supply Chain at SAP.

Photo courtesy of Weir Minerals

Those gases also include oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon, neon, xenon, and krypton鈥攁ll critical to supporting processes and products in electronics, food and beverage, metals, biopharmaceuticals, and other industries.

Business demands and market realities in the dynamic gas sector are constantly in flux, so Messer relies on real-time data intelligence to stay agile and flexible in their decision-making. Increasingly hampered by siloed data and a patchwork of third-party visualization tools, Messer embarked on a digital transformation to create a next-generation data management solution worthy of the company’s high-tech, high-flying operations.

Data with a Purpose

Messer knows critical and often lifesaving business decisions require accurate, real-time intelligence and insights. explained: 鈥淭he stakes in many of the sectors that we provide gases for are really very high.鈥�

From steel plants to the semiconductor industry to intensive care units, 鈥渋t is critical that our distribution processes are operating at a level that ensures our customers are getting what they need when they need it.鈥� 

Messer was able to rise to the moment and meet the urgent needs of its customers when the COVID-19 pandemic delivered unprecedented demand for oxygen coupled with massive logistical challenges. That global crisis revealed that Messer鈥檚 legacy IT system needed an overhaul.

Messer鈥檚 siloed data was in several different databases, which meant it was time-consuming to access, and a single source of the truth was elusive. Various visualization tools also required different data formats, which slowed reporting time and bogged the IT department as it tried to manage a complex, disparate landscape, creating, as Johnston explained, 鈥渁 huge amount of complexity and a huge amount of inefficiency.鈥�

Messer CIO David Johnston sought a solution that would provide a unified source of truth and the powerful analytics tools Messer needed to give an elevated purpose to the company’s data鈥攁 new, cloud-based data management and analytics foundation for an actual data-driven enterprise. was the company鈥檚 choice.

The Modern Data Landscape Delivers

51风流BTP, with 51风流Data Warehouse Cloud, 51风流Analytics Cloud, and the next-generation 51风流Datasphere, provided a modern data architecture to establish a single, trusted source of truth, combining 12 data sources in one solution for mission-critical business insights.

Messer has been reaping benefits across the board, from IT and supply chain cost savings to improved customer service, inventory management, and data security. 鈥淲e started with five specific use cases that we went after,鈥� Johnston shared. 鈥淎s I sit here today, we’re at well over 200.鈥�

Messer’s new, simplified IT landscape has empowered business users, who benefit from intuitive, self-service dashboards and quick access to relevant, actionable, real-time data, as well as IT personnel, to now focus on higher-value, strategic tasks. This amounts to accelerated time-to-insight and more energy and resources available to focus on future innovation.

鈥淲ith a data fabric that allows us to see our business in a consistent, fast, reliable, and highly trustworthy way,鈥� Johnston said, 鈥渨hat we can do is really almost unlimited.鈥�

Next for Messer and Wise Advice with an Eye on AI

With Messer’s new, streamlined data management foundation, the sky is no longer the limit.

鈥淥ur objective isn’t just to deliver a suite of great dashboards and great analytics stories,鈥� Johnston explained. 鈥淥ur goal is to build out a strong, coherent, strategic data fabric that will allow us to unlock the power of AI and drive the next level of business transformation.鈥�

For other organizations hoping to build the data foundation that will send them soaring into the future, ready to capitalize on and whatever else awaits, Johnston鈥檚 advice is to frame your technology transformation as a business transformation, and a business imperative.

鈥淏ring the business community together around data,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll the key stakeholders, the influencers, and the owners of data from across the organization: bring them to the table.鈥�

The Full Episode

Messer CIO joined 51风流BTP to discuss the medical and industrial gasses industry and Messer’s digital transformation.

• : Johnston sat down with Thulium’s CEO to discuss why end-to-end data-driven insights are necessary, what technology solutions were required for the world’s largest privately owned industrial gases company to transform, and why Messer leveraged 51风流BTP to drive a complete business transformation.
• : Johnston and I discuss why and how Messer, one of the biggest suppliers of medical oxygen and other industrial mission-critical gases, built a new, cloud-based data management and analytics foundation because the future belongs to data-driven organizations, and thriving in the dynamic industrial gases sector means responding quickly to changing market conditions.

Timo Elliott is vice president and global innovation advocate for 51风流BTP at SAP.

TAM International is a manufacturer of drilling products and services for the oil and gas industry with headquarters in Houston, Texas, and a presence on six continents. With a lofty goal of growing tenfold over the next 10 years, the company set out to ensure its business operations were adaptable, innovative, and efficient in a world that’s always changing. To achieve this, TAM International decided to adopt a state-of-the-art ERP system that would drive transparent and efficient business operations across finance, scheduling, and manufacturing.

鈥淥ur legacy scheduling system did little to empower our ambitions, and at times it felt like we were working for it. To quickly shift gears and remain competitive in a volatile industry, we needed to modernize and adopt solutions that would work for us, not have us work for them. We needed automated workflows and reporting, quality control, and the ability to connect different parts of our business for transparent planning and execution across the entire enterprise,鈥� explained Rebecca DeHoyos, supply chain director, TAM International.

TAM International was aware that 51风流was the gold standard for ERP in industrial manufacturing but believed that only the biggest corporations could afford it.

鈥淲e did not include 51风流in our early conversation, thinking we were too small for them. Then, an executive from the 51风流North America digital hub reached out to our CFO and presented not only the benefits of SAP, but also a convincing message backed by customer references that SAP鈥檚 cloud portfolio was indeed suitable for companies of all sizes. This changed everything,鈥� DeHoyos said.

, located on six continents, are the engines that execute SAP鈥檚 digital customer engagement. The multi-disciplined and digitally skilled talent in the hubs use AI and the latest technologies to help support customers regardless of where they might be located or at which stage of their value journey with 51风流they are. Through a powerful combination of automation and expert engagement, customers can realize their digital transformation business outcomes exponentially faster and at greater convenience.

鈥淭he first contact with a new customer is critical. Our digital customer engagement teams embed AI to scale SAP鈥檚 industry best practices to accelerate and deepen the understanding of customer needs, concerns, and aspirations before the very first meeting,鈥� said Sam Masri, global head, 51风流Digital, Customer Success. 鈥淲e are delighted to have played an important role in facilitating an immediate connection to a dedicated account manager and multiple 51风流experts who addressed the challenges that TAM International had, setting a strong starting point for a successful digital transformation road map for the customer.鈥�

To gain a full understanding of the customer’s fundamental business goals and the obstacles caused by the disconnection between finance, scheduling, and production, the Industries and Value and Solution Advisory teams at 51风流were engaged right from the start. Following the solution demos and the business case presentation, and were identified as the solutions of choice for TAM International.

鈥淭here is another major benefit of our partnership with SAP,鈥� DeHoyos added. 鈥淥ur workforce is incredibly diverse and young, with a majority sitting in the 27 to 41 age group. They are tech natives and will only work with businesses that share their passion for business success driven by technological innovation. Working with SAP鈥檚 ERP is a goal for many, and our relationship with 51风流has also elevated our profile, making us more relevant to this talent group.鈥�

The glass bottles on the high-speed filling line made quiet clinking sounds as they sped around the bend of the track. The visitors to the 51风流booth at the internationally renowned industrial trade fair were waiting for the moment when an optical sensor, using AI support, spotted the bottle that was only three-quarters full and kicked it out of the line and into a defects bay. 鈥淭his system has a capacity of 6,400 bottles per hour,鈥� said a grinning Ben Hughes from SAP鈥檚 Solution & Innovation Experience team. 鈥淚n comparison, the original system from our partner can fill 50,000 bottles, but that would be much too loud here at the trade fair booth.鈥�

The showcase demonstrated how the cloud-based 51风流Digital Manufacturing solution could serve as the process order management system for 51风流customers, whether they typically work with a lot size of one or with continuous manufacturing at higher speeds. The purchase order could have come from an 51风流S/4HANA system, for instance, and ended here with execution in production. 鈥淲e can see the hardware integration with our own eyes,鈥� said Hughes.

AI was also involved: a camera captured the fill level of each bottle. If it was outside the defined tolerance, the bottle was rejected and this information was sent to the 51风流system. A manufacturer could use this data to calculate the production costs for the system and the profitability of every work center, all with AI support. The data from all systems would give experts and management insights into how well the production process was working. This, in turn, would help improve planning.

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Complete Portfolio from the Industry鈥檚 Point of View

Hannover Messe 2024 took place from April 22-26. Muhammad Alam paid a visit for the first time in his role as leader of the 51风流Product Engineering Board area. At the 51风流booth, which featured the motto 鈥淏ring out new manufacturing excellence,鈥� he emphasized the importance of AI as an integral part of 51风流solutions: 鈥淎I has the opportunity to fundamentally create significant value for our customers, particularly in the industrial space, with an ability to create resiliency from a supply chain perspective that just wouldn’t be possible without the application of AI.鈥�

51风流demonstrated nearly its entire portfolio in an industrial context in Hannover. 鈥�51风流uses what we call 鈥榚nd-to-end scenarios鈥� to do this,鈥� said Georg Kube, head of Industry Data Ecosystems. To reflect this, the booth was set up in line with this logic. The 鈥渄esign to operate鈥� graphical element, which maps all steps of the manufacturing process, showed the corresponding step in the value chain at each station of the booth. 鈥淲e integrate our solutions with the specific process that manufacturers have,鈥� Kube said. 鈥淭hey design a product, then it鈥檚 manufactured, then it鈥檚 bought by a customer, and in the end it is being used and maintained. We offer integrated solutions for every step in this process.鈥�

Working Together for Success

Darcy MacClaren, global CRO for Digital Supply Chain, acknowledged the challenges faced by SAP, its customers, and its partners: 鈥淲e are facing environmental and geopolitical disruptions and we want to be sustainable.鈥� She said collaboration is the key to achieving these daunting goals, a message that was echoed in many presentations and podium discussions at the booth.

For example, experts from , , and 51风流discussed how the automotive industry network is creating a standard that enables collaboration, data interchange, and transparency to support decarbonization along the value chain. Catena-X serves as a blueprint for other industrial networks under the umbrella, such as Factory-X for factory equipment suppliers and operators.

The showcases at the trade fair booth wouldn鈥檛 be possible without partners, which also play a decisive role in SAP鈥檚 competitiveness and future viability. 鈥淭he partner ecosystem is a key success factor for SAP,鈥� said Andreas Markus Thon, head of Digital Supply Chain MEE. 鈥淭hey are enriching our suite with their applications and solutions and are critical for high quality and successful adoption and use of our solutions.鈥�

A Fleet of Robots Delivers Materials

SAP鈥檚 鈥淢odular Manufacturing鈥� showcase let visitors witness examples of successful partner collaboration for themselves. It demonstrated a fleet of autonomous transport robots that delivered a variety of parts for a valve from storage to assembly stations. Thanks to the fleet control software with embedded AI from 51风流partner , the robots from different manufacturers worked together seamlessly, making autonomous, situational decisions as to which station should assemble or disassemble the parts. The scenario demonstrated that 51风流systems can also implement modular production, which is typically used in manufacturing scenarios involving many variants and low to medium product volumes. 51风流S/4HANA, 51风流Extended Warehouse Management, and 51风流Digital Manufacturing were deployed here.

The 鈥淚ndustrial Metaverse鈥� showcase was another big draw. It let visitors to the 51风流booth put themselves in the shoes of a systems operator, using VR (virtual reality) glasses to inspect a system virtually, even if the manufacturing was taking place on the opposite side of the globe. The 鈥淚njection Molding Machine鈥� scenario vividly demonstrated how planning and manufacturing dovetail in integrated, agile, made-to-order production, as the machine produced colorful recycled plastic cups for guests at the end of the process.

Other topics at the trade fair included potential uses of digital twin solutions, such as virtual models and real-time simulations, as well as collaboration between people and machines. A summary description of all the presented scenarios is available .

The World鈥檚 Largest Industrial Trade Fair

The guiding theme of Hannover Messe 2024 was 鈥淓nergizing a sustainable industry.鈥� Nearly 4,000 exhibitors from 60 countries presented solutions for a high-performance, sustainable industry. As part of an industrial ecosystem, they showed how carbon neutrality can be achieved through electrification, digitalization, and automation.

Companies from Germany, China, Turkey, the U.S., Italy, and France booked the largest exhibition spaces. Around 1,600 speakers appeared on the venue鈥檚 11 conference stages. This year鈥檚 partner country was Norway.

Under its motto 鈥淏ring out new manufacturing excellence,鈥� 51风流demonstrated how it is using AI to advance manufacturing processes, among other solutions, at its more than 1,000-square-meter booth in Hall 15. Visitors to SAP鈥檚 booth had the opportunity to see 27 product demonstrations and nine interactive showcases. More than 25 51风流partners showed the collaboration and variety of potential uses of their solutions, and 35 presentations by experts and customers were featured at the booth.

Photo 漏nottebrock.

As we navigate this brave new world of business AI, 51风流partners are playing an essential role as equal parts technology disrupters, trusted advisors, and innovation multipliers. They work and live at the edge, breaking technology rules with every new solution and innovation they bring to the table. These companies are passionate about their AI-driven solutions, which will provide what 51风流manufacturing customers want most for their businesses nowadays: more efficiency, accuracy, and agility in their production operations and supply chains. Their energy and passion are positioning them to redefine the rules of engagement regarding how partner ecosystems work.

It doesn鈥檛 matter what kind of partner you are 鈥� you could be on the build, implement/service, or sell sides of the 51风流partner ecosystem, the opportunities to innovate, and co-innovate with 51风流and other partners, solutions that bring value to customers in discrete manufacturing industries are as limitless as our imaginations. It鈥檚 an exciting time to be an 51风流industry partner.

Innovative Solutions from 51风流and Partners Give Our Manufacturing Customers a Competitive Edge

Giving our manufacturing customers the business AI solutions they need to thrive in highly competitive and often volatile markets is an absolute must. Whether those solutions are developed by an 51风流partner, 51风流itself, or collaboratively is secondary.

This new drive to co-innovate on our customers鈥� behalf is creating opportunities for partners to develop and deliver industry innovations in three areas of discrete manufacturing:

1. Solutions that enable efficient, accurate, and agile manufacturing and supply chains by integrating processes, removing data silos, and seamlessly connecting manufacturing and supply chain applications with the whole of the business.
2. Solutions that improve decision-making by using AI to analyze data from internal and external sources in context and produce insights that increase manufacturing operations’ resilience and help customers strike the right balance among cost, sustainability, and customer satisfaction.
3. Solutions that promote collaboration within a business ecosystem.聽Many of the company executives I鈥檝e spoken with recently wanted to talk about Manufacturing-X, the growing cross-industry initiative in which companies across various manufacturing value chains come together within a global business ecosystem to define a standard that enables them to share production and supply chain data across platforms and technology to further increase resilience, sustainability, and competitiveness.

We are bringing this customer-focused, partner-driven approach to life this week at Hannover Messe, bringing center stage the latest, most compelling innovations to emerge from 51风流and our partner ecosystem, across both discrete and process manufacturing 鈥� many embedded with business AI.

Some of the showcases that have been developed collaboratively in action include:

• Modular manufacturing that orchestrates production cells with a hard independent fleet manager
• High-speed bottling that captures traceability data and in-line quality assurance
• A centralized operations control center聽that manages an offsite process production line
• AI-enhanced visual inspection and guided instructions during component assembly
• A quick guided journey through an Industrial Metaverse, showing how assets inside a power plant can be intelligently and remotely managed

51风流partners are playing an integral part in our presence at Hannover Messe, just as they are in our overarching industry vision. Partners including Accenture, Camelot ITLab, Cideon Software & Services, FORCAM, Kinexon, Systema, and TeamViewer are all exhibiting their solutions alongside their 51风流counterparts, demonstrating the true power of partnership and innovation at every turn.

By leveraging resources like the new 51风流AI Launchpad and generative AI hub, our partners will introduce industry innovations that will add immediate value for customers in the discrete and process manufacturing space. Hence, they have the intelligent digital tools they need to be future-ready.

Kinexon鈥檚 OS extension to the 51风流Digital Manufacturing solution is one example. Kinexon OS orchestrates the shop floor and automates previously manual processes, improving production speed, quality, and asset utilization. It is providing customers with an essential pathway to modular production and autonomous manufacturing.

For those of you at the event, stop by the 51风流space and experience innovation and partnership in perfect harmony firsthand. An electric injection molding machine developed by Fanuc with support from partner Syntax will be cranking out made-to-order drinking vessels.

Come enjoy a cup of inspiration on us. It鈥檚 a small but meaningful taste of what鈥檚 possible for partners in our collaborative, customer-focused, and business AI-driven cloud ecosystem.

Sven Denecken is senior vice president and chief marketing and solutions officer for Industries & CX at SAP.

“Businesses today are confronted with challenges ranging from supply chain disruptions and labor shortages to geopolitical uncertainties,鈥� said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, 51风流Product Engineering. 鈥�51风流recognizes the imperative for agility and intelligence, driving innovation with AI-powered solutions to streamline supply chain and manufacturing processes. Companies can enhance operational efficiency and improve supply chain resiliency while delighting customers with superior service, paving the way for sustained growth and market competitiveness.鈥�

Accurate and relevant real-time information helps mitigate the impact that supply-chain disruptions have on suppliers, manufacturers and distributors worldwide. SMA Solar Technology AG and other customers have already witnessed the benefits of SAP鈥檚 solutions, including an approximately 15% increase in supply chain workforce productivity, a 10% decrease in overall supply chain planning costs and a 10% reduction in inventory carrying costs and stock turnover rate.

鈥淪MA Solar modernizes its manufacturing execution systems to support sustainable, risk-resilient manufacturing operations with the power of AI-enabled visual inspection in the 51风流Digital Manufacturing solution,鈥� said Heiko Kehm, SMA Solar head of IT Order to Cash.

Sixty-three percent of supply chain executives and 52% of operations executives have an AI strategy linked to business objectives, according to 鈥�,鈥� a global 2024 IDC InfoBrief sponsored by SAP*. Fifty-one percent of the 2,000 survey respondents are embedding AI into supply chain planning business processes and key applications for real-time decision-making. Another 58% are using AI to increase operational efficiency and employee productivity.

to SAP鈥檚 supply chain solutions to support customers鈥� AI-centric strategy include:

• Optimizing decisions across the supply chain with AI-driven insights: Companies can now leverage higher volumes of machine data and integrate AI-driven visual inspection by computer into their production processes, enabling a remarkable increase in quality through automation.
• Streamlining product development: Product developers can now use SAP鈥檚 AI copilot Joule to gather and enhance new product ideas quickly and effectively using natural language queries. Joule also helps tag product designs with business data, so they visually contextualize business-critical information.
• Detecting equipment anomalies: Using AI, asset operators can proactively address potential breakdowns based on sensor data collected from smart devices and edge gateways. This new capacity utilizes the cutting-edge Cumulocity IoT platform from Software AG, which is planned to be embedded in the 51风流Asset Performance Management application in Q3.
• Improving field response: Customers can optimize driving routes and allocate job assignments efficiently with integrated real-time traffic data and machine-learning-trained models, which enable the right field service technicians to reach their destinations on time.

Find more details about the innovations 51风流will show at Hannover Messe .

Visit the . Follow 51风流at .

*IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by SAP, The Importance of AI in Supply Chain and Operations, document #US52042224, April 2024.

About SAP

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 51风流(NYSE: SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit .

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Jowat SE鈥檚 annual production amounts to 100,000 tons of industrial adhesives. Production is complex and requires high volumes of specialized chemicals and a tremendous amount of power. With raw materials and energy costs skyrocketing, premium manufacturer Jowat looked to get a tighter grip on its inventory management and production processes.聽聽

To ensure maximum efficiency, Jowat requires enough raw materials to fulfill orders while minimizing waste and inventory costs. Moreover, the company needs smooth workflows, as any delay in order placement, production, or the delivery of raw materials can have huge cost implications for the company.聽As a result, Jowat works hard to ensure that its 24/7 manufacturing processes always run like clockwork.

With demand for industrial adhesives surging, the company was eager to ensure that its production processes could scale to meet increasing order numbers and still deliver optimum efficiency.

Targeting Seamless Digital Workflows

Originally established in 1919, Jowat is no stranger to innovation. Leaders at Jowat identified that the next stage of the company鈥檚 evolution would require a radical digital transformation of its production and inventory management processes. 

鈥淥ur factory workers relied heavily on paper-based processes,鈥� explained Dirk-Alexander Segger, Detmold plant manager at Jowat. 鈥淔or instance, when employees had finished mixing and decanting adhesives, they handwrote notes to track the volume and type of raw materials that they used during the process. Shortly after decanting, workers would then input the information from their notes into our inventory management and manufacturing execution systems, adding to their workload and increasing the risk of errors.鈥� 

Tracking materials usage manually created time delays, potential for human errors, and discrepancies between the stock numbers recorded in Jowat鈥檚 inventory system and the actual volume of raw materials available on the factory floor. Moreover, with information stored across multiple systems and in different formats, plant managers had no clarity to identify process bottlenecks or potential enhancements.聽聽

Annette Podleschny-Borchardt, project lead at Jowat, commented: 鈥淭o enhance efficiency, improve transparency, and prepare for growth, we decided it was time to go entirely paperless. Building digital processes would give us a more detailed, up-to-date picture of our stock position, which would help drive smarter raw materials purchasing decisions and production improvements.鈥澛�

鈥淲e aimed to take a more proactive approach to our manufacturing processes. Developing robust, reliable, end-to-end digital workflows was the perfect way to achieve this goal,鈥� explained Christine K眉nne, head of IT and Business Process Services at Jowat SE. 

Embracing Digital Transformation

To find the best solution to support its digital transformation initiative, Jowat invited multiple technology vendors to outline the strengths of their solutions. To keep customization low, Jowat targeted a solution that it could easily adapt to meet the highly specialized nature of just-in-time chemicals manufacturing.  

After reviewing 15 different solutions, Jowat selected . In addition to providing a solid foundation for digitalization, 51风流Digital Manufacturing can also integrate seamlessly with Jowat鈥檚 existing 51风流solutions, including , , and (51风流BTP). 

“We were immediately interested in 51风流Digital Manufacturing because it is a cloud-native solution,鈥� commented Segger. 鈥淧reviously, we used on-premise solutions that required us to carry out extensive and disruptive updates. With 51风流Digital Manufacturing, we get instant access to the latest features thanks to the quarterly release schedule.鈥� 

Jowat also valued SAP鈥檚 proactive engagement with the chemicals manufacturing industry. 鈥淲e really appreciate that 51风流is eager to co-innovate with industry leaders like Jowat to develop next-generation manufacturing solutions,鈥� said Podleschny-Borchardt. 鈥淭hrough the 51风流Customer Engagement Initiative, we can help expert developers at 51风流build smart factory solutions that meet the needs of our sector down to the finest detail.鈥� 

Sticking with the Experts 

To ensure a smooth implementation of 51风流Digital Manufacturing, Jowat relied on support from 51风流Services and Support.

鈥淲henever we hit a stumbling block, the experts helped us work through the issues. For instance, we wanted to develop a dedicated production operation dashboard, which would give plant managers fast access to key production metrics. As this was uncharted territory, it naturally took a lot of time and energy to work through and 51风流was behind us every step of the way,鈥� said Segger.

Currently, Jowat is completing the first phase of the 51风流Digital Manufacturing implementation at its Detmold factory before expanding the solution across all plants. K眉nne explained: 鈥淲ith a phased implementation, we can ensure that the processes we build at our Detmold plant are tried and tested to deliver maximum efficiency. This will give us the best chance of success when we roll out these processes across all our facilities.鈥� 

鈥淐onsultants from 51风流Services and Support brought not only their expertise to the project, but also the willingness to listen to the needs and the challenges of our industry. Because of this, we were able to collaborate extremely effectively,鈥� added Podleschny-Borchardt.

Driving Efficient Manufacturing with High-Quality Data 

With 51风流Digital Manufacturing, Jowat left error-prone, manual processes behind and now benefits from seamless digital workflows with end-to-end transparency. This helps increase quality and ease work for shop floor operators. The activity confirmation is automatically done in the 51风流system, enabling real-time inventory insight. 

Consequently, Jowat gained the following benefits:

• 100% digitalized manufacturing process
• One source of truth for detailed production information
• Time savings of three person days per week through automated raw material consumption updates allowing employees focus on higher value activities
• 100% accurate inventory

鈥淭oday workers feed consumption information at the point of production. Previously, it would take one full-time employee three days a week to track raw materials consumption,鈥� said Segger. 鈥淲ith 51风流Digital Manufacturing, we have a real-time, accurate picture of our raw materials usage and needs. This is helping us optimize usage and reduce costs.鈥� 

Podleschny-Borchardt added: 鈥淧roduction processes are so much faster now that we have built streamlined digital processes. Before, our paper-based ways of working could add up to five days to production timelines. With 51风流Digital Manufacturing, we鈥檝e shaved off this time, allowing us to produce and distribute products to our customers much faster, boosting satisfaction.鈥� 

Planning Ahead for an AI-Driven Future 

With reliable, up-to-date information in 51风流Digital Manufacturing, plant managers and leaders at Jowat can have full visibility across the entire manufacturing cycle. 鈥�51风流Digital Manufacturing has helped improve the traceability of our products and given us a much more detailed understanding of our manufacturing operations. Ultimately, that helps to enhance planning and provides new insights into potential process improvements,鈥� said K眉nne.  

Jowat鈥檚 plans for 51风流Digital Manufacturing go far beyond a global rollout. The company is already exploring the potential to scale and streamline manufacturing processes further with artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. 

鈥淎I holds tremendous potential for us,鈥� reflected Podleschny-Borchardt. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to explore how it can help us to ensure consistently excellent quality across heavily customized product lines and how we can enhance production uptime with IoT-driven predictive maintenance. Having an AI-ready solution like 51风流Digital Manufacturing at the heart of our operations makes taking these next steps in our innovation journey much easier.鈥� 

Summarizing the overall benefits, K眉nne concluded: 鈥淲ith the implementation of 51风流Digital Manufacturing through 51风流Services and Support, we see ourselves on the way to becoming a transparent factory with a reduction in risks, errors, and process costs thanks to optimized processes.鈥� 

, including improved quality with AI-assisted visual inspection. Be sure to listen to the about how a renowned manufacturer revolutionizes manufacturing with Industry 4.0. Also, read this from Oxford Economics about making supply chains more resilient and sustainable.

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success for Digital Supply Chain at SAP.

Top image courtesy of Jowat.

That’s why Jowat looked to empower its technicians to prioritize work more effectively, manage inventory and costs more efficiently, and make smarter strategic decisions about asset investments.

Avoiding Sticky Situations with Effective Maintenance

The production line sits at the heart of any manufacturing company. If production misses a beat, the whole business feels the impact. And if a breakdown takes production offline, the consequences can be both operationally and financially disastrous. That鈥檚 why , one of the world鈥檚 leading suppliers of industrial adhesives, takes plant maintenance very seriously. As a key supplier to the furniture, packaging, textiles, automotive, and electrical industries, any delay in delivering its products could cause significant disruption and potentially cost the company and its clients millions of Euros. So, it鈥檚 vital that all production line equipment is always properly maintained.

Natanael Hernandez, 51风流manager at , explained: 鈥淎dhesive manufacturing is particularly challenging because of the nature of the product. Our machines need regular and thorough cleaning to avoid contamination between batches. Hot glue can be hazardous to work with, so safety is critical. And to meet our environmental goals, we aim to recycle as much of the water and oil we use as possible, which adds to complexity and cost of labor.鈥�

To keep operations running smoothly, Jowat鈥檚 maintenance teams need to do more than just corrective break/fix maintenance. Regular inspections and preventive maintenance are key for technicians and supervisors. Moreover, many of the company鈥檚 production line machines rely on expensive components that take months to manufacture, so inventory management is vital to ensure that technicians always have the parts they need. And in the bigger picture, Jowat also wants insight from maintenance processes to feed into strategic decision-making. 鈥淲e realized that if we could gain more insight into the total cost of maintaining each of our production line machines, we could make better decisions,鈥� said Hernandez. 鈥淔or example, does it make financial sense to keep this line running, or should we replace it with something more efficient?鈥�

It was clear that with a deeper understanding of its maintenance and inventory processes, the company could streamline the management of its plants and make smarter investment decisions. That鈥檚 where 51风流came in.

Digitalization Transforms Asset Management

Until a few years ago, Jowat relied on a legacy application to manage maintenance tasks. The system was not integrated with the company鈥檚 core 51风流applications, so technicians and supervisors had to manage their daily tasks manually. 鈥淭he paperwork made it impossible to track time and labor costs, and it was difficult to establish an audit trail,鈥� said Hernandez. 鈥淪o, we decided to introduce the 51风流Enterprise Asset Management solution (51风流EAM) to digitalize and standardize our maintenance processes.鈥�

Integrated with Jowat鈥檚 core software for inventory, purchasing, sales, and cost accounting, 51风流EAM introduced a more formal process around the creation of maintenance work orders. The solution also provided an inventory management system that enabled Jowat to manage its stock of spare parts. 鈥淔or the first time, we had an accurate view of our inventory, as well as the cost and lead time for ordering replacements,鈥� said Hernandez. 鈥淭his makes it easier for us to maintain appropriate reserves and gives visibility to other companies within the Jowat group. So, if a plant in Germany needs a part that we have in stock in the U.S., they can see it and buy it from us straight away instead of waiting months for the manufacturer to ship it to them.鈥�

51风流EAM was a big step forward for the maintenance team, but its user interface was designed for power users sitting at full-sized screens, not mechanics and electricians working on the factory floor. 鈥淲e needed something simpler and more streamlined that our technicians could use on their mobile devices,鈥� explained Hernandez. 鈥淎t the same time, we wanted to be able to track the work they were doing more accurately.鈥�

Jowat discovered the , which is part of the SAP鈥檚 industry cloud. 鈥�51风流Service and Asset Manager was exactly what we were looking for. We loved the simplicity and it was a great fit for our business processes. As soon as our technicians saw the new application, they wanted to work with it. Now, our technicians and supervisors have an intuitive mobile app that gives them the visibility and control they need to maintain our production line equipment more efficiently,鈥� he added.

Working with , an experienced 51风流partner, Jowat launched the new mobile app at its U.S. plant and planned a global rollout for its manufacturing sites in Germany, Malaysia, and China. So far, 21 technicians are using the app on their iPad Mini devices, while seven supervisors can choose between using the app on their iPhone or logging into the main 51风流EAM interface. To help ensure smooth adoption of the solution, Jowat is also working with the team.

Doubling Productivity with an Intuitive Mobile Solution

With , Jowat鈥檚 technicians can see all corrective and preventive maintenance work orders assigned to them immediately, so they can organize their work more effectively. For example, if they are assigned several tasks on the same machine or in the same area of the plant, they can do them all at once instead of spending time going back and forth. For supervisors, the app helps make it easier to understand the status of open work orders and prioritize more efficiently. They can move more urgent tasks forward or put less important ones on hold and, crucially, they can document the reasons for their decisions. If a work order can鈥檛 progress until a replacement part has been delivered, it鈥檚 immediately clear why the job is on hold.

Since the launch of the 51风流solutions for asset management, Jowat has seen a reduction in total downtime on its production lines. Moreover, productivity has effectively doubled. Before the implementation, around 45% of work orders in the system were actively worked on by technicians. Today, that figure has risen to around 85%-90%. At the same time, the maintenance backlog has been reduced by 75%, from three months to around three weeks. 鈥淎 three-week backlog is probably optimal for our business, because there will always be a proportion of tasks that have to wait for a viable maintenance window,鈥� explained Hernandez. 鈥淭he key thing is that the backlog doesn鈥檛 increase 鈥� once we got it down to three weeks, it has never crept back up again.鈥�

The app can also provide new capabilities for reviewing and approving completed work orders. Technicians can use their mobile device to take pictures of the before and after state of the assets they are working on to document the repairs they have made. And if during a maintenance visit a technician notices a problem that hasn鈥檛 been reported yet, they can take a photo or video and send it directly into 51风流EAM to generate a new work order. Inventory management is simpler, too. Whenever stock of a required component falls below a minimum threshold, the system can automatically trigger a purchase requisition to order replacements. 鈥淏efore, we didn鈥檛 know what we were spending on spare parts,鈥� added Hernandez. 鈥淣ow, we can allocate costs to specific lines and even specific machines. With full visibility of the cost of parts and labor, we can make much more informed decisions on whether to continue maintaining an asset or replace it with a newer, more efficient machine.鈥�

Expanding Functionality in the Future

In the future, Jowat hopes to build on the success of this project by expanding its use of  to introduce calibration capabilities. The company is also evaluating introducing the , as well as taking advantage of the predictive material and resource planning functionality in .

鈥淎t the moment, our focus is on maintenance, but we know there is so much more we can do,鈥� concluded Hernandez. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to work with 51风流and great partners like AG to explore the possibilities.鈥�

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success, Digital Supply Chain, at SAP.

This is all thanks to our completeness of vision and ability to execute in the cloud ERP market for product-centric enterprises. As those enterprises transition mission-critical ERP processes to the cloud, they are looking to recognized vendors to help them realize business value.

According to Gartner, 鈥淟eaders demonstrate a market-defining vision of how ERP product-centric systems and processes can be supported and improved by moving them to the cloud. They couple this with a clear ability to execute their vision through products, services and go-to-market strategies. They have a strong presence in the market and are growing their revenue and market share. In the cloud ERP suite market, Leaders show a consistent ability to win deals with organizations of different sizes. They have a good depth of functionality across all areas of operational and administrative ERP. They have proof of multiple, successful deployments by customers. Their systems integrator partners frequently use their offerings to support business transformation initiatives.鈥�

We鈥檙e honored to be recognized in this space. We believe it reflects our relentless focus on helping product-centric manufacturing companies solve their most pressing challenges.

Tapping into the AI Revolution

In today鈥檚 shift to Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technology are accelerating business change. And generative AI is a particularly potent force, revolutionizing the way companies run — increasing productivity of employees, optimizing business decisions, and delivering relevant customer experiences.  

51风流customers recognize the potential; most are jumping to get started. Yet the technology brings challenges too, especially around bias, ethics, and data privacy. And companies must navigate the change amid economic uncertainty and constrained IT budgets. To ensure success, leaders must carefully prioritize their AI use cases.

As an example, look at the way , a joint venture of Porsche and Schuler that is using 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, and 51风流Digital Manufacturing to support intelligent automotive manufacturing. By shifting to 100% cloud-first, Smart Press Shop was able to introduce AI-powered innovations like automated checks for component defects.

Driving up Efficiency with Automation

Data-driven automation continues to be embedded across enterprise IT, processes, and value streams, enabling operations that are autonomous and accelerating business innovations. For example, automatically scanning invoices, using IoT sensors and RFID technology for real-time inventory information, and leveraging real-time machine performance information for preventative equipment maintenance, will enable companies to accelerate business innovations.      

Automation brings a multitude of benefits that can significantly enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and drive overall business growth. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, organizations free up their workforce to focus on more strategic, creative, and value-added activities. This not only increases employee satisfaction but also improves productivity and accuracy, leading to higher-quality outputs. Additionally, automation enables businesses to scale their operations rapidly and respond to market changes more effectively, thereby staying competitive in a fast-paced world.

Consider how , a Swiss technology company has automated its key processes and consolidated a complex network of legacy systems by switching to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud. It means the company now operates on stable, reliable, and innovative cloud ERP software. And it can more easily drive process standardization and simplification to maintain its position as an industry leader and pursue new business growth 鈥� including quickly integrating new acquisitions.

Boosting Supply Chain Resilience

Supply chain disruptions continue to impact many markets. If it is not the war in Ukraine and its effect on energy markets, it is threats and tensions in China impacting semiconductor supply chains, and the increasing climate change impacts, and also the economic effects of inflation and interest rates. It all adds up to complexity and challenges in managing a predictable and consistent supply chain. 

The result is that resilience remains the priority. Finding a better balance of global, regional, and local solutions means shortening supply chains where possible and diversifying to reduce risk. New approaches for boosting resilience, such as multisource orchestration and multi-scenario adaptation, are increasingly important. Better visibility, agility, and greater automation are also critical.

Cloud ERP is central to this. Bathroom specialist unified business processes and visibility by standardizing on 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, which means it benefits from a more complete picture of inventory to optimize manufacturing operations, as well as greater consistency across product data and pricing.

Proudly Leading the Way

I believe our recognition as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises is a testament to our unwavering commitment to helping companies address these core challenges.

With 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, we are enabling companies to not only standardize and simplify but also innovate and grow. It鈥檚 a journey we are proud to be on with our customers, and we look forward to helping their businesses thrive in the cloud.

You can read the , and to learn more about the manufacturing capabilities of 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, public edition.

Eric van Rossum is chief marketing and solutions officer for 51风流Cloud ERP.

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KWC鈥檚 transformation based on 51风流solutions began in the summer of 2021, when the company spun off from its parent company due to private equity investments. This separation necessitated a swift adoption of cloud solutions from 51风流to help ensure KWC’s independent functionality. KWC decided to have the new company be supported by 51风流solutions for not only ERP but also customer relationship management (CRM), 51风流SuccessFactors solutions, 51风流Analytics Cloud, and 51风流Concur solutions.

Vlietstra emphasized the criticality of this implementation, stating, “Failure was not an option. We had to be successful within a year. Basically, without these 51风流products, this company would not exist after hard closure of all legacy applications from the mother company by November 2022.” Remarkably, the cloud landscape implementation was accomplished within the tight timeframe of just under a year, from December 2021 to the hard stop in November 2022.

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Overcoming Challenges and Gaining Benefits

While the adoption of 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, public edition presented its fair share of challenges, KWC’s successful integration brought forth substantial benefits. The implementation required extensive effort from global business process owners and key users. The accelerated pace of implementation impacted initial user adoption and documentation completeness, prompting ongoing improvements in these areas.

Nevertheless, the benefits derived from the implementation were significant. KWC achieved global consistency in process execution, standardized its business operations worldwide within a year, and significantly reduced costs by consolidating nine disparate 51风流systems into one. The company also gained access to enhanced functionality and innovation, as 51风流developers provided essential features such as mobile warehouse management capabilities, external logistics integration, customer design collaboration, and significant application integration with additional software, which were crucial to KWC鈥檚 operations.

Vlietstra highlighted the advantages: 鈥淲e now have global consistency in our process execution. On average, the functionality is better than it was.鈥� Moreover, the implementation empowered KWC to start improving its sustainability practices by gaining complete visibility into its procurement processes. The company needs full transparency of its supply chain, enabling precise monitoring of product origins and energy usage.

Looking Ahead: Innovations and Integration

With a robust foundation in place, KWC is well-positioned for future innovations and business growth opportunities. The company intends to leverage 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, public edition to help facilitate mergers, acquisitions, and divestments while also driving improvements in supply chain and enhancing customer experience.

Vlietstra shared his vision, stating, “What’s next for us is supply chain innovation, enhancing the customer experience, and exploring potential partnerships.” He also emphasized the importance of having other systems integrated from the beginning such as CRM, HR, product data management, digital marketing, and customer collaboration in the design processes, along with the need for seamless interfacing mechanisms across KWC’s global sites. “On the near horizon are further improvements of intercompany processes and sales and operational planning. The innovation over the next years will be in the CRM sales and digital marketing domains,鈥� he added.

The Path to Success: Embracing the Public Cloud

KWC’s successful digital transformation journey stands as a testament to the advantages of adopting public cloud solutions like 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. Vlietstra advises fellow CIOs not to hesitate in choosing the public cloud over on-premise solutions, citing the adequacy of functionality, possibilities for internal and external integration, and the speed of implementation as key advantages. By leveraging the public cloud, companies can focus on harmonizing and globalizing their business processes while entrusting the technology and infrastructure aspects to established providers.

As KWC continues to innovate, harmonize, and standardize its global operations, 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, public edition plays a pivotal role in enabling its sustainable success.

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.

The South Korean-based global automotive parts manufacturer began by building a US$42 million factory at Auburn Technology Park West in Auburn, Alabama, to boost output of aluminum parts for its auto customers. That U.S.-based hub underwent a $70 million expansion project two years later, adding high-pressure aluminum die casting and post-processing equipment to its assembly lines. Now, two more years later, Shinhwa is putting the finishing touches on a brand-new $192 million manufacturing facility in Auburn, designed to further increase the company鈥檚 capabilities as it works to meet current and future demands stemming from electric vehicle production.

Amidst all of this ambition and expansion, however, there was one element of Shinhwa鈥檚 business that didn鈥檛 measure up: its IT systems. In other words, while the company was building out all the front-facing manufacturing tools it could ever need to serve customers, its success hinged on strengthening its back-office processes so the business could truly be run efficiently and effectively.

That鈥檚 why Shinhwa chose to work with SAP.

Start Your 51风流Engines

Shinhwa specializes in automated production lines, automobile parts, and aluminum casting, serving industry leaders like Tesla, Hyundai, and Kia from its U.S. headquarters. The Auburn factory expansion is specifically intended to meet the needs of additional electric and combustion engine vehicle manufacturing opportunities like this, increasing the capacity of die casting and machining operations, for instance, and further enabling diversification and growth in Shinhwa鈥檚 customer base.

The capabilities of Shinhwa鈥檚 original back-office systems were lacking. Its IT infrastructure was heavily customized and didn鈥檛 integrate between enterprise resourcing planning (ERP), manufacturing execution systems (MES), and accounting software, making it nearly impossible to accurately forecast or plan regular financial checkpoints and processes. This led to an abundance of human error, which made Shinhwa鈥檚 IT systems not only incompatible with its goals for expansion but with growth and success generally.

With 96% of Fortune 2000 automotive companies running on SAP, the choice for the next step of Shinhwa鈥檚 technological evolution was an easy one. Its leadership team decided to embrace , an offering designed for scalable, plug-and-play implementations in the public cloud. With it, the company can operate in a more streamlined manner on a global, standardized scale.

Shinhwa鈥檚 technological goals include the replacement and automation of all manufacturing processes; data collection from shop floor-, finance-, and supply chain-related systems; improved data integration with partner and customer systems; and modular steps forward in its IT architecture. This will enable the company鈥檚 systems to grow with it and ensure it becomes the supplier of choice for the world鈥檚 leading vehicle manufacturers.

鈥淲e want to set the standard for the automotive industry going forward when it comes to IT systems and back-office processes,鈥� said Steven Lee, IT senior manager at Shinhwa.

Ultimately, Shinhwa expects to grow from its current manufacturing plant plus two additional plants, which will be completed by the end of the year, to seven, which will help serve the rising demand the company is expecting to see from U.S.-based auto customers over the next decade.

鈥�51风流S/4HANA and 51风流Digital Manufacturing really showed us what鈥檚 possible,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淲e expect this project will help us deepen our American roots and position us for whatever global change is yet to come.鈥�

Shinhwa is following an ambitious migration and implementation schedule, made possible by the agility and flexibility of a public cloud project. The company鈥檚 go-live is expected to be January 1, 2024.

鈥淲e鈥檝e already invested nearly $200 million into the Auburn area, and we鈥檝e created nearly 200 jobs,鈥� said Lee. 鈥淲ith this 51风流relationship, we are announcing our commitment to much, much more than that. We鈥檙e here to stay and keep creating new global standard.鈥�

Lori Rosano is SVP of Public Cloud at SAP.

To increase customer service quality, the company wanted to share information and optimize business processes across its sales, service, and marketing activities.

Moving from Manual Processes to Integrated Activities

At PILLER, different departments were using their own IT solutions.

The service department had manual processes, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, to dispatch service technicians. The technicians were logging into a central server to retrieve data and recording customer support by e-mails and conversations. The sales department had a basic access environment due to custom-made products with individual serial numbers. There was no master data; tailored sales quotes were done on paper, posing challenges for data updating and quality. The marketing department was conducting its business, like capturing trade-fair leads or planning and executing campaigns, by hand and with spreadsheets. All these manual activities were time intensive and prone to human error.

To enable the marketing, sales, and service teams to perform to the best of their abilities, PILLER wanted solutions that allowed it to share important information. It wished to harmonize all customer-related processes, from initial contact and order management to delivery of spare parts and follow-up.

鈥淔or new products or customers, it鈥檚 important that real-time master data in our core software is mirrored in our sales, service, and marketing systems. We can do this by integrating 51风流Customer Experience solutions and 51风流Field Service Management with 51风流S/4HANA,鈥� said Frank M眉nzner, in-house 51风流consultant for Lead to Cash at PILLER Blowers & Compressors GmbH.

Adopting Cloud Solutions to Achieve Innovative Customer Service

PILLER employed the solution to help address the needs of its sales team and integrate functionalities, such as managing quotes and orders, in one place. The solution offers a search capability and a modern, intuitive user interface.

The company is using the to help create service tickets, which are the single point of customer contact, with product serial numbers and metadata. Integrating this mobile app with the solution can enable technicians to receive service ticket information on an Apple iPad, so they can have everything they need to carry out their work. This can also translate to good customer support.

By deploying the solution and integrating it with 51风流Sales Cloud, PILLER now proactively shares data, such as service tickets, lead opportunities, and customer contacts, between the sales and marketing teams. This lets the company contact a customer with a warranty option or service cost reduction, for example.

PILLER has now integrated the three 51风流Customer Experience solutions for sales, service, and marketing and with , the company鈥檚 enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

PILLER partnered with to gain advice about new functionalities and implementation support, while provided guidance around leveraging the potential in terms of business transformation and digitization.

Gaining Comprehensive Customer Visibility with Integrated Solutions

The major advantage in connecting the 51风流Customer Experience portfolio, 51风流Field Service Management, and 51风流S/4HANA is that real-time data can be available across all these solutions. While master data, such as for a new product, customer, or material, is entered and kept in 51风流S/4HANA as the core software, it鈥檚 automatically pushed into the other integrated solutions.

This is helping PILLER deliver highly efficient and innovative customer service and business models. The company gains a comprehensive view of worldwide customers in real time while interacting with them at each stage of their journey in a targeted manner.

There are now customer-related processes across departments, sites, and systems as well as consistent communication throughout the company, thanks to standardized forms and templates. The business is achieving agile sales with faster response times and better allocation of target groups. It鈥檚 also making decisions for customer management based on facts and analyses.

Other benefits the company achieved were:

• 360-degree view of customers worldwide in real time
• 90% less paper with digital processes
• 30% reduction in effort by using digital processes

鈥淲e鈥檝e always combined tradition with innovation when manufacturing our blowers. With 51风流Customer Experience solutions, our customer management operations are superior to those of our competitors. We鈥檙e able to keep a close eye on processes and respond quickly and accordingly,鈥� said Thomas Henzler, CIO at PILLER Blowers & Compressors GmbH.

Rolling Out Customer-Centric Solutions

Combining and the 51风流Field Service Management mobile app with 51风流S/4HANA is helping deliver real-time data for integrated processes.

The integration of the 51风流Field Service Management mobile app with 51风流Service Cloud is being piloted with three service technicians and garnering positive feedback so far.

Watch an of 51风流Sales Cloud to help build lasting customer relationships and to maximize customer lifetime value with connected service. Read about the benefits companies achieved with . View a  and  to learn how to maximize productivity and asset uptime with 51风流Field Service Management. .

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success Digital Supply Chain at SAP.

The immediate outcomes of cloud-based services are obvious. Manufacturers gain continuous monetization from a steady stream of revenue, while their customers have new payment flexibilities to better control cash flow. However, as-a-service business models are not just a different way of doing business. They are also a relationship-building lever between manufacturers and customers 鈥� whether consumers or businesses. Two market leaders in the manufacturing industry shared their service-based strategies during a session held at this year鈥檚 that was hosted by Heidi Zhao, director of Global Billing and Revenue Solution Management at SAP.

Service-Based Innovation at Align Technology Is Reason to Smile

Global medical device company manufactures Invisalign clear aligners and 3D digital scanners that improve the smiles of millions of people each year. A longtime pioneer in advanced orthodontics, Align is constantly innovating to serve doctors in over 120 markets worldwide. The company is on a digitalization journey with 51风流that will support monetization from as-a-service offerings for orthodontics care professionals and their patients.

鈥淲e selected to help evolve our monetization models providing outcome-based services to our customers,鈥� said Mary Kumar, senior vice president of Enterprise Engineering at Align Technology. 鈥淐ustomers will gain the ease of subscription-based options on a consumption or on-demand service model. In addition, having the ability to meet the country-specific needs of orthodontists and dentists in our global markets is super important.鈥�

Align is undergoing the same business transformation as every traditional high technology company, exploring as-a-service choices such as leasing scanners to orthodontists and subscription-based packages that combine aligners and treatment planning.

鈥淐ustomers don鈥檛 always want to pay larger amounts up front to purchase our scanners or diagnostic orthodontic software. They want to modernize their practice using our advanced technology, but with manageable monthly payments,鈥� said Kumar. 鈥淭hese market demands are driving pay-as-you-go and subscription-based models with our customers who prefer to pay as they scan instead of paying for the scanner itself. Similarly, we produce four million aligners each day with automatic treatment planning. They may want to purchase a set number of aligners and mix and match treatment.鈥�

51风流Is Central to 尝别苍辞惫辞鈥檚 As-a-Service Transformation

Services are an important part of vision to provide smarter technology for all through personal computers, smartphones, televisions, and wearable devices. As the world鈥檚 top PC manufacturer, providing the building blocks of modern IT, the US$70 billion company transformed itself two years ago to bring service-based solutions to meet customers where they are.

鈥淐onsumers and businesses want more flexibility in how they consume our products,鈥� said Arthur Hu, senior vice president and CIO at Lenovo. 鈥淚n the process of taking our portfolio and offering it as a service, 51风流Billing and Revenue Innovation Management helped us evolve to a pay-as-you-go service model, providing the technology capabilities that underpin our business model transformation.鈥�

Historically, Lenovo has sold hardware devices like laptops, phones, and tablets on a one-time basis. Now customers want to reduce the overhead surrounding the purchase and maintenance of 尝别苍辞惫辞鈥檚 computing and edge devices and networking and storage solutions.

鈥淗aving an understanding of what your customers and their customers are doing drives innovation. Building a new business model is about exploring ideas, using technology to iterate quickly with insights from integrated data,鈥� said Hu. 鈥淐ustomers are interested in a more managed service model for our devices across hundreds of countries and tens of thousands of seats. They want a secure computer experience for end users. Infrastructure-as-a-service is also on the rise. We can support everything-as-a-service, providing customers with different ways to consume our solutions, helping them be more nimble by reducing capital expenditures.鈥�

Getting closer to customers may well be among the most positive unintended consequences of as-a-service business models. Manufacturers know precisely how customers are using their products and can continuously innovate services to better serve them, opening up greater revenue streams and delivering stronger experiences.

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Q: What are some of the trends and challenges manufacturing companies are facing today when it comes to logistics operations?

A: The logistics operations landscape has undergone significant changes, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, the focus was on increasing efficiency and implementing just-in-time and just-in-sequence models to reduce inventory. However, the pandemic highlighted the need for supply chain resiliency alongside efficiency. Manufacturing companies now require greater foresight, agility, and flexibility to address unforeseen disruptions, such as supplier bankruptcies and border closures. Transparency, particularly regarding the origins and ethical sourcing of goods, has also emerged as a significant trend. Additionally, sustainability plays a crucial role, as companies aim to reduce emissions and waste and promote greater social equality across their value chains.

How have logistics operations for manufacturing companies evolved in recent years? And what kind of capabilities or technologies are they looking for to help them navigate the future of industrial manufacturing?

Logistics operations for manufacturing companies have undergone significant transformations in recent years. The focus has shifted from purely efficiency-driven approaches to those encompassing resiliency, visibility, and sustainability. Industrial manufacturing companies already rely on a high degree of automation in their processes. However, they are increasingly turning to robotics technologies to further enhance operational efficiency. By leveraging robots, workers can complete tasks such as material transportation and inventory management more quickly and efficiently.

Companies also seek greater supply chain transparency, requiring solutions that provide real-time tracking and tracing data to proactively manage disruptions and comply with sustainability regulations. Improved visibility into warehouse operations is another key capability. With advancements in big data technologies, business leaders can gain helpful insights and optimize processes for better resource allocation and reduction of waste. For example, visualizing movement patterns within the warehouse allows companies to identify and eliminate bottlenecks. Technology plays a crucial role in driving efficiency, agility, and sustainability in logistics operations.

How can 51风流help address these trends and challenges?

51风流offers an array of solutions to help address the emerging trends and challenges in logistics operations. For instance, the 51风流Warehouse Robotics solution can integrate the warehouse management system with various vendors, enabling the deployment of robots in the warehouse to help enhance efficiency and automation. 51风流Business Network for Logistics can connect carriers and logistics providers through a unified network.

Within 51风流Business Network for Logistics, several solutions are available. can provide a comprehensive overview of goods in motion, helping companies identify bottlenecks and focus on areas that require attention. helps improve transparency, visibility, sustainability, and efficiency by connecting the entire supply chain. can provide real-time insights into material and product availability, helping to reduce supply chain risks and optimize costs. It can also proactively raise alerts to users in case of any issues. Lastly, can connect business partners on a collaborative network, facilitating insights sharing across the value chain. With these technologies, business leaders can access the necessary capabilities to help enhance their logistics operations.

How does 51风流Business Network for Logistics help generate value for the customer in the areas of compliance and sustainability?

51风流Business Network for Logistics can generate tangible value for customers in the areas of compliance and sustainability. Once the information passes through the 51风流systems, business leaders can gain transparency into the origins and movement of goods, facilitating compliance with regulations and ethical sourcing standards. And customers can start aggregating the data, reporting on it, and acting on the insights. This includes capturing carbon emissions data, gaining more details around material traceability, and making sure that vendors do not use child labor 鈥� all with audit-ready data. Compliance and sustainability will only gain increasing importance in the years to come, and the companies of tomorrow must equip themselves with the proper tools today.

Explore showcasing eight that help you apply best and next practices, so you can manage a more agile, resilient, and sustainable logistics network.

Kelly Cannon is part of Content Creation & Strategy for the Content Lab at SAP.

Fast forward two-and-half years to the spring of 2023, and not only has Cogniac found a strong market for its technology, it has earned a place among the vanguard of enterprise-class CV software, having been as a leader in the field alongside the likes of AWS, Google, and Microsoft.

How does a company ascend so far, so fast? In the case of San Jose, California-based Cogniac, it couldn鈥檛 have happened without superior technology, a partnership-driven mindset, and an openness to work with 51风流to develop an industry cloud solution that readily integrates with the 51风流portfolio to bring more value to customers.

Cogniac鈥檚 Visual Operations Intelligence platform is one of more than 300 apps and integrated end-to-end solutions developed within SAP鈥檚 industry cloud and is available to customers across multiple industry verticals in . Cogniac鈥檚 technology also has been integrated into the solution, providing AI-enabled visual inspection capabilities for the shop floor to customers in a range of industries.

Cogniac is among a wave of up-and-coming companies that are blazing a trail for other independent developers to follow, showing how to leverage the expertise and resources of 51风流and system integrator partners to quickly scale up and monetize their intellectual property and technology. It鈥檚 all part of SAP鈥檚 鈥渙ne-portfolio鈥� approach, which is rooted in the belief that by working together, companies that are actively engaged in SAP鈥檚 industry cloud 鈥� including independent developers, global and regional services partners, and others 鈥� can create solutions that generate more value for customers and themselves than they otherwise would working individually. The one-portfolio approach is first and foremost about solving customers鈥� business problems, whether the solution comes from an 51风流partner, 51风流itself, or a combination of the two.

In Cogniac鈥檚 case, the solution was born from the SAP.iO program and, following a , it鈥檚 now fully commercialized for customers in travel and transportation, automotive manufacturing, mill and mining, industrial manufacturing, and other verticals seeking to upgrade and automate their visual inspection capabilities for quality management and maintenance.

Here鈥檚 where the implementation expertise of another industry cloud partner, Montreal-based Syntax, enters the picture. As a system integrator, Syntax is playing a critical role in scaling and implementing Cogniac鈥檚 technology for customer use cases. It鈥檚 yet another example of how combining an independent developer鈥檚 domain expertise 鈥� for Cogniac, its computer vision driven by AI 鈥� with a system integrator鈥檚 expertise 鈥� Syntax is deeply experienced in customer implementations where IT and OT converge 鈥� and SAP鈥檚 end-to-end business process expertise, resources, reach, and positioning can result in a solution that fills an obvious customer need. Not only can creative industry cloud partnerships like these result in new revenue streams and market opportunities for developers and system integrators but they can bring solutions to market much faster than before.

Speaking of speed, the Cogniac-developed visual inspection capabilities within 51风流Digital Manufacturing can be implemented by Syntax at enterprise scale quickly, in a day or two, because they readily integrate with existing camera infrastructure and workflows. The low-code/no-code AI technology behind those capabilities represents a huge step forward in shop floor automation for a wide range of use cases, enabling high-speed inspection with greater accuracy at a lower cost. In this case, AI could also stand for augmented intelligence, for its ability to help customers make better decisions faster, as well as for automated intelligence, for its ability to free human beings from monotonous, repetitive inspection tasks.

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The industry cloud relationship between Cogniac, Syntax, and 51风流is a great illustration of the innovation mindset driving the one-portfolio approach, where instead of taking it upon ourselves to develop proprietary solutions in areas where we aren鈥檛 necessarily strongest, like computer vision, we combine forces with partners to come up with collaborative solutions that deliver more value to the folks who matter most: our customers. To support that approach, 51风流has updated its compensation models to make it easier and more attractive for partners to monetize their intellectual property and expertise on industry cloud.

When all this comes together, as it has with Cogniac and Syntax, the result is a win-win-win for customers, partners, and SAP.

Philipp Raub is product manager for Visual Inspection at SAP.
Bianca Ruebartsch is global head of Energy and Natural Resources Ecosystem at SAP.

As a manufacturer supporting hundreds of leading brands in just about every industry, Jabil is adept at helping companies bring products to market with speed and agility, including smart home appliances and electronics, industrial machinery, cloud computing solutions, energy storage systems, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Customers depend on Jabil for everything from product design and engineering through volume manufacturing, assembly, quality testing, procurement, and logistics, which is why the company has undergone a massive digital transformation moving to .

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen marked improvements in speed because we鈥檙e on an database,鈥� said Cynthia Kendall, IT director at Jabil. 鈥淚n addition, bringing our ERP applications into the cloud has given us significant improvements in scalability from business transparency. For example, we now have visibility into all open sales orders by facility in just seconds, versus what historically took over an hour.鈥�

Jabil is a longtime 51风流customer, and the two companies share numerous business objectives, notably a commitment to innovation and sustainability. At this year鈥檚 , Kendall showcased how the company working with 51风流was inherent to its cloud-first strategy.

Connected Data Speeds Up Operations

It鈥檚 no understatement to say that Jabil is complex. The multi-billion dollar, Florida-based company employs over 250,000 employees who serve customers from more than 100 sites, totaling over 500 million square feet of manufacturing space 鈥� the equivalent of 868 football fields. Digitalization that connects accurate data across these vast operations has boosted accurate planning and forecasting. As a result, Jabil can react faster to customer demands.

鈥淲e鈥檝e increased efficiencies with inventory management, capturing real-time data on materials in stock as products are finished,鈥� said Kendall. 鈥淲e have exact numbers on the components and materials available for each product as they鈥檙e produced. This data speeds up our ability to build, ship, and invoice products.鈥�

Cloud-First Business Results

Staying on top of fast-moving innovations that continuously redefine customer markets is core to Jabil鈥檚 growth strategy. Kendall said that the company鈥檚 move to 51风流S/4HANA has provided the entire organization with critical flexibility.

鈥淪ince moving to the cloud, we鈥檝e resized our app servers; what once took days is now completed in hours,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e collapsed a number of servers into a larger one, requiring less time to manage. This has allowed our business to explore how to transform and innovate in this new 51风流S/4HANA landscape in ways that we could never do before.鈥�

Future-Proof Strength Amidst a Sea of Change

Jabil鈥檚 customers are selling products worldwide, facing increasingly stringent and rapidly changing global regulations. This reality was behind one of the company鈥檚 decisions to migrate to the cloud with SAP.

鈥淚t didn鈥檛 make sense to keep customizing our legacy 51风流solutions,鈥� said Kendall. 鈥�51风流S/4HANA provides the platform we need to build advanced capabilities aligned to the evolving compliance mandates and market demands facing our customers.鈥�

Supply Chain Resiliency Despite Disruptions

Having gone live with 51风流S/4HANA during the pandemic, Jabil鈥檚 innovation is well underway with pilots designed to help achieve business goals in a dramatically different environment of supply chain and other disruptions.

鈥淲e鈥檙e showing the business many opportunities that weren鈥檛 available before,鈥� said Kendall. 鈥淓specially in production planning, we are able to make faster, better-informed decisions. Even in the face of supply chain shortages, this will help us make educated and nimble decisions moving forward with what we can actually manufacture and when we can manufacture it.鈥�

Start Now to Forge a Path to Innovation

More than anything, Jabil鈥檚 journey with 51风流is a tremendous opportunity for the company to transform and innovate. Kendall鈥檚 advice to other organizations was clear.

鈥淓mbrace the fact that you鈥檒l need to migrate to 51风流S/4HANA, and start planning now,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ven if your project isn鈥檛 kicking off for another six months or later, there are things you can do today to prepare for the journey so you鈥檒l be future-ready for tomorrow.鈥�

This pragmatic advice and expert insight into 51风流S/4HANA migration planning is at the heart of , the company鈥檚 new 51风流S4-as-a-Service offering developed by practitioners for practitioners to help streamline and simplify 51风流S/4HANA Cloud migrations.

To hear more from customers on their digital transformation journey with SAP, .

Susan Galer is communications director at SAP. Follow me @smgaler.

Pioneers in Circular Solutions

The German giant recently relaunched its brand to reflect its strategic vision to become the leader in circular economy solutions, hence the circular logo with a triad of people, steel, and technology in the center. Three elements 鈥� circular mindset, pioneering partnerships, and sustainability solutions 鈥� are needed to bring the strategy to life.

鈥淥ur mission is to transform the industry, so we can produce steel without emitting CO2,鈥� says Gunnar Groebler, CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG. 鈥淐urrently, about two tons of CO2 are emitted per ton of steel produced in the traditional way. We aim to replace coal with hydrogen, reducing emissions to virtually zero. We鈥檒l be delivering green steel as of 2025.鈥�

Steel is the world’s most important engineering and construction material. It is used in every aspect of our lives, from cars and cargo ships to surgical scalpels and spoons. It鈥檚 also one of the most sustainable materials because it can be recycled endlessly.

Salzgitter AG is in the process of redefining its business model, moving from the linear approach to a circular one that reduces, reuses, and recycles energy and materials 鈥� and, most importantly, continuously rethinks the process.

True circularity requires joint product lifecycle planning and holistic processes in full collaboration with partners and suppliers across the entire value chain. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been in a classic relationship with our customers, which ends when the product is handed over. We鈥檙e working with them to take back the products after use, so we can reuse them or reintroduce the material into the production cycle,鈥� Groebler explains.

Partnerships across the Value Chain

The company and its subsidiaries have been producing steel for over 150 years. Peiner Tr盲ger, for example, is already melting around 1 million tons of crude steel from steel scrap in one of its electric steelworks in an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient manner. Its high-quality products are a clear testimony that steel can be recycled without any loss of quality.

鈥淚 worked in the utilities industry for over 20 years, so I’ve witnessed the move from lignite, or soft coal, to offshore wind 鈥� a massive transformation. Seeing what was possible within a decade or so is highly motivating for me,鈥� says Groebler. 鈥淚 realize that by driving this transformation at Salzgitter AG, we are ultimately moving the entire industry to a more sustainable way of production.鈥�

He is amazed at how many companies are redefining their role from being customers to partners.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all transforming together,鈥� he explains. 鈥淥ur customers need to fulfill their own targets. Take the automotive industry: not only do they have to decarbonize the vehicle itself, but they also decarbonize its use throughout its lifetime. Considering that steel is a prominent part of the vehicle, our automotive partners expect us to decarbonize steel.鈥�

Groebler thinks a lot about the expectations of society. Today, Salzgitter AG emits roughly 1% of the German CO2 footprint, about 8 million tons per year. The good thing is that most of it is generated in one spot, making it easier to manage reduction efforts, versus the effort that goes into reducing emissions generated by combustion engines in cars, which are all over the place. With the strategy and funding already in place, Groebler is confident Salzgitter AG can reach net zero in the next 10 years.

Sustainability Tools and Solutions

Groebler is also very mindful of how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are impacting brand reputation. Sustainable business practices play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving resources, and companies that actively pursue them benefit from increased trust and loyalty among customers and consumers, creating opportunities for improved market share.

鈥淚f you consider the way ESG is developing, we need to look at environmental data in the same way we look at financial data. We鈥檙e experts in steel production, but not in handling data,鈥� says Groebler. 鈥淭his is where 51风流comes into play. 51风流helps us really consolidate the in an easy way.鈥�

Salzgitter Group is achieving greater ESG transparency with the data analytics and business logic functionality in . Along with and , the company uses to gain deeper insight into its environmental data and maintain safe and sustainable operations.

There have been some highly visible changes since Salzgitter Group embarked on its journey to circularity. Six massive wind power turbines, each 150 meters high, have reshaped the skyline over the steelworks. A lot of development is happening behind the scenes. Hydrogen production will not take place exclusively on-site, so the biggest challenge is sourcing it from other locations and creating the necessary infrastructure. During the transitional phase, the company will use a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen before switching exclusively to hydrogen.

Groebler is highly optimistic: 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a sweeping cultural change within the Salzgitter Group. Employees are engaging proactively, from an employee cooperative to finance a photovoltaic system to our local tree-planting campaign 鈥� our sustainable business approach has a positive, far-reaching impact everywhere in our organization.鈥�

Together with customers and suppliers, technology partners like SAP, and its people, Salzgitter AG is clearly leading the way to a circular future.

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

The reactive, ad-hoc approach that companies have taken to tackle disruption has resulted in mismatched supply chain processes that offer little visibility and don鈥檛 keep up with the speed of change. Companies rely on convoluted, manual communication methods between suppliers and buyers. E-mails and calls get lost in the shuffle of vacations and holidays, making critical collaboration untraceable and delayed.

51风流Business Network Is an Industry-Ready Digital Network of Suppliers and Buyers

Businesses need a collaborative, many-to-many platform to drive transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains. That鈥檚 where 51风流Business Network comes in: a multi-enterprise collaboration network, built for industry, that helps companies execute their vision and meet growth targets by connecting with trading partners seamlessly.

Only 51风流Business Network provides collaboration across a broad range of processes, including indirect and direct procurement, supply chain, logistics, asset collaboration, finance, and talent.

But each industry faces unique challenges that can鈥檛 always be addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach. For this reason, we are introducing 51风流Business Network for Industry with an initial focus on the consumer products, life sciences, high tech, and industrial manufacturing industries. This includes:

• A portfolio of 51风流Business Network capabilities that address industry needs
• A new 51风流Business Network Industry Advisory Board to guide our product and road map strategy
• New 51风流Business Network for Supply Chain industry services accelerators for select industries to help customers fast-track their implementation and post go-live success

With SAP鈥檚 more than 50 years of industry expertise and industry process excellence embedded in our technology, we know better than anyone how to help customers tackle their specific challenges.

Capabilities Designed to Meet Industry Needs聽

As we work to help companies tackle challenges with supply chain transparency, resiliency, and sustainability, we鈥檝e engaged directly with customers to improve existing functionalities and develop new capabilities for 51风流Business Network.

We developed capabilities including contract manufacturing, planning and forecasting, quality collaboration, stock transfers, support for supplier-managed inventory, material traceability, and track and trace. Several of these capabilities were developed alongside customers to answer unique industry challenges in a variety of industries, including consumer products, high tech, industrial manufacturing, and life sciences. While these and other innovations were originally created to address a specific industry need, many of them can be applied cross-industry to help businesses increase visibility, mitigate risks, and operate more efficiently.

Working with our customers has helped evolve 51风流Business Network into the well-rounded, comprehensive solution it is today. It has been amazing to see the innovations that have come out of these relationships with customers, and their stories and successes have truly inspired me. To build on what we鈥檝e accomplished so far, we鈥檙e strengthening the way we collaborate with customers and helping accelerate implementation with new industry-specific use cases.

Continuing the Tradition of Customer Collaboration

To continue the tradition of working with our customers to enhance and extend our product capabilities, we鈥檙e introducing the 51风流Business Network Industry Advisory Board. This select group of industry leaders will provide strategic direction for our product and road map, making sure we鈥檙e meeting the needs of our customers and helping their businesses grow. I鈥檓 eager to see the exciting new ideas and developments that will come out of this collaborative forum of industry experts.

Expedite Time to Value with Industry Services Accelerators for 51风流Business Network for Supply Chain

For customers beginning their journey with 51风流Business Network for Supply Chain in particular, we鈥檙e introducing new industry services accelerators from our 51风流Business Network Services team to help expedite time to value and achieve success.

These industry services accelerators support critical supply chain business processes in the consumer products, high tech, industrial manufacturing, and life sciences industries. With prepackaged industry use cases and capabilities, implementation best practices, and dedicated post go-live support, industry services accelerators are based on SAP鈥檚 knowledge and expertise with 51风流Business Network for Supply Chain. Industry services accelerators can be delivered in collaboration with partners.

Stay Tuned for More

Other additions to 51风流Business Network include new supplier innovations that will help support supplier adoption, focusing on creating an easier integration process to reduce friction and help grow your business to achieve maximum value.

To learn more, visit . Here, we鈥檒l keep you up-to-date on all of the exciting innovations happening and share resources to help you tailor your 51风流Business Network experience.

And, don鈥檛 miss learning more about 51风流Business Network and how 51风流can help solve the unique business challenges of your industry at .

Val Blatt is global head for 51风流Business Network Customer Success & Go-to-Market at SAP.

Speaking on the opening day of the trade show, Saueressig said, 鈥淓xceptions are now the rule. Today’s globally networked supply chains are especially prone to disruptions 鈥� with far-reaching consequences for the manufacturing industry. Flexibility and agility are needed to react quickly to changes.鈥� Adding her impressions of SAP鈥檚 presence at the event, White said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing collection of both 51风流technologies and our broad partner ecosystem, and it is us working with our ecosystem that鈥檚 solving our customers鈥� challenges.鈥�

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51风流Solutions in Action

There was certainly plenty for visitors to take in at SAP鈥檚 booth, from showcases and guided tours to live sessions and partner stands.

51风流is striving to help shape digital transformation in manufacturing. And one of the most pressing questions for that industry today is how to make production and supply chain processes resilient and sustainable.

To answer that question, 51风流gave visitors ample opportunities to try out 51风流solutions and experience them live in action in a 鈥渄emonstration factory鈥� it had at the trade show. The show booth 鈥渇actory鈥� was a partial sample of SAP鈥檚 recently opened Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory innovation center at the company鈥檚 headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. Attendees were able to view the rest of the factory remotely from SAP鈥檚 booth or through virtual reality glasses in its 鈥淚ndustrial Metaverse鈥� showcase.

On Display: How 51风流Solutions Manage Supply Chains and Manufacturing

51风流also demonstrated systems that support production operators in a part of multi-stage production in which a component is assembled for the end product. In a scenario focusing on in-process quality control, 51风流showed how operators receive precise visual instructions during the assembly of an electronic control head, guiding them through the process and reducing errors. It also explored the value of embedded artificial intelligence (AI) in quality assurance, showing how image recognition technology can be used to check how likely it is that parts have been assembled correctly and whether they have any defects. A highlight here is a kind of digital birth record, which can be thought of as a finely structured documentation of the production process. All relevant data from machines, as well as input from users, is recorded there and assigned to an individual product.

Also in the spotlight were applications for digital twin solutions, not just for virtual models and real-time simulations but also for human-machine interaction. Visitors were able to learn more about this from the example of autonomous mobile robots that independently pick up parts from a warehouse and 鈥� rather than placing them on a conventional conveyor belt 鈥� take them straight to a modular station.

51风流also showcased an augmented reality solution for production operators. Here, personnel wearing smart glasses receive instructions and feedback on whether they have carried out a work step correctly directly in their field of vision.

Digitally Mapping and Managing the Entire Production Process

Hannover Messe attendees could also try their hand at remotely controlling and monitoring the Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory in Walldorf, viewing a live, end-to-end production line for mixing and filling liquids as used by the process industry in the manufacturing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.

The demonstration showed that one central control room is all that is required to control and monitor production across locations. 51风流calls this control room a 鈥減roduction control center.鈥� Commenting on this live factory session, Matthias Deindl, head of SAP鈥檚 Industry 4.0 Center EMEA & India, said, 鈥淭his scenario shows companies how 51风流can help them have a full overview of everything that is happening on the factory floor 鈥� not just planning, but managing the entire production process for batch manufacturing.鈥� In the future, it might even be possible to create a purely digital version of the control room in the metaverse. Companies could then design and operate it exactly as they wanted. And they would no longer need to house it in a brick-and-mortar space.

In the scenario shown in Hannover, the production line is connected to 51风流Digital Manufacturing. All the information needed to fulfill the production order 鈥� including the customer鈥檚 specifications 鈥� is sent seamlessly to the machine. The process is paperless and can incorporate customer requirements without manual intervention. Another function of the production control center is to monitor the production line and key performance indicators, such as process efficiency, scrap rates, and good parts produced, as well as the current condition of the machines and equipment.

Cloud Solutions Enable Vertical and Horizontal Integration

One of the highlights at SAP鈥檚 booth was the electric CNC injection molding machine that let visitors track the production of their own customized cup 鈥� from top floor to shop floor in the production hall. This pop-up production station, staged in cooperation with 51风流partners Fanuc and Syntax, demonstrated how 51风流Digital Manufacturing can integrate a highly automated machine and control manufacturing.

Starting with order planning, visitors chose from various configuration options on a monitor. They could select a color or color combination for their cup and specify which logo it should have. The 51风流software then dispatched the order to the machine electronically and production of the cup began using recycled and recyclable plastic. Visitors could take the cups they made home with them.

While visitors were creating their cups, sensors were capturing a range of key information about the machine鈥檚 condition and how many good and defective parts had come off the line. This shows how in a real-life setting, the seamless flow of information also works in reverse, meaning from the machine level back to the office level. Data like this can be analyzed in 51风流Analytics Cloud, giving customers valuable insights to help them optimize the production process.

Resilient, Efficient, Sustainable 鈥� and Profitable

Visitors to SAP鈥檚 booth could experience the full product life cycle 鈥� from design and planning, manufacturing, logistics, and installation to operations and maintenance. They learned how the processes at each of these stages can be optimized by, for example, embedding AI to integrate them horizontally.

Vertical integration can also connect all levels inside the company. Linking manufacturing and business processes in this way eliminates data and knowledge silos. 鈥淗ere at Hannover Messe, we鈥檝e brought everything together under one roof to demonstrate realistic end-to-end scenarios,鈥� said Ralf Lehmann, Solutions Management Digital Manufacturing & Industry 4.0 at SAP.

Businesses want to ensure that their manufacturing and logistics operations are efficient, cost-effective, and reliable. Yet they must also meet profit and sustainability targets. 鈥淢anufacturers are facing two major challenges right now. One is the ongoing disruption to supply chains. The other is sustainability, which has become a top priority for CEOs. If you consider that only 7% of global economic output today is circular, then the opportunities are huge,鈥� says Saueressig.

At its booth, 51风流showed how it is one of the world鈥檚 leaders not only in enterprise resource planning (ERP) but also in digital supply chain. Industry 4.0 can transform business processes from manufacturing through to supply chain. As an ecosystem that enables companies to connect, 51风流Business Network also helps improve transparency. These capabilities can be used in a circular economy to foster sustainability and capture carbon emissions data. As White points out, 鈥淥ne of the most important things we see here is the focus on sustainability. Creating a true network around that is how we鈥檙e going to change the game.鈥�

Building on the network theme, 51风流partners had booths nearby showing Catena-X and , the latest initiative to emerge from an alliance between industry and the German government. Here, too, 51风流will play a leading role in driving digital transformation in manufacturing supply chains. Like Catena-X, Manufacturing-X will be an open and collaborative data ecosystem. Shared standards will enable data to be exchanged worldwide in compliance with European practices and data protection laws.

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

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

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

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

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

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

What do you like most about Real-Time Support?

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

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

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

What about Real-Time Support surprised you the most?

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

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

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

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

Now, close to three years later, this fundamental shift in approach, underpinned by new, attractive commercial models, is yielding better business outcomes and a solid value proposition for customers and partners alike. According to a from Forrester, an organization that implements industry cloud solutions projects to realize a US$2.6 million net present value and an ROI of 283% over three years. The benefits come mostly in the form of revenue enhancement and assurance, increased employee productivity, and ongoing lower operating costs.

Our goal is to have 80% of the solutions developed through industry cloud come from partners. Each new solution that reaches , each piece of intellectual property that a partner turns into a service that fills a customer need 鈥� and creates a new revenue stream for that partner 鈥� and each customer implementation that applies industry cloud solutions brings us closer to fulfilling our vision.

Nowhere is the progress in SAP鈥檚 industry cloud 鈥� and the business opportunity for partners 鈥� more evident than in the discrete manufacturing industries, including automotive and mobility, high-tech, industrial manufacturing, and aerospace and defense. Fueled by fascinating use cases, new tech wrinkles, and creative, sometimes surprising partnerships, industry cloud activity in these industries is increasing rapidly. Here鈥檚 a look at some of the developments and the opportunities they鈥檙e generating for partners on the build (independent software developer), sell (reseller and channel partner), and service (system integration and implementation) sides of the ecosystem.

Integrating and Monetizing a Solution That Fortifies SAP鈥檚 Portfolio

51风流knew industrial customers could really benefit from augmented reality technology to help frontline workers remotely execute tasks. Rather than trying to fill that void ourselves, we worked with a market leader in this space, TeamViewer, to integrate its AR-based workflow platform Frontline with 51风流Field Service Management, 51风流Service and Asset Manager, 51风流Extended Warehouse Management, and 51风流Digital Manufacturing, knowing this would likely lead to a quality solution offering faster. This collaboration is creating聽attractive commercial opportunities and customer pipeline for TeamViewer and SAP. More than ever, 51风流is handing opportunities like this over to industry cloud partners.

Developing and Monetizing New Solutions Faster, to Stay a Step Ahead of Customer Needs

鈥淚nnovating ahead of customer needs鈥� is part of Capgemini鈥檚 DNA, which is why, according to Josean Mendez, a Capgemini vice president and the firm鈥檚 global partner and ecosystem lead, the company has as an accelerator for solutions it develops for customers in automotive, discrete manufacturing, and other industries. Among them is an , CSI4Auto. Capgemini developed this industry cloud solution in close collaboration with customer Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG. It鈥檚 a self-service supplier portal for interaction between suppliers that makes collaboration faster and more effective.

Leveraging 51风流Resources to Develop and Commercialize Valuable Intellectual Property

Sprint1 is a program in which 51风流invites partners to submit ideas for developing a new industry cloud solution, then provides resources to help selected partners develop those ideas and bring them to market. With support from SAP, BearingPoint developed and brought to 51风流Store an end-to-end . Have a use case you鈥檇 like SAP鈥檚 help in developing and commercializing? Check out these that are currently open to partners.

Diversifying the Business by Adapting IP Developed for One Industry to an Entirely New Industry, Market, and Customer Base

Amperfied, a subsidiary of industrial-scale printer manufacturer Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, leveraged its parent company鈥檚 intellectual property to create a new solution for electric vehicle fleets by bundling the 51风流E-Mobility solution with its own charging technology. The result is a solution that reduces costs for e-fleet customers.

Almost every day, it seems, I hear of another promising use case, partnership, customer implementation, or channel partner deal in the industry cloud pipeline. For partners with a cloud mindset, the opportunities in SAP’s industry cloud ecosystem are indeed real 鈥� and ready to bear fruit.

If you鈥檙e interested in being part of the industry cloud journey in the discrete manufacturing industries, find me and the team at in person April 17鈥�21, 2023, in Hannover, Germany.

Kerstin Tinter is a global vice president and global head of discrete manufacturing industry ecosystem at 51风流SE.

The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is battling similar woes, with 70% of companies in the sector experiencing an turnover. The loss of skilled workers notwithstanding, delays in hiring, training, securing worker clearances, and rising costs translate to challenges in keeping production up to match demand. Much like the civil aviation workforce that moved on, 75% of the labor pool in A&D left for career advancement, while 31% departed for a better work location or for a remote-working opportunity.

While enticing the reluctant workforce to return with higher pay and perks remains an option, the industries are fast realizing that amid the labor and cost-surge crisis, innovations in production planning and creating efficiencies in throughput processes are now paramount.

Bridging Silos with Automation

Manufacturing efficiency isn鈥檛 always achieved until the production of the 100^th unit. To overcome this, intelligent software can be used to run recreations on simulation capability tools. Everything from the projected manufacturing assembly process, field capability and configuration process, flight operations, and maintenance performance can be simulated in a virtual world via a , even before the first cutting or bending of sheet metal. This way, any aircraft or engine part that is virtually simulated is manufactured efficiently right from the first unit produced.

Similarly, with robotic process automation (RPA), a digital thread can be created to bring information from the upstream engineering departments and auto-generate work instructions to provide seamless information routing to the downstream manufacturing departments. With , organizations have the power to design, simulate, and monitor processes to help ensure that transformation value is part of the company鈥檚 DNA. This intelligent enterprise philosophy helps in minimizing the handover time between processes. As a result, hitherto system silos can be negated to reduce the overall throughput time. Also, short-term planning involving supply chain, parts, and tools can be better optimized to match resource availability.

While RPA can create process efficiencies, robotic interventions are already improving the manufacturing process.

Replacing Skilled Labor with Technology Augmentation

With Industry 4.0, facilities across the industrial landscape are introducing a digital, end-to-end workflow with additive manufacturing. In Q2 last year, the Association for Advancing Automation the ordering of over US$580 million worth of robots, up 25% from 2021. In the aerospace industry, robots are mastering the drilling and fastening function with a higher degree of accuracy than a real person and saving time along the way.

Likewise, robotic systems applying sealant to aircraft structures is resulting in 20% time-savings. Robots are also being used for quality assurance during manufacturing, inspection of active-duty aircraft, welding, painting, and polishing. While robots have 95% time-savings in aircraft washing, welding automation is expected to fill the nearly 400,000 welding vacancies anticipated in the U.S. by 2024.

With organizations ready to embrace automation, the need of the hour is to simplify adoption. The solution can make integrating robots as easy as plug and play. So, whether it is cross-docking items on trolleys at goods receipt, put-away trolley activities, or even robot-enabled pick-pack-and-pass functions, 51风流Warehouse Robotics hands warehouse operators a shot in the arm by supporting an array of scenarios. Quick to implement and with no additional licensing required, the solution can give customers running warehouse management operations an easy, low-risk entry into agile warehouse robotics.

But with time- and cost-savings featuring prominently on the aviation industry鈥檚 agenda, how can customer experience stay optimum?

Boosting Customer Satisfaction with Technology Aids

For an industry where small margins contribute to survival, reliance on customer loyalty is huge. Variables like speed and convenience, therefore, play a major role in building customer loyalty. But with labor shortages wreaking havoc, digital transformation is emerging as a viable solution.

For instance, every manufacturer or supplier has their own portal to document their parts or assets, and this causes A&D companies to deploy a manual workforce to track every part coming from hundreds of manufacturer portals. can help overcome this challenge by provisioning for every asset to reside on a single platform. Now, A&D companies can simply connect their back-end systems to the network, fetch data directly into their systems, gain insight into the transactional data of an asset, and execute maintenance activities. This way, 51风流Business Network for Asset Intelligence 鈥� a cloud-based network 鈥� can limit the use of the workforce and create efficiencies by facilitating secured information exchange between various roles in asset-intensive industries comprising of equipment manufacturers, operators, maintenance providers, and others.

Also, A&D aftermarket providers process invoices from hundreds of airlines or aircraft operators. Their receival, approval, and logging could be automated to better utilize scare resources. Similarly, bots can read customer complaints, assess the degree of importance, categorize them, and automatically forward them to designated departments for speedy resolution.

If the pandemic taught us the importance of supply chain resilience, its aftermath and the evolving geopolitical crisis drives home the significance of innovation in manufacturing to combat sudden spikes in demand amid rising costs and a depleting workforce.

There will always be unpredicted situations. That said, the goal is to achieve a planning stability for all companies in the industry. Reducing risks through additional information and better planning will allow companies to establish a more stable environment with fewer uncertainties. And now, the industries can take heart from the fact that in automation, they have an ally that can turn organizations and the sector at large into intelligent and resilient enterprises.

Learn how automation can drive resilience in the aerospace and defense sector at .

Torsten Welte is global VP and head of Industrial Business Unit for Aerospace & Defense at SAP.

Milliken was relying on an outdated, on-premise human capital management (HCM) system that struggled to keep up with the changing demands of its workforce. A poor user experience led to limited adoption and a slew of frustrations for admins and users alike. In addition, obtaining accurate reports was nearly impossible due to the number of disparate HR processes in use around the globe. It was clear that a new approach was needed. To fully support its workers, Milliken decided that it was time to move to the cloud.

Taking a phased approach, Milliken began by implementing cloud solutions to support its recruiting, succession planning, performance management, and analytics processes. By leveraging , it was able to offer mobile-friendly job applications in a number of languages and to create a more accessible and user-friendly experience for applicants. In addition, an expanded presence across more than 40 job sites helped Milliken make significant strides towards creating a diversified talent pool with quality candidates. Within one year, applicant volume increased by more than 300%. To further align its recruiting and succession processes with business diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) goals, Milliken leveraged advanced analytics to capture data on headcount, turnover, and hiring. Comprehensive graphs and reporting capabilities enabled Milliken to visualize data across the workforce, from compensation and benefit trends to key diversity metrics.

Building upon its initial successes, Milliken began to transition its core HR processes from on premise to the cloud. To improve data quality and overall transparency, it leveraged to manage employee and organizational data across the globe. Moving towards a single platform has helped better support HR compliance and allowed Milliken to respond more proactively to legal and regulatory changes. Mobile capabilities were deployed to deskless associates, supporting the company鈥檚 sustainability goal to reduce paper consumption.

Looking forward, Milliken intends to continue its cloud transformation by moving benefits and compensation administration processes to the cloud. Improving the access and overall experience of key HR functions is an integral part of Milliken鈥檚 mission to support its people and ultimately create a sustainable workforce. With less time spent on operational tactics, Milliken鈥檚 associates can focus on delivering positive outcomes for their customers and communities.

Jeff Glauber is global solution marketing lead for 51风流SuccessFactors Employee Central at SAP.

鈥淭oday, bathrooms are where we go to rejuvenate ourselves. It鈥檚 also where our customers can make significant contributions to preserving water, our most vital natural resource,鈥� said Alp Gu虉ldu虉r, IT director and digital leader at Eczaciba艧i Building Products. Speaking at the , he added that the group鈥檚 products are designed to be both stylish and sustainable.

Market Leadership

Turkey鈥檚 first and largest producer of ceramic sanitary ware, Eczaciba艧i Building Products, began producing VitrA-branded ware in 1958, adding faucets, bathroom furniture, bathtubs, shower trays, and a range of accessories along the way. The company designs many products in-house and also collaborates with renowned international designers and studios. Eczaciba艧i Building Products鈥� plant in Boz眉y眉k, Turkey, one of the world鈥檚 largest under one roof, is the first in its industry to receive TS EN 16001 Energy Management System Certification. VitrA is also the first and only brand in Europe to receive a Type-III Environmental Product Declaration for ceramic sanitary ware.

In faucets, Eczaciba艧i Building Products places among the top 10 producers in Europe. Its Artema brand is the only one from Turkey to achieve an A rating of the European Water Label, and it鈥檚 also the first from any industry to receive the Turkish Standards Institute鈥檚 Double Star rating, meaning products greatly exceed the benchmark.

鈥淎s Turkey’s first and largest manufacturer and exporter of ceramic tiles and sanitary ware, we play an important role in society,鈥� said G眉ld眉r.

According to the , the market trend is positive, thanks to factors such as the growth of the construction industry and a rise in infrastructure projects. Increased preference for ceramic sanitary ware is another factor fueling the industry growth.

But there are some challenges associated with production, including the volatility in the price of raw materials and stringent regulations. At the same time, systems and processes must be updated to meet the needs of digitized customers.

Customer Experience

To help address these challenges, Eczaciba艧i embarked on a massive digital transformation program called Vitramax. 鈥淥ur goal was to provide unique and seamless experiences for our customers and other stakeholders by being a technology and data-driven organization,鈥� said G眉ld眉r. 鈥淲e wanted to establish ourselves on social media and digital sales channels, and we鈥檝e done it. In the past, reacting to social media took about 48 hours; now, we can react in less than two.鈥�

After an intense greenfield implementation using agile methodology, Eczaciba艧i now runs as the background for its core 51风流business solutions, and is the backbone of its customer experience solutions. Thanks to its digital strategy, the company is now present on marketplaces in many different countries. Customer feedback is used by the innovation department to improve products and services, leading to higher quality.

The transformation project enabled Eczaciba艧i to completely revamp processes resulting in greater agility and efficiency and a reduction in costs. Most importantly, the system provides full visibility on all aspects of the business.

鈥�51风流S/4HANA provides us with the platform to run our business,鈥� said G眉ld眉r. 鈥淏est of all, we don鈥檛 need to double check data accuracy, an activity that took up a lot of our time in the past.鈥�

Sustainability

Improving operational efficiency allows the company to focus on other important areas such as protecting the environment and using resources carefully. Eczaciba艧i signed the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and support UN goals, back in 2006.

As a member of the compact, Eczaciba艧i is continuously investing in innovation in all production, design, and management stages to ensure sustainable practices. It is also committed to uphold the 10 principles of the compact, which involve the protection of human rights and the environment, fair labor practices, and the prevention of corruption.

When companies like Eczaciba艧i take steps to become more efficient and sustainable, it can only result in a better world for all.

鈥淎lthough remanufacturing has been an industry norm, the difference now is its direct connection to meeting sustainability objectives at scale,鈥� said Georg Kube, global vice president and head of Industrial Manufacturing at SAP. 鈥淥rganizations can gain faster near-term value from bringing back existing products and reusing them for innovations that help achieve net-zero and net-neutral goals across the .鈥�

In a recent , respondents from industrial manufacturing and high tech industries said that results from their circular economy initiatives included better brand reputation (80%), increased innovation (79%), and enhanced regulatory compliance (78%).

Circular Economy Meets Sustainable Business Imperatives

Circular manufacturing has taken on new urgency. Material shortages are pushing costs higher. Easily disrupted supply chains add to challenges, where a single roadblock in one corner of the world cascades with massive negative impact on production elsewhere. At the same time, given increasing regulations, manufacturers have to calculate whether the energy consumption for one-time-use goods is profitable. Remanufacturing can help companies reduce the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 1, 2, and especially 3 emissions that make up a significant percentage of carbon debt in their products. Localized remanufacturing is even more environmentally friendly.

鈥淚f manufacturers could harvest recyclable materials from locally sold and used consumer goods instead of dumping them in landfills, their customers become their suppliers for a fundamental change in supply chain dynamics,鈥� said Kube. 鈥淐ircular economy is a powerful way for manufacturers to demonstrate how they are committed to the environment and aligned with customers likelier to buy sustainably built products.鈥�

Kube added that some organizations are generating a strong revenue stream from remanufacturing their own products and selling those same services to other companies. Manufacturers are also moving factories closer to remanufacturing locations, reducing emissions from shipping and logistics.

Remanufactured Supply Chains Coalesce Around Sustainability

For heavy equipment manufacturers that typically have large portfolios, the circular economy involves prioritizing which machines and components make sense to reuse based on actual product value and carbon emissions saved. Calculations include the cost of materials, components, and production, along with depreciation and lifetime energy usage. Manufacturers that buy back certain products from their distributors can disassemble the returned machines, clean up designated high-value parts, and upgrade the component鈥檚 capabilities for reuse in advanced releases.

鈥淭he goal isn鈥檛 to try and remanufacture every single product in your portfolio,鈥� said Kube. 鈥淵ou want to remanufacture only those items with significant carbon savings and economic value, opening up possibilities for cost-effective innovation while complying with sustainability mandates and addressing customer expectations. Suppose you get back a second-generation pump. Its core has the highest value and most carbon emissions. You can take it apart and replace one chip in the motherboard to add a feature like remote control, transforming the product into the next generation.鈥�

Business Sustainability Is Built on Data Sharing

Despite legal edicts and consumer-led clout, sustainable business practices deep in the industrial manufacturing supply chain aren鈥檛 a given. Once a manufacturer has decided which parts make the most sense for reuse, customers still need incentives to return the product; maybe the payment for returns exceeds the dumping costs. Managing the logistics to identify, inspect, and take back products will require trailblazing industry collaboration.

鈥淎s products are sorted between scrap and remanufacturing, the manufacturer needs accurate data that captures the flow of materials and financial information,鈥� said Kube. 鈥淲e are innovating with solutions like , as well as , to securely connect data within an organization and across trusted ecosystems. The circular economy will depend on a network of enterprises moving in sync towards a sustainable planet.鈥�

Long before and after they touch our lives, products have a direct and indirect impact on the environment. Just reporting carbon emissions won鈥檛 make industries like farming, construction, energy, and automotive sustainable. Remanufacturing will tighten and shorten the loop between first-time product usage and reuse that reduces waste and increases profits, powering the circular economy.

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