For small to medium-sized manufacturers��and distributers, the advantage of digital technologies is that they can be built up over time, with each investment enabling the next.

Although adoption of Industry 4.0 on the African continent is lower than in the developed world, the impact that smart technologies can make at a socio-economic level – by saving money and increasing efficiency – is being widely discussed.

The past five years have accelerated changes in the logistics industry, pushing up the demand for faster delivery, omnichannel ordering and multi-channel delivery options, and increased order and product trackability.

In Africa, online retail revenue is estimated at around, which is only 3.5% of total retail sales.

“To meet the needs of this burgeoning sector, a warehouse management system (WMS) requires integration with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) to enable data exchange, order processing, accurate inventory management, demand forecasting, enhanced reporting, improved customer experiences, cost efficiency, and more,” says��Andre Adendorff, Director of Presales, SEIDOR in Africa.,”.

“Integration ensures that warehouse operations are synchronised with broader organisational processes, facilitating accurate insights, streamlined workflows, and better decision-making across the supply chain.”

Grappling with the complexities of more extensive logistics systems can be daunting for SMBs. Hence the need for warehouse solutions that cater to this market. They need solutions that are easy and quick to implement.

The right solution can drive digital transformation at operational level, yielding several key benefits:

• Moving from manual and offline systems to real-time tracking of inventory
• Realtime visibility into inventory levels
• Warehouse layout- and bin management
• Elimination of business process waste and increased processing accuracy
• Compliance and security
• Alignment of digital initiatives with business objectives
• Increase in overall customer service levels
• Creation of an analytics environment that enables data-driven decision-making “To find the best fit, SMBs need to look to trusted solution providers,” Adendorff��says. “Tried and tested digital transformation solutions are quick to implement, easy to onboard and use, and offer an accelerated ROI. Forward-thinking African and South African manufacturers and distributors��are looking to adopt world-class standards in their warehouses to enable accuracy in tracking of inventory movements within the ‘four walls’.”

Digital transformation is a journey toward creating an entirely new business, he adds. The best digital transformation solutions will support end-to-end warehousing requirements, including:

• Procure-to-pay cycles
• Order-to-cash cycles with omni-channel sales support
• Replenishment
• Item placements and put-away rules
• Production issues for raw materials
• Receipt finished goods and manage work-in-progress stock
• Quality control
• Inventory counting
• Batch- and serial number entry
• Configurable label printing
• GS1-128 (UCC/EAN-128) standardisation
• Intelligent devices and cloud-based services and applications

How can mid-size companies traditionally shorter on resources tackle such an initiative?��

“Start by assessing the current environment, processes, and systems in use,” says Adendorff “Next, establish a committee that will embrace the initiative and ultimately be the owner from start to finish. Project assessment, evaluation, and planning are key.”

“Post implementation, SMBs need to consider further warehouse optimisations as part of the digital transformation journey.”

As an example, integrating warehousing solutions alongside �鶹ԭ�� Business One, SMBs can digitise their warehouse management processes, improve efficiency, accuracy, and visibility, and ultimately enhance their overall warehouse operations.

“It is important to remember that digital transformation is not only about technology. It encompasses a total shift in organisational culture, processes, and mindset.”

“The essence of digital transformation lies in reimagining and reinventing business models, workflows, and customer interactions to leverage technology’s full potential,” says Adendorff.

“SEIDOR Africa transforms the logistics processes into finely-tuned operations that drive productivity and profitability in the supply-chain.”

“A warehouse management system��fast tracks the digital transformation journey and core warehouse functionality allowing for speed, agility, traceability, and compliance while remaining adaptable,” he concludes.

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At the same time, in today’s connected, informed, and always-on marketplace, customers are demanding high-quality, individualised products delivered within shorter timeframes. To build up local production capacity and meet these requirements, companies must synchronise their demand chain with their supply chain.

“In manufacturing, where supply chain, distribution and service are the foundation of success, intelligent enterprises are using the latest ERP technologies to gain the edge on their competitors –from order placement all the way through to execution and delivery,” says Navin D’Cruz, Head of Sales East Africa, Seidor Africa.

“Automation in the factory is nothing new, but the convergence of the digital and physical worlds has made the transformation of the supply chain increasingly possible.”

In manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI) improves overall equipment efficiency production yield. This means manufacturers can use AI to increase uptime and ensure consistent quality, which makes for better forecasting.

Machine learning (ML) which requires data input, data training, defining and choosing algorithms, data visualisation and more, is applied to develop a mapping function with a level of accuracy that allows manufacturers to predict outputs when new input data is entered into the system.

Powered with AI, ML, and natural language processing, chatbots in manufacturing can streamline manufacturing processes by equipping stakeholders with the required data on the go. Deploying chatbots for manufacturing can help companies gain increased profits, enabling them to maintain a competitive edge in a global marketplace.

In “The smart factory: Responsive, adaptive, connected manufacturing”, part of a Deloitte series on Industry 4.0, the research team reports that the smart factory represents a leap forward from more traditional automation to a fully connected and flexible system, one that can use a constant stream of data from connected operations and production systems to learn and adapt to new demands.

D’Cruz says there are five key benefits to integrated ERP systems:

1. Accurate demand forecasts

How many times have business owners wondered what the next quarter is going to look like? ERP brings sanity to production, sales, procurement and inventory plans. It helps to generate forecast and sales reports based on historical transactions, increasing the accuracy and dependability of production and buying levels. This minimises both out-of-stock and excess inventory situations, keeping stock levels in line with the increase and decrease in demand.

With major advances being made in artificial intelligence and machine learning, businesses are investing heavily in advanced analytics to get ahead of the competition and increase their bottom line. One of those areas is called predictive analytics, where companies extract information from existing data to determine buying patterns and forecast future trends. By using a combination of data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques, predictive analytics identifies the likelihood of future outcomes based on the past. This technology is being used to determine customer responses or purchases, forecast inventory, manage resources, and even detect fraud.

Predictive analytics is becoming more and more mainstream when it comes to demand forecasting, an area of predictive analytics focused on customer demand. Based on the analysis of historical data and current market conditions, it determines the estimated demand for the future and sets the level of preparedness that is required on the supply side to match demand.

2. Decreased costs and improved profitability

Industry leaders everywhere are focusing on increasing revenue in the next 18 months. Getting more work done for lower costs means business growth and improved profits. ERP helps manufacturers to react quickly to changes in the industry, such as raw material costs and delivery timeframes. Data is stored in a single, integrated database that allows fast information processing, and enables quick, high-quality decision-making. Increasing organisational efficiency highlights less profitable areas and cuts down on waste. It also reduces control and inventory management costs.

3. Mobility and increased employee efficiency

Working remotely can be challenging for companies that are experiencing it for the first time. In the strange new world we are living in, ERP enables employees to work remotely with ease, and to access all the information they need from a single portal. They can access business data from their phones, tablets, laptops and computers, no matter where they are based.

4. Increased flexibility

In a pandemic world, manufacturing flexibility provides the capability to respond quickly to shifts in market requirements. Flexible manufacturing enables a business to be collaborative in meeting market and customer demands, respond more quickly to changing demand, and build to order. Flexible approaches enable increased revenue and market share, improved efficiency, and lower cost.

5. Enhanced security and compliance

Whilst the number of data protection laws of Africa are increasing, on 1 July 2021 the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) becomes effective in South Africa.�� Compliance with data protection laws is non-negotiable. ERP systems have many features that can assist companies with the protection of personal information. Data entered into an ERP system can be secured and coded. Access to the data can be restricted through identity and access management, ensuring data security.

“Companies depend on technology systems to grow, but outdated, overly complicated architectures can hinder business agility,” says D-Cruz.

“Integrating legacy systems with new, intelligent ERP technologies to unlock scalability and unleash the potential for innovation is the start of a journey that leads to sustainable growth.”

This article first appeared on FutureWave .

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In the industrial sector, IIoT has emerged as a significant value driver in the manufacturing industry. It has changed the way goods are produced and delivered by connecting all phases of the design-to-operate product life cycle, including ideation and conceptualizing, manufacturing, delivery, and operations.

A Need That Is Here to Stay: Building Resilience Beyond the Crisis

The strong uptake of IIoT reflects an increasing need for business resilience. Even before the pandemic, manufacturing companies operated in an increasingly volatile environment, requiring them to adapt quickly to shifting priorities. COVID-19 accelerated this trend. As consumer demands changed dramatically and manufacturing capacities were constrained, supply chains broke, forcing businesses to cope with the disruption of their daily operations.

While the world will hopefully overcome COVID-19 at some point, new health, societal, geopolitical, or economic crises are likely to occur. That is why an increased need for business and supply chain resilience is here to stay — and IIoT and will help take us there.

When we look at which companies were able to overcome these challenges, it is clear that it was highly digitalized businesses capable of taking informed decisions based on real-time data. IIoT technologies played a major role in helping them to repurpose production, provide help where needed, and find alternative routes to maintain .

Take INDEX-Werke as an example: the traditional supplier for the automotive industry kept its own business and that of its customers running throughout the crisis. Based on �鶹ԭ�� Commerce Cloud, .

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The opportunities are enormous, but many companies that I speak with are wondering where and when to start. Given the disruption we see among our customers in almost every industry, I believe that companies can start small, but should start now.

Introducing New Business Models: From Product to Outcome

IIoT enables new business models and the shift from selling products to delivering services and solutions. The underlying idea of outcome-based models is that customers pay for what they get out of a product rather than for the product itself. In addition, IIoT opens the door to a fully personalized customer experience. Data exchange between a customer and a smart factory makes it possible to produce a highly customized product within just a few days — from receiving an order to shipping the goods.

For example, when , a leading manufacturer of electronic motors, was looking for a way to differentiate its products, the company identified a growing demand for remote monitoring. Together with �鶹ԭ��, the company created a custom app with monitoring and alerting capabilities. VEM’s sensor-equipped motors not only reduced operational downtime and extended product lifetime, they also helped achieve a 25% revenue increase. Most importantly, the company was able to reinvent its business model completely.

Operating in Industry Networks: If the Ecosystem Wins, Everyone Wins

Just recently, I , CEO Digital Industries at Siemens, about the importance of partnerships to accelerate the industrial transformation. We spoke about moving from enterprise resource planning (ERP) to network resource planning, and from “ego-systems” to ecosystems where the players strive for added value together.

At �鶹ԭ��, we envision that enterprises will exchange data via an industry network of suppliers, machine manufacturers, and customers. We are addressing this with and thereby enabling a shift from a seller/buyer paradigm to collaborative models. When, for example, data from production quality records is shared between suppliers and manufacturers, they can collaboratively resolve warranty claims and recalls.

�鶹ԭ�� actively uses and contributes to various industry standards that build the foundation for industry networks. �鶹ԭ�� helped incubate the in 2019, with the goal of creating guidelines for compatible and interoperable IIoT solutions and services. Joint standards between the systems of different players in our ecosystem help drive digitalization in factories, plants, and warehouses in a collaborative manner.

Sharing data beyond a company’s borders adds even more value for all the players, from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to suppliers and consumers. Strong networks rely on cooperation among companies within and across industries. �鶹ԭ�� is a founding partner of the Automotive Alliance, , which aims to create a unified business network for the automotive industry. The alliance’s goal is to create a consistent information exchange through the entire automotive value chain.

From Concept to Execution

Today, we have all the technology and applications at hand to connect devices, people, and processes. Making use of data across the entire product and service life cycle is the foundation of managing business processes end to end.

To sustain long-term success, it is imperative for companies to move from concept to execution. This also requires a shift in our mindset. We need to rethink how data is used and set common standards. We need to rethink how businesses run and be open to new business models. And we need to rethink how markets work and move from the buyer/supplier relational paradigm to a collaborative model.

If we see IIoT and Industry 4.0 as both an urgent need and an opportunity, we will not only achieve continuous optimization but we will also generate added value — both for the ecosystem we operate in and for our customers.

Thomas Saueressig is a member of the Executive Board of �鶹ԭ�� SE, �鶹ԭ�� Product Engineering.
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This article first appeared on the �鶹ԭ�� Global News Center.

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