SAP - Digitalised Supply Chains and Operations

Digitalised Supply Chains and Operations

The Key to Enabling Resilient, Customer-Centric and Sustainable Enterprises

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Digitalised Supply Chains and Operations

The Key to Enabling Resilient, Customer-Centric and Sustainable Enterprises SAP executives, Andreas J. Wagner, General Manager, Digital Supply Chain, MEE, and Dr. Johannes Tulusan, COO, Digital Supply Chain, MEE, together with colleagues from SAP’s Digital Supply Chain leadership team, explain the importance of the digitalisation of the supply chain for customers, and why cloud services make the company more scalable. Digitalisation relates both to the shift from on-premise supply chain solutions to the cloud and changing the company’s manual supply chain processes to a digital format.

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Dr Johannes Tulusan

Andreas J Wagner

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Dr Johannes Tulusan COO, Digital Supply Chain, MEE

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Andreas J. Wagner and Johannes Tulusan lead a team of more than 150 sales executives, solution advisors, and business development experts for supply chain in SAP’s Middle and Eastern Europe (MEE) region, comprising Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, and CIS. esponsible for more than 25 countries, Andreas and Johannes agree that if you had asked them three years ago, they would never have believed that a digitalised supply chain would become such a main priority board level topic in almost every company.

According to Andreas, an endto-end digital supply chain has recently become so important because we have had total

disruption in markets across the globe. We have seen widely fluctuating demand for goods and services, so predictability has become key. We have been confronted with an uncertain supply of critical materials, interruption of manufacturing sites, bottlenecks, and limited labour and work capacity, leading to inventory shortages and delayed shipments.

These unprecedented supply

“Some companies have a tendency again to focus on best-of-breed cloud solutions. For this reason, it is important for SAP to offer supply chain solutions adapted along the industry value chains to meet the customers’ requirements” Dr Johannes Tulusan, COO, Digital Supply Chain, MEE 5

chain disruptions have been major contributors to the current economic situation, which is why an endto-end supply chain has become such a key topic for all companies.

Companies have been working hard on balancing global supplies, so risk management has an important role to play, as well as a cross-functional synchronised planning process. A resilient, digitalised supply chain helps companies react much faster and even ahead of time. Investing in a synchronised, digitalised, and end-to-end supply chain will allow them to shift their supply operations from one country to another, depending on market situations.

Resilience is a buzzword when we talk about supply chain, referring to the ability to react quickly to unforeseen incidents, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This can only be achieved with digitalisation, as Andreas explains, referring to supply chain key parameters (see graphic).

He continues, “The first part involves synchronising all the logistics and operational planning end to end.

The companies with synchronised planning processes in place performed

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better during the pandemic because they could work with existing processes to increase stability. The second part refers to automation, increasing productivity and flexibility, which, in turn, leads to resilience. It is necessary to act now with smart product development and intelligent factories, with a strong capability to react on changing market demands quickly. Thirdly, the business network topic has a focus on resilience because the inclusion of partners and customers is key to efficiency and flexibility. If an individual area of the company is facing difficulties, another company’s division or external partner (i.e. supplier) in the business network can step up to provide a suitable alternative. The last part is sustainability, moving in the direction of manufacturers’ CO2 footprint as an important driver. “All these areas impact heavily on the resiliency topic.”

Speaking of sustainability, Johannes adds, “There are already legislations, i.e. the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (Directive 94/62/ECC), implemented. Companies need to understand how much plastic they are producing in their packaging in

order to comply with new regulations.

If they are not able to provide these details, they need to pay a government-defined tax; for example, a non-recycled plastic packaging waste tax in Europe. The tax for nonrecycled plastic packaging waste, established already on January 1st, 2021, consists of a national contribution

based on the amount of nonrecycled plastic packaging waste.”

In asset-intensive sectors, such as energy, oil and gas, telecommunications, public transportation, or retail, there is a huge cost associated with servicing and maintaining these assets.

“Companies need to understand how much plastic they are producing in their packaging in order to comply with new regulations” Dr Johannes Tulusan, COO, Digital Supply Chain, MEE

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Complexity vs.

Access

How can SAP ® systems, their digital innovations and people be brought together for logistics?

The solution that drives enablement even before implementation

If you work in a company whose business involves logistics processes, here‘s what you know: In digital innovation lies the hope of meeting the increasing demands for transparency and efficiency. At the same time, embedding innovation poses a complex challenge, especially in logistics. At the end of the day this is the intersection where administrative and physical processes come together – processes that are mutually dependent and yet run in parallel.

From the system landscape perspective, you need nothing less than a custom-fit combination of an intelligent ERP system and a flexible supply chain management supported by well-trained players, both in planning and in execution. Once implemented, SAP solutions offer the potential for this significant (if not critical) digital supply chain value add.

However, for many companies, SAP projects are time-consuming and risky undertakings, especially when it comes to implementing a solution close to the standard to facilitate future release upgrades and flexible functional enhancements – such as digital innovations.

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The complexity associated with the large range of functions becomes a central challenge even during the design of the logistics processes: If the decisionmakers do not understand the SAP standard and its conditions, the interaction between the system and the user cannot develop its full potential and is also not extensible.

But how do you address this aspect in the initial phase without already going full bore into the project effort and investing costs and time accordingly?

What if your knowledge of the SAP standard is not sufficient or cannot be consistently conveyed (perhaps even in the evaluation phase of an implementation)?

Couldn‘t the system basis of a near-standard SAP system for digital supply chain management be available as a cloud demo system even before the project starts – from ERP components to the logistics modules SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) and SAP Transportation Management (TM) as well as supplementary SAP components around usability, analytics, etc., preferably already documented?

»With the preconfigured system, the ideal basis for discussion is created even before the project begins. Our customers don‘t have to rely on our statements about the SAP standard, but can try it out directly.

They can compare process variants and even create prototypes already.« ⸻ Lars Gregor, Managing Director at prismat

Well, that is exactly what the prismat/RAKETE for S/4HANA is: We combined preconfigured customizing modules for SAP S/4HANA®, EWM and TM with our own development components, including frameworks, dialogs and functional enhancements.

The result is a flexible overall solution consisting of SAP standard and extensions, which based on our project experience every SAP project requires.

In doing so, we also keep our own components configurable and close to the standard, so that on the one hand we achieve a sustainable balance between SAP standard and required functional enhancements, and on the other hand our customers remain independent of the provider.

The prismat/RAKETE allows us to start with the crucial factor for a successful implementation of SAP solutions: enablement. We called this fast and time saving approach very fittingly »Rakete«, which is the German word for rocket.

About prismat: The SAP implementation company prismat was founded in 1991 as a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Dortmund, Germany. Due to the close cooperation with SAP as well as several research and pilot projects, prismat always keeps up to date and continuously contributes to the further development of the standard features of SAP solutions. In the headquarters in Dortmund and its branch offices in Ratingen, Stuttgart, Bremen, Würzburg and Brașov (Romania) prismat employs more than 200 people.

Thanks to the prismat/RAKETE, the company is able to pass on knowledge gained from more than 30 years of project experience – to its project teams, its customers and business partners, but also to its junior staff as well as to universities and educational networks.

The SAP spectrum for your logistics needs #prismatgmbh — prismat.de

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Cigdem Kroggel Head of Sales, Digital Supply Chain, Germany

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Johannes says that by making it more intuitive with an intelligent and connected asset and field service management solution, you can predict when a service of an asset is required, thus scheduling service technicians more effectively.

He emphasises, “This is another important theme in the digital transformation of the supply chain.

Not only to design, plan, produce, and ship on time, but also to intuitively maintain assets of a company to keep

transparency, and we can offer that with our end-to-end offerings.

That is definitely an advantage.

We also have an open system and a strong ecosystem, with our partners developing and adapting our solutions on our SAP Business Technology Platform.”

Johannes adds, “Some companies have a tendency again to focus on best-of-breed cloud solutions. For this reason, it is important for SAP to offer

“Adaptation to new market situations, combining agile solutions, key partnerships, and Industry 4.0, allows us to remain competitive” Cigdem Kroggel, Head of Sales, Digital Supply Chain, Germany

the pulse of asset-intensive businesses ticking and innovatively saving costs.”

So, why should companies choose SAP for the digitalisation of their supply chain? Johannes says, “We have a comprehensive end-toend supply chain solution offering, combining everything from planning, design and engineering, to production, distribution, and services, all interlinked to SAP’s ERP systems.

Consistency of data and processes within a company is becoming more and more important to ensure

supply chain solutions adapted along the industry value chains to meet the customers’ requirements.”

The value of having a clear digitalisation strategy is echoed

by Cigdem Kroggel, Head of Sales, Digital Supply Chain, Germany. She considers it to be the backbone of SAP’s success in Germany.

Cigdem says, “Adaptation to new market situations, combining agile solutions, key partnerships, and Industry 4.0, allows us to remain competitive. Cloud becomes 11

SAP Integrated Business Planning and the CAMELOT team helped us shape our future digital supply chain based on a state-of-the-art planning application. We’re closing in on our goal to become and stay the first choice for consumers worldwide.

Dietmar Baumann, Program Manager Digital Supply Chain (Global Digital Services), BSH Home Appliances Group

Master Uncertainty Supply Chain Resilience with a Demand-Driven Approach Changes in consumer behavior, shorter product lifecycles, climate events or supply shortages unsettled supply chains even before the Covid-19 pandemic. The disruptions showed that traditional supply chain planning approaches meet actual demands less and less accurately. To manage the New Now of complexity and volatility, organizations need a more resilient approach for end-to-end, customercentric supply chain planning. One of the most promising approaches is the Demand-Driven methodology and the transformation with Demand-Driven Supply Chain Management (DDSCM).

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Demand-Driven Planning in SAP IBP for more resilient supply chains DDSCM helps navigate the challenges of the New Now and controls variability across value chains.

It maximizes contribution margins by increasing the flow of material through value chains resulting in higher service levels at reduced inventory. On the operational level, Demand-Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP), as defined by the Demand Driven Institute, puts DDSCM into action.

It is comprised of known and well-established methods such as Material Requirements Planning, Lean, and the Theory of Constraints.

In 2019, the DDMRP methodology has been realized in SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) by SAP and Camelot ITLab as strategic development partner.

SAP IBP for Demand-Driven Replenishment enables relevant material and information flow in SAP IBP. Camelot also is a global implementation partner for this solution. The unique relationship between Camelot and SAP spans more than 25 years. It is best described as a 360-degree partnership: Camelot is co-innovation partner, global implementation partner and customer of SAP.

Significantly increased performance The “Demand-Driven” concept is leveraged successfully by global companies in various industries with the help of Demand-Driven Replenishment in SAP. It implements integrated processes based on tactical planning and operational pull replenishment and leveling. This paradigm shift within the supply chain towards pull replenishment based on the principles of demand-driven materials requirement planning is empowering planners for what-if simulations, allowing improved decision-making. The effects are optimized planning results using forecast algorithms and predictive analytics while becoming more agile with respect to changing customer demands and market conditions. As a result, they achieve a significant reduction in variability and a stabilization of the material flow in their supply chain. The benefit is a substantially improved service quality and increased agility of the supply chain due to a reduction in throughput times of up to 82% and inventory reductions of up to 70%.

Service Level Increase (Points)

Lead Time Reduction (Percent)

Inventory Reduction (Percent)

Median +13%

Max. +54%

-22% -82% Median

-31% Median

Max.

-70% Max.

Demand-Driven: A Cornerstone of the Intelligent Enterprise End-to-end Demand-Driven supply chain planning directly supports the efforts towards an Intelligent Enterprise, enabling organizations to make impactful changes in order to grow more resilient, more profitable, more customer-centric, and more sustainable.

For all companies relying on their supply chains, the Demand-Driven approach in SAP IBP helps achieve a competitive advantage and become more intelligent and resilient. Therefore, DDMRP now becomes a feature in SAP S/4HANA Core. 2021 IBP releases were a significant step to realize this vision with new integrated DDMRP scenarios across SAP IBP and S/4HANA. Now, organizations can leverage SAP IBP with time series and order-based planning for running the first four steps of DDMRP, and, as a fifth step, integrate supply elements to SAP S/4HANA or SAP ECC. SAP IBP for Demand-Driven Replenishment can be used in combination with any SAP ERP landscape and thus provides simulation capabilities, supply propagation across networks in one run, and more accurate net flow calculations. Supply elements for all location products can be created and propagated directly in SAP IBP using the DDMRP principles.

HOW TO START YOUR RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAIN JOURNEY: The Camelot Supply Chain Resilience Center Service includes a structured approach that guides organizations through every step of their transformation journey.

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already the reality because it enables our customers to be more flexible. It is the new standard for us.”

In addition, small and medium enterprises can benefit from cloud solutions because of the resilience and automation they can achieve, but how is the additional security aspect managed? Cigdem answers, “If you move to a large provider, such as SAP, the environment is much more secure

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than anything a company could provide on its own data centre.”

Matthias Riedel is the head of Solution Advisory for Digital Supply Chain in Germany. He believes that in addition to its broad solution ecosystem, SAP’s strength also lies in its ability to offer tailored solutions that are built according to customer requirements. Matthias explains, “The current situation

has made it even more important to speak the customer’s language and give them the comfort that we can translate their needs into SAP solutions. For example, what does the electrification of cars mean for the OEM’s supply chain, and how can SAP help? By understanding industry trends and challenges, SAP can create a solution approach that is tailored to a specific situation.”

Matthias Riedel, Head of Solution Advisory for Digital Supply Chain in Germany

As the competition is getting fiercer, it is essential for SAP to be able to articulate a clear and captivating proposition when interacting with customers. Matthias continues, “In terms of software, customers want to see the system in action and even testdrive it themselves. We have physical showcases featuring our entire supply chain portfolio at various locations, as well as online, to help customers experience how our solutions work hand in hand.”

Discussing the upcoming trends in the digital supply chain field, Andreas and Johannes say there are a number of prevalent themes. Andreas elaborates, “When we talk about consumer products, I am seeing the trend of end-to-end visibility on 15

“Transparency and visibility for the consumer are also increasingly important. Customers want a solution to track their products. For example, if you buy a bowl of organic fruit, you can scan it to see where it is from, which farm grew the fruit, when they were picked, and how they were finally transported” Andreas J. Wagner, General Manager, Digital Supply Chain, MEE

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various levels. In logistics, it provides predictability on the location of goods and when they can expect to arrive. Transparency and visibility for the consumer are also increasingly important. Customers want a solution to track their products. For example, if you buy a bowl of organic fruit, you can scan it to see where it is from, which farm grew the fruit, when they were picked, and how they were finally transported. In addition, more

In the automotive industry, there is full disruption happening alongside the need for continuity at the same time. We are seeing more scalable and flexible production, as we shift from global to near shore production processes. Hence more flexibility in production and an end-to-end production dashboard are also key for our customers. Additionally, the sustainability story is filtering down into every part of the business, from

“Predictive and synchronised planning is moving to the centre of businesses. When you open a new shop or release a new product, you can have full transparency beforehand” Andreas J. Wagner, General Manager, Digital Supply Chain, MEE

and more companies in the textile industry are doing the same by providing all the data on the materials and the product, such as where the materials come from, how they were produced, and under what conditions the product was manufactured.

“Furthermore, predictive planning is moving to the centre of businesses.

When you open a new shop or release a new product, you can have full transparency beforehand.

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when we talk about CO2 in the manufacturing process, through to transport management and sustainability reporting.”

Johannes states, “In terms of supply chain software cloud market growth, the overall expectation of the MEE market in the next four years, based on valid market research, reports that the cloud market growth will increase around 20%+ yearly. For the on-premise supply chain software

The SAP spectrum for your logistics needs

RISE with SAP Warehousing • Transportation • Track and Trace Mobile Apps • Digital Design • Analytics »Thanks to our productive partnership with SAP, we can support these and other logistics topics not only in a targeted manner, but also sustainably and with future-oriented digital added value.« – Fin Geldmacher, Managing Director at prismat

Many thanks to the teams at SAP who are working on the topic of Digital Supply Chain, and keep up the good work! We are very pleased about the partnership and the recognition, for example in the context of the Appreciation Award. Thank you very much!

– prismat, (obviously) proud winner of the Digital Supply Chain Award 2021

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MHP’S END-TO-END APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS USING SAP SOLUTIONS Digital transformation is a critical issue for companies and organisations, and one that is fundamentally reshaping many market participants. In addition, sustainability initiatives are increasingly being viewed as competitive factors, leading many companies to start thinking about the associated challenges.

Sustainability is no longer merely an abstract idea – it is becoming a tangible concern for us all.

As an enabler of progress, digitalisation can pave the way for a sustainable future. MHP supports its customers with their transformation to sustainable operations and empowers them to permanently close the gap between formulating strategic goals and implementing initiatives at an operational level.

business models. Digitalisation is key to any sustainability initiative, and to harness its true potential, a digital transformation must be implemented consistently at an organisational, process and IT level.

MHP strongly recommends that companies evaluate their operations excellence (OPEX) when implementing sustainable transformations.

How successfully can you link operations excellence with the requirements of sustainable excellence (SUSEX)? How resilient are your processes and systems in terms of being up to date or being secure in a crisis situation?

As evidenced by the ongoing semiconductor shortage, maritime traffic blockages caused by accidents and the simultaneous increase in online shopping, the resilience of a value-

“How companies incorporate sustainability into their processes and IT systems will be an indicator that people will use to draw conclusions about the performance and future prospects of a company.”

Ingo Windshügel, Partner at MHP – Digital Supply Chain Solutions Mounting pressure to act now is encouraging decision-makers to initiate change. Their ultimate aim is to ensure that their company is prepared for the future so that they can unlock fresh potential from company processes and establish new business models. To implement a genuinely end-to-end approach, it is necessary to utilise multiple digitalisation tools – at management level and within value-creation processes.

For this approach to be successful, we first need to look at how value chains have developed.

Companies started implementing their first lean management approaches back when sustainability was just a nice by-product; we are now in the compliance and standards stage where sustainability is mainly characterised by regulatory dynamics. Recognising sustainability as a competitive factor means that companies can start looking ahead and designing new

creation chain is a critical success factor for companies in today’s era of global supply chains.

To open up new opportunities for companies and promote growth, OPEX and SUSEX must be considered holistically based on a strategic, conceptual and systematic framework. This is already possible using a meaningful combination of various standard application solutions from SAP. The SAP solutions and the transformation approach described above can also be used to increase efficiency long term and in a way that prepares companies for the future. However, the mentioned “management gap” between formulating strategic goals for sustainable initiatives and implementing these on an operational level must be overcome. This is the only way for all stakeholders to implement an end-to-end approach. The automotive industry in particular needs holistic solutions with which it can improve supply chain transparency, control

FOR GUIDANCE ON THE ROADMAP OF SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT FROM BYPRODUCTS TO SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELS - THIS IS WHERE CUSTOMERS NEED OUR EXPERTISE

factories and modernise IT infrastructure in order to unlock new business opportunities for sustainable mobility products and services.

This is why MHP takes a holistic approach: Using standard application solutions from

An example that has already been implemented is the sustainable optimisation of global procurement transport chains: The SAP Transportation Management solution was used to re-design inbound processes within global procurement markets from a sustainability

“System-supported transport optimisation can make processes much more fluid, transparent and innovative,” Bastian Kempe, Senior Manager MHP – Digital Supply Chain Solutions SAP, we support our customers with every step, from looking at how to develop new business opportunities and services, to formulating corporate strategies and implementing these strategies at an operational level in all areas of value creation (planning, supply chain and procurement, production and logistics, as well as after sales and services). The consistency and connectivity of the individual SAP components is what guarantees a digital ecosystem, particularly in the manufacturing, sales and transportation sectors.

perspective. It was even possible to increase the transport volume at the same time.

All stakeholders in the supply chain can benefit, making each one, as well as the entire network, more competitive and better prepared for the future. The services available from MHP are ready to run, field-tested and scalable. MHP is the ideal end-to-end implementation partner for your transformation to sustainable operations based on SAP standard applications.

MHP Management- und IT-Beratung GmbH is a leading consulting company and a subsidiary of Porsche AG (81.8%).

MHP’s unique approach to consultancy is a blend of management and IT consulting. As a digitisation expert, we optimise and digitalise our customers’ processes across the entire valuecreation chain through our service divisions of Management Consulting, System Integration, Managed Services, and Digital Services and Solutions. MHP’s philosophy: Driven by Excellence

SAP´s Innovation Hubs for Industry 4.0

market, we can expect to see a decline of around 10% yearly.”

Johannes adds, “We can learn a lot from early cloud adopter countries such as Switzerland, as well as in North America and Scandinavia.

SAP experts, such as supply chain solution advisors, consultants, and business developers – and our partners, of course – will also guide you in helping you make the right decision. Customers often look for business cases and industry-specific best practices to find out the impact of their cloud transformation.”

So, for a company starting their digital supply chain transformation 22

journey, where do they begin?

Andreas answers, “Planning is almost always the best starting point, as far as the end-to-end processes are concerned. In this case, SAP experts such as consultants are involved, who analyse the initial situation and make recommendations about the next steps based on this.”

With the shift from an integrated global supply chain to local production lines, Andreas says the independence of the key supply chain changes means complexities are increasing. He continues, “During the pandemic, many companies tried to maintain the status quo because they could not change their processes. The digital champions

“Planning is almost always the best starting point, as far as the end-to-end processes are concerned.

In this case, SAP experts such as consultants are involved, who analyse the initial situation and make recommendations about the next steps based on this” Andreas Wagner, General Manager, Digital Supply Chain, MEE

SAP also provides SAP Innovation Hub locations and SAP Experience Centres around the world where customers can experience the products live in person or virtually. Hereby Johannes also emphasises the importance of the Innovation Hubs: “This is very beneficial for customers to experience the product in action and, above all, to get first insights and impressions of SAP’s solutions.”

was chosen because they did some very innovative and powerful demand generation events. They have a broad knowledge across all SAP solutions paired with strong expertise per solution area. Westernacher is excellent when it comes to the solution areas in logistics and warehouse management, besides having in-depth knowledge of other SAP (supply chain) solutions.

Prismat are also experts in logistics, warehouse management solutions and further SAP solutions. They have a very strong footprint in all industries and customer segments.”

In terms of partner recognition, SAP has launched a ‘Diamond Initiative’ to award selected partners that have contributed to the success of customer projects, with a special appreciation award for the Digital Supply Chain (DSC) line of the business. Three partners each year are recognised for this commitment to customer projects. Last year´s winners were Valantic, Westernacher, and Prismat. Johannes says, “Valantic

However, besides the three DSC Appreciation Award 2021 winners, all SAP partners are an important part of the company and its solutions. All partners have a major role to play in the success of SAP and digital supply chain solutions. The teamwork and commitment of each and every one is nothing but amazing! Johannes adds, “It is important to mention that we have great collaboration with all partners, and that every one of them

were those early adopters. The best planning processes and a balanced supplier landscape can work towards mitigating the risks.”

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has contributed a huge part to the success of SAP Digital Supply Chain.

We are very grateful to accomplish something big in such a fastchanging environment.”

SAP’s partners are essential given the broad customer demands to run and implement projects on time.

Johannes says that this could not be achieved without the company’s

Arsim Jahii

“To drive large-scale transformation, customers and SAP work on holistic strategies and translate those into digestible operational plans” Arsim Jahii, Head of Digital Supply Chain for Switzerland

important partner network. He states, “We have a strong partner base for the supply chain to help customers validate a proposition with business use cases or see if a solution is the right one according to their industry requirements.

The partners are part of a trusted advisory network for our customers to make their supply chain transformation projects successful on all levels.”

Arsim Jahii is the head of Digital Supply Chain for Switzerland.

He is experienced in working on end-to-end supply chain projects to enable innovation, flexibility, 24

and unleash business value. He says, “Functional leaders across various sectors must foster collaboration with an aligned flow of information for better visibility and agility. Siloes create lonely island and the prices for those are corporate inefficiencies and dissatisfied customers.”

So, how does SAP win key customer projects? Arsim answers, “To drive large-scale transformation, customers and SAP work on holistic strategies and translate those into digestible operational plans. It is important to define a common and clear vision, supported by management, with clear business values attached to the

THE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OF TOMORROW At NTT DATA Business Solutions, we design, implement, manage and continuously enhance SAP solutions to make them work for companies – and for their people. When our customer DENIOS AG decided to develop a new business model – they found a strong partner in us, which combines tailored solutions and high-level expertise for maximum project success.

DENIOS AG is a global leader in the handling of hazardous substances and is now focusing on new, innovative scenarios in order to continue to successfully position itself in the market. To this end, a new business model is now being developed to address the challenges faced by customers. The focus is currently on the core business, but the medium-term goal is to expand the business model to safety management as a service in order to also act as a service provider on the market. DENIOS places particular emphasis on ecologically sustainable, social and economic development.

DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE Together with us, DENIOS has designed a digital roadmap that shows the timeline for the implementation of many new digital services. In addition, the challenge of making all knowledge about the storage of hazardous substances available digitally is to be solved. With the conception and realisation of an app on the topic of quantity testing of hazardous substances, the first digital product could be implemented. But the digitalisation of this knowledge also opened new doors for the future storage of hazardous substances.

THE INTELLIGENT HAZARDOUS MATERIALS WAREHOUSE The question arose as to which innovative possibilities could now be implemented with the digitalised knowledge. The idea came up to develop a prototype for an intelligent hazardous

materials warehouse in which the most modern technologies are combined and orchestrated. In connection with the digital twin of the warehouse, the digitised knowledge about the storage of hazardous substances can now be used with the help of a digital voice assistant based on artificial intelligence to support customers in the storage of hazardous substances. The connection of the intelligent hazardous substance warehouse and the sensors installed in it was carried out using MQTT, a machine-to-machine communication that enables the transfer of data between devices.

Through the integration into the SAP backend processes, all data and information are recorded.

This pilot project shows how concrete added value can be achieved through the interaction of innovative technologies: New business models are created, hazardous materials can be stored in an environmentally friendly way and processes become safer.

nttdata-solutions.com

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transformation. At the same time, you need to include the end-users.

Scalable technology platforms are the foundation to drive global scale, but businesses need to find compromises between global scale and local requirements.”

Dominik Metzger

To drive business innovations, Arsim says that trust is the absolute foundation. He continues, “You must have a joint understanding of each other and the values both parties

“The idea (‘Showcases’) was born in 2013, with the goal of building an interactive experience for customers that reflected the motto of ‘Run Different’” Dominik Metzger, Head of Product Management – Manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things

can bring to the table. Think outside the box about how you can solve the challenge then feasibility comes next. It is about defining engagement areas, which are future-orientated and of massive business impact, but at the same time, delivering strong ROI during the planned stages.”

When it comes to experiencing SAP’s supply chain solutions in action, Dominik Metzger, Head of Product Management – Manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things, tells us more about the interactive

‘Showcases’, built to help inspire customers to experience innovations around Industry 4.0 which are reality today, based on SAP software. He says, “The idea was born in 2013, with the goal of building an interactive experience for customers that reflected the motto of ‘Run Different’. The Showcase is now part of the Innovation Hubs for Industry 4.0, placed in Walldorf, Newtown Square, and Tokyo. They are based on a ‘hybrid system’, which provides visitors the option to visit 27

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Experience Industry 4.Now Hub Find out more

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the Showcase either physically at the respective SAP location, or virtually.

The virtual experience combines a digital showcase on sap.com with a webcast directly into our Intelligent Factory. The team of industry experts provides an interactive tour, supported by cameras and screen sharing.”

One great example of the Showcase is the IoT-enabled Kanban (a procedure for controlling production and material flow based on the material stock in production). With this, the replenishment or production of a material is triggered only when a certain quantity of the material has been consumed. As a result, material is only replenished when needed, enabling organisations to avoid out-of-stock situations or overstocking, and reducing operational cost by automatically triggering replenishment processes, without the need for human intervention. This Showcase is based on smart sensing capabilities of SAP IoT, and allows customers to see, in real time, the value of implementing such a solution.

Johannes adds, “These concepts also require an innovative awareness and communication strategy. For this, we apply an intuitive social media communication strategy

concept with the support of a digital transformation expert, GeronimoNoah Hirschal, Founder and CEO of the Vienna-based agency, Digital Optimist Gmbh.”

Geronimo says, “We make digitalised communication personal, because people always do business with people. At SAP, we meet with Johannes’ concept of the DSC EX.PLORE Series. Groundbreaking projects are presented in the context of an online event and narrated by key people at SAP, their customers, and partners.

It is an outstanding experience that combines the virtues of storytelling with innovative supply chain content.”

Johannes and Andreas conclude, “The shift from on-premise to cloud supply chain solutions and the digital transformation to a resilient end-to-end supply chain entails many potentials for all companies in all industries. Companies need to continue to transform their supply chain processes to stay as agile as early adopters, the digital champions.

SAP and the strong partner ecosystem offer many best practices to prepare, plan, showcase, and implement this supply chain transformation successfully, and most importantly, sustainably.”

For further information on SAP’s offerings, visit www.sap.com

Cover image: © Loopding & Digital Optimist | Article images: © Digital Optimist

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www.sap.com

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