Use SAP Process Automation to Increase Manufacturing Agility

Increased margin pressures, staffing challenges, and the increase in customer expectations require SAP-based manufacturers to lean into SAP process automation across all aspects of business. That requires the data, processes, and rules built into your SAP ERP and inserting that directly into front-end systems like your CRM, eCommerce, customer portal, and more.

While SAP process automation is now a specific service offered within SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) this blog covers the overarching need to bring automation to SAP processes–to drive scalable, error-proof integrations that lift-and-shift elegantly (without significant rework) from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA.

Minimize–and Aim to Eliminate–Manual Interactions

Every time an employee needs to intervene in a process, the business slows down. Even seemingly small interactions–handling order exceptions, jumping between systems to confirm a price quote, or answering a phone call to provide a tracking number–add up to hundreds and thousands of hours of non-value-added work and the potential for errors. 

The key is predefined SAP process automations leverage data and business logic inside SAP but are virtualized in your front-end systems. Your CRM, quoting system, field service, customer service, and other functions should be able to access–and activate–SAP functionality from directly inside the systems they work with every day. No errors, no swivel-chair, no calls to someone with designated SAP access, no “I’ll have to call you back.”

The Benefits of SAP Process Automation: Measured in Hours, Margins, and Decreased Costs

Any operational efficiency efforts should focus on eliminating manual work/non-value-added employee time, driving down costs, and speeding time to revenue. These combine to preserve margins–more important than ever with increased competition, ever-changing supply chain costs and disruptions and a 24/7 availability expectation from customers and distributors.

For example:

• Remove the complexity typically associated with quoting by ensuring 100% accurate-to-SAP pricing, directly within your CPQ or quoting solution. Like this.
• Give your customer service team a 360-degree customer view without ever leaving their CS interface. Like this.
• Deliver a world-class eCommerce experience that allows SAP-acceptable orders to be placed 24/7/365. Like this.
• Give customers a personalized portal that lets them self-serve with basic tasks like finding ATP or tracking orders–from anywhere in the world, in any time zone. Like this.
• Leverage PIPs and iPaaS solutions to enable citizen integrators to pull SAP data into external applications, reducing the load on IT teams. Like this.

By connecting front-end processes to SAP-based business rules you can automate repetitive tasks, manage process compliance/governance, spot trends or potential issues–all without worrying about hiring or training to support these business needs.

PIPs to the Rescue

Manufacturers that can benefit the most from SAP process automation are often the ones with the fewest technical resources to achieve it. That’s where Packaged Integration Processes (PIPs) do the heavy lifting. By pre-mapping and pre-testing SAP connections for common lead-to-cash processes, PIPs are designed for speed and reuse. 

SAP process automation helps drive customer and employee satisfaction, protect margins, and scale your business for growth. Look to a trusted partner, like enosix, to turn your SAP ERP into your competitive advantage by leveraging your SAP-based data and processes in your front-end systems. Let’s talk about your SAP process automation challenges.