Do you use SAP as your ERP system in your plant? Then you are probably dreading the migration to S/4HANA. Even so, you need to act now because maintenance of your current version will be discontinued in 2030. We see this as a golden opportunity: after all, a migration is the perfect time to evaluate your current system and improve it by adding digitalisation and automation. Why? How do you do this? What action can you take right now? Read on for the answers!

Even though migration to S/4Hana is challenging and complex, it also offers opportunities. For example, you probably regularly struggle with the complexities of your current ERP system at the moment. Quickly updating a schedule is not possible, changes made locally are not immediately available in the system, and because the system is only available on a desktop, people often resort to manual workarounds.  

Data is transferred from paper, via Excel sheets and using other methods, exposing you to all the potential for mistakes associated with those approaches. You also work with many third parties to ensure that your ERP system meets all your business needs. Migrating to S/4HANA is the perfect opportunity to finally address all these frustrations and streamline processes. 

The main focus when migrating to S/4HANA should be on digitalisation. You need to eliminate everything that is paper based, because paper-based processes are cumbersome and that has very tangible consequences in the workplace. Take your service technicians, for example.  

They do their inspection rounds holding a clipboard full of paper forms, write down errors and malfunctions and then have to return to their workstation to process everything in SAP before they can move on to the next task. This is very time consuming and slows down reporting and subsequent early troubleshooting, leading to more downtime. When you digitise manual operations like this, you remove sources of error from the process and open up the path to automation. 

Fully digitising data, which paves the way for automation, is crucial today. The fourth industrial revolution – ‘Industry 4.0’ – is a shift to a higher gear. This revolution involves AI, robots and the Internet of Things (smart devices) that control themselves and each other through data exchange. 

The companies at the forefront of this revolution will gain the greatest competitive advantages in the coming years. Do you want to be one of them? Then your plant must be fully digitalised and your ERP system must support optimal data exchange. You need a robust database for this, without any data silos. As we all know, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but you can at least start moving in the right direction during your migration to SAP 4HANA. 

You’ll be busy enough preparing for the migration anyway, so you may ask, why bother with digitalisation and data optimisation as well? Because it brings tremendous benefits in the long run, such as:  

  • fewer production errors, thereby reducing your avoidable costs 

  • reduced downtime 

  • elimination of human error in your process 

  • ability to predict maintenance 

  • faster time to market 

  • increased supply chain insight through better data exchange.

Although a number of things still seem to be very much in the future, you can take steps toward digitalising your plant today. Most of your paperwork now is associated with the maintenance process. You can digitise this with the SAP Plant Maintenance add-on. With the add-on, you create a visualisation of SAP PM for mobile devices, which allows easy reporting of malfunctions and simple submission of maintenance and service requests. It can also be used to upload photos of the machine to SAP.

Because service technicians don’t have to go back to their desks to make a report, their daily rate of reporting skyrockets. This helps you prevent malfunctions, or fix them faster, and significantly reduces downtime. You can also do more with the same number of people (or even fewer people). This add-on only takes a couple of weeks to install and takes you a step closer towards a digitalised plant. 

Are you wondering how to get even more out of your migration to SAP S/4HANA? Or how you can combine this migration with digitalisation and automation? Then feel free to contact one of our experts. If you simply want to learn more about our SAP Plant Maintenance solution at this stage, click here for all the details!