Enhance Operations with Manufacturing ERP Solutions for the Digital Age
With ever-shorter product lifecycles and a rapidly growing number of product variants, discrete manufacturing companies are facing growing challenges. They need to reduce time to market, shorten lead times and present compelling support services. While these demands are nothing new, digitisation and modern manufacturing ERP solutions have upped the pace. This calls for streamlined manufacturing operations, optimised value chains and cutting-edge sensor technology.
A Selection of our Discrete Manufacturing Customers
The Challenges Caused by Legacy Manufacturing ERP Solutions with Global Operations
Discrete Manufacturers operate in a dynamic and global market which is complex and high value, meaning customer service and responsiveness are critical factors. However, many global manufacturers share common issues caused by legacy manufacturing ERP solutions;
- Inefficiencies caused by operating as individual entities across geographies
- Issues with inter-company transactions (pricing and margins) and conflicts between internal businesses
- A disconnected business with silos of data and systems, and outdated processes
- Increasingly complex, time consuming and expensive processes caused by duplicate activities
- Complexities in managing the financial reporting of subsidiaries in multiple countries with different legal, taxation and accounting standards
- Difficulties in financial consolidation and management of business processes across all divisions
Gaining Visibility & Control of Global Operations
By streamlining and standardising operations across multiple geographies, divisions and departments, discrete manufacturers can realise a single view of their business. This single version of the truth can be achieved by consolidating legacy systems on to a global manufacturing ERP platform that provides a joined up view of operations that will allow you to react faster to changes in your environment.
- Create a flow of real-time information across your international organisation – and adopt new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI – with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
- Transform data management with next-generation ERP
- Benefit from a simplified data model and in-memory computing platform that can help reduce IT complexity, increase business productivity, and create real-time system performance
- Capitalise on cross-company, global and local real-time analytics and key performance indicators
- Consolidate global financial reporting, close the books faster and have greater visibility into manufacturing operations
Johnson Matthey Battery Systems
We can now easily consolidate financial figures and comply with group-wide standards. itelligence consultants were highly responsive to our requirements. Their SAP support in the UK and Poland was delivered under a single SLA that helped make everything run very smoothly.
Steve Fenton, Information Manager, Johnson Matthey Battery Systems
5 Success Factors in Discrete Manufacturing
Unlock the Potential of Digital Manufacturing
Manufacturers are in the midst of digital transformation. With sensor technology and advanced manufacturing ERP systems, companies can unleash the potential of their data. What’s more, flexible platforms help you realise the connected smart factory and facilitate better collaboration with other companies.
Seize the Opportunities of the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things enables businesses in discrete manufacturing to make precise predictions based on real-time sensor data from machines and give their customers recommendations for future actions. It also paves the way to new business models, such as consumption-based contracts, allowing you to offer your customers more added value.
Accelerate Product Development and Innovation
Today’s customers increasingly demand individual products. This means manufacturers need highly flexible and responsive manufacturing ERP processes. By utilising tailored manufacturing ERP solutions, you can accelerate product development and bring innovations to market faster and more cost-effectively than your rivals.
Integrate the Supply Chain
In every supply chain, transparency is the key to performance. With more visibility and control, you can see clearly across your global supplier network. One of the first steps is automating the flow of data and information to and from suppliers. This integrated view gives you insight into how you can be more efficient from one end of your supply chain to the other. With the right SAP solution, your sourcing strategy becomes clearer. So you can adapt as markets change and drive even more value from your network.
Gain Real-Time Insights through Analytics
As a basis for strategic decisions, greater transparency into all manufacturing operations is required: from production planning to aftersales service. With technology for real-time monitoring and data analytics, you can leverage sensor data to create new, service-based business models and gain additional capabilities, such as predictive maintenance. Adopting artificial intelligence will then allow you to increase productivity and accuracy through automation.
Manufacturing ERP: How We Can Support You
With expertise across the manufacturing sector, we’re driving insight to action, intelligent processes, business agility and increased capability.
Our strong ecosystem of manufacturers are driving innovation agendas linked to Industry 4.0 and the need for connected factories. We are driving a number of digital transformation and industrial automation journeys with the deployment of SAP S/4HANA to multiple small and large-scale international manufacturers. In addition, we’re exploring IoT initiatives, adopting design thinking approaches, and agile development services to connect the shop floor to the top floor. Recent project examples include improvements to shop floor processes (improving the user interaction with build efficiency and build integrity in real time) plus detailed scheduling and MRP Live analysis. We also offer our own solutions and add-ons, such as it.manufacturing and it.automotive, tailored to the specific demands of manufacturing ERP.
Our Specialties in Manufacturing ERP Processes
4–5 times more revenue generated by value-added services on top of simple machine connectivity.
Source: SAP Executive Overview – Powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Digitization of Business in Industrial Machinery and Components
More Useful Insights into Discrete Industries
Master the Challenges of Modern Manufacturing with Intelligent Cloud ERP
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Download nowRead about SMEs Using Modern Technologies to Maintain Their Competitive Advantages
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Download now7 Key Capabilities in Manufacturing and How Cloud ERP Helps You Build Them. View the infographic
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Download nowManufacturing ERP Solutions from SAP
S/4HANA
The intelligent ERP system that supports business transformation and delivers modern, intelligent capabilities that will deliver instant value. Gain the confidence to grow and change at any speed, with a real-time view of your business and the ability to act instantly, and wisely, on that insight.
SAP SuccessFactors
The SAP SuccessFactors human capital management (HCM) suite presents a proactive, integrated approach to your entire talent management lifecycle. SuccessFactors offers a full modular suite of talent solutions in the cloud to help you attract, engage, select and hire the right talent.
SAP Analytics
Unlock the real value in data and gain insight into operations. Discover, visualise, plan, predict, collaborate, and drive fact-based decision making throughout your professional services organisation.
Enterprise Performance Management
SAP Business Planning & Consolidation (SAP BPC) is an application that forms part of the SAP Enterprise Performance Management suite of software. It is an application dedicated to the enterprise wide requirements surrounding budgeting, planning, forecasting, consolidation and reporting through the use of a single unified platform allowing for reduced administration and support requirements in areas such as model creation and security.
SAP Ariba Snap
SAP Ariba Snap gives you control over spending by eliminating paperwork, endless emails and tedious PDFs, and automating each step of the buying process. Delivering decades of best practices, it provides an easy-to-deploy, easy-to-administer, and easy-to-adopt system that’s preconfigured with the spend categories that matter to your industry.
Boost Your Discrete Industries Activities with Our AddOns
Smart SAP AddOns for Discrete Industries
Maximise the efficiency of your SAP systems with our AddOns. Find the right solution for you.
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