Ask Approyo - How can SAP S/4HANA transform the Metals Industry?

The global metals industry is at a turning point as it considers how to differentiate and to compete in this age of slow-growing demand, oversupply, and intensified competition from inter-material substitution.

A common practice and strategy of metals companies has been to focus on maximizing output volume. However, this is no longer sufficient as oversupply is shifting the focus to customer centricity. Along with better matching of demand with production, focus on profitability and more-efficient integrated operations and control systems are gaining importance. This transformation requires fully real-time information and control in a digital metals enterprise.

Transformation Drivers

The metals industry value chain is transforming, driven by various global economic and technology trends. There are major shifts in regional demand growth and varying costs for energy and emissions. Other trends include increased customer expectations such as products made from recycled material or high-strength steel. Smarter equipment can cut steel mill production costs and support more specialized lot sizes. Digitalization and interconnection of products and services provide more-detailed quality data and allows for a more-precise use of a products like coil that can give customers better yield rates.

New Business Models

In response to these drivers, metals companies are considering new business models to extend or reinvent their business. These models can involve disinter-mediation of sales channels, more individualization with smaller lot sizes, or increased collaboration with customers to create these new, innovative products and add-on services.

New Processes

The metals industry transformation is causing companies to rethink business processes across their business and value chain. For example, in operational processes companies will better manage, recruit, and regain talent and will make practical use of smart machinery. Customer-centric companies will restructure R&D processes to result in faster collaborative innovations. To execute on this transformation, metal firms will not only need to re-engineer their business processes, they will also have to evaluate if they have the right technology platform that can deliver on that vision.

This platform requires an IT architecture that provides both stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes, and, at the same time, allows for flexibility in areas where change is happening on a constant basis. The digital core is the foundation for the core processes that need to run consistently and flexibly. It provides uninterrupted, real-time transactions and analytics, the ability to work with Big Data, and connectivity to line-of-business extensions that enable supporting processes such as talent sourcing or networks.

SAP S/4HANA was developed specifically to represent the digital core in this “bi-modal IT architecture.” It provides metals firms with a proven framework to adopt industry best practices while attaining operational excellence –specifically across core financial, sales, and manufacturing processes.

SAP S/4HANA Simplified user experience: across all devices

SAP S/4HANA empowers front-line users with a user-centric, consumer-grade experience because, for metals firms, it’s both the front-line and back-office employees that add value to clients. SAP is driving simplification and innovation in how business users work with a role-based, consistent user experience available on any device.

SAP S/4HANA Simplified architecture: no aggregates –no redundancies

The simplified data model of SAP S/4HANA delivers an advanced digital data architecture that provides, in real time, a single source of the truth for both transactions and analytics. This enables extensive flexibility to adapt to changing business models, such as simulating the impact of business reorganizations in minutes rather than days.

SAP S/4HANA Finance and Procurement Benefits:

• Accounting and financial close

• Accounts payable and invoice management

• Cash and liquidity management

• Enterprise risk and compliance management

• Financial planning and analysis

• Procurement

• Supplier evaluations and procurement analysis

SAP S/4HANA Sales and Order Fulfillment Benefits:

• Sales order management and processing

• Bid and proposal management

• Sales monitoring and analytics

• Goods issues/receipt

• Warehouse management

• Inventory management

• Transportation management

• Billing and invoicing for physical goods

SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing and Operations Benefits:

• Material requirements planning

• Production control

• Asset strategy and planning

• Maintenance planning and scheduling

• Maintenance execution

• Incident management

• Health and safety management

SAP S/4HANA is The Next Generation Business Suite For A Digital World The opportunity exists to transform business processes and achieve the digital transformation of your business with more automation and real-time visibility. Our SAP S/4HANA, SAP HANA and Big Data solutions address these important needs and more. Let us show you today! Set up a free consultation.

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