Automotive

Welcome to the fast lane of the automotive sector, where the rubber meets the road in terms of innovation, sustainability, and digital transformation. The industry is at a pivotal crossroads, with technological advancements and shifting consumer demands driving significant changes in production planning and operational efficiency. Here's how SAP solutions are steering this dynamic sector towards a more efficient and future-ready path.

Overview

Challenges and SAP Solutions

The automotive landscape is marked by a series of complex challenges:

  • Supply chain disruptions causing global ripples
  • The electrifying shift towards Electric Vehicles (EVs)
  • Stringent regulatory compliance and sustainability mandates
  • Consumer demands for smarter, connected vehicles
  • The integration of cutting-edge technology in manufacturing processes
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SAP offers a roadmap to overcoming these obstacles:

  • Supply Chain visibility: Enhanced with real-time scenario planning and responsive supply planning, SAP helps companies navigate disruptions seamlessly.
  • Agile Production Planning: SAP's integrated sales and operations planning tools ensure that manufacturers can swiftly adapt to new market demands.
  • Compliance and sustainability: Tools for inventory optimisation and improved forecast accuracy support environmental initiatives and compliance reporting.
  • Customer and market insights: Demand-driven forecasting powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning enhances understanding of consumer preferences.
  • Innovation and R&D management: SAP S/4HANA solutions foster a culture of innovation, facilitating the integration of autonomous driving systems and IoT for connected vehicles.

SAP customisation by ITeanova for the Automotive Sector

To turbocharge the SAP Standard implementation for the automotive industry, customisation is key:

  • Industry-specific modules: Tailoring SAP Automotive to support JIT and JIS production, and enhancing supplier collaboration.
  • SAP Advanced Planning and PP/DS Optimization: Customize the PP/DS interface to show more relevant data to meet your needs and add new algorithms and models to better match the supply chain dynamics of your company.
  • SAP Warehouse Management System (WMS) enhancements: Customizing the SAP WMS to handle the automotive sector's specific requirements, such as handling large volumes of parts, material logistics transfers, and ensuring parts are delivered just in time to the production line.
  • Demand Management: Enhancements in SAP IBP and PP/DS will help your automotive company improve your forecasting, demand planning, and supply network planning.
  • SAP Transportation Management (TM): Optimize route planning, freight costing, and to ensure timely delivery of parts and finished vehicles, including tracking of in-transit goods service modules to elevate customer engagement and loyalty.
  • SAP Production Planning (PP) and Manufacturing Execution (ME): Enhancements to support JIT and JIS production, including the customization of scheduling algorithms, constraints planning and integration with shop floor systems.

Areas of expertise

Through a number of projects with automotive manufacturers and suppliers as well as close collaboration with the SAP automotive industry business unit, we have built up significant expertise in this industry.

  • Modelling and engineering of complex and multi-variant automotive products (vehicles, engines, etc.) with object dependencies
  • Manufacturing process engineering for production lines
  • Special delivery schedule logic
  • Packaging logistics for manufacturing and delivery
  • MRP, production and capacity planning on all levels of the bill of material
  • Material provision for production lines (Kanban, JIT)
  • Make-to-stock production
  • Parts supersession, spare parts management

Conclusion

As the automotive industry accelerates into a new era of innovation and challenges, the need for a robust, flexible ERP solution has never been greater. SAP, with its comprehensive suite and customization capabilities, offers the tools needed to navigate this transformation successfully.

Choosing ITeanova as your consulting partner unlocks the full potential of SAP solutions for the automotive sector. Our expertise in industry-specific customisations and deep understanding of SAP S/4HANA solutions make us the ideal co-driver on your journey towards digital excellence and operational efficiency.

Overview
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