How SAP Business AI Reshaps Digital Supply Chain

In today’s globalized market environment, the supply chain of the manufacturing industry is more complex than ever before.

Supply chain networks typically span multiple countries and regions, involving numerous partners including suppliers, manufacturers, logistics providers, and distributors. This network structure is not only widely distributed geographically, but each node may have different operating modes and technology stacks.

To cope with this complexity and gain competitive advantage, many companies are exploring how to integrate AI into their supply chain management.

The use of AI in supply chain management has reduced logistics costs by 15% for some pioneers, increased inventory levels by 35%, and improved service levels by 65%.

However, the potential of AI has not yet been fully tapped, and many companies lack experience in promoting AI initiatives, failing to fully utilize its potential to drive supply chain modernization.

SAP Cloud ERP plays an indispensable role in integrating AI technology into the supply chain. As a comprehensive enterprise cloud management solution, SAP Cloud ERP not only supports traditional ERP functions, but also integrates advanced analysis tools, enabling enterprises to fully utilize the advantages of AI.

For example, it can achieve real-time monitoring of various links in the supply chain through an integrated data platform, providing decision-makers with instant insights; Meanwhile, cloud based service architecture enables enterprises to not only achieve efficient collaboration between internal departments, but also strengthen cooperation with external suppliers and partners.

It can be said that business AI embedded in SAP Cloud ERP has unique advantages in helping enterprises strategically apply artificial intelligence to the entire business process from design to operation.

By integrating business processes centered around the supply chain, enterprises can achieve digital connectivity and optimize operations throughout the entire lifecycle of their products and assets. SAP Business AI is embedded into critical applications to power the design and operation of business processes, and responsibly utilizes your business data and context to provide relevant and reliable results.

The efficiency, agility, and resilience of the supply chain profoundly affect a company’s profitability and competitive advantage. At every stage of the design to operation process, supply chain factors must be considered, from creativity to market, to planning to optimized execution, manufacturing to inspection, order to execution, and procurement to retirement.

With the embedded AI in SAP’s digital supply chain solution, enterprises can transform the process from design to operation by optimizing all activities related to product or service identification, acquisition, design, prototyping, and retirement. This will have a profound impact on the business, enabling SAP customers to simplify production processes and strengthen the entire product lifecycle management (PLM).

From creativity to market stage

 

In the creative to market stage, AI can help product development teams gain insights from past projects and business data, thereby accelerating the launch of new products and improving profitability.

 

For example, in the early design stage when product details are still unstable and the development team is exploring multiple solutions, accelerating the cost calculation process is very important. The artificial intelligence search function in SAP product lifecycle cost calculation allows cost calculation engineers to quickly identify required materials and price them. Artificial intelligence algorithms can analyze large amounts of historical project data, identify and arrange components that meet the requirements. Therefore, multiple material lists can be created within minutes to improve cost processing efficiency and accuracy.

From planning to optimization execution stage

 

During the planning to optimization execution phase, AI can improve supply chain processes and production execution strategies, achieving synchronization between sales and operations planning (S&OP), forecasting and demand, response and supply, demand driven replenishment, and inventory planning, ensuring business continuity in the event of supply chain disruptions.

 

For example, a comprehensive understanding of daily demand is crucial for optimizing profitability, providing high levels of customer service, and achieving accurate supply plans. The artificial intelligence demand perception algorithm in SAP Supply Chain Integrated Business Plan (IBP) can effectively parse a large amount of different data and make accurate short-term predictions every day, which traditional forecasting methods cannot achieve.

From manufacturing to inspection stage

 

From manufacturing to inspection, AI ensures manufacturing accuracy, reduces inventory costs, and meets delivery deadlines. With the help of AI, enterprises can simplify visual inspection tasks, optimize resource scheduling, reduce inventory costs, and improve supply chain efficiency.

 

The artificial intelligence manufacturing analysis function in SAP Cloud ERP can automatically schedule manufacturing operations to available resources, thereby helping optimize resource coordination. It can detect slow-moving materials in a timely manner, thereby reducing inventory costs and improving supply chain efficiency by accurately predicting delivery dates.

Purchase to retirement stage

 

AI enhances the lifecycle management of assets from purchase to disposal.

 

By utilizing artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and rule-based frameworks, SAP customers can associate sensor data, detection results, and historical maintenance records to achieve predictive and normative maintenance strategies. For example, the artificial intelligence model trained on historical data in SAP Predictive Asset Insights can detect abnormal situations in real-time data from device sensors and generate maintenance backlogs to solve problems.

In short, with the continuous development of AI technology, it is gradually changing the traditional mode of supply chain management. As an important support in this transformation, SAP Cloud ERP provides strong technical support for enterprises, helping them achieve higher levels of operational efficiency and cost control.

From the procurement of raw materials or sub components to the manufacturing of final products, every link in the supply chain requires specialized technical solutions. Welcome to click on the link below to contact Acloudrear and create an AI supply chain solution exclusively for your enterprise.

Digital Supply Chain

This article "How SAP Business AI Reshaps Digital Supply Chain" by AcloudEAR. We focus on business applications such as cloud ERP.

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