SAP for the industry of chemicals: Challenges and recommendations of user

As much front time said, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) ordered during some time in the higher line of the kingdom of chemicals, but competition in the semi-market of chemicals far from non-existent, is given the strong offers of the suppliers such as Oracle, the software of Ross Systems/CDC, Infor, 3i-Infotech, SSI-World, and total ASS. They are only the traditional suppliers of the planning of entrepreneurial resource (ERP) concentrating on the industry of chemicals. There is also a certain number of suppliers of solution of point who supply with several needs suitable for industry. For a course of instruction detailed on the industry of chemicals see thus what 's the business with chemicals?.

Part three of the SAP series for chemicals: A solution packed for companies of Semi-market.

The application software of company of offers of SAP conceived in function the industry of chemicals. For an examination of the approach of SAP to the solutions packed to see the solutions of industry of SAP for companies of Semi-market. For a discussion which is directly concerned with SAP and the industry of chemicals, to see SAP for chemicals: A solution packed for companies of Semi-market, and SAP for the functionality of chemicals.

SAP as a whole, including chemicals IBU from SAP, obviously was fight some hard-with-kill the belief about its complexity, price, rigidity, and so into before-equal with these prconfigures solutions. Recently, the supplier had lodged the following complaints, which slowly gain the credibility (although the prospect customers should continue to dispute SAP for the real validation of principle, and speak to the similar customers of reference):

* Some solutions of industry packed by SAP are children of poster for the success of semi-market: 65 percent of existing customers have less than 1.000 employees, but the belief is that it is only for really large standard.
* SAP packed up returns of high values of drive of solutions often for their customers, with the sale value-based included like critical stage in the process of sales.
* These solutions provide to the customers the expertise and the possibilities of industry (such as the support of process of businesses of industry, the practices, the width of the solutions, and so on) this often greater value of drive than of the competing offers.

But to refute the so-called myths of its cost, complexity, and inflexibility, SAP will have to continue by documenting successful case studies. Without could these well documented and justified positive returns on investment (Kings) or favorable full costs of metric of property (operating burnup), the market still be carried out to believe that this SAP tries to avoid the perception of the market while accentuating has much-speech-with the subject of complaint of an increase of 32 percent of profitability for much of customers of high profile (with the complaint which the operation of SAP was the main cause in (see what are your competitors indicating to you? A case study: SAP 'new publicity campaign of S).

To be right, it appears that in the industry of chemicals, it is probably SAP which made the best efforts not fall into the usual trap from simplification exaggerated from product from semi-market (see that gained solutions of Biscuit-cutter 't cut it with the Semi-market). SAP 'technology flexible of block constitutive of S allows companies of intermediate size to apply and to adapt their solutions and incrmentalement to exploit the potentials of the ERP of mySAP, mySAP CRM, mySAP SCM, biological war of mySAP, and mySAP SRM. The gauge currently covers fifty four constitutive blocks suitable for industry, on the blocks constitutive of many base line. Always, in spite of a choice impressing of possibilities for the industry of chemicals, needs for SAP to fill much more functional gaps, and it is where it can try to convert the independent suppliers of software (suppliers independent of software) into rather allied than leaving them like competitors.

This could be an advantageous occasion for the two parts for the two sides: while the suppliers independent of software can work with SAP rather than being distracted by competition with the giant (where it is difficult to gain in the long run), SAP obtains an aggressive external support of its efforts to quickly fill the gaps in its charts of industry. In this way, its internal resources can be directed to orientated architecture towards the services massive (SOA) - rewriting based of the existing functionality in a nimbler platform of process of businesses. The xApps of SAP combine services and data of Web of the multiple systems, with the platform of technology of SAP NetWeaver providing interworking. They are composed of the software which combines new logical businesses (the packed part) with the functionality borrowed from the preexistent components (the made up part). In practice, a xApp of SAP is an application layer which rests on other applications, which can thus provide a cross-functional process which is of collaboration and integrator.

Since there are almost customers hundred grounds communal between SAP and Lighthammer (before acquisition), and approximately twenties divided customers with Vendavo, is obvious that the customers are favorable to a solution rather narrowly integrated of associated waiting without end the functionality with SAP. Chemicals IBU wants thus to develop and raise an ecosystem for the industry of chemicals which should provide the value to its customers, associates, and SAP. Indeed, the unit of chemicals is one of the first in SAP to control SAP program of the network of value of industry of S ('IVN).

An example of the critical needs for industry that SAP satisfied via association is management of analysis and price of benefit (significance how to control changes of the contract prices with the central order and the direction). The compression of margin and (recently) the comparative analysis of the relative profitability of customer are true exits for the industry of chemicals, and of the tools of analytics of evaluation and support can be used to control the evaluation best and to improve of the margins. For this purpose, SAP partnered with Vendavo, a supplier of the solutions of management software of the prices, to offer a xApp of SAP or a request made up packed of price of SAP of management of evaluation and management of margin called (SAP PMM) by Vendavo which runs on SAP 's NetWeaver (see the Giants applications to support their possibilities of management of evaluation). There are other suppliers with routines of optimization of evaluation, but it is not the current functionality of Vendavo. SAP strongly believes that all the producers of the products (and much of producers of speciality) should start with the management of the prices, whereas only the more complex producers of chemicals of speciality should start with optimization.

On the one hand, Technidata had helped the environmental functionality of health and safety of form (EH&S) during several years, as well as to provide the xApp of SAP for the management of emissions (xEM of SAP), a xApp concerned of SAP for the industry of chemicals. Payments such as the act of fresh air of the USA require companies to reduce emissions, and SAP now provides of this fact a tool which evolves/moves around the processes in real-time to help of the companies of chemicals with conformity. Technidata had also helped to develop a content waiter for SAP EH&S which includes data for more than 200.000 substances.

The continuation of the maintenance of factory of SAP (TOKEN ENTRY) includes modules such as the preventive maintenance, the maintenance of breakdown, and the technical systems structuring, in order to carry out and record activities envisaged and not planned maintenance, including tasks of maintenance and orders of maintenance. SAP will also work towards the true reliability-centered possibilities of maintenance (RCM), which become standard among the manufacturers capital-intensives (see the maintenance led by reliability--By closing the CMMS evaluate Gap ?). The nature connected of nimble manufacture will probably raise possibilities of management of inheritance to one moreover high level, by which the united probes monitor the equipment and to provide the data which can be employed with more exactly envisaged the operation or the ineffective failure, by reducing the possibility of the time of breakdown and the lost production. It is particularly true in the light of Infor 'of recent acquisition of S of the Datastream specialist in management in inheritance of company (EAM). Still, partnering with the tastes of Ivara could come in handy, as with AspenTech or systems of memory to direct access by window for some functional nuggets crafty ones of the chemicals SCM (see the solution packed by planning of chain of provisioning of offers of systems of memory with direct access by window for chemicals), or with a product-focused possible associate of logistics such as the logistics of odyssey.