We believe this recognition reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 continued focus on helping organizations run resilient, efficient, and increasingly intelligent transportation operations in a rapidly changing global logistics environment.

Magic Quadrant reports are a culmination of rigorous, fact-based research in specific markets, providing a wide-angle view of the relative positions of providers in markets where growth is high and provider differentiation is distinct.

We believe 麻豆原创鈥檚 placement as a Leader underscores our commitment to ongoing innovation across transportation, logistics execution, and supply chain orchestration.

Addressing today鈥檚 transportation challenges

Transportation operations are under constant pressure, from cost volatility and capacity constraints to sustainability requirements and rising customer expectations. Organizations need solutions that help them plan, execute, and adapt across increasingly complex networks while maintaining visibility and control.

and are designed to support these needs through a holistic, end鈥憈o鈥慹nd approach. By connecting freight procurement, planning, execution, and settlement on a single platform, 麻豆原创 helps organizations respond more effectively to disruptions, align transportation decisions with broader supply chain objectives, and support compliance with regional and industry鈥憇pecific requirements.

A platform built for complex, global operations

麻豆原创 Transportation Management supports organizations operating across multiple modes, regions, and industries. Built to scale with business growth, the solution is designed to support complex, global transportation networks while enabling standardization and process consistency across operations.

Customers across industries鈥攊ncluding consumer products, chemicals, agriculture, mining, retail, wholesale distribution, and industrial manufacturing鈥攗se 麻豆原创 Transportation Management to manage complex transportation networks at scale. Industry鈥憇pecific capabilities from 麻豆原创, such as support for automotive and mill and mining operations, along with integration with , help organizations address specialized requirements while accelerating time to value. Dedicated industry business units further tailor go鈥憈o鈥憁arket strategies and solutions to industry鈥憇pecific challenges.

Advancing transportation management with AI

Data-driven decision-making is increasingly essential for transportation operations. 麻豆原创 continues to invest in AI-driven capabilities that help automate processes, improve responsiveness, and increase productivity.

Recent innovations include AI-assisted use cases such as goods receipt processing, as well as the integration of conversational planning into transportation planning workflows. These capabilities are designed to help planners and operators work more efficiently by reducing manual effort and supporting faster, more informed decisions across execution and settlement processes. 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants is another recent AI innovation that accelerates solution adoption by offering instant, expert-level guidance and best practice recommendations for solution configuration.

Supporting a connected logistics landscape

Transportation does not operate in isolation. 麻豆原创鈥檚 logistics portfolio brings together transportation, warehousing, and business network collaboration on a cohesive foundation.

This includes the recent general availability of , a new solution designed to support regional and local distribution operations by combining transportation execution, warehouse processes, and carrier collaboration in a single offering. 麻豆原创 Logistics Management complements 麻豆原创 Transportation Management by helping organizations extend standardized logistics processes to satellite locations and growing operations, supporting broader adoption while reducing complexity. 麻豆原创 Logistics Management can be deployed alongside 麻豆原创 Transportation Management to support multi-tier transportation operations, providing the right tool for each level of complexity.

麻豆原创 Transportation Management, together with other logistics solutions from 麻豆原创, helps organizations modernize their logistics operations in a way that aligns with their broader ERP and supply chain strategies as they progress on their transformational journeys via or .

Why organizations choose 麻豆原创 Transportation Management

Organizations choose 麻豆原创 Transportation Management to support complex transportation requirements across global and regional operations. The solution offers broad functional coverage, deep integration across the 麻豆原创 supply chain portfolio, and the flexibility to support both advanced transportation networks and evolving business needs.

With continued investment across 麻豆原创 Transportation Management, 麻豆原创 Logistics Management, warehousing, and 麻豆原创 Business Network for Logistics, 麻豆原创 remains focused on helping organizations operate resilient transportation processes while supporting both global complexity and localized execution models.

Explore how 麻豆原创 Transportation Management can .

Till Dengel is global head of Product Marketing for Logistics and Asset & Service Management at 麻豆原创.

*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Manav Jain, 30 March 2026.

Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.

In this era of constant disruption, 麻豆原创 stands at the forefront of supply chain transformation. Our vision is clear: to empower our customers with transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains. We鈥檙e committed to delivering innovative cloud solutions and collaborative business networks that enable autonomous supply chains seamlessly integrated with .

To spearhead this critical business, 麻豆原创 recently appointed Dominik Metzger as the new president and chief product officer of Supply Chain Management at 麻豆原创. Metzger brings a wealth of experience and deep-rooted passion for tackling supply chain complexities. His years of hands-on work with customers navigating disruptions and driving transformation make him uniquely qualified to lead 麻豆原创鈥檚 new unit. This team combines , , and solutions, positioning the company to address the multifaceted challenges of modern supply chain management.

Nearly three months into this role, I caught up with Metzger to hear about how he鈥檚 adapting and his vision for the future of supply chain management at 麻豆原创.

Q: Having spent the last five years working in a variety of roles at 麻豆原创, what are your priorities for the new role?

A: During my time at 麻豆原创, I鈥檝e seen how supply chain management has transitioned into a dynamic and connected ecosystem that demands constant collaboration, end-to-end data integration, and agile processes to keep pace with constant disruptions. My chief priority is to ensure that we help customers not only respond to disruptions but also proactively prepare and act. We can do so by leveraging AI, generative AI, real-time data, and predictive analytics with the power of 麻豆原创鈥檚 technology. Our vision is to build an autonomous supply chain, enabling customers to have highly efficient processes and personalized, context-rich insights that incorporate data from across the enterprise. This approach allows their teams to focus on truly complex decisions.

With 麻豆原创 Business Suite, we offer our customers deeply connected, end-to-end supply chain processes鈥攆rom product data management for discrete and formulated products to planning the demand, supply, production, and inventory levels to purchasing parts and materials to manufacturing execution, logistics, and finally asset and service operations. These processes are turbocharged with a wealth of AI capabilities to help truly bring the experience to a business user.

Yet, AI is only as good as the data it runs on, so we are committed to ensuring all processes are relevant and responsible. Our recent launch of 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud (麻豆原创 BDC) is a cornerstone of helping our customers fix their data at its very core, within the context of their business process. This makes any ontology or data semantic discussion obsolete: 麻豆原创 can provide out-of-the-box, semantically aligned data products, spanning end-to-end supply chain functions, enriched with unstructured data through our partnership with Databricks.

Our AI-first strategy will help enable companies to leverage the wealth of structured and unstructured data to become highly adaptive and, ultimately, autonomously act on even the most complex disruptions. This holistic approach helps guarantee that customers will shape their supply chain strategies with real-time intelligence. By embedding this technology deep into 麻豆原创鈥檚 supply chain management applications, we can drive greater productivity, improve operational efficiency, and create more resilient, agile networks that can adapt to shifting market conditions. We are now conquering the next frontier of truly autonomous supply chain agents, contextually rich and deeply anchored in customers鈥� business processes.

Now, one of the most valuable sources of data we have not yet discussed: data out of your n-tier supply chain. In the highly interconnected environments companies are operating in, the supply chain business is a network business. My top priority is to enable our customers to benefit from the immense value of 麻豆原创 Business Network. Our emphasis lies on increasing operational visibility and efficiency. Deep collaboration can enable buyers to identify new sources of supply, even during times of disruption. With market conditions constantly shifting, we are helping businesses to identify risks in the depth of their upstream supply chains to keep operations running and significantly reduce time to recovery.

How has your previous experience helped shape you for this position?

My career has taken me around the world鈥攆rom Southeast Asia to Europe to the Northeast United States鈥攁nd through various roles. In my early days, I served as a supply chain application consultant, learning the nuances of 麻豆原创 technology, the intricacies of industry processes, and the challenges that go along with technology transformations for 麻豆原创 customers. This helped shape my approach, as I aim to deliver real value by ensuring our solutions are adaptable and capable of driving meaningful business outcomes.

Additionally, while I鈥檓 now based in Munich, Germany, I spent years of my adult life in Singapore and New York City. I was exposed to different business cultures, market dynamics, regulatory environments, and languages. This reinforced the importance of flexibility, creativity, and inclusivity, as 麻豆原创 supply chain management strives to build globally scalable solutions. In this new role, I鈥檓 combining those insights and experiences to guide supply chain management at 麻豆原创. I want our offerings to align with the real-world challenges our customers face daily, regardless of whether they鈥檙e a retailer in Asia or a manufacturer in North America. Ultimately, my experience has driven my commitment to ensuring our solutions are relevant, adaptable, and impactful.

Can you share some insight into what we can expect from 麻豆原创鈥檚 supply chain management team over the coming months?

We will focus on integrating 麻豆原创鈥檚 broader AI-first, suite-first strategy that enables customers to seamlessly implement advanced technologies into their daily operations. Our focus will be on expanding automation, improving supply chain orchestration, and bolstering business network collaboration鈥攁ll critical steps to maintaining resilience in an ever-evolving market.

Another priority is reducing emissions and helping customers meet sustainability goals. Through , customers can integrate carbon emissions data into existing digital supply chain technology, aligning sustainability with sourcing and supply chain management strategies.

My team is also working on several exciting product launches, including announcements at 麻豆原创 Sapphire in May and 麻豆原创 Connect in October. Be sure to tune into both events for more information.

A strong, diverse, and collaborative team is essential in addressing any client challenge. By uniting diverse perspectives and expertise under one vision, we can develop platforms that deliver meaningful, long-term business outcomes for 麻豆原创 customers around the world.

Cindy McKendry is director of Corporate Communications for Intelligent Spend and Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

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Mindsprint is a leading-edge agritech firm that provides impact driven solutions to businesses, enabling them to outpace the speed of change.

Amit Jain, senior vice president and head of 麻豆原创 at Mindsprint, talks about food sustainability and how being able to track and trace everything helps the company save money and make more sustainable choices.

Read more.

Agritech, or agricultural technology, looks to improve yields and efficiency on farms using technology, and Mindsprint helps customers digitally transform sustainably. The Singapore-based technology and business services firm鈥檚 services include digital transformation, cybersecurity, and more 鈥� which requires a robust landscape.

鈥淣ow, we have added almost every product that 麻豆原创 has into our environment,鈥� Amit Jain, senior vice president and head of 麻豆原创 at Mindsprint, said. This includes moving to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA as well as running 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, 麻豆原创 Concur solutions, 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain, and more. 鈥淲e work very, very closely with 麻豆原创 鈥� not just on the product side, but also on the services side.鈥�

This has helped Mindsprint stay nimble and continue serving its customers 鈥� and their customers 鈥� as market demands have shifted.

Transparency for All

鈥淧eople are not going to the shops anymore,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淧eople want to order everything online.鈥�

COVID-19 helped accelerate that shift, giving rise to food startups and other e-commerce sites, according to Jain. And Mindsprint uses logistics, finance, and manufacturing solutions within 麻豆原创 S/4HANA to help those customers meet growing online demand and add transparency to the process.

鈥淲hen you talk about the food supply chain, people want to be sure that the food that they鈥檙e eating is good 鈥� so they鈥檙e able to trace the origins of the food,鈥� Jain said.

Toward that end, Mindsprint also relies on 麻豆原创 to help refine transportation management every step of the food鈥檚 journey, from farms to ports and all the way to consumers, according to Jain. And between each of those trips, proves to be important, as different foods require different temperatures and other conditions.

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Tech-Driven Conservation

鈥溌槎乖� continues to be the core of everything that we do, but we also use other technology like blockchain,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淏lockchain helps us track our supply chain of our products end-to-end.鈥�

Mindsprint uses sensors on farms as well as in its products, according to Jain. This includes the company鈥檚 large palm plantations, where farmers can monitor frond health, which can help conserve resources and prevent rot.

鈥淲e can actually use the technology to track each and every palm tree we have in plantations to figure out which are green palms, which are the yellow palms,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淭hat way we can remove the yellow palms before they become rotten.鈥� This dangerous turn from healthy green to sickly yellow or brown .

These agricultural sensors can also help a farmer better allocate water to specific fields 鈥� or even individual plants 鈥� that need it and not irrigate those that don鈥檛. This can help improve the crops and their yields, Jain noted. Additionally, it helps protect a resource that is all too rare and precious in some communities.

鈥淚t also helps us conserve water,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淓very drop saved is a lot of importance.鈥�

Track and Trace Everything

The agritech industry is focusing heavily on supply chains, according to Jain. And that鈥檚 where Olam and Mindsprint are seeing the biggest benefit from 麻豆原创 technology.

鈥淲e are able to optimize our supply chains; we are able to track and trace everything that we do,鈥� Jain said. 鈥淭hat has helped us save a lot of money.鈥� The technology also helps Mindsprint make more sustainable choices, improve transportation, and even select the right logistics partners, according to Jain.

鈥淎ll those decisions are made using 麻豆原创,鈥� Jain said.

鈥淲ith one integrated platform that connects data from farmers through processing, warehouses, and retail, we are transforming the traditional food chain from supplier-driven to demand-driven,鈥� said Karthik Jayaraman, co-founder and managing director at WayCool. 鈥淲e selected because it is a flexible, cloud-based foundation for our growing business. provides a single source of truth company-wide and across our ecosystem, helping us produce and deliver the delicious food that consumers want on their table.鈥�  

The company has already reduced food wastage by up to 96% while improving the average income of farmers by over 13%.

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Data Insights Align Food Supply with Demand

Putting predictability and farming in the same sentence might seem like a stretch in a world rocked by disruptions like extreme weather and geopolitical conflicts. However, WayCool orchestrates a groundbreaking collaborative effort. It starts with farmers who produce the fruits, vegetables, and other staples that feed the Indian population and extends to partners, warehouse operations, distribution, and retailers.

鈥淪haring information with our partners in procurement who run processing and warehouse facilities, along with transportation logistics and retail, we can align supply with the right pricing for greater efficiencies and governance that produces the highest quality products,鈥� said Avinash Kasinathan, chief technology officer at WayCool. 鈥淒ata transparency also means that farmers can base field production on actual market demand and consumption.鈥�

Farmer Income Grows with Data-Driven Strategy

WayCool鈥檚 ability to trace products from farm to end consumer provides the company and its ecosystem with forecasting and planning insights based on real-time customer feedback and market demands. Using this connected data, WayCool makes recommendations to farmers on what fruits and vegetables to grow for the highest yields and uptake at the best prices.

Fourth-generation farmer Hari Prasad, located in a village called Karnataka on the outskirts of East Bangalore, is one of the over 200,000 farmers that WayCool provides with detailed cultivation plans.

鈥淯nlike traditional farming, WayCool recommends what to plant, when, and where, letting us know up front what they鈥檒l purchase at fair prices based on harvest time frames and factoring in staggered market demands,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to worry about whether or not we鈥檒l sell our yield, and we can calculate continuous earnings in a more predictable and consistent manner.鈥� 

Although farmers may have smaller yields, harvesting crops on a more consistent basis throughout the year levels out supply and demand spikes and downturns. If crop prices fall one week and rise the next, farmers can average out major risks with a steadier stream of income over time.

AI-Based Technologies Reduce Waste and Boost Crop Yields

WayCool has infused AI capabilities across its digitalized supply chain to increase quality yield and decrease waste. AI is built into the recommendation engine that tells retailers which products on their shelves will sell faster according to store location demographics. In the field, farmers use AI-based image recognition to quickly identify plant diseases and set up treatment plans. Internet of Things (IoT)-based sensors in the soil send farmers alerts on weather patterns to guide more cost-efficient and sustainable irrigation decisions. The company is exploring generative AI use cases as well.

Sustainable Agriculture Vision for the World

For WayCool and its partners, sustainable business encompasses the full range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. Digitalization has an important role, for example, in regenerative farming practices. Farmers can use data-driven insights to produce stronger seeds for biodiversity, growing crops that are more climate-resilient and use less water and fertilizer in healthier soil.

Looking ahead, Jayaraman is eager to bring WayCool鈥檚 digitalized business model from India to other regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

鈥淭he food supply chain is a huge global market, yet agribusiness is one of the least digitized industries,鈥� said Jayaraman. 鈥淲e鈥檝e experienced how technology is revolutionizing food chains in India, and we鈥檙e excited about bringing people in other parts of the world greater access to affordable, quality food for the next generation of sustainable agriculture.鈥�

Preh is a global growth company with five sales locations, six production plants, and a strong market position in the automotive market for human-machine interface and e-mobility systems.

With constant company growth and ever-changing market requirements, the product lifecycle costing at Preh had reached its limits. 鈥淲e are on the way to becoming a 鈧�2 billion company and did product costing without the support of a fully integrated data processing system,鈥� recalls Harald Bayer, department head of Project Calculation at Preh Group. 鈥淔or our management, it was now time to give the calculation of all our new products a new basis.鈥�

The company knew it needed a single source of truth for all product cost information that would also enable analysis and support reporting. 

Introducing a Future-Proof Standard Solution

鈥淲e looked at several software solutions on the market and our choice was 麻豆原创 Product Lifecycle Costing. As we are trusting on the strength of 麻豆原创, this was a decision for the future,鈥� Bayer says. 鈥淎n 麻豆原创 standard solution is a better fit with our system landscape.鈥�

According to Bayer, key objectives for the project were:

• Replace former processes with a standardized process across the company
• Improve quality and accuracy for product costing along the product lifecycle
• Increase cost transparency for reporting and analysis to easily identify cost drivers
• Increase speed and flexibility in the product costing process and the efficiency of the entire organization

helps companies gain visibility across teams, calculate and proactively manage costs, and support new product innovations and customer-specific engineered products.

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A Central Database for Product and Project Calculation

鈥淚n the first step, 麻豆原创 Product Lifecycle Costing was implemented at our headquarters in Germany. Currently, we are doing the global rollout. This includes all business units at all locations and development centers, with the goal to set a common standard with global software,鈥� Bayer says. 鈥淲e want to make it available for all users involved in the product costing process. Therefore, we will train a large part of the entire PDP organization. There will be only one database.鈥� He added: 鈥淭he solution is integrated with our 麻豆原创 ERP system that is a single global instance.鈥�

To support various stakeholders in the most efficient manner, Preh created different apps and layouts within 麻豆原创 Product Lifecycle Costing, such as a quality checker that helps avoid errors and therefore increase the quality of the costing result as well as a material price app in which the purchasing department can enter material prices that are automatically transferred into the database. In addition, 麻豆原创 Services and Support supported the company in developing different reports and an interface to provide up-to-date material prices.

Preh also created additional reports and analyses, which helped provide more transparency thanks to different views.

Increased Transparency Helps Identify Cost Drivers, Optimize Design

In terms of the value Preh gained, 鈥淭he main benefit is transparency,” Bayer says. “We can do analyses and reporting by pushing a button. With that, we know everything about cost drivers and can see the entire product costing. We can easily make comparisons between different calculations and see cost bridges, which was a lot of effort in the past.”

Leveraging the new database, the company can get an easier overview of which parts are used in which project; get up-to-date purchasing price information twice a day; examine calculations and prices of specific years; and make more precise product and project calculations.

From a business perspective, this means:

• Increased competitiveness, thanks to cost transparency and insight into cost drivers to make better design decisions
• Quick access to accurate product costing information
• Major time savings as master data is automatically replicated from 麻豆原创 ERP, allowing employees to focus on cost improvements

鈥淲e can easily identify our cost drivers for working closely with development, purchasing, and our suppliers on the cost drivers to be more competitive in customer quotes,鈥� Bayer comments.

By the end of the year, Preh plans to leverage 麻豆原创 Product Lifecycle Costing to calculate more than a hundred projects with up to 10 different product variants 鈥� and many more later. 鈥淭he choice of 麻豆原创 Product Lifecycle Costing was the right decision,鈥� Bayer says. 鈥淲e were able to increase quality and accuracy in our processes and take an important step in our overall digitalization efforts.鈥�

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success for Digital Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

“Businesses today are confronted with challenges ranging from supply chain disruptions and labor shortages to geopolitical uncertainties,鈥� said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE, 麻豆原创 Product Engineering. 鈥溌槎乖� recognizes the imperative for agility and intelligence, driving innovation with AI-powered solutions to streamline supply chain and manufacturing processes. Companies can enhance operational efficiency and improve supply chain resiliency while delighting customers with superior service, paving the way for sustained growth and market competitiveness.鈥�

Accurate and relevant real-time information helps mitigate the impact that supply-chain disruptions have on suppliers, manufacturers and distributors worldwide. SMA Solar Technology AG and other customers have already witnessed the benefits of 麻豆原创鈥檚 solutions, including an approximately 15% increase in supply chain workforce productivity, a 10% decrease in overall supply chain planning costs and a 10% reduction in inventory carrying costs and stock turnover rate.

鈥淪MA Solar modernizes its manufacturing execution systems to support sustainable, risk-resilient manufacturing operations with the power of AI-enabled visual inspection in the 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing solution,鈥� said Heiko Kehm, SMA Solar head of IT Order to Cash.

Sixty-three percent of supply chain executives and 52% of operations executives have an AI strategy linked to business objectives, according to 鈥�,鈥� a global 2024 IDC InfoBrief sponsored by 麻豆原创*. Fifty-one percent of the 2,000 survey respondents are embedding AI into supply chain planning business processes and key applications for real-time decision-making. Another 58% are using AI to increase operational efficiency and employee productivity.

to 麻豆原创鈥檚 supply chain solutions to support customers鈥� AI-centric strategy include:

• Optimizing decisions across the supply chain with AI-driven insights: Companies can now leverage higher volumes of machine data and integrate AI-driven visual inspection by computer into their production processes, enabling a remarkable increase in quality through automation.
• Streamlining product development: Product developers can now use 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI copilot Joule to gather and enhance new product ideas quickly and effectively using natural language queries. Joule also helps tag product designs with business data, so they visually contextualize business-critical information.
• Detecting equipment anomalies: Using AI, asset operators can proactively address potential breakdowns based on sensor data collected from smart devices and edge gateways. This new capacity utilizes the cutting-edge Cumulocity IoT platform from Software AG, which is planned to be embedded in the 麻豆原创 Asset Performance Management application in Q3.
• Improving field response: Customers can optimize driving routes and allocate job assignments efficiently with integrated real-time traffic data and machine-learning-trained models, which enable the right field service technicians to reach their destinations on time.

Find more details about the innovations 麻豆原创 will show at Hannover Messe .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 at .

*IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by 麻豆原创, The Importance of AI in Supply Chain and Operations, document #US52042224, April 2024.

About 麻豆原创

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 麻豆原创 (NYSE: 麻豆原创) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted 麻豆原创 to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit .

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With the introduction of RISE with 麻豆原创 add-on packages for critical lines of business, customers using RISE with 麻豆原创 can reap significant value from their cloud ERP investment. Each targeted package augments the complete offering of cloud solutions, infrastructure, and services, creating a strategic arsenal for addressing uniquely nuanced challenges and opportunities. 

The first two sets of packages that are now available focus on the needs of finance and supply chain organizations. To advance critical functions from digital banking and treasury and risk management to product lifecycle management and logistics, these packages are designed to be versatile allies in the quest for greater efficiency, sustainability, and growth. 

Strengthening Financial Empowerment for Business Growth 

Financial management stands as a critical pillar for business growth. Within RISE with 麻豆原创, its impact can be heightened with add-on packages finely tuned for the office of the CFO. 

Digital Banking: Simplify connections with customers, banks, and payment service providers while meeting the highest security standards.

The digital banking package streamlines financial transactions and helps ensure a comprehensive and secure banking interface, supporting payment processes integrated with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.听.

Treasury and Risk Management: Invest, borrow, and hedge exposures more confidently with a comprehensive solution for centralized treasury and risk management.

Through the RISE with 麻豆原创 advanced treasury and risk management package, smooth integration with trading platforms allows finance organizations to streamline, automate, and unify trading activities and make more strategic decisions with real-time and predictive cash insights. .

Financial Three Lines of Defense: Let standardization and automation take center stage to address key activities in enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, and audit processes.

The three lines of defense package empowers finance professionals to anticipate and respond to potential economic risks, identify and resolve issues faster, and gain near-real-time visibility into their company鈥檚 compliance status and control effectiveness. .

Billing and Revenue Innovation Management: Accelerate the monetization of innovative business models and billing processes for bundled-usage services, products, projects, and recurring services billed on a single invoice.

Using the billing and revenue innovation management package helps establish the foundation for supporting subscription order management, convergent charging and invoices, and contract accounting. It also facilitates incentives and revenue shares for business partners with high-volume customer billings. .

Building Resilient Bonds Across the Supply Chain 

Companies that connect their processes, contextualize their decisions, and collaborate with each supplier, partner, and stakeholder are well-positioned to run risk-resilient and sustainable supply chains. RISE with 麻豆原创 brings this competitive edge by setting the proper foundation with the following add-on packages.

Advanced Product Lifecycle Management: Empower your development organization with the best capabilities for collaboration, visualization, requirements definition and specification, and change management.

The RISE with 麻豆原创 advanced product lifecycle management (PLM) package equips product-centric companies with solutions that keep information flowing across each PLM activity and engage suppliers through digital networks. In return, design decisions are made more accurately, and delays give way to accelerated time to market. .

Advanced Supply Chain Planning: Build an agile, intelligent, and risk-resilient supply chain.

With the RISE with 麻豆原创 advanced supply chain planning package, supply chain organizations can automate and tightly coordinate their planning processes, leverage AI-driven intelligence and planning capabilities, and identify disruptions and shortages early to respond faster and more effectively. .

Advanced Logistics: Increase resilience against constant change and deliver as promised at the right time 鈥� every time.

Through the RISE with 麻豆原创 advanced logistics package, supply chain organizations gain best-practice logistics capabilities in warehousing, transportation, robotics, and yard management to reduce costs, avoid stock-outs, and improve order accuracy and on-time delivery. .

Advanced Manufacturing: Drive productivity safely and sustainably with intelligent manufacturing planning and execution.

The RISE with 麻豆原创 advanced manufacturing package assists supply chain organizations in meeting demand with automated, flexible manufacturing processes that support risk-resilient operations and improve sustainability performance. .

Advanced Asset and Service Management: Enter a new world of optimized, AI-powered maintenance and service capabilities.

The RISE with 麻豆原创 advanced asset and service management package opens the door to innovative technologies that maximize asset performance, reduce maintenance costs, and deliver service excellence. This approach allows asset owners and service providers to handle everything from asset strategy and planning to maintenance scheduling and field service management on mobile devices. .

Navigating the Future with Digital Synergy 

The RISE with 麻豆原创 offering is not only emerging as an enabler for migrating on-premises ERP systems to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition; it鈥檚 also a transformative force shaping the future of businesses.

And with the addition of add-on packages meticulously crafted for finance and supply chain challenges, the offering stands to become a strategic partner, propelling 麻豆原创 customers into a new era of efficiency, resilience, and sustained growth.

Eric van Rossum is chief marketing and solutions officer for Cloud ERP at 麻豆原创.

In this article, I explore how forward-thinking businesses can integrate guidance plans into their software strategies to advance the transformation of their digital supply chain in a fast-paced business environment.

Embracing the Digital Supply Chain Revolution

Traditional supply chain models have undergone a significant transformation through the integration of digital technology. Now, companies have access to real-time data, advanced analytics, and automation, facilitating informed decision-making processes. A digital supply chain boosts efficiency, cuts costs, and mitigates risks. However, a potent software solution is just part of the equation. Comprehensive innovation requires continuous upskilling of the workforce, a clear vision, and ongoing transformation.

Yet, businesses face challenges throughout the entire software lifecycle. Supply chain professionals juggle day-to-day tasks, envision the future, and manage critical steps. This demands strategic foresight and product expertise, a challenge many customers grapple with.

A reliable helping hand, like , can become invaluable. This advanced plan can aid in digitizing the supply chain, offering guidance for implementing and optimizing 麻豆原创 Best Practices. The goal? Helping businesses extract maximum value from technology investments.

Here are a few key aspects that the 麻豆原创 Preferred Success plan can offer customers in their digital supply chain journey.

A Personalized Plan

Imagine collaborating with your organization’s personal squad of 麻豆原创 wizards. They’re not just experts; they’re partners that can craft a tailor-made plan for your digital supply chain ambitions. It’s like having a strategic road map exclusively for you, helping to ensure every move aligns with your business objectives. Say goodbye to uncertainty headaches because the how, what, and when can be crystal clear. This clarity is crucial as your project partner wraps up and reliance shifts to your in-house supply chain and IT teams. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success helps eliminate any uncertainty by providing a guide to help navigate the digital landscape seamlessly.

Tailored Guidance

Your 麻豆原创 Preferred Success counterpart can step into the role of your personalized guide, helping to deliver tailored advice and best practices precisely when you need them. It can go beyond just implementing 麻豆原创 solutions; it’s about harmonizing them with tried-and-true best practices. What sets this apart is the proactive nature of the guidance. Think of it as a well-orchestrated symphony of checks and advisories by your customer success partner and delivered by our seasoned experts.

Accelerated Adoption and Continuous Improvement

The 麻豆原创 Preferred Success plan is meticulously designed to help fast-track the adoption of 麻豆原创 solutions and facilitate a quicker time-to-value. In the digital era where agility and speed reign supreme, there’s no room for guessing or waiting 鈥� it’s full speed ahead. And this isn’t a one-time sprint; it’s a commitment to continuous improvement, learning, and the refinement of your processes over time, well after your first go-live.

Technology evolves rapidly, and 麻豆原创 Preferred Success can become your compass to stay ahead of the curve. How often have you heard customers wondering, “Are we aware of the latest capabilities or features? Should we be doing more with our solution?” The guidance embedded in the plan strategically helps in answering those questions. It’s about thriving in an ever-evolving digital landscape, not just avoiding obsolescence.

Data-Driven Insights for Feature Adoption

麻豆原创 Preferred Success can take the lead in leveraging the robust data and analytics capabilities within 麻豆原创 solutions. This can give you actionable insights and helps guide you towards the most relevant features for your business.

Determining which features are truly relevant and whether they make sense for your business can be a puzzle. Add the frequent releases of new features in the cloud and staying in the loop and it becomes more challenging. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success can act as your data-driven guide, helping to align features with business objectives so that you use only those enhancing effectiveness.

Access to Experts

There comes a point where the brilliance of your supply chain teams and IT experts might need a little extra support. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success can provide access to 麻豆原创 experts that help navigate challenges effectively. With 麻豆原创 Preferred Success, you can get dedicated time with the precise subject-matter expert needed to help address your concerns and seek guidance.

Risk Mitigation

With 麻豆原创 Preferred Success, risk mitigation in digital transformation can take center stage. You can benefit from enhanced incident handling in service-level agreements, which can significantly reduce risks during implementation and post go-live. Consider it your proactive protection for a smooth journey through the complexities of digital evolution.

Seamless Transformation with 麻豆原创 Preferred Success

Digitalization is not just a choice but a necessity. 麻豆原创 Preferred Success emerges as a guiding light for businesses keen on transforming their supply chain operations. Its advanced assistance can enable seamless transformations, enhanced guidance, and expertise, all while helping to alleviate stress and empower your supply chain and IT teams.

And there鈥檚 a commercial model. Imagine 麻豆原创 Preferred Success is like a subscription to your favorite streaming service, with no hourly charges and no paperwork for guidance or ad-hoc questions. Your supply chain subscription covers everything, enabling a stress-free focus on the transformation journey without administrative complexities.

 or contact your local 麻豆原创 representative to learn more about 麻豆原创 Preferred Success for supply chain management solutions from 麻豆原创.

Kiron Satyavarapu is global solution owner for 麻豆原创 Preferred Success at 麻豆原创.

Besides innovation, excellent customer service is a top priority for the company that employs more than 3,000 people and maintains a partner network in 90 countries.

Due to constant business growth, existing customer service processes became insufficient and the company knew it needed to introduce a state-of-the-art solution that would support harmonizing field service management processes from a local and regional level to a global rollout.听听听

鈥淲e worked with 麻豆原创 at various service locations in Germany, but service processes were heterogeneous and involved paperwork and manual feeds into the system. Although we captured a lot of data, the processes didn鈥檛 allow us to effectively leverage them and they often got stuck in PDF documents,鈥� Bernhard Urban, head of Customer Service Germany at Putzmeister Concrete Pumps GmbH, said.

As a consequence, Putzmeister set out the following goals:

• Improve and streamline high-end customer service globally.
• Replace manual processes with modern, optimized, digitalized processes for field service management.
• Digitalize deployment planning of service technicians.

Introducing a Global Standard for Services Processes

To stay ahead of competition, Putzmeister decided to introduce a global standard for its service processes and select an innovative and digital solution to support planners, dispatchers, and service technicians with the following main objectives:

• More efficient resource scheduling
• Optimization of field technician assignments 
• Harmonization, simplification, and digitalization of field service processes, including processing complex service reports with master data from 麻豆原创 ERP
• Employee leveraging of inspection protocols
• Integration with mobile devices allowing field technicians to report time, material consumption, and expenses
• Sped up and digitalized shop-floor processes

The company found that best suited its needs. The cloud-based solution helps digitalize field service and optimize operations while working to reduce environmental impact through efficient service delivery.

For the implementation of 麻豆原创 Field Service Management, Putzmeister turned to , an NTT Data company. 鈥淭he Sybit team has comprehensive experience in the area and provided valuable recommendations and guidance, especially in early project stages,鈥� Urban said. That enabled Putzmeister to go live with a pilot in less than eight months and involved business process re-engineering and optimization. The cooperation with Sybit was very fruitful thanks to an agile project management approach, intelligent key user training, and field tests.

Establishing a New End-to-End Service Process

Service requests from customers are now entered into 麻豆原创 ERP by the back-office team and automatically transferred into 麻豆原创 Field Service Management for resource scheduling. Service technicians then receive a notification on their mobile device to confirm the order. At the same time, they get insight into inventory and can request the spare parts and materials they need.

When it comes to order execution, technicians can have all the information at their fingertips, including various inspection checklists related to service categories and images. They can do material availability checks from inventory, confirm used and no longer used components, and request additional supplies. The service report is then created on their mobile device and submitted to the customer for confirmation. Moreover, the solution allows service technicians to include additional details to create the invoice, such as actual time recording, unplanned activities, automatically calculated daily allowances, and other costs related to the on-site service.

The benefits Putzmeister achieved are:

• One harmonized, digitalized, and integrated service process for service locations in Germany and the global industrial technology team
• Optimized customer service thanks to instantly available information, such as machine data, operating hours, error quotes, and faster invoicing after order fulfillment
• A single source of truth for all information that helps increase service quality
• Transparent, digitally available, real-time service reports
• Increased productivity and time savings for planners, dispatchers, and technicians
• High user acceptance from service staff due to a modern user interface (UI), mobile access, and better insights to execute work orders

Preparing for an International Rollout

After the successful pilot implementation in Germany and first international rollout in Spain, Putzmeister wants to take the next step and roll out to its global operations.   

鈥淭he digitalization of field service management brings countless benefits, both for our customers and our employees, and helps us gain more efficiency,鈥� Urban concluded.

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success Digital Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

Together with implementation partner, Syntax Systems GmbH & Co. KG, this marks a milestone for Siemens Energy as it paves the way for further rollouts of 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing throughout the company鈥檚 global network of plants over the coming years.

Siemens Energy turned to 麻豆原创 for a single, unified manufacturing execution system landscape that would increase productivity and support standardization across its production plants globally. With Syntax as the implementation partner introducing and moving selected plants to 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing, Siemens Energy will be able to oversee the entire shop floor with fit-for-purpose production dashboards, which provide shop floor operators with guidance and assistance, increasing productivity.

鈥淭he implementation of 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing at our lighthouse plants marks an important milestone in our digital transformation journey,鈥� said Kian Mossanen, Chief Information Officer, Siemens Energy. 鈥淭his collaboration equips us with the tools needed to further enhance our production capabilities and foster a data-driven culture, allowing us to even better support our customers.鈥�

麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing will empower the Siemens Energy sites to make fast and critical production decisions based on real-time manufacturing information. With a harmonized solution, the plants will be able to optimize production processes, while low-code plug-ins support shop floor operators during assembly activities.

鈥淭he rollout of our solutions across the production network of Siemens Energy is aimed at supporting the company on its mission of making energy more reliable, affordable and sustainable,鈥� said Sven Mulder, Managing Director, 麻豆原创 Germany. 鈥淐lean energy is one of the most important assets of our time and this can only be achieved collaboratively using real-time data and analytics.鈥�

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 at .

Media Contact:
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000, lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2022 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2023 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
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Speaking on the opening day of the trade show, Saueressig said, 鈥淓xceptions are now the rule. Today’s globally networked supply chains are especially prone to disruptions 鈥� with far-reaching consequences for the manufacturing industry. Flexibility and agility are needed to react quickly to changes.鈥� Adding her impressions of 麻豆原创鈥檚 presence at the event, White said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing collection of both 麻豆原创 technologies and our broad partner ecosystem, and it is us working with our ecosystem that鈥檚 solving our customers鈥� challenges.鈥�

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麻豆原创 Solutions in Action

There was certainly plenty for visitors to take in at 麻豆原创鈥檚 booth, from showcases and guided tours to live sessions and partner stands.

麻豆原创 is striving to help shape digital transformation in manufacturing. And one of the most pressing questions for that industry today is how to make production and supply chain processes resilient and sustainable.

To answer that question, 麻豆原创 gave visitors ample opportunities to try out 麻豆原创 solutions and experience them live in action in a 鈥渄emonstration factory鈥� it had at the trade show. The show booth 鈥渇actory鈥� was a partial sample of 麻豆原创鈥檚 recently opened Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory innovation center at the company鈥檚 headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. Attendees were able to view the rest of the factory remotely from 麻豆原创鈥檚 booth or through virtual reality glasses in its 鈥淚ndustrial Metaverse鈥� showcase.

On Display: How 麻豆原创 Solutions Manage Supply Chains and Manufacturing

麻豆原创 also demonstrated systems that support production operators in a part of multi-stage production in which a component is assembled for the end product. In a scenario focusing on in-process quality control, 麻豆原创 showed how operators receive precise visual instructions during the assembly of an electronic control head, guiding them through the process and reducing errors. It also explored the value of embedded artificial intelligence (AI) in quality assurance, showing how image recognition technology can be used to check how likely it is that parts have been assembled correctly and whether they have any defects. A highlight here is a kind of digital birth record, which can be thought of as a finely structured documentation of the production process. All relevant data from machines, as well as input from users, is recorded there and assigned to an individual product.

Also in the spotlight were applications for digital twin solutions, not just for virtual models and real-time simulations but also for human-machine interaction. Visitors were able to learn more about this from the example of autonomous mobile robots that independently pick up parts from a warehouse and 鈥� rather than placing them on a conventional conveyor belt 鈥� take them straight to a modular station.

麻豆原创 also showcased an augmented reality solution for production operators. Here, personnel wearing smart glasses receive instructions and feedback on whether they have carried out a work step correctly directly in their field of vision.

Digitally Mapping and Managing the Entire Production Process

Hannover Messe attendees could also try their hand at remotely controlling and monitoring the Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory in Walldorf, viewing a live, end-to-end production line for mixing and filling liquids as used by the process industry in the manufacturing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.

The demonstration showed that one central control room is all that is required to control and monitor production across locations. 麻豆原创 calls this control room a 鈥減roduction control center.鈥� Commenting on this live factory session, Matthias Deindl, head of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Industry 4.0 Center EMEA & India, said, 鈥淭his scenario shows companies how 麻豆原创 can help them have a full overview of everything that is happening on the factory floor 鈥� not just planning, but managing the entire production process for batch manufacturing.鈥� In the future, it might even be possible to create a purely digital version of the control room in the metaverse. Companies could then design and operate it exactly as they wanted. And they would no longer need to house it in a brick-and-mortar space.

In the scenario shown in Hannover, the production line is connected to 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing. All the information needed to fulfill the production order 鈥� including the customer鈥檚 specifications 鈥� is sent seamlessly to the machine. The process is paperless and can incorporate customer requirements without manual intervention. Another function of the production control center is to monitor the production line and key performance indicators, such as process efficiency, scrap rates, and good parts produced, as well as the current condition of the machines and equipment.

Cloud Solutions Enable Vertical and Horizontal Integration

One of the highlights at 麻豆原创鈥檚 booth was the electric CNC injection molding machine that let visitors track the production of their own customized cup 鈥� from top floor to shop floor in the production hall. This pop-up production station, staged in cooperation with 麻豆原创 partners Fanuc and Syntax, demonstrated how 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing can integrate a highly automated machine and control manufacturing.

Starting with order planning, visitors chose from various configuration options on a monitor. They could select a color or color combination for their cup and specify which logo it should have. The 麻豆原创 software then dispatched the order to the machine electronically and production of the cup began using recycled and recyclable plastic. Visitors could take the cups they made home with them.

While visitors were creating their cups, sensors were capturing a range of key information about the machine鈥檚 condition and how many good and defective parts had come off the line. This shows how in a real-life setting, the seamless flow of information also works in reverse, meaning from the machine level back to the office level. Data like this can be analyzed in 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud, giving customers valuable insights to help them optimize the production process.

Resilient, Efficient, Sustainable 鈥� and Profitable

Visitors to 麻豆原创鈥檚 booth could experience the full product life cycle 鈥� from design and planning, manufacturing, logistics, and installation to operations and maintenance. They learned how the processes at each of these stages can be optimized by, for example, embedding AI to integrate them horizontally.

Vertical integration can also connect all levels inside the company. Linking manufacturing and business processes in this way eliminates data and knowledge silos. 鈥淗ere at Hannover Messe, we鈥檝e brought everything together under one roof to demonstrate realistic end-to-end scenarios,鈥� said Ralf Lehmann, Solutions Management Digital Manufacturing & Industry 4.0 at 麻豆原创.

Businesses want to ensure that their manufacturing and logistics operations are efficient, cost-effective, and reliable. Yet they must also meet profit and sustainability targets. 鈥淢anufacturers are facing two major challenges right now. One is the ongoing disruption to supply chains. The other is sustainability, which has become a top priority for CEOs. If you consider that only 7% of global economic output today is circular, then the opportunities are huge,鈥� says Saueressig.

At its booth, 麻豆原创 showed how it is one of the world鈥檚 leaders not only in enterprise resource planning (ERP) but also in digital supply chain. Industry 4.0 can transform business processes from manufacturing through to supply chain. As an ecosystem that enables companies to connect, 麻豆原创 Business Network also helps improve transparency. These capabilities can be used in a circular economy to foster sustainability and capture carbon emissions data. As White points out, 鈥淥ne of the most important things we see here is the focus on sustainability. Creating a true network around that is how we鈥檙e going to change the game.鈥�

Building on the network theme, 麻豆原创 partners had booths nearby showing Catena-X and , the latest initiative to emerge from an alliance between industry and the German government. Here, too, 麻豆原创 will play a leading role in driving digital transformation in manufacturing supply chains. Like Catena-X, Manufacturing-X will be an open and collaborative data ecosystem. Shared standards will enable data to be exchanged worldwide in compliance with European practices and data protection laws.

Simply put, private and public organizations alike must reinvent their business strategies for an ever-disruptive environment 鈥� and position themselves for growth and innovation along the way. And it is the role of every organization鈥檚 leadership to not just recover, but to rebound, regenerate, and forge a new approach that puts their company ahead of its competitors.

That鈥檚 why we recently with the global strategy consulting firm , in a collaboration that is well suited to meet the moment. Together, our companies carry decades of technical expertise and technological experience, and our combined knowledge and strategies can offer a distinctive framework for modern businesses looking to navigate contemporary upheaval.

Why 麻豆原创 and Kearney, and Why Now

For decades, 麻豆原创 and Kearney have each stood out as leaders in business transformation. Today, we are building a foundation that will help ensure continued customer success amid the biggest change of all: moving to the cloud.

Trusted advisors are vital to the digital future, and together 麻豆原创 and Kearney are collaborating to unlock a distinctive framework to help companies navigate upheaval and craft a competitive edge through:

Depth of Experience

Kearney鈥檚 deep history of driving operational resiliency pairs well with 麻豆原创鈥檚 industry-leading background in technology innovation. Our partnership focuses on making it easier to analyze and interpret operational and procurement data for customers 鈥� so they can act quickly and decisively.

Business Model Innovation

Kearney鈥檚 strength in strategy execution and artificial intelligence (AI) innovations can offer greater transparency and predictive capabilities in networks across the value chain such as 麻豆原创 Business Network. These insights can enable improved real-time customer decision making abilities thanks to a wealth of real-time, actionable information.

Quicker Execution

麻豆原创 and Kearney鈥檚 cloud-first approach means quicker deployment for enterprise users. Together we are building a new, flexible model that can give the customer complete and total control over their journey.

How We鈥檒l Make an Impact

What can quicker execution, depth of experience, and business model innovation actually look like in practice? The combination of Kearney鈥檚 data-driven solutions with 麻豆原创 technology can help clients both mitigate risk and embrace opportunity. We are working together to make an impact in three key areas:

• Digital supply chain regeneration: By combining our technology and expertise, 麻豆原创 and Kearney aim to create increased visibility, greater intelligence, and improved agility for customers. Our collaborative strategy also aims to help support a sustainable supply chain and, ultimately, a circular economy.
• Technology-enabled business transformation: Together, 麻豆原创 and Kearney are working to enable a quicker, more flexible approach to implementation, with lower total cost of ownership and a strong base for innovation.
• 麻豆原创 Business Network: Integration and scalability are offered through 麻豆原创 Business Network and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform. The multi-tier platform aims to offer alternate sources of supply impact analysis, and 鈥� combined with Kearney鈥檚 AI and analytics solutions 鈥� can help equip enterprises for truly predictive decision-making.

鈥淭o adapt to uncertainty and volatility of today鈥檚 world, companies must reinvent themselves,鈥� said Scott Russell, member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE, Customer Success. “For years, Kearney has made significant investments to provide its clients with better insights into their operations and business networks. Customers are telling me they need to adapt with speed and agility. They need to be nimble and get more out of their technology investments. 鈥疶hat鈥檚 what this partnership is all about.鈥�

鈥淥ur focus on operational excellence, regeneration, and reinvention pairs well with 麻豆原创 technology,鈥� said Alex Liu, managing partner and chairman, Kearney. 鈥淭hrough acquisitions like Optano and Cervello, and our in-house investments in advanced analytic solutions, we鈥檙e pushing the envelope to improve decision-making speed across their business network and facilitate better decision-making.鈥�

While more benefits await, it is clear that the combination of 麻豆原创 and Kearney can help businesses modify their supply chain and other operations to best handle today鈥檚 upheaval 鈥� while also helping them face the world of tomorrow.

The Bottom Line

The 麻豆原创 and Kearney partnership will make it possible to cut down on disruption-related risks while maintaining detailed end-to-end visibility. It will make it easier to respond to problems more quickly and more effectively. And it will help ensure that businesses fully maximize their technology investments by driving value in the cloud.

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Muhammad Alam is president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创.

At 麻豆原创 Sapphire Virtual in 2022, Lenovo joined a conversation with Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer and Member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE Julia White on 鈥淩ealizing the Power of Becoming an Intelligent, Sustainable Enterprise.鈥�

With regard to the investments 麻豆原创 makes in the area of digital supply chain, Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of , said, 鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to see the continuous enhancements for our supply chain solutions. Lenovo delivers over 150 million products a year, which means we deliver about five products every second to our customers around the world with an on-time delivery rate of 96%. 麻豆原创 is key in this effort with its world-class supply chain solutions.鈥�

鈥淭ogether with 麻豆原创, Lenovo is building new, state-of-the-art smart factories globally. These new smart factories are running on Lenovo infrastructure with end-to-end, order-to-delivery solutions connecting over 2,000 suppliers to billions of customers,鈥� said Yuanquing. 鈥淭hat will definitely take Lenovo manufacturing to a whole new level.鈥�

Scaling Operations and Investments to Meet Growing Customer Demand

Arthur Hu, senior vice president and CIO at Lenovo and CTO of at Lenovo Group Ltd., remarked, 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical to have the latest technology. Digital helps us achieve the efficiency and accuracy at scale and smart technology helps us take the latest operating models and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into our operations. has been helping us power that journey and is one of our cornerstone investments in the modern, digital, and smart core.鈥�

Sustainability Is Moving to the Forefront

Lenovo is seeing sustainability move to the forefront in communications with its customers across all levels and geographies. 鈥淭his matches perfectly with Lenovo鈥檚 services-led transformation that we are driving,鈥� said Hu. 鈥淟et鈥檚 take, for example, device as a service 鈥� . We are able to design sustainability into each step of the offering. We can think about how to deploy efficiently, maximize utilization during the asset lifecycle, and use recovery services for secure and responsible handling at the end of the useful device life.鈥�

鈥淏y reimaging our services with sustainability in mind, we are able to do right for our customers and meet our sustainability goals. The right technology and services means being able to say yes to more things and the right things,鈥� he concluded.

Transitioning from a Hardware Company to a Full-Service Technology Solutions Provider

In terms of transformation, Hu said: 鈥淎t Lenovo, we know transformation because we are starting it and doing it ourselves. We call it 鈥楲enovo powers Lenovo.鈥� We have revamped our entire company with a new services-led business model supported by modern digital infrastructure.”

鈥溌槎乖� has been on a long journey with us. Beyond smart factories and , we are using cloud services from 麻豆原创 to great effect,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got in the cloud to gain visibility into our procurement spend and we are using to manage employee expenses and provide a better experience. On the frontlines of our transformation is , which is our umbrella for offering everything on our portfolio as a service. That鈥檚 been a key trend.”

鈥淭o make it work, we needed the ability to engage our customers differently than in the traditional hardware sale, building by period, by service, by item,鈥� said Hu. 鈥淎nd here we are using on powered by . This allows us to rapidly bring new business offerings to the market in a scalable way.鈥�

鈥淲e are working to identify innovation opportunities with 麻豆原创. We are taking what we are doing together on transformation, figuring out what other companies may require, and turning that into code and functionality as 麻豆原创 solution components. This makes the entire community and ecosystem more valuable,” said Hu. “All this comes together to make an excellent case where we are using the combined power of our technologies to advance our transformation at speed and lead the way with new, compelling value propositions for our customers.鈥�

Learn more about how to achieve resilient, connected, and sustainable supply chain management processes from design to operate or from 麻豆原创 Sapphire Virtual in 2022.

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success Digital Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

Supply chain issues are not over yet, say senior supply chain managers . Although supply chains have somewhat stabilized, half of the managers surveyed agreed that improvement is still needed. As supply chains undergo transformation, experts say that digital twins may be the key to more dynamic, agile supply chain models.

麻豆原创’s Take

To mitigate volatility and manage uncertainty, businesses are increasingly looking to digital twins — virtual models of real-world objects, systems and processes that apply real-world data for real-time simulations. Some analysts believe that 2023 will be a year for of digital twins.

鈥淭his is a moment of opportunity to reevaluate how businesses operate,鈥� said Andy Hancock, 麻豆原创 global vice president of the Digital Supply Chain Center of Excellence. 鈥淪upply chains are under-performing and are in a recovery phrase. Businesses are looking to build risk resilience into their supply chain operations.鈥�

Some businesses already are preparing for the next global disruption by assessing the potential for digital twins to reduce exposure in supply chains and increase adaptability. Although the business case for digital twins in supply chains is still in exploration, Hancock predicted that interest in digital twins will gain momentum as the technology proves its value for modeling agile supply chains.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to see digital twins as more of a foundation for data models,鈥� he said, emphasizing the difference of process modeling compared with the common use of digital twins to represent a physical asset, such as a vehicle, plant or person. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also going to see digital process twins, which means modeling a supply chain to get a complete understanding of the different moving parts to gain visibility.鈥�

Hancock is optimistic about the value that digital twins can deliver to supply chain operations.

鈥淭he digital twin will provide a foundational element for visibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his will support the overall objective of risk mitigation that a risk resilient and sustainable supply chain requires.鈥澨� However, he cautioned, 鈥渄igital twins are not new, and many supply-chain organizations have started their journey with them, but they have not yet delivered on the anticipated benefit. There is plenty of potential.鈥�

Abundance of Data

There are two trends driving the application of digital twins in supply chains. The first is the inexpensive data storage and the abundance of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and new equipment that can connect digitally.

鈥淧eople have been collecting data for eons, and they鈥檙e really going to formalize it into a more structured environment, creating these digital twins across the organization,鈥� Hancock said.

The second trend is a matter of business survival. With the pandemic, companies became painfully aware of the lack of visibility they had into their supply chain. After 20 years of globalization, these linear, static supply chains were not able to adapt fast enough to keep up with consumer demands.

A hurdle to adoption of this technology, however, may arise if businesses are unable to reach agreements with third-party suppliers to extend visibility into their operations.

Real-Time Visibility for Better Decision-Making

The benefits from the use of digital twins in the supply chain increases exponentially with the infusion of real-time data. By combining real-time operational data and business information, supply chain managers can provide a context to the data that will result in better decision-making. It will not only provide insight into the current state of the supply chain, but also provide the ability to do forecasting and simulation of various scenarios.

鈥淚f we have real-time data as the source of all decisions, the time to respond to anomalies is greatly reduced,鈥� Hancock said. 鈥淭his creates a high degree of confidence in the recommendation at the moment of action.鈥�

Contact:
Ilaina Jonas, Senior Director of Global Public Relations, 麻豆原创
+1 (646) 923-2834, ilaina.jonas@sap.com

CEO and Member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE Christian Klein told media representatives, customers, and 麻豆原创 employees how much this particular endeavor means to him. As one of the world鈥檚 largest business software vendors with customers generating 87% of total global commerce, Klein emphasized that 麻豆原创 software is used to run highly complex business processes. The two exhibits illustrate how 麻豆原创 works closely with customers and partners to find solutions to the challenges they face.

Now, in its very own exhibition space covering more than 500 square meters, 麻豆原创 can demonstrate exactly what its digital supply chain and Industry 4.0 solutions can do. 鈥淚t is important that customers can come and see all this for themselves,鈥� Klein stated.

Inside the Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory

The Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory is built like an actual factory and features, among other things, robots for component production that support the worker during manufacturing. The exhibit has an entire production line for mixing and filling liquids, as used in the process industry, and even driverless transport systems. The focus is on Industry 4.0 for customers in the process manufacturing sector 鈥� chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods, for example. The setup also addresses the needs of discrete manufacturing like machinery, vehicles, and electronics. 麻豆原创鈥檚 smart factory showcases have evolved 鈥� and grown 鈥� over the years and can now all be seen in action together under one roof as a pop-up installation in rented premises.

The idea is to allow customers to experience the digital supply chain for themselves through showcases. By seeing the software in operation, they gain a better understanding of its capabilities. All stages of the product life cycle are demonstrated in a real-life setting, from product design, planning, and manufacturing through to logistics and maintenance. At the pop-up factory, 麻豆原创 wants to show how it has a broad portfolio of solutions for end-to-end processes and is a leader in digital supply chain and integrated supply chain.

The pop-up factory presents different lines of business, incorporates real equipment and machinery, and runs the same 麻豆原创 products as those that are shipped to customers. Not all the showcases are new, but, as Ralf Lehmann from Solution Management for Digital Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 says: 鈥淭he new factory allows us to bring everything together under one roof and to demonstrate realistic end-to-end scenarios.鈥�

Seeing Industry 4.0 In Action

The Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory is unique: 鈥淚t demonstrates the benefits of 麻豆原创 solutions in a realistic setting and allows customers and partners to see how they work in the real world and in a setup that is very similar to their own shop floor,鈥� says Matthias Deindl, head of Industry 4.0 Center EMEA & India.

The idea of a demonstration factory was born in the conference halls of Germany鈥檚 Hannover Messe trade show. Each year, 麻豆原创 presented showcases and product lines to demonstrate the capabilities of its solutions and technology. Customers would come to 麻豆原创鈥檚 stand and ask how they could recreate the scenarios at their companies. They wanted to know how it all worked and where they could see the solutions in action in the real world. In response, the existing showcases have been continuously developed over the years and now find their own home in the new Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory.

麻豆原创 has worked closely with its hardware partners for many years. Setting up the demonstration factory provided a great opportunity for a joint project with companies in the automation technology field. Among them are Arkite, asentics, Beckhoff, Endress+Hauser, Evoguard, Gebhardt, Google, intranav, item, Kuka, Krones, Kinemic, Mettler Toledo, Navvis, Neoception, OPC UA, Proglove, Rocketfarm, Sartorius, Schunk, SICK, TRUMPF, Universal Robot, and VMT.

Though the pandemic put a temporary end to in-person events, it did not end the plans for a demonstration factory. The team鈥檚 brief was: 鈥淗ow can we take our showcases to the people if they cannot come to us?鈥� recalls Lehmann. In the course of this, a TV studio was built specifically to stream digital customer demos.

The Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory is designed to be a source of information and inspiration for customers and partners. It offers deep-dive sessions with experts, either in person at the factory or online. 麻豆原创 has invested in the latest video technology and equipped the entire venue with cameras 鈥� not just to give live-stream audiences the best possible experience but also with sustainability in mind.

Positive Feedback: The New Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory Delivers

Even before the factory鈥檚 doors officially opened, its showcases had been used in more than 400 live sessions with customers and prospects, both in person onsite and remotely via Web meeting. The feedback from customers has been very positive. The remote sessions have been equally well-received. 鈥淭hey have many advantages: you can hear everything, you can see everything, and anywhere from 80 to 100 people can all attend at the same time,鈥� Deindl says. 鈥淏y offering virtual sessions, we give our customers a way of reducing their carbon footprint.鈥�

Many of the inquiries the factory team receives are from managers overseeing manufacturing processes at our customers. They want their leaders to experience the 麻豆原创 solutions featured in the Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory sessions and see the benefits for themselves.

Besides being able to see the software in action, experts who come to the factory also appreciate the chance to get into conversation with other visitors there. It has created communities in which people regularly share their thoughts and ideas. This not only gives customers confidence but provides the Industry 4.0 Pop-Up Factory鈥檚 organizers with valuable feedback. Especially in the critical phase leading up to the buying decision, visiting the factory and talking to others there can give a customer a fuller understanding of the solutions so that they can be sure the decision they are making is the right one.

Do you have questions about the Industry 4.0 Pop-up Factory? Contact us.

Photos by Ingo Cordes

According to Simon Ellis, program vice president, IDC Manufacturing Insights, 鈥淕rowing complexity in the supply chain, particularly increasingly diverse outsourcing, has made supply planning much more challenging. Combined with larger forecast error and a lack of complete insight into supply opportunities and constraints, the need for a competent supply planning application is central to the success of the broader supply chain.鈥�

At 麻豆原创, we see planning as a process. The market of vendors in this space is evolving, fueled by new technology and planning approaches that put customer experience at the center.听 We continue to set the pace with the market-leading solution as well as cloud-native innovations that have been adopted by more than 1,200 customers worldwide.

麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain is a key element of the 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain portfolio, which helps companies:

• Create continuously learning, resilient, and responsive supply chains
• Synchronize strategic and operational supply chain decisions in a single solution
• Ingest real-time data from external and internal sources to provide more intelligent visibility across the supply chain
• Connect trading partners digitally with the internal plan via 麻豆原创 Business Network
• Enable planners to make business decisions rooted in real-time facts
• Infuse decision processes with intelligent technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)
• Execute supply chain planning decisions with confidence from a modern and simplified user experience

Ellis also states, 鈥溌槎乖� has extensive experience in almost all industries, with notable engagements in consumer products, retail, high tech, automotive/heavy equipment, pharma/life sciences, and wholesale distribution. Supply chains looking for a comprehensive supply chain planning offering that provides a seamless, user-friendly planning platform with embedded analytics that is tightly integrated to manufacturing, operational planning, and supply chain execution should consider 麻豆原创.鈥�

We are excited for companies to consider 麻豆原创 as a partner in the work to build risk-resistant and resilient supply chains.

David Vallejo is global head of Supply Chain Solution Management at 麻豆原创.

*Doc #US49578717, September 2022

Salmon, the world鈥檚 second-most consumed fish after tuna, is revered for its rich content of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. The is projected to reach US$46.8 billion by 2026, an increase of over one-third from 2020. But sustainable growth in the industry is dependent on environmental factors, and every salmon鈥檚 journey from hatchery to the table presents multiple challenges for producers.

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Berg understands that the foundation for Nordlaks鈥� long-term success is a healthy ecosystem and attending to the basic needs of the fish. 鈥淭he welfare of the salmon is just as important as for other animals such as sheep and cows,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f the salmon have a good home with enough space to swim, current to swim against, good feed, and rest, their quality and taste will be good.鈥�

Sea Farms: The New Frontier in Aquaculture

Norway鈥檚 fjords may appear plentiful, pristine, and empty to the casual observer, but the truth is that the fjords are approaching their limits for traditional aquaculture. To ensure the salmon thrive while reducing the impact on the ecosystem and surrounding communities, . Aquaculture pods must be isolated from each other to ensure the health of the farmed salmon and other indigenous fish species.

The future of fish farming is therefore moving to the sea, and to this end is creating incentives for companies like Nordlaks to develop sustainable aquaculture solutions for exposed areas off Norway鈥檚 virtually endless coastline. Farming in exposed areas is viewed as the first step towards offshore fish farming.

In 2017, Nordlaks secured a development license to launch a large-scale fish farm capable of withstanding coastal waters. The result is the 385-meter vessel “,” the world鈥檚 second-largest man-made floating structure (after the LNG production plant ) and longer than the . Its six nets hold up to 10,000 tons of salmon, or approximately two million fish. The design combines expertise from Norway鈥檚 maritime and aquaculture industries. To date, Nordlaks has invested nearly 鈧�400 million in offshore farms and related innovations.

Safe and Sustainable Operations with the Help of Digital Twins

To ensure the safety and environmental sustainability of the ocean farm, Nordlaks is also pioneering advanced digital technology.

For example, data from seven GPS sensors installed along the steel hull is fed into an identical mathematical model of the vessel that delivers precise measurements of the structural loads in near real time. This 鈥渄igital twin鈥� of the vessel enables Nordlaks to safely adapt operations to changing ocean conditions, for example during rough seas when the hull must be raised.

鈥淲e have to make sure that we don鈥檛 cause unnecessary strain or stress to the ocean farm when changing ballast to raise and lower the structure,鈥� says Trond J酶rgen Hanssen, ocean farm captain, Nordlaks. 鈥淭he digital twin from 麻豆原创 allows us to prevent unnecessary hogging and sagging of the structure.鈥� Control is critical, because the difference in depth of the hull in the water between the maintenance position and the operational position is 12.5 meters.

The digital twin of the hull, built with the cloud-based solution , also keeps track of the cumulative loads on the structure over time, enabling operators to maximize the useful life of the vessel. 鈥淥ver time we can see which parts of the vessel have experienced the most stress and introduce counter measures to maximize the life of the ocean farm,鈥� says Hanssen. Designers can also use the data to verify their design parameters and optimize future hull designs.

The 麻豆原创 solution also helps Nordlaks constantly monitor the integrity of the 11 anchors that are clustered at a single point under the bow of the vessel and the biological load on the sea floor. 鈥淏ased on GPS data, we can map the areas where most of the feeding took place and concentrate our sample-taking in this area,鈥� says Hanssen.

Fisheries Fuel Regional Growth

Nordlaks鈥� new vision for salmon farming and its investment in the region has already provided a significant boost to the local economy. Over two years, the number of Nordlaks employees in the municipality of Hadsel in the north of the country has increased by over one-quarter to around 700. According to Nordlaks, this is having a ripple effect in business activity and the company hopes it will help attract citizens from other parts of Norway to move to the picturesque region north of the Arctic Circle.

More people are needed, according to Berg, and she sees growth in the industry as an opportunity to make salmon an affordable source of protein for the entire world. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 produce enough salmon today, which drives the price up. If we can produce more, then the price will be stabilized and the whole world will benefit from it,鈥� she says. She is therefore calling for more people to join so salmon farming in the sea will be a global success. 鈥淚f you have a skill, we need you in this industry!鈥� says Berg.

Contributors to this story: Lars Fredrik Martinussen, Thomas Borvik Johnsen, Marit Reiso

Consider the by scientists of Sir Ernest Shackleton鈥檚 Endurance, which sank off the Antarctic coast in 1915. Fortunately for the explorer and his crew of 27, all managed to survive. As for the shipwreck, scientists found it remarkably intact amid the frigid depths of Earth鈥檚 southernmost seas. But the photographs capture one significant change with the passage of time: the sunken vessel, like the craggy ocean floor surrounding it, now teems with life. At a depth exceeding 3,000 meters, triple the distance sunlight can underwater, how do ecosystems manage to thrive? And what can businesses, sometimes facing inhospitable conditions of their own above sea level, learn from the enterprising plants and animals whose habitat eludes visibility?

To run at their best, businesses carry out multiple operational processes simultaneously, maximizing efficiency and minimizing risk across them all. So too the complex networks of flora and fauna undersea. A lack of visibility presents challenges not only for aquatic ecosystems but for commercial ones as well, in the latter instance imperiling critical functions such as procurement and supply chain, logistics, and the maintenance of equipment connected by the Internet of Things (IoT). Business leaders increasingly look to the cloud for digital solutions to enhance visibility across all these functions. But they鈥檙e equally wise to gaze seaward as well for insights on instilling resilience. Disruption, after all, can leave wreckage at the bottom of an income statement just as it can at the bottom of an ocean.

At a time when viral variants, recurrent lockdowns, and geopolitical tensions continue to roil supply chains and labor markets, businesses require 360-degree visibility across the interconnected operations of trading partners and solution providers to maintain continuity, foster collaboration, and keep promises made to customers. Yet many procurement and supply chain professionals possess only fragmentary information about isolated business processes, unable to gain a comprehensive view across the four walls of their organization, let alone those of their buyers and suppliers. Integrated digital platforms, however, lend businesses the expansive view and data-driven insights they need to anticipate rapid shifts in supply and demand and suggest available alternatives for the sourcing of raw materials and indirect goods.

Yet while cloud-based business networks are a contemporary innovation to extend visibility where it runs scarce, they are hardly without precedent. Deep-sea creatures have evolved their own ingenious techniques for sharpening their acuity to procure food. Consider the Pacific barreleye, whose translucent head enables the fish to in total darkness while stalking its next meal. Or the stout blacksmelt, whose oversized eyes from its otherwise modest frame. Or the scallop, whose 200 eyes peer behind mirror-like lenses, focusing in unison to the tiniest trace of light undiscernible to animals further down the food chain.

Back above the surface, businesses lie vulnerable to disruption even when supply chain visibility remains intact. When finished goods pile up in logjammed seaports, for example, manufacturers can offer little solace to customers denied on-time shipments. To ensure prompt delivery via sea, road, rail, or air, businesses require unimpeded visibility across all facets of logistics. They rely on cloud-based networks to track shipments in real time, collaborate with transportation partners, and secure alternatives when unforeseen contingencies thwart the best laid plans.

Here too, lessons emerge from the deep. Spanning distances exceeding anything comparable on land, the ocean organizes logistics through vast networks known collectively as the . Life-sustaining elements, such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus, flow from the surface to the ocean floor and back again through intricate cycles of photosynthesis, decomposition, consumption, and sedimentation. The biological pump is also responsible for sending to the bottom of the sea much of the Earth鈥檚 excess carbon dioxide, which, if released, would oversaturate its atmosphere and overheat its surface. Through the resilient, never-ending exchange of resources essential to life both within and beyond its depths, the ocean maintains arguably the most elaborate logistical network ever devised.

Cloud-based business platforms operate on a planet-wide scale with unrivaled efficiency, too. Not only do they facilitate procurement, supply chains, and logistics between businesses and their trading partners, but in recent years they have begun to connect remote assets through the Internet of Things. This cloud-based capability, often called asset intelligence, has revolutionized the maintenance of equipment.

Suppose a utility operates a windmill farm offshore. All of the units require physical upkeep but accessing them can prove costly and dangerous. It can also prove futile if the windmill happens to be in perfect working order. But by linking together far-flung equipment virtually, businesses digital twins 鈥� in lieu of natural eyesight 鈥� to inspect these assets from afar. Such cloud-based asset intelligence networks aid the operations not only of energy companies, but of rural health clinics, security firms, and even soft drink purveyors. Think of all the distributed vending machines requiring replenishment.

But how, devoid of light, do the creepiest, crawliest critters inhabiting the deep sea manage to ascertain their surroundings? How do they gather reliable, actionable intelligence on 鈥渁sset鈥� and threat, friend and foe, near and far? Consider the tripod fish, which elegantly atop narrow, leg-like fins, poised to sense distant vibrations from potential prey. The beaked whale, meanwhile, echolocation, not unlike bats and submarines. By emitting short, high-frequency clicking sounds and waiting for them to bounce back, these mammals develop an acute awareness of their surroundings, often to the peril of less sensitive beasts who become breakfast. The vampire squid, meanwhile, bioluminescent fluid to lure hungry, if unsuspecting, targets. For their part, sharks and stingrays electric currents to map their surroundings and navigate using the Earth鈥檚 magnetic field.

As the Endurance shipwreck-turned-aquarium makes vivid, the abyss of the icy sea imposes formidable obstacles to survival in an environment prone to volatility and unforgiving to the unadaptable. Yet nature has innovated surprisingly durable solutions for illuminating the fundamental biological processes that nourish sprawling ecosystems undersea. The cloud does much the same for networks of businesses engaged in commerce amid drier, if similarly disruptive, conditions. In fact, the cloud and the ocean are beginning to converge on an increasingly sustainable future for all the Earth鈥檚 inhabitants. The visibility made possible by cloud-based networks holds the potential to significantly reduce the volume of plastics cluttering the sea and encumbering the creatures great and small who call it home. As digital technologies give rise to sustainable solutions, resilient ecosystems thrive even in the darkest corners on Earth.

Andreas Heckmann is executive vice president, Product Engineering, and head of Customer Solution Support & Innovation at 麻豆原创.
Top image: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic.

De鈥橪onghi鈥檚 鈥淐ustomer Fulfillment Excellence鈥� project continues its innovation journey with the adoption of the solution, aiming to rethink and transform the company鈥檚 supply chain and refocus the entire value chain by placing the customer at the heart of it. The project will review processes and tools used by the group鈥檚 global supply chain in order to improve service levels.

More specifically, De鈥橪onghi鈥檚 goals involve complying with on-time delivery, anticipating customer demands through more precise forecasts by turning sales forecasts into more accurate production plans, making production more reliable by properly assessing production constraints, and having more accurate component procurement plans.

This transformation process has also been made necessary by the De鈥橪onghi market environment, which has changed dramatically in recent years and is driven by greater omnichannel development, increased volatility of demand, and a greater emphasis on e-commerce, both directly and through brick-and-mortar customers and e-retailers.

In addition, the group鈥檚 increasingly international soul and a major expansion in foreign markets have brought with it increasing complexity in value chain management accentuated by recent macroeconomic events, which, together with increased online sales, has created certain challenges in sourcing raw materials and organizing logistics and transportation. This complicated and highly volatile environment has led the company to review all processes and tools at its disposal.

鈥�麻豆原创 IBP is the solution that will allow us to take a step forward, particularly by implementing an integrated, end-to-end supply chain with metrics and easy-to-read reporting to operate in a more agile way, and to make decisions with distributed, transparent information that allows us to react to market volatility,鈥� reports Matteo Pecci, global supply chain director at De鈥橪onghi. 鈥淪uch a solution is capable of combining the dual soul of De鈥橪onghi, a very strong company in terms of product with a highly entrenched industrial culture that needs to be close to the end market, have know-how to interpret the dynamics, and swiftly respond to changes at the same time. A solution like 麻豆原创 IBP will enable us to do this and with the integration of existing 麻豆原创 systems, data will flow in a more harmonious and transparent way.鈥�

A Global Project Towards a Digital Value Chain

At De鈥橪onghi, will help cover all demand planning and supply planning needs, working to create a supply chain that does not work in silos but starts with the customer, horizontally, avoiding typical slowdowns associated with the departments that are typically involved in their management. The international project will involve all of the group鈥檚 customers and suppliers with a view of a digital value chain and collaborative forecasting.

De鈥橪onghi has business locations in 32 markets and across five continents, with highly detailed value chain processes and a high number of product codes for managing a supply chain that serves the company鈥檚 global operations.

鈥淲ith the implementation of 麻豆原创 IBP, we expect to anticipate market changes and developments ahead of time and to extend them along our supply chain consistently and quickly to make the right decisions within our departments. For example, if we receive customer orders and there are no products in stock, instead of detecting it when it is too late for shipping, this “early signal” will give us the ability to react in time,鈥� concludes Pecci.

Through automation and artificial intelligence (AI) within the solution, De鈥橪onghi can also free up its employees from repetitive, transactional procedures and assign more value-added tasks. Collaborative tools help to better manage communication and correctly assign tasks, avoiding tools that can slow down processes and lead to a loss of information.

The Path to 麻豆原创 IBP

The implementation project consists of two phases. The first involves the introduction of demand and supply planning processes and the second phase involves production scheduling and optimizing sales order management, all of which integrates with the capabilities of , with a positive impact on group logistics management as well.

Three hundred people at De鈥橪onghi will use 麻豆原创鈥檚 supply chain planning solution, a choice made by the company after a selection process of several months and careful functional, technical, and economic assessment.

鈥溌槎乖� Integrated Business Planning enables a more agile way of working, allowing companies to better predict and manage risks and opportunities and anticipate them to identify more profitable and sustainable solutions,鈥� says David Vallejo, vice president, global head, Digital Business Planning, 麻豆原创. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 important to prepare for uncertainty by simulating critical situations in order to understand how to act quickly and from a what-if perspective, always with the aim of improving business and supply chain planning and synchronizing decisions between finance, manufacturing, and logistics.鈥�

To learn more on how to maintain business continuity in times of supply chain disruption with 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning, get a or an overview video.

Karin Fent is senior director of Global Customer Success Digital Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

These trends are shaping the future of the industry and prompting companies to take a serious look at the way they will do business in years to come. Here are a few to watch in 2022.

E-Commerce 鈥� an Online Lifeline

The events of the past two years have revealed a critical trend: distributors must have a modern, online customer experience to compete and survive against global marketplaces like Amazon. Many companies have an online presence, but customers want more products and more personalized services 鈥� and they want them now. We鈥檙e at a tipping point for the industry, and distributors need to evolve, as described in

How do companies get started? While a goal may be to stay relevant against competitors, distributors should capitalize on the unique value they add, especially for longtime customers. One idea getting some traction is establishing a marketplace to offer a more extensive list of products. The article discusses six vantage points to help analyze readiness for a B2B marketplace.

But there are other initiatives that can help distributors stay in the e-commerce game. Customers are looking for personalized buying experiences, similar to their consumer purchasing. If companies can leverage data around inventory, incentives, and processes, they can support these types of engagements. Read more in 鈥�

Everyone鈥檚 Talking Supply Chain

Recently, an older, retired relative was telling me about the supply chain crisis. She never worked in the industry, and I鈥檓 pretty certain that until this year she never used the term 鈥渟upply chain.鈥� Global challenges in this area are making news everywhere, but are most painfully clear to the wholesale distribution industry that has always been the conduit for goods and services.

And while disruptions in the supply chain are nothing new, a new approach is needed 鈥� like using intelligent data to plan for disruptions. Learn how companies can be more prepared in this article,

The pandemic has also shown that distributors need more supply chain flexibility as well as more visibility. is a way to help mitigate risk and respond to unforeseen challenges. Giving suppliers greater transparency can help transform the supply chain from disconnected to collaborative.

Collaboration is just one part of the overall transformation of a distributor鈥檚 logistics processes. To compete in the global market, companies need to innovate to meet demands, but also do a better job of planning, procuring, storing, and delivering goods. discusses the challenges and offers some solutions for improvement.

Sustainability for the Future

In the past, we didn鈥檛 hear too much about sustainability from wholesale distributors. For these companies with traditionally small margins, the cost of 鈥済oing green鈥� seemed out of reach. But recently, the topic is gaining some traction as the definition of sustainability is being rewritten in this industry.

For example, a healthcare distributor might have sustainability goals around the reduction of hazardous waste or product integrity. A food distributor might focus on green logistics, zero emissions, and lowering their carbon footprint. Some companies are already moving in this direction. Read their stories in this article,

One company that is serious about sustainability is wholesale distributor BayWa, which has been recognized as one of 50 sustainability and climate leaders worldwide. BayWa is helping farmers grow profits while pioneering new, more sustainable farming models with renewable energy projects and technologies. Learn more about its innovative efforts in

The Future Is Now

There are certainly threads that run through all these trends 鈥� planning, innovation, flexibility, visibility. While these ideas have always been around, they have never been more important for distributors than now. The industry 鈥� and the world 鈥� will continue to change, and wholesale distributors must plan for the road ahead.

Lynn Lupo is solution manager for Wholesale Distribution at 麻豆原创.

While these descriptors weren鈥檛 immediately unique, the conversation was. I caught up with one of the experts, Aidan Brecknell, who leads the Digital Supply Chain team at 麻豆原创 ANZ, for his thoughts on what leading organizations are experiencing right now.

Resilient Supply Chains Pivot with Incredible Speed

Having worked closely with supply chain leaders in Australia and New Zealand, Brecknell said that organizations were redefining supply chain resilience for sustainable business.

鈥淭he pandemic unleashed new challenges far beyond the capabilities of traditional, lean supply chains that focused on executing repeatable processes at scale,鈥� he said. 鈥淟eaders understand that they need to address a new set of challenges, like being able to turn on a dime to find different sources for raw materials, or even design and produce entirely new products. These organizations are modeling different scenarios, building in contingency plans, and executing on those.鈥�

During the session, Brecknell and Martin Barkman, senior vice president and global head of Digital Supply Chain Marketing and Solutions at 麻豆原创, shared the 鈥渨inning formula鈥� of modern supply chains. Unlike their lean predecessors, resilient supply chains are both customer- and employee-centric, built on relationships with sustainable suppliers, and based on product sustainability across the entire life cycle of an item.

Digitalization Transforms More Than Supply Chains

The pandemic forced companies to understand and act on . Having data in digital form has long been the norm. Digitalization means organizations can both capture intelligent data and change business processes, including how supply chains operate. To be clear, this is not taking the same processes and making them digital. This is about creating completely new ways of managing supply chains by connecting information company-wide and across applications and partners.

Brecknell summed it up like this: 鈥淪upply chains have been pushed and tested to their limits, and they鈥檝e become so reliant, particularly locally, on their ecosystem suppliers to access raw materials. It became evident quickly of the importance to digitalize processes within the supply chains, as well as the supply network itself. In Australia and New Zealand, we saw some tremendous examples of where customers had invested ahead of the curve and were able to transition quickly because of that agility in their supply chain.鈥�

One global industrial materials manufacturer digitalized supply chain processes to centrally manage over 200 inventory processes across 60 sites. The objective was to improve forecast accuracy for on-time delivery and greater profitability. Another 麻豆原创 customer, an energy and natural resources company, digitalized operations to better track freight emissions, providing real-time metrics for compliance with carbon-neutral goals.

Interconnected Data for Supply Chain Resilience

Brecknell said there鈥檚 been significant customer uptake of 麻豆原创 Business Network that brings together information from sourcing and production through finance, transportation logistics, and delivery, including the entire product life cycle. With immediate, connected insights, companies can more profitably sense and respond to disruptions in a strategic, synchronized manner. Organizations can create more individualized, high-quality products in response to changing customer demands. They can prove their sustainability commitment as reflected in their choice of suppliers and operations. They can even attract and keep top talent .

鈥� allows organizations to connect all of their business partners on one central platform,鈥� said Brecknell. 鈥淲ith complete visibility into the entire supply chain, companies can collaborate with suppliers to source, track, and trace materials faster for shorter product delivery time frames as well.鈥�

As Barkman said during the session, 鈥�By capturing all the information about how the supply chain is operating, we preserve the digital thread of the supply chain. We have the information of how a product is being used, how assets are performing, and feed that back not just to the supply chain and manufacturing, but all the way to how products are designed.鈥�

Making a Business Case for Supply Chain Networks

The elephant in the room is that interconnected business networks aren鈥檛 the reality in most organizations. Brecknell agreed that while connecting all this data and changing mindsets about how business operates is a huge undertaking, it鈥檚 well worth it.

鈥淥rganizations are getting on board with supply chain resiliency and sustainability because it鈥檚 good for business. With an extended collaborative network, organizations can mitigate supply chain risk even in the face of unexpected disruption,鈥� said Brecknell. 鈥淚f an organization really wants to build resiliency and sustainability into its supply chain, they have to have the data, and that has to be aligned across the entire supply chain.鈥�

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Vendors were analyzed across procurement, supply chain execution and supply chain planning and, for the second year in a row, 麻豆原创 ranked No. 1 across all three categories.

In addition, 麻豆原创 was also recognized as a Leader in both the 鈥溾�� report and the 鈥溾�� report. These recognitions illustrate 麻豆原创鈥檚 continued influence on the future of resilient digital supply chains.

鈥淚n our opinion, this trio of recognitions from Gartner reflects our commitment to improving outcomes for our customers,鈥� said Franz Hero, head of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain Development. 鈥淲e鈥檝e worked to ensure they are empowered to rapidly respond to changing market conditions, and that invested commitment is being recognized.鈥�

The 麻豆原创 Extended Warehouse Management application helps customers manage high-volume warehouse operations and integrate complex supply chain logistics within their warehouse and distribution processes to deliver visibility and control.

The 麻豆原创 Transportation Management application supports customers across all major industries, with a focus on consumer products, agriculture, mining, construction, chemical and retail. The application helps customers dramatically reduce transportation complexity by integrating fleet and logistics management throughout their network.

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Gartner, 鈥淢arket Share Analysis: Supply Chain Management Software, Worldwide, 2020,鈥� Balaji Abbabatulla, Satyam ., Neha Gupta, Amarendra , Christian Titze, Micky Keck, 15 July 2021.
Gartner, 鈥淢agic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems,鈥� Simon Tunstall, Dwight Klappich, 30 June 2021.
Gartner, 鈥淢agic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems,鈥� Bart De Muynck, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, 30 March 2021.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
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Those in supply chain and logistics have made significant adjustments to help ensure that every segment — including healthcare — has continued to move forward as efficiently and effectively as possible.

AmerisourceBergen, a wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical products to nearly 100% of hospitals in the U.S., recently joined Cloud Wars Host and Creator Bob Evans and Magnus Meier, global head and vice president of Wholesale Distribution at 麻豆原创, for a to discuss these fundamental changes.

During the session, Jeff Denton, vice president of Global Secure Supply Chain at AmerisourceBergen, discussed the vital role healthcare distributors play to get life-saving drugs to those who need them most and how the company has managed to ethically balance supplier and customer needs.

New Normal: Customer-Centric, Patient-Focused Business

Wholesale distributors across all sub-segments have managed to keep the supply chain moving forward despite numerous hurdles on a global scale. However, distributors of today can no longer simply focus on moving products through the supply chain. The entire industry has shifted to take on new responsibilities that address the latest regulatory requirements and heightened customer expectations.

To address these growing concerns, wholesale distributors — especially those in the healthcare distribution segment — are now focused on 鈥渄oing business with a purpose,鈥� as Meier perfectly described it. By operating with a purpose, this helps ensure the supply chain is safe and secure. It also protects the integrity of the products and provides peace of mind to hospitals, pharmacies, and patients.

In the , Denton describes how creating healthier futures starts with protecting the health of people and our planet. 听As a purpose-driven industry leader with a global footprint, AmerisourceBergen has an obligation to champion global sustainability and corporate responsibility. This includes processing more than $2.5 billion in saleable product returns annually, allowing products that would otherwise have been removed and destroyed to be reintroduced into the supply chain. This is good for AmerisourceBergen along with its customers, patients, and manufacturers across the entire supply chain.

To Thrive, Distributors Require Collaboration and Innovation

To address the new concerns and increased responsibility of the distribution industry, AmerisourceBergen approached 麻豆原创 to co-innovate and create a cross-industry solution centered around meeting the latest regulatory requirements. The result was a new and innovative solution that allows products to be tracked and traced across the entire supply chain:

The collaboration also allowed AmerisourceBergen and other industry leaders to streamline communication across the entire supply chain, from suppliers through to the pharmacies and hospitals. This supports business continuity through not only an individual enterprise but the entire business network. 听With this technology, the AmerisourceBergen team can 鈥�seamlessly match digital data to physical data,鈥� which aids in counterfeit prevention and sustainability efforts.

Data and Purpose Will Drive the Industry Forward

AmerisourceBergen is focused on what the future holds, shifting focus beyond simply reacting to regulatory requirements to understanding the use cases for all of the new data obtained through track and trace technology.

Without the consortium brought about by AmerisourceBergen and 麻豆原创, these industry-specific outcomes and supply chain alignment may not have been possible. Moving forward, collaboration and innovation will be key aspects of the industry and areas in which distributors can add immense value to the supply chain.

New advancements, technology, and cross-industry collaborations must continue to drive solutions that keep up with the latest regulatory requirements and consumer needs.

The OMP brings together business leaders and technologists from manufacturing companies, technology-solution providers and systems integrators to drive innovation across the manufacturing community and value chain. With this collaboration, 麻豆原创 seeks to help drive innovation along the digital supply chain using open standards and open source.

Open Standards for Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity

The future of supply chain management is networked, sustainable and agile. As a result, production must become more modular, flexible and transparent. Shop floor machines and manufacturing systems from multiple suppliers must therefore work in perfect synchronization. Traditional assembly lines migrate to assembly networks that cross organizational boundaries. A major goal of the 麻豆原创-supported Plattform Industrie 4.0 initiative is to bring manufacturing closer to the customer. Together 麻豆原创 and the OMP will tackle this challenge by:

• Creating solutions based on open standards that overcome the complexity of proprietary systems and vendor lock-in
• Safely connecting operational technology to the cloud to enable better data-backed decisions and predictions
• Contributing to solutions and standards that drive automation and autonomy into production and logistics systems

Resilient and Sustainable Manufacturing with Plattform Industrie 4.0

鈥溌槎乖� wants to accelerate supply chain innovations at scale through the power of open collaboration,鈥� said Nils Herzberg, SVP and global head of Strategic Partnerships for Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0 at 麻豆原创. 鈥淣ot only do we live in the century of shared economies, but we also live in the time of collaborative development.听The focus for the future will be stronger, more resilient supply chains coupled with agile production facilities. 麻豆原创 has the supply chain applications to achieve this. As a member of the OMP, we will work with our customers and partners to create access to these future oriented applications.鈥�

鈥淲ith 麻豆原创 joining the OMP, we gain even more industry perspective for our work,鈥� said Christoph Berlin, Partner Group Program Manager for Azure Industrial IoT & Manufacturing at Microsoft. 鈥淭he goal of the consortium is to bring together technology and applications to enable the next frontier of business value in manufacturing. This requires all levels of the stack to embrace open principles, open source and open standards. We also welcome the extensive knowledge that 麻豆原创 brings to the table from a supply chain and manufacturing reference architectures perspective. This will further strengthen OMP鈥檚 technology partnerships and collaboration across the manufacturing ecosystem.鈥�

This collaboration will allow for the design of agile manufacturing processes, specification of cloud architecture and development of tools for the future guided by the principles of sustainability, smart energy and green supply chain management. 麻豆原创 will actively participate in all working groups, including Manufacturing Reference Architecture, IoT Connectivity, Semantic Data Structuring and ATS Core Services.

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Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

The partnership, which includes a collaborative approach to standards, consortia, and open source, will shape the future of supply chain and manufacturing.

麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0 Solutions Run on Microsoft Azure

As a result of this partnership, organizations will be able to use a comprehensive set of 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain solutions on Microsoft Azure, including , solutions, , and 麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network.

麻豆原创 will use Microsoft Azure to run these solutions in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that can help reduce the customer鈥檚 need to manage the software and underlying infrastructure while accelerating time to value of supply chain applications. Customers will be able to scale globally by leveraging Azure which offers enterprise-grade compute, storage, and network services to support mission-critical performance and business continuity to run 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain solutions.

麻豆原创 Manufacturing Suite, 麻豆原创 Intelligent Asset Management, supply chain networks solutions from 麻豆原创, and the 麻豆原创 Internet of Things (麻豆原创 IoT) solution are already available on Microsoft Azure in Europe and the United States today.

麻豆原创 and Microsoft Collaborating to Bring Business Processes to the Edge

When managing a global, distributed supply chain and manufacturing environment, companies face challenges with constrained bandwidth, latency, and massive volumes of data that can adversely affect execution and quality scenarios. Here, the solution lies in edge computing.

Think of edge computing as a form of distributed computing where data, applications, and business processes are run near the source of generated data. The ability to extend and run business processes at the edge enables organizations with factories, plants, warehouses or remote operations, to fully automate and run their operations independently 鈥� enabling faster processing and support for data residency requirements. Customers have the choice to only send data to the cloud that is relevant for additional analysis or an aggregated view across many edges to save costs.

麻豆原创 and Microsoft are also collaborating to make 麻豆原创 solutions available on Microsoft Azure Stack Edge, starting with 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing Cloud. This helps manufacturers process data locally across machines and control systems to address latency or connectivity restraints.

Customers are empowered to choose what business process to run in the cloud or at the edge based on business need; they can deploy specific business processes and relevant business data to specific edge nodes using 麻豆原创 Edge Services. According to , 鈥�70% of IoT deployments by 2023 will include edge-based decision-making to support organizations’ operational and strategic agendas.鈥� The report also states that by 鈥�2023, 70% of enterprises will run varying levels of data processing at the IoT edge. In tandem, organizations will spend over $16 billion on IoT edge infrastructure in that time.鈥�

Customers have a choice to use either Microsoft Azure IoT or 麻豆原创 IoT to bring their time series data to the cloud. Time series data collected from machines or devices at the edge and sent to the cloud is of little value on its own. Companies need to put time series data into business context by augmenting it with information stored in business applications for materials, products, customers, inventory, assets, and more. Combining business semantics and time series data using the 麻豆原创 IoT solution creates business relevance, leading organizations to improved business outcomes and better decision-making.

鈥淭he expansion of the partnership between 麻豆原创 and Microsoft provides our mutual customers with the ability to leverage 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain and manufacturing solutions in the cloud to gain better business insights and accelerate the time-to-value as they roll out their applications on a global scale. By extending 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain solutions and the Azure cloud capabilities to the edge with Azure Stack Edge, businesses will also be able to manage 麻豆原创 solutions locally across their factories and warehouses to drive immediate decision-making and actions where they are needed,鈥� said Ulrich Homann, corporate vice president of Cloud + AI at Microsoft.

Companies Will Provide Reference Architecture as Guidance to Their Customers

The partnership in supply chain and manufacturing will be further enhanced with reference architectures to provide customers guidance on deploying 麻豆原创 Digital Supply Chain on Azure and the integration of 麻豆原创 and Microsoft products and services, building on previously developed .

For example, customers have a choice to use either Microsoft Azure IoT or 麻豆原创 IoT to bring their time series data to the cloud. Time series data collected from machines or devices at the edge, and sent to the cloud, may be of little value on its own. Companies need to put time series data into business context by augmenting it with information stored in business applications for materials, products, customers, inventory, assets, and more. Combining business semantics and time series data using the 麻豆原创 IoT solution creates business relevance, leading organizations to improved business outcomes and better decision-making.

麻豆原创 and Microsoft Shape the Future of Industry 4.0 with Open Standards

With software development and standards, the benefits of aligned reference architectures and common semantics are obvious. Adopting industrial standards and creating shared asset models in industrial IT are as significant to digital supply chain as a dictionary is to literacy. Business partners who wish to succeed in this space need to endorse open standards, open consortia, and open source.

As part of this partnership, 麻豆原创 and Microsoft will work together to drive compatibility and interoperability across industrial machines, software, and services as members of consortia like the Open Manufacturing Platform and the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance 鈥� to aid in the accelerated path to value of supply chain and Industry 4.0-related solutions based on open standards.

Companies that want to learn more about this exciting partnership and the benefits it brings should contact their 麻豆原创 account team for further details.

Franz Hero is senior vice president for Digital Supply Chain Solutions at 麻豆原创.

Organizations conducting clinical trials need visibility into demand to ensure supply and packaging availability, especially as the global pandemic impacts supply chains. To better address the specific needs of the life sciences clinical supplies practice, 麻豆原创, Roche and Tenthpin have initiated an industry consortium. This consortium consists of numerous stakeholders from the life sciences industry, including clinical trial and interactive response technology system vendors, and will focus on defining and orchestrating optimally aligned clinical supplies processes.

As part of the reimagined clinical supplies processes, 麻豆原创, together with its co-innovation customers, is designing a next-generation CTSM solution built on 麻豆原创 S/4HANA and 麻豆原创鈥檚 industry cloud. This will address the specific blinding and randomization needs for clinical trials to facilitate demand forecasting, manufacturing, packaging, labeling and shipments of clinical trial materials. Together, 麻豆原创, Roche and Tenthpin address key priorities of the life sciences industry by enabling more accurate planning and better inventory management through the inclusion of clinical trial parameters, such as planned and active enrollment rates, into the supply and demand planning processes. The CTSM solution is planned to enable:

• Higher flexibility in the business process to fulfill future clinical supplies demand
• Streamlined processes and real-time data to help leaders make informed decisions on every aspect of the supply chain
• End-to-end transparency and insights into the clinical supplies process from source to site to adhere to compliance requirements
• Better collaboration among all CTSM stakeholders, from suppliers to life science companies to clinical sites
• End-to-end support with supply setup, demand forecasting, sourcing and supply chain integrity, manufacturing and distribution

鈥淭his partnership represents a milestone in our听听initiative,鈥� said Peter Maier, president, Industries and Customer Advisory, 麻豆原创. 鈥淭ogether with Roche and Tenthpin, we can now address the specific needs of clinical trial supply management and improve business and ultimately patient outcomes. By gaining greater insights into forecasted demand and clinical site stock levels, the solution will help enable faster clinical supplies cycle times, reduce inventory overage and allow informed decision-making from start to finish.鈥�

Learn more

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Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2020 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
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This is compounded by the capacity constraints of the distribution network responsible for delivering the goods.

Global Logistics Challenges

In recent times, through lean manufacturing to minimize inventory carrying costs, outsourcing of production to contract manufacturers, and offshoring to cheaper parts of the globe. COVID-19 has highlighted the risk associated with this globalization.

Now, with ports either closed or at best running at reduced capacity, and shipowners struggling to change crews to minimize the spread of the virus, we have less seafaring capacity.

This issue is compounded when we look to the air for a solution. Due to travel restrictions and lack of travelers, airlines have grounded thousands of planes which has reduced air freight capacity.

Local Distribution Challenges

At a local and regional levels, we have seen roadblocks at borders and labor shortages that have seriously disrupted supply chains.

As stay-at-home recommendations and orders and are issued, this completely changes the logistics challenges in the way goods are delivered to customers. As well as bulk deliveries to distribution centers and stores, there are now thousands of individual orders to satisfy and deliver to the doorstep on a daily basis. And these are no ordinary orders; to the customer they become lifelines, and we must ensure the safety of the supply chain, the delivery team, and the customers at all times.

Discover Available Capacity, Connect, Collaborate, Repeat

More than ever shippers are looking to ensure their goods are where their customers need them and when. But how can they react or even predict spikes or drops in demand?

As logistics capacity drops and demand for key items become critical, having visibility of the capacity that is available is needed in a simple and repeatable ways to:

• Discover new trading partners, communities, and business opportunities
• Connect with logistics business partners anytime, anywhere, and on any device
• Collaborate seamlessly across inter-company and multi-modal scenarios
• Balance capacity constraints and freight costs in times of crisis
• Guarantee freight coverage and competitive pricing
• Gain insights and competitive advantage with real-time alerts, notifications, analytics, and benchmarking

Value of Collaboration Across a Logistics Network

The process of tendering a load from a shipper to a carrier has changed very little over decades. While new technologies have emerged to better digitize the many contracts and rate agreements that shippers and carriers have in place, visibility into the market prices or availability of trucks has remained elusive, and shippers often do not leverage the flexibility provided by digital players, ultimately paying higher prices to cover their freight needs.

The key to success is to create a central place to connect and service members of a logistics network. , collaborate, exchange logistics information, and share insights.

The value of a network is amplified by the members and partners connected to this network.

Once everybody involved has improved visibility and access to all relevant network members, everybody wins:

• Shippers get more choice of carrier options and guaranteed shipments, which enables them to exceed service levels and reduce costs.
• Carriers can improve their utilization and profitability through improved visibility and collaboration. They can better manage their time and better optimize their trips.
• Customers get improved service and on-time deliveries at a reduced cost.

Networking is Key

To help achieve these goals, 麻豆原创 recently announced听the integration of service offerings听from听 with to help ensure fast and efficient handling of road听shipments听in Europe. This enables direct access to 12,000 carriers and the associated capacity 鈥� saving time, improving flexibility, and better managing costs through competitive听offers across Europe.

To learn more about the news, see 鈥�麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network Increases Efficiencies in European Shipping with InstaFreight.鈥�

Richard Howells is vice president of Marketing for Digital Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

This 麻豆原创.iO Foundries cohort will enable startups to develop technologies to help businesses go beyond digital manufacturing and seamlessly connect all aspects of an entire company 鈥� from design to operations to sales and service.

鈥淚n Japan, 麻豆原创 is helping organizations transform and grow in this digital era of increasingly connected ecosystem, new technologies and shifts in customer mind-sets鈥� said Hirofumi Suzuki, managing director, 麻豆原创 Japan. 鈥淭his program will help our customers greatly expand the value of Industry 4.0.鈥�

is designed to accelerate innovation and drive new business models for 麻豆原创. This zero-equity-ask program provides startups with curated support from within and outside of 麻豆原创, exposure to 麻豆原创 technologies, and opportunities to meet and collaborate with 麻豆原创 customers. The accelerator program will conclude at 麻豆原创.iO Demo Day in the beginning of June.

The following startups are part of the听 Spring 2020 program:

• enables people to produce maps and street views of indoor spaces using image processing technology with a unique artificial intelligence (AI) foundation.
• combines robots, AI logistics software and other cutting-edge technology to manage logistics and e-commerce through its LogiTech solution.
• , through its “MOVO” logistics data platform, integrates Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technologies and the development and marketing of various logistics applications and hardware.
• automates visual inspection of industrial facilities with its data-source-agnostic software 鈥淐larity,鈥� using computer vision and AI to produce interactive digital twin models for better asset maintenance.
• provides services to help solve on-site labor shortage issues by reducing the burden of patrol-based visual inspections through integrating technologies of machine learning and the IoT.
• provides noncontact rapid 3D shape measurements using the optical frequency comb emitter, enabling precise automated visual inspection of automotive engines in smart factories.

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But that mindset is only a small part of the bigger evolution story. It is also about digitalizing processes end to end to fundamentally change employee and customer experiences.

The rise of intelligent technologies 鈥� from artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and digital twins to augmented reality and the Internet of Things (IoT) 鈥� has its advantages. However, businesses cannot discount the potential for additional complexity to be introduced into the IT landscape and rising volumes of data scattered across the enterprise.

Do not be fooled: Overcoming such challenges along the way to becoming an intelligent enterprise has little to do with the variety of technologies being implemented. What matters, first and foremost, is having a business technology platform that serves as a center of gravity for all digital investments and enterprise data.

For 麻豆原创 customers, the answer to helping ensure that their business technology platform can deliver on that promise is 麻豆原创 Solution Extensions. The diverse portfolio provides solutions that are specially designed for the four pillars of a trusted, complete, and relevant IT landscape: enterprise content management, data management, data protection, and process mining and optimization.

Intelligent Management and Extension of Valuable Business Content

By extending听听capabilities across the company, the business technology platform can address the entire information life cycle 鈥� from document and records management to information retrieval and collaboration. Additionally, rigorous information security and support are used to facilitate compliance with data privacy and protection regulations.

Connecting e-mails, documents, and other content to core business processes drives significant changes across a variety of organizations, such as:

Human Resources

Create a digitized and centralized employee document management environment that helps reduce costs and increase internal efficiencies. Businesses can improve their employee experience and productivity by deepening collaboration within project teams and eliminating the handover of information throughout the workforce life cycle 鈥� from recruiting and onboarding to compliance with regulatory requirements such as multiple document-retention policies.

Marketing, Sales, and Support

Create more unified and personalized customers experiences across in-store or online channels with consistent brand content. For example, customized promotions and communications can be provided during one channel interaction, then cascaded across the omnichannel customer experience 鈥� from brick-and-mortar stores to ecommerce storefronts.

Supply Chain

Lower procurement costs by capturing, scanning, and storing all incoming supply chain content, including unstructured information in delivery notes and e-mails. This information can be used to optimize order-to-procure processes and negotiate better deals with suppliers, compare past prices with real-time invoice information, and uncover more opportunities for dynamic discounting.

Strong Governance Across the Master Data Life Cycle

As long as data-driven business models continue to be created and evolve,听 and 听will remain critical to the operation of an intelligent enterprise. Moving intelligence from one application to another across the business technology platform requires considerable visibility into everything from data volume and relevance to connectivity.

AI and machine learning models help deliver migrations that are fast, hyper-efficient, and affordable. The migration process can be automated by capturing and sharing expertise, context, and insights 鈥� setting a valuable springboard for decisions on definition, protection, and security as well as business rules and access authorization. Then, data assets can be intelligently reused while traditional information siloes are obliterated.

Data governance capabilities can then be applied to help ensure data quality and readiness before the new solution 鈥� such as 鈥� goes into production. As a result, businesses can mitigate deployment and operational risks while gaining experience with a controlled, nonproductive digital twin of the solution. In addition, they can switch to central governance before or in parallel with the deployment to keep data clean for the long term.

With a single view of their data, businesses can drive information consistency company-wide 鈥� whether the business is handling (EAM) for their facilities or streamlining . The speed and accuracy of processes and analytics increase with the automation of maintaining and distributing master data, integrating it more tightly, and controlling quality and standards. Additionally, compliance with data protection and security regulations strengthens through governed mechanisms for traceable auditing and change management.

Reliable Data Mapping and Protection

Data is an integral part of business operations in the digital economy. Intelligent enterprises fuel success by optimizing the use of data across all interactions with their customers, employees, and ecosystem partners. With capabilities, businesses can use data to spur innovation, help ensure data compliance, mitigate risk, and build trusted relationships.

Data mapping and protection enable decision-makers to better leverage data from diverse sources, both structured and unstructured. This approach strengthens the transparency and power of data analytics, instilling stakeholder trust and confidence in the accuracy, timeliness, security, and compliance of the data used.

Gaining new value from personal and sensitive business data, while helping to ensure its security and permitted use, allows businesses to serve trusted and protected data for actionable insights throughout organizations and with ecosystem partners.

Continuous Optimization of Business Processes

Intelligent enterprises depend on mission-critical processes that are fast, profitable, and agile. By providing greater transparency into process execution,听听capabilities help organizations understand existing processes better 鈥� from how they work and where they need improvement to which best practices are most effective.

Sophisticated discovery, analysis, and documentation foster data-based, continuous improvement. Companies can leverage prebuilt content, analytics configurations, and data connectors from line-of-business applications to the business technology platform in order to monitor performance, identify previously unrecognized process weaknesses, and improve process efficiency, quality, and reliability.

Shape Your Future with Simplicity, Speed, and Integrated Intelligence

When combined with 麻豆原创 Solution Extensions, a business technology platform can help companies connect processes and experiences in ways that allow employees to act with integrity and confidence and gives customers a reason to keep coming back.

But more importantly, this approach establishes the connected and intelligent foundation needed to support flexible, agile innovation practices that are tremendously essential to succeeding in the experience economy.

Learn more about 麻豆原创 Solution Extensions at听.

Next week鈥檚 installment will consider how 麻豆原创 Solution Extensions can take customer experience to the next level by stimulating differentiation and growth.