How can the Intelligent Enterprise Impact the Mining Industry?

The digital economy is disruptive. Mining companies need strategic priorities that drive transformation. SAP supports a reimagined set of E2E business scenarios to support the strategic priorities of working in a digital environment.

• Make the business more predictable, sustainable, and safer - Advanced predictive analytics and machine learning integrated with real-time information help make vast operational data more actionable. Predict outcomes or exceptions to support the right decision-making, making mining more predictable, sustainable, and safer for the workforce
• Collaborate with customers, suppliers, and workers - Transform interactions with all stakeholders into an interactive, collaborative, and responsive network to strengthen relationships, digitalize data exchanges, make the business more agile, increase profitability, and digitalize the worker.
• Enhance operational and commercial agility - Achieve real-time visibility into operations and run a mine like a factory based on advanced planning and execution to increase agility by combining IT and operational technology (OT) along the entire pit-to-customer process.
• Increase productivity through automation - Digitalize and automate manual processes and focus on value-added processes for employees while automating operations to keep workers out of hazardous environments.

Supporting next practices in mining with intelligent ERP
Transformation in the mining industry is occurring at a rapid pace. Changes in technologies, business environment standards, and the need for agility require constant adaptation. Mining companies must be able to respond to rapidly changing conditions yet still comply with all standards. How does a digital core with a true single source of truth help?

Mining companies must respond to rapid change
A digital core is an IT architecture that offers stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes yet also provides the flexibility to adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges, and regulations. In today’s environment, mining companies cannot continue with old ways of working, so they need to change how they operate. This impacts the industry and its IT –the backbone of modern business –which has to be agile to ensure compliance. Support for mergers and acquisitions is also required to ensure swift adaptation to changing markets.

Mine smarter, not harder
The ability to respond quickly is an essential part of managing a mining business. To do this, simulation, prediction, and analytical capabilities are important components. For example, this can be the simulation of profitability scenarios to identify the best method of mining or to determine the best time to sell a mine.

Generate additional value from data
While overall processes in mining do not change much, the speed of business is disruptive. Mining companies need the computing capability to carry out complex algorithms with large data sets to support timely, real-time analysis. The base data comes from sensors that enable precise digital twins of equipment and processes. In a mine, data sets will be available that can be used by machine learning to improve equipment efficiency and availability. This provides more-reliable information for all related processes. For example, mine production output can be planned and executed more reliably.

Addressing innovative opportunities
In the commodity business, you have to differentiate yourself. Mining companies must improve customer interactions as well as increase operational efficiencies to gain a competitive edge. This impacts every facet of business, including end-to-end (E2E) processes across departments and even company borders. Collaboration and sharing of resources will be part of the new operating models –from customers to mine operations.

The Intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core will result in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes, mining companies need an intelligent ERP solution. For example, machine learning can help in daily business by helping ensure the correct spare part is ordered by using image recognition to identify the correct version. Early adopters have already begun this journey to gain the competitive edge for a top seat in the next-generation mining business.

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How can the Intelligent Enterprise impact the Telecommunications industry?

Disruptive change is happening in the telecommunications industry at a rapid pace. 5G, new market entrants, innovations in business models, mergers, and evolving industry standards require constant adaptation. Communications service providers (CSPs) must be able to respond to rapidly changing conditions yet still comply with all standards. How does a digital core with a true single source of truth help?

Strategic Priorities in a Digital Economy
The digital economy is disruptive. Telecommunications companies need strategic priorities that drive transformation. SAP solutions powered by Approyo supports a reimagined set of end-to-end (E2E) business scenarios to support the strategic priorities of working in a digital environment.

• Intelligent operations - New innovations around artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and more have the potential to drive vast efficiencies around existing business processes and enable new generation processes moving forward.Labor-intensive processes around management of invoices, service tickets, and customer attrition will be among the first processes that leverage new technologies to drive optimization in an intelligent enterprise.
• Profitable customer centricity - With new market entrants and OTT players providing heavy competition, successful telcos are extending the use of new technologies to rethink how they can deliver optimal customer experiences, manage profitability, and offer relevant services. Putting customers first and optimizing margins will become more important to drive overall business growth. Focusing on delivering a superior and personalized customer experience will become even more critical to compete effectively.
• Innovative business models - The emergence of a sensor-based world opens up the space for platform providers to deliver adapted and scalable solutions for connectivity, insight, applications, and processes in the IoT. Providers can offer sensor-friendly vertical services and solutions to enterprise customers or industry ecosystems, and also develop industry-specific stack-and-build competence and partner ecosystems that target strategic industries, both organically or by acquisition.

Respond quickly to market dynamics
A digital core is a critical component of a modern telecommunications company’s IT architecture to ensure stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes. It must also provide the flexibility to adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges, and regulations. This solid foundation gives you a single source of truth, which in turn enables flexibility for innovation to accommodate new over-the-top (OTT) competitors, new revenue driving business models, and continued industry consolidation.

Create efficiencies throughout the business
The ability to respond quickly is an essential part of managing a telecommunications company. To do this, simulation, prediction, and analytical capabilities are important components. Data is critical for gaining the insight to make decisions. This insight must be at a granular level, so that margins can be optimized to drive profitability by understanding where revenue leakage is happening at the per-subscriber level.

Gain visibility to become more profitable
With the commoditization of core communications services, every telecommunications company is looking for opportunities to maximize margins and profitability. Visibility across the business is the critical component to finding areas to mitigate margin loss and optimize profitability. Granular insights at the subscriber, service, and channel levels provide the opportunity to identify problem areas and react quickly to remedy them.

Leverage new innovations for evolving business models
Customers in every industry are demanding innovation and often look to their CSP to deliver services based on these innovations. The opportunity exists for CSPs that can react quickly and that have a digital core in place to deliver these services. With the right capabilities in place, CSPs are in a prime position to be the providers of choice to enable new services such as connected cars, smart transportation, connected health, and more.

The intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core will result in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes and business models, companies need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Telecommunications companies that have big innovation appetites or prefer to be early adopters have already begun this journey.

How can the Intelligent Enterprise impact the Insurance industry?

Radical change in the insurance industry is occurring at a rapid pace. Changes in technologies, in business models, in standards, and in the makeup of insurance companies themselves require constant adaptation. Insurers must be able to respond to rapidly changing conditions yet still comply with all standards. How does a digital core with a true single source of truth help?

Strategic Priorities in a Digital Economy

• Digital engagement - Customers want to engage with insurers through seamless, interactive experiences across all channels, including self-service portals. Insurers must communicate with people and devices and connect to external data sources to build an engagement model with the real world. The creation of consistent, loyalty-building experiences is essential to meet the expectations of customers in today’s digital world.
• Protection service - Customer expectations are moving in the direction that a potential loss should be prevented before it occurs by means of a protection service. Insurers should deploy hybrid products by bundling insurance coverage across lines of business with non-insurance products and services to offer requested protection services.
• Data-driven influence - Customer data about behavior and points of view needs to be analyzed to enable insurers to deliver innovative products to market quickly while maintaining existing products more efficiently. Insurers need to use the key insights provided by IoT applications and related insurance services to drive not only what products are created and what services are offered but also when and where.

The Need for an Intelligent ERP System

Responding to rapid changes
A digital core is an IT architecture that offers stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes yet also provides the flexibility to adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges, and regulations. This solid foundation gives you a single source of truth, which, in turn, enables flexibility for innovation to accommodate new business models, new regulations, and new business events, such as mergers or acquisitions.

Simulation and analytics
The ability to respond quickly is an essential part of managing an insurance company. To do this, simulation, prediction, and analytical capabilities are important. Data is critical for gaining insight to make decisions. This insight must be at a granular level so decision-makers have the detail they need to understand trends, opportunities, and risks and quickly carry out what-if analysis using predictive algorithms.

Keeping data under control
Every insurance company needs the computing capability for carrying out complex risk assessments with large data sets to support timely, real-time analysis. Everyone in the company must have access to data they need, whenever and wherever they need it. They must also manage the enormous amount of data generated by connected networks to develop and deliver leading-edge products and services.

Addressing innovative opportunities
Customers in every industry are demanding innovation. Companies are responding with new products and services that better meet individual needs. These new offerings impact every facet of business, not just the front office. Companies must address end-to-end (E2E) processes across departments and lines of business to deliver on new customer experiences, products, and services

The Intelligent ERP powered by Approyo 
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core will result in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes, companies need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Insurance companies that have big innovation appetites or prefer to be early adopters have already begun this journey.

The SAP Intelligent Enterprise and the Experience Economy

Last year, SAP unveiled its strategy to deliver the Intelligent Enterprise. At the core of our strategy was SAP’s strong belief that every company needs to address three key challenge in today’s economy:

1. Intelligent Suite
An integrated, yet modular suite of line-of-business (LoB) applications that enables SAP customers to share insights across functions to better manage stakeholders and their day-to-day operations.

2. Digital Platforms
Data management and cloud platform technologies to dynamically orchestrate the growing volume of data and business processes across an intelligent enterprise, so that customers can make sense of their data in real-time. The digital platform forms the foundation of all intelligent activities.

3. Intelligent Technology
Tools and technologies that turn intelligence into business outcome such as analytics, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain. They are delivered through the digital platform, embedded within intelligent suite applications, and applied to processes that integrate both SAP and third-party data and applications.

Enter 2019 - The Experience Company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise
In an era in which data plays a vital role in all decision-making and in every business process, having the ability to manage big X-data and O-data, gaining new levels of business insights, and turning them into impactful actions is an absolute key to customer success. As business data volume grows exponentially, and as enterprises have access to an abundance of new intelligent technologies, customers have countless opportunities to influence experiences and reimagine their business processes through data-driven innovation.

The following outlines two examples for the opportunities in reimagining business processes:

1. Drive a step-change in productivity: a global clothes retailer collects big and diverse data from SAP C/4HANA including X-data from Qualtrics software and from third-party sources such as comments on social media.

This data is streamed into a data lake integrated with SAP HANA and dedicated to a customer behavior analysis project where intelligence is applied by building ML models to predict changes in customers’ buying preferences. The results are streamed in real-time to SAP C/4HANA marketing campaigns, where a new campaign is automatically triggered via SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation whenever a change in customer preference is identified, significantly increasing marketing productivity leading to additional revenue.

2. Build new business models: a lighting hardware company uses SAP Leonardo IoT, SAP Analytics and SAP Cloud Platform Integration to deliver a light-as-a-service business model. By connecting the lighting hardware to sensors, and orchestrating and analyzing its data streams, customers can receive a variable bill based on usage instead of paying for lighting upfront. In addition, customers can gain insight into costs and usage with an intelligent solution that is able to predict future costs. This solution helps users to make better informed and confident decisions drives operational efficiency and saves energy.

Technology & Innovation Overview and Outlook
The role of technology and innovation in the evolving Experience Economy has never been more important for the success of our customers. As customers’ and employees’ demand for better experiences increases, enterprises must focus on their businesses and adapt to change, rather than concentrating on technical building blocks. SAP believes that these needs can be addressed with a “business technology platform that provides the required platform services combined with the business semantics, content and context which are key to turn data into meaningful business outcomes. The winners will be intelligent enterprises that utilize this platform to get the most out of their experience and operational data and processes. This is the goal of SAP’s digital platform where the business-centric technologies of SAP HANA, SAP Analytics, and SAP Leonardo power the intelligent suite, enable new data-driven innovation scenarios and together with Qualtrics help SAP customers to turn into Experience Companies.

Therefore, SAP’s vision for the digital platform is to be the business technology platform that provides the required technologies for intelligent enterprises to power the intelligent suite, deliver the next-generation experience management, and offer the necessary technologies standalone to our customers and partners for unlocking new types data-driven innovation.

Read the full blog post on www.approyo.com

How can the Intelligent Enterprise impact Industrial Manufacturers

The digitalization of businesses across all industries is happening rapidly, and there is no turning back. Companies are looking for new ways to deliver value to their customers using digital channels and creating personalized, digitally-enabled products across all sectors, from consumer products to heavy equipment and machinery.

The industrial machinery and components (IM&C) industry is at the heart of this shift, providing the intelligent machines and equipment needed for this transformation, as well as spearheading innovative processes such as connected manufacturing and predictive maintenance and service.

Strategic Priorities in a Digital Economy
In this situation, where the opportunity is huge but at the same time new market entrants are threatening traditional IM&C companies, it is essential to focus on the right strategic priorities to drive digitalization across the business

Customer centricity
Putting the end customer’s point of view at the center of every decision is a key prerequisite for success in the digital age. This does not stop in the sales department but also applies to what products are built and what services are offered.

Serving the “segment of one”
Providing solutions that precisely fit the needs of one single customer has been commonplace in traditional engineer-to-order environments. Now, the ability to capture customer requirements effectively and drive mass customization is the key to giving customers exactly what they want.

Digital smart products
Differentiation and specificity in products stems from digital capabilities and value-added services that are bundled with physical products. Using digital capabilities such as self-awareness of technical health and operational status or business system connectivity helps industrial manufacturers differentiate.

Digital supply chain and smart factory
Digital technology on the shop floor and in the supply chain is not new. What is new is the way production and logistics are intelligently connected to the rest of the business and are able to deal with external impulses such as short-term demand and supply fluctuations or changes in the configuration of a customer order that require different materials, parts, and machining operations.

Servitization and new business models
As traditional products are commoditized, IM&C companies are shifting from selling physical products to providing complete solutions. Generating more than 50% of revenue from services is a common goal for manufacturers who are looking for higher profit margins and increased customer intimacy. The “digital twin for business” is a key requirement, representing the physical product over the entire lifecycle, including changing data points during manufacturing and installation as well as operational performance issues, the financial value created, and costs incurred up until the final phase of decommissioning.

View the full blog post on www.approyo.com 

How can the Intelligent Enterprise impact Distribution

The digital economy is disruptive. Wholesale distribution companies need strategic priorities that drive transformation into intelligent enterprises. SAP powered by Approyo supports a reimagined set of end-to-end business scenarios that are part of a digital environment.

• Using value-added services to create new revenue sources - For years, most distributors have been providing value-added services, many of which have been free of charge. Leading distributors will take these value-added services to the next level and use them to significantly increase revenue and bottom-line profitability. Distributors should consider providing customers with a menu of options such as light manufacturing, sensor-based services, training and consulting services, or lending services.
• Becoming a real-time distributor - Companies everywhere face volatile customer demand and heightened service expectations. Innovative technologies can help resolve these issues by providing vital business information across the network, improving real-time analysis, and enabling better collaboration across departments and trading partners – thus transforming the supply chain into a responsive network.
• Building lasting customer relationships - Build trusted relationships with customers by empowering sales teams and personalizing buyer engagements. Provide a vast variety of ordering channels from call centers, Web sites, text messages, and in-person interaction to deliver the exact products and services customers need when they need them. The customer experience today constitutes a lifecycle, not just an interaction restricted to the front end of the enterprise.

Leading wholesale distributors are transitioning into information-centric companies that utilize new business models to gain competitive advantage and deliver premium, consistent customer service. Digital transformation fosters operational excellence, specifically across order management and inventory management processes, providing wholesale distributors with real-time information and the ability to drive immediate impact with intelligent ERP.

Responding to rapid changes
A digital core is an IT architecture that offers stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes, yet also provides the flexibility to adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges, and regulations. This solid foundation gives you a single source of truth, which in turn enables flexibility for innovation to accommodate things such as new business models, new regulations, and business events, such as mergers or acquisitions.

Simulation and analytics
The ability to respond quickly is an essential part of managing a wholesale distribution company. To do this, simulation, prediction, and analytical capabilities are important components. Data is critical for gaining the insight to make decisions. This insight must be at a granular level, so that decision-makers have the details they need to understand trends, opportunities, and risks, and quickly carry out what-if analysis using predictive algorithms.

Keeping data under control
Every wholesale distribution company needs the computing capability to carry out complex algorithms with large data sets to support timely, real-time analysis. Everyone in the company must have access to data they need, whenever and wherever they need it. This is also true for the rest of the ecosystem so that suppliers can stay up to date with a company’s orders, salespeople can see customer history for credit risk and stock information, and accurate delivery schedules can be provided.

Addressing innovative opportunities
Customers in every industry are demanding innovation. Companies are responding with new products and services that better meet individual needs. These new offerings impact every facet of business, not just the front office. Companies must address end-to-end (E2E) processes across departments and lines of business to deliver on new customer experiences, products, and services.

Enhance and Extend Next-Generation Processes with Intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core results in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes and respond to rapid changes, companies need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Wholesale distributors focused on innovation or who prefer to be early adopters have already begun this journey.

How can the Intelligent Enterprise impact the Retail Industry

The digital economy is disruptive. Retailers need strategic priorities that drive transformation. SAP powered by Approyo supports a reimagined set of end-to -end business scenarios to support the strategic priorities of serving the digital consumer of today.

Radical change in the retail industry is occurring at a rapid pace. Changes in technologies, in business models, and in standards and with the ever-evolving customers require constant adaptation. Retail companies must be able to respond to rapidly changing conditions and offer targeted customer engagement at scale. How does a digital core with a true single source of truth help?

Stability and flexibility
A digital core is an IT architecture that offers stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes, yet also provides the flexibility to adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges, and regulations. This solid foundation gives you a single source of truth with tailored real-time views delivering customer and business insights and enables flexibility for innovation to accommodate new business models, new regulations, and business events, such as mergers or acquisitions.

Immediate response
The ability to respond quickly is an essential part of managing a retail company. To do this, simulation, prediction, and analytical capabilities are important components. Data is critical for gaining the insight to make decisions. This insight must be at a granular level, so that decision-makers have the detail they need to understand trends, opportunities, and risks and quickly carry out what-if analysis using predictive algorithms.

Embedded intelligence
Innovative retailers leverage new technologies to support their digital transformation strategies and respond effectively to both encroaching competitors and new demands of the digitally empowered customer. Improved processing power is making machine learning applicable in more and more retail areas, enabling further optimization and automation of business processes as well as more impactful, personalized, and contextual consumer experiences.

Integrated and connected to the outside world
To take advantage of new opportunities and better meet individual needs, retailers must address end-to -end (E2E) processes across departments and lines of business to deliver on new customer experiences, products, and services. The Internet of Things (IoT) lets them connect to the outside world, driving unprecedented efficiency and optimization as well as new levels of customer connectivity and new retail business models.

Enhance and Extend Next-Generation Processes with Intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and the SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core results in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes, retailers need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, block chain, and IoT. Intelligent ERP is immediate– empowering business users with insights to act in the moment; it is intelligent– going beyond automation to predictive suggestion; and it is integrated– not only between your departments, but for consumers and suppliers alike.

How can the Intelligent Enterprise impact the Construction Industry

The digital economy is disruptive. Construction companies need strategic priorities that drive transformation. SAP solutions powered by Approyo supports a re-imagined set of end-to-end (E2E) business scenarios to support the strategic priorities of working in a digital environment.

$15.5 trillion –that is the projected size of the construction market by 2030, up from $8 trillion today. A recent study expects that 75% of the infrastructure that will exist in 2050 does not exist today, and that the design and expected outcomes will be transformative. This is a huge opportunity for the construction industry; however, projects are getting more complex, and there are many inefficient and wasteful practices. Successful companies grow by increasing market share, self-performing to a greater extent, expanding internationally, and even operating some of the assets they build. How does a digital core with a true single source of truth help?

Responding to rapid changes
To execute on this, engineering, construction, and operations (EC&O) firms not only need to re-engineer their business processes, but they also need 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 provides uninterrupted, real-time transactions and analytics, the ability to work with Big Data, and connectivity to line-of-business (LoB) extensions that enable supporting processes such as sourcing networks. This seamlessly connects project progress and financial controls, aiding transparency and profitability and better enabling partnerships and new models such as integrated project delivery contracts

Addressing innovative opportunities
The construction industry can apply technology and best practices that have been previously proven in the industrial sector. This industrialization of construction enables reliable outcomes and improves margins by increasing productivity, eliminating waste and surprises, and greatly reducing project risk. Existing business models collapse as “construction-ready,” disruptive technologies – such as robotics, enterprise mobility, virtual design and construction, and 3D printing –redefine design and processes. To remain competitive, new contract and service models such as integrated project delivery and public-private partnerships are required. Construction is ready to experience the dramatic productivity gains seen in other industries while vastly compressing the 50-year evolutionary process that took place in manufacturing

Enhance and extend next-generation processes with intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core results in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes, companies need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Contractors that have big innovation appetites or prefer to be early adopters have already begun this journey.

Read the full post at www.approyo.com 

Unlocking the Benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things is a network of physical objects – vehicles, machines, home appliances, and more – that use sensors and APIs to connect and exchange data over the Internet.

IoT platforms and architecture

• Cloud-based IoT platforms and architecture connect the real and virtual worlds. They help companies manage IoT device connectivity and security – as well as collect device data, link devices to backend systems, ensure IoT interoperability, and build and run IoT applications. 
• Harnessing the IoT data explosion - Smart devices generate a massive amount of IoT data that needs to be analyzed and leveraged in real time. This is where predictive and Big Data analytics come into play. Machine learning is also used to add context to data – and trigger actions without human intervention.
• The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) & M2M - In manufacturing, the IoT becomes the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) – also known as the Industrial Internet or Industry 4.0. The IIoT uses machine to machine (M2M) technology to support everything from remote monitoring and telemetry to predictive maintenance.

Major Benefits of deploying an IoT Strategy

• New business models and revenue - Automatic product replenishment? Subscription services? Apps? The IoT is disrupting traditional business models and creating massive opportunities for companies to create new services based on real-time sensor data and information.
• Operational efficiency - One of the biggest benefits of the IoT is the efficiency it can offer. Many companies are using it to automate business and manufacturing processes, remotely monitor and control operations, optimize supply chains, and conserve resources.
• Workforce productivity - Wearables and other IoT-enabled devices are boosting workforce productivity and job satisfaction in many verticals. The technology is helping employees improve decision making, automate routine tasks, fast-track communication, and more.
• Enhanced customer experiences - From integrating customer care with actual product performance and usage to delivering highly personalized products and services, the IoT offers many ways to create more compelling customer experiences across digital and physical worlds.

Read the full blog post on www.approyo.com 

SAP Announces new SAP Leonardo Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities

SAP unveiled SAP Leonardo Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities, the all-encompassing technology that generates and drives digital transformation for Industrial IoT and Industry 4.0.

In addition, SAP announced the cloud-to-cloud interoperability of SAP Leonardo IoT with Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, providing customers a choice of connectivity and device management. SAP is committed to a strong ecosystem for IoT and understands the value its partners can bring to joint customers. This announcement was made at MWC being held February 25–28 in Barcelona. Below are some of the highlights from the announcement:

SAP is uniquely positioned to bring IoT data together with business processes. SAP Leonardo IoT will help customers increase productivity, redefine their customer experience and grow their revenue streams. It will enable customers to embed IoT into line-of-business (LoB) solutions, enhance business applications with IoT technology and develop new business models based on the new data the IoT solutions generate.

“SAP delivers valuable insight and drives business results by embedding IoT data into business processes,” said Elvira Wallis, senior vice president and global head of IoT at SAP. “With the launch of SAP Leonardo IoT, SAP solidifies its commitment to the IoT, and in particular Industrial IoT. The combination of IoT and our depth and breadth of high-value industry and application expertise helps customers gain greater business value and a stronger competitive advantage.”

SAP Leonardo IoT will allow customers to innovate and enhance business processes using data-driven intelligence and operational context from machines, products, supply chains, consumers and partners. SAP Leonardo IoT will offer three paths to innovation for customers based on their specific business needs, including:

• Combining IoT data with business process data to enable IoT-embedded business applications and accelerate adoption to give customers the ability to innovate quickly from within business applications – including SAP S/4HANA, the SAP C/4HANA suite, SAP SuccessFactors solutions, SAP Ariba solutions and the SAP Digital Supply Chain portfolio.
• Extending existing SAP IoT applications for better business value
• Building new intelligent IoT solutions using SAP Leonardo IoT to create unique and differentiated offerings

Interoperability of SAP Leonardo IoT and Microsoft Azure IoT Hub
The new collaboration plans to offer customers the possibility of using Microsoft Azure IoT Hub as the connectivity and device management layer for IoT telemetry data, which is seamlessly relayed to SAP Leonardo IoT.

In addition, SAP Leonardo IoT Edge aims to give customers the option to extend support for their business processes locally on top of Microsoft Azure IoT Edge runtime. Essential business function (EBF) modules based on SAP Leonardo IoT Edge are also planned to run in containers on Microsoft Azure IoT Edge, reducing customers dependency on latency, bandwidth and connectivity.

Read the full announcement on www.sap.comhttps://news.sap.com/2019/02/mwc-sap-leonardo-iot-shape-intelligent-enterprise/

Top benefits of implementing Machine Learning right now

Machine learning is a type of AI that allows computer programs to adjust when exposed to new data, in effect, “learning” without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning is similar to data mining in which databases are examined by humans to produce new information and insight. However, machine learning provides an unbiased analysis of the data. Today, companies all over the world are implementing machine learning in every level of business. Don't wait for your competition to pass you, get a jump start at implementing machine learning for your business right now with SAP powered by Approyo.

• Faster decisions - Machine learning algorithms can prioritize and automate decision making. They can also flag opportunities and smart actions that should be taken immediately – so you can achieve the best results.
• Adaptability - Artificial intelligence doesn’t just look at historical data. It can process real-time inputs – so you can adjust on the fly. Think of cars that can automatically stop before rear-ending another vehicle.
• Algorithmic business - An “algorithmic business” uses advanced machine learning algorithms to achieve a high level of automation. Making the shift can pave the way for innovative new business models, products, and services.
• Deeper insights - Machine learning can analyze big, complex, and streaming data, and find insights – including predictive insights – that are beyond human capabilities. It can then trigger actions based on those insights.
• Efficiency - With smart, machine learning-supported business processes, you can dramatically improve efficiency. Plan and forecast accurately, automate tasks, reduce costs, and even eliminate human error.
• Better outcomes - From triggering smart actions based on new opportunities and risks, to accurately predicting the results of a decision before it is made – machine learning can help you drive better business outcomes.

Industry Benefits for implementing Machine Learning

• Manufacturing  -Manufacturers collect a huge amount of data from plant sensors and the Internet of Things – which is perfect for machine learning. Computer vision and anomaly detection algorithms are used for quality control – and others are used
• for everything from predictive maintenance and demand forecasting to powering new services. 
• Finance - Few industries are better suited for machine learning than finance – given its high data volumes and historical records. Algorithms are used for trading stocks, approving loans, detecting fraud, assessing risks, and underwriting insurance. They’re even used for “robo advising” customers and aligning portfolios to user goals. 
• Healthcare - Machine learning algorithms can process more data and spot more patterns than any team of researchers or doctors, no matter how many hours they put in. From medical image analysis and early cancer detection, to drug development and robot-assisted surgery – the machine learning possibilities in healthcare are endless. 

Read the full blog post on www.approyo.com

Cloud Computing 101: Digital Twins

Digital Twins is a concept that has been around for decades, but has recently become a hot topic in the technology world. It is most popular in the Healthcare, Automotive and Manufacturing industry and the growth of IoT is one of the reasons that the digital twin concept is becoming a reality for some many businesses. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object or system – but it is much more than a high-tech lookalike. Digital twins use data, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to help companies optimize, innovate, and deliver new services.

At its simplest, a digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical product, process, or system. Digital twins act as a bridge between physical and digital worlds by using sensors to collect real-time data about a physical item. This data is then used to create a digital duplicate of the item, allowing it to be understood, analyzed, manipulated, or optimized. Other terms used to describe digital twin technology over the years have included virtual prototyping, hybrid twin technology, virtual twin, and digital asset management.

SAP and Digital Twins

The network of digital twins institutes a real-time single source of truth – everywhere. It creates real-time, secure communications and a collaborative environment within the business while encompassing relevant external networks. The network includes not only the digital representation of the physical product or asset, but also the commercialization aspects represented by the ERP business system of record.

According to SAP, Digital Twins must have the following characteristics:

• Identity – a digital twin represents a single, unique physical asset; though we would prefer a 1-to-1 cardinality between asset and twin, business outcome considerations may imply a 1-to-N cardinality, each describing a different dimension; the digital twin can be instantiated at the creation (e.g. engineering, production, configuration, installation) and lasts until the asset is retired (or beyond if historic data is required)
• Representation – capturing the essential physical manifestation of the real asset in a digital format, typically using formats such as CAD, MES, or engineering models with corresponding metadata and classifications; traceability between digital twin and physical object is ensured through serialization
• State and events – reflecting real asset state (e.g. condition, location, speed, environment) in (near) real time providing information on properties that describe various aspects that the digital twin is built for; the digital twin triggers alerts and events on behalf of the object; historic state is typically recorded
• Context – describing operating context such as physical installation, ownership, reference to financial or asset management information, roles and business partner involved, service level agreements, service work performed on the asset
• Interaction – all properties above must be securely and digitally queried in a software system by other systems (via APIs) or users 

Because it manages and controls extensive variability in product and asset configurations, the digital twin of one becomes the true single source of truth. It bonds the  unique digital design of every product or asset to its  physical representation throughout the lifecycle. Companies can then address product individualization; accelerate time to market; provide a mechanism for the delivery of new business models; and ensure effective, timely performance of asset maintenance and repair. Furthermore, the network of digital twins that monitors distributed assets enables collaboration with partners  when managing assets as a service or engages suppliers  when defining part and assembly requirements and enhancing change management.

The approach combines digital twins with manufacturing solutions from SAP, cloud networks  and SAP Leonardo capabilities, including machine learning, blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT), to optimize the product lifecycle with:

• Digital representation: SAP synchronizes digital twin business data, product information, asset master data and IoT-connected data from both on-premise and cloud solutions enabling companies to represent the world digitally. Solutions including SAP Predictive Engineering Insights, SAP Predictive Maintenance and Service and the SAP 3D Visual Enterprise applications provide access to  rich data processing capabilities and live configuration, state, condition and control information.
• Business process: Rich enterprise-grade data processing capabilities allow customers to create, access and update digital twins to support business processes. SAP solutions provide an integrated data model from design, production and maintenance to service, including packaged integration to existing systems for computer-aided design, ERP, and product lifecycle management. Offerings providing end-to-end process support for manufacturers and operators include SAP S/4HANA, the SAP Engineering Control Center integration tool, SAP Hybris Service Cloud solutions, and  the SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence and  SAP Manufacturing Execution applications.
• Business networks: With leading network offerings such as SAP Ariba solutions, SAP Asset Intelligence Network, and the SAP Distributed Manufacturing application, SAP is uniquely positioned to provide a virtual platform for collaboration on products and assets. The network of digital twins enables secure data access, sharing and governance on a global scale.
• Networks of digital representation: SAP enables  twin-to-twin connections in systems within a specific  asset and on an asset-to-asset level. SAP solutions such  as SAP Asset Intelligence Network provide semantic and industry-standards support in an asset core modeling environment to enable live enrichment during the product or asset lifecycle.

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The approach combines digital twins with manufacturing solutions from SAP, cloud networks  and SAP Leonardo capabilities, including machine learning, blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT), to optimize the product lifecycle with:

• Digital representation: SAP synchronizes digital twin business data, product information, asset master data and IoT-connected data from both on-premise and cloud solutions enabling companies to represent the world digitally. Solutions including SAP Predictive Engineering Insights, SAP Predictive Maintenance and Service and the SAP 3D Visual Enterprise applications provide access to  rich data processing capabilities and live configuration, state, condition and control information.
• Business process: Rich enterprise-grade data processing capabilities allow customers to create, access and update digital twins to support business processes. SAP solutions provide an integrated data model from design, production and maintenance to service, including packaged integration to existing systems for computer-aided design, ERP, and product lifecycle management. Offerings providing end-to-end process support for manufacturers and operators include SAP S/4HANA, the SAP Engineering Control Center integration tool, SAP Hybris Service Cloud solutions, and  the SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence and  SAP Manufacturing Execution applications.
• Business networks: With leading network offerings such as SAP Ariba solutions, SAP Asset Intelligence Network, and the SAP Distributed Manufacturing application, SAP is uniquely positioned to provide a virtual platform for collaboration on products and assets. The network of digital twins enables secure data access, sharing and governance on a global scale.
• Networks of digital representation: SAP enables  twin-to-twin connections in systems within a specific  asset and on an asset-to-asset level. SAP solutions such  as SAP Asset Intelligence Network provide semantic and industry-standards support in an asset core modeling environment to enable live enrichment during the product or asset lifecycle.

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Digital Transformation for Asset Management with SAP powered by Approyo

Digital technologies are having a profound impact on asset management operations. Internet of things, real -time analytics, machine learning, and enterprise mobility are enabling entirely new outcome based business models such as asset - as - a - service and are revolutionizing existing maintenance processes.

These technologies can help organizations optimize return on assets by helping them identify the right maintenance strategies, by prediction and simulation of operational problems, by ensuring safe operations, and by empowering field workforce with all the information required to execute maintenance activities. They are also making it easier for organizations to effectively manage projects that involve operations and maintenance of different types of assets. 

With SAP S/4HANA as the digital core and SAP Leonardo solutions, organizations can build a strong foundation for operational excellence with a real-time integration between information and operational technologies. The SAP S/4HANA Asset Management solution enables organizations to manage their asset-related cost, risk, and performance holistically. It helps them plan, schedule, and execute all types of maintenance strategies from reactive to predictive maintenance. The solution also provides the ability to systematically reduce risk and improve worker safety with one common view of process risks related to workers, assets, or environment.

SAP Leonardo solutions, such as SAP Asset Intelligence Network, SAP Predictive Maintenance and Service and SAP Mobile Asset Management redefine asset management in the digital world. These solutions enable an organization to use sensor technologies and predictive analytics to improve asset health. The extensions also allow an organization to collaborate effectively with business partners by providing the ability to share asset information and insight with the ecosystem.

With the solutions, organizations can also leverage digital twin to accelerate innovation, optimize operating performance conditions, and enhance decision making, SAP Capital Portfolio and Project Management solutions extend the asset management operations by providing organizations the ability to strategize capital investments in new assets, evaluate the performance of their existing capital portfolio, and manage the entire lifecycle of projects from planning to execution with real-time monitoring.

SAP solutions support organizations to efficiently and sustainably manage the entire lifecycle of physical assets, resulting in better utilization of assets and reduction in costs. 

Optimize capital expenditure with comprehensive portfolio 
evaluation capabilities - Prioritize asset intensive projects that align with company strategy. Increase the percentage of capital projects that are completed on time and within budget by identifying project related issues in time and efficiently planning resources.

Reduce capital project administration cost with complete visibility into ongoing projects - Manage scope, timeline, and budget of capital projects in an integrated way. Track and report project-related data in an efficient manner.

Reduce asset service and maintenance cost with efficient maintenance planning and execution - Enable maintenance planners and technicians to effectively plan, schedule, and implement maintenance activities. Analyze maintenance activities in real time.

Reduce environment, health and safety risks with efficient handling of regulatory compliance and incidents - Develop one common view of process risks related to workers, assets, and the environment. Provide EH&S practitioners access to real-time data on compliance and safety. Efficiently record and analyze incidents.

Maximize return on assets with right maintenance strategy and higher asset reliability - Drive maximum value from field assets by identifying the optimal maintenance strategy, by transitioning from interval based maintenance strategy to predictive maintenance, and by closely 
collaborating with partners throughout the asset lifecycle.

Reduce unplanned downtime or outages with integration of IoT technologies with asset management - Establish connection with field assets to remotely capture operational data, gain real-time visibility on asset health, and predict anomalies  based on machine learning algorithms.

Improve maintenance team efficiency with work order  management through mobile applications - Empower maintenance technicians with the right data at the right  time. Provide access to information on asset location, repair histories, work order details, and material required through mobile applications.

Improve asset data accuracy and completeness with central management of asset master data governance - Maintain a single version of truth for all asset related data by integrating structured and unstructured data and  by effective master data governance.

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2019 Technology and IT Predictions

Every year, the team at Approyo gathers a few predictions for the upcoming year. This year we decided to make two lists, one focused on the IT and business world and the other focused on consumer technology.

Top IT predictions for 2019

• Intelligent Data – Businesses are now understanding the impact of big data in the marketplace. The next step is using all that data in intelligent ways to be able to grow your business. In 2018, SAP introduced the concept of “Intelligent Enterprise”. This gives businesses the technology solutions needed to use all the data and make intelligent decisions to improve business, 
• AI and Machine Learning - Creating systems that learn, adapt and potentially act autonomously. In 2019 and beyond, these systems will work with people to create better business processes and improve the bottom line. SAP continues to innovate with SAP Leonardo. It has many features for AI and Machine Learning that can help companies today. 
• Security – As we mentioned in our first bullet point, data is one of the most important aspects of your business. Cloud and hosting partners will need to continue to adapt security measures to protect this valuable information. 

Top Consumer Technology predictions for 2019

• AI in every part of our lives – AI is impacting every part of our lives in ways we probably don’t think about. Digital assistants are becoming widespread, your email is not writing sentences for you and more companies are utilizing AI in everyday business practices. You probably are interacting with chat-bots online or on the phone and you might now even know it. 
• Faster Internet – The Internet is a part of every minute of our lives. Between phones, cameras, voice enabled home systems, computers and even refrigerators, more and more devices require an internet connection. Because of this new reality, 5g and faster Wi-Fi internet will continue to grow. 
• Digital Assistants become the norm – Since the introduction of Apple’s Suri, Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, the digital assistant has started to be part of our daily lives. Now and in the future, more and more devices will have a digital assistant built in. Everything from speakers, to cars and even appliances will now be enables with digital assistants to help you with daily tasks. 
• Security - We mentioned this on our IT list and it is here as well. More people than ever are online and use cloud services to store pictures, passwords, data and more. This means more phishing scams and hackers. People need to be aware of their security at home and at the office. Make sure you change your passwords on your online accounts and home devices. 

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Digital Transformation for Life Sciences with SAP powered by Approyo

In today’s digital economy, patients are more accountable for their care and have greater access to their personal health information. Patients and payers are seeking personalized treatments with superior outcomes, but cost-effectively. Increasingly, value-based and outcome-based reimbursement are being floated as reforms to healthcare systems, primarily in the United States.

There is immense pressure on life sciences companies to do more for less. They are facing new price pressures and competitive threats. New entrants into the marketplace have changed the way they deliver products, forcing them to adopt new approaches or face stagnant or declining revenue growth and margins. Digitalization is forcing life sciences companies to rethink their business models and restructure the value chain. New value will come from the ability to digitalize the model and accelerate innovation.

To execute on their digital strategy, life sciences companies will need to reengineer their business processes. Life sciences companies with a global presence must have lean processes that are consistently executed. They must get away from siloed processes that are implemented and executed differently at different sites. This will help ensure that the support systems (process and technology) can scale up quickly to match the company’s growth. Life science companies must also evaluate if they have the right technology platform that can deliver on the vision. The winning platform will require an IT architecture that provides both stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes, while allowing flexibility in areas of frequent change.

The digital core is the foundation for the core processes that need to run consistently and in a flexible manner. It provides uninterrupted, real-time transactions and analytics, the ability to work with extraordinary large volumes of data, and connectivity to line-of-business extensions that enable supporting processes, such as talent sourcing and networks. To succeed, firms will need to put in place a coherent digital vision with clearly articulated offensive and defensive strategies. They will need to address emerging business models to drive outcome-based engagements and achieve connected health. They must satisfy new and evolving compliance regulations, outsource manufacturing, and drive operations based on the Internet of Things (IoT). Increasingly patients are adopting a connected health system by resorting to wearables. Life science companies can leverage such devices and build apps that enable the physicians and the manufacturers to understand patient behavior in order to provide the right guidance and treatment as well as improve products for enhanced wellness.

To comply with newer regulations such as serialization and identification of medicinal products (IDMP), companies must have high-performing databases with close integration to their inventory management systems. For global pharmaceutical companies, serialization can easily add a few billion records into their databases. Furthermore, such data must be stored for long periods, retrieved quickly, and reported to various entities. The right technology platform, along with niche compliance solutions, will enable companies to comply with these evolving regulations effectively.

The right technology platform that delivers streamlined integration to supply chain partners and outsource manufacturers can help companies get their products manufactured on time, efficiently, and at much lower cost. For product visibility across the extended supply chain, optimal equipment maintenance, and effective distribution of specialized products, IoT device-based data and a rich analytics platform become the new imperatives. By leveraging IoT, life science companies can significantly cut costs on equipment maintenance, react in real time to exceptions while products are being delivered, and gain better insights into their product distribution.
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SAP S/4HANA was specifically developed to represent the digital core in this bimodal IT architecture. It provides life sciences companies with a proven framework to adopt industry best practices while attaining operational excellence – specifically, but not exclusively, across core industry capabilities,such as real-time supply chain and digitalized sales.

A comprehensive solution for life science companies
Life science companies need to manage their product shipments very carefully. Some products, such as blood derivatives, plasma products, and biologics, must be shipped in a temperature-controlled environment. Other products, such as medical devices, must be guarded against exposure to light, shock, and other factors. SAP S/4HANA with other SAP solutions can monitor such parameters in real time during shipment. In combination with transportation management and event management modules, the software provides functions to send out real-time alerts. Such alerts can save shipments if product is not yet damaged. The software also helps reduce costs and time in aborting shipments when the product is damaged. The analytics provided by the SAP Leonardo digital innovation system can help predict which shipping lines are best and safe for continued engagement. The process below illustrates how temperature-controlled distribution is tracked.

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Digital Transformation for Research and Development with SAP powered by Approyo

The market is experiencing a disruptive shift in customer demand for new, extensive, smart, and personalized products. The journey of a new product initiates from the research and development (R&D) department, where significant difference can be made to improve features and reduce cost. A successful R&D department brings new formulations and designs to life with speed and accuracy based on inputs from the marketplace, customers, and latest technologies. R&D integrates with downstream departments to manufacture, sell, and service products with higher quality and lower cost while continuously iterating formulations and designs to create more profitable, desirable, and reliable products.

SAP's industry-leading portfolio of cloud and industry-specific solutions is uniquely positioned to enable our customers’ digital transformation across all key aspects of their business value chain. SAP Leonardo capabilities combined with SAP S/4HANA as the digital core provide an intelligent, integrated, fast, and visual product innovation platform with built-in compliance. The SAP S/4HANA R&D/Engineering solution enables informed decision-making in ideation and concept development, portfolio and project management, product development, and compliance management. Smarter products are brought to the market faster and with full compliance.

With the new Industry 4.0 capabilities, customers can now personalize the product design in real time to meet their needs through the variant configuration engine. The production order moves with minimal human intervention through downstream processes such as product engineering, production engineering, and manufacturing to serve a “lot size of one” to the customers. Another paradigm shift is the capability to deliver consumer-centric business models so that you can “uberize” your business before someone else does.

SAP solutions powered by Approyo enable companies to substantially enhance, simplify, and visualize the entire R&D process from idea to product.

Increase revenue from new products by offering wider variants and personalized and smart products  - Run design and development processes on live insights into product performance and customer needs. Enable individualized products with flexible and high-performing configuration, formulation, and classification capabilities.

Accelerate time to market with real-time project control, informed product decisions, and streamlined compliance - Analyze live performance of the project portfolio with predictive insights at any stage of the innovation process. Reuse designs and recipes, work in an integrated development environment, handover to manufacturing seamlessly, and leverage embedded compliance to launch new products faster.

Reduce R&D expense by informed product decisions, integration of formulation and design tools, and efficient supplier collaboration
For discrete industries: Design and simulate in an integrated development environment (supporting mechanical, electrical, electronics, and software disciplines). Synchronize all downstream processes internally and externally with harmonized and consistent integration of different design tools.

For process industries: Streamline development of recipes with full process support from first trials to definition-of-process parameters, efficient reuse of existing formulations and specifications, and synchronization of all downstream product development needs internally and externally.

Improve profitability by having insights on cost of new products early on and across the lifecycle - Reduce existing product cost and launch new products with competitive pricing by simulating the impact of design decisions. Calculate cost and other dimensions for new products in the early stage of the product lifecycle to quickly identify cost drivers and compare alternatives.

Improve profitability of customer projects, such as engineer to order - Detailed project cost controlling and forecasting, including issue and change management.

Reduce compliance costs and recalls through embedded compliance in the R&D processes - Compliance checks are embedded in the system for R&D processes. The coverage extends to markets, industry, materials, and downstream processes.

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Digital Transformation for the Technology Industry with SAP powered by Approyo

Although high tech is finding itself in nearly every product and service across all industries, high-tech companies are not themselves immune to disruption. Factors such as new entrants, blatant IP theft, and knowledge leakage due to key employee turnover accelerate the rate of disruption.

Strategic Priorities in a Digital Economy
The digital economy is disruptive. High-tech companies need strategic priorities that drive transformation. SAP supports a reimagined set of E2E business scenarios to support the strategic priorities of working in a digital environment.

• Subscribing to outcomes -  High-tech companies are shifting from selling products and services to selling measurable results that are relevant to their customers. Becoming an outcome provider requires a different business model –one where customers can pay for the outcome. As high-tech companies realize this, they are increasingly acquiring, building, and joining the platforms and ecosystems that are needed for the outcome economy
• Realizing a digital supply chain - Transform your supply chain into a responsive network. Companies everywhere face volatile customer demand and heightened expectations of responsiveness. Innovative technologies can help resolve these issues by providing vital business information across the network, improving real-time analysis, and enabling better collaboration across departments and trading partners –thus making the supply chain more responsive.
• Providing digital smart products - Digitally connect your products and transform them into solutions. Enabling products to provide intelligence about their usage and to be upgraded remotely any time with the latest features required by customers allows for differentiation in an industry where products get rapidly commoditized. Data-based services can be monetized, and individualized offerings can be provided cost-effectively. Leverage IoT technology to connect products to R&D and sales processes.
• Achieving customer intimacy - Putting the end customers‘ point of view at the center of every decision is a key prerequisite for success in the digital age. This does not stop in the sales department but also applies to what products are built and what services are offered

So, how does the incumbent not only defend itself but also become the disrupter? 

Plan less, experiment more
Many refer to the high-tech industry as dynamic, however, it is better characterized as frenetic. Product launch delays, yield losses, and IP disputes can all lead to unexpected events that can throw off a perfectly crafted plan. However, for some, this also represents an advantage. Those who can leverage their data and incorporate more simulation and other sophisticated analytic techniques to model their environment will respond much faster to unforeseen events.

Harness the intelligence of the network
High-tech companies have a long-standing history of developing complex supply chain networks to enable high efficiency, which keeps prices down and quality high. These networks have evolved to handle more than just physical goods; they are now conducting commerce, distributing IP, and contain component pricing awareness. The data required for sophisticated decision-making has now shifted to the network, providing the next frontier for data exploration.

Make every meeting a decision making meeting
Most meetings are best described as information-sharing sessions. Participants often spend most of their time preparing and reconciling reports yet often end up with poor meeting outcomes due to a lack of current information. With the unprecedented speed of competition within the industry, executives need real-time information to make prompt decisions. Adopting innovative solutions to support rapid and informed decision-making can shift the focus from reporting to achieving outcomes.

Recognize the Knowledge Worker
Arguably, the most valuable asset for a technology company is the productivity of the knowledge worker. Far too often, these employees are straddled with excessive data preparation tasks involving spreadsheets and must spend precious time filtering through extraneous data. This leaves little time to focus on business outcomes. Decision support tools have evolved to take the burden of data preparation off individuals and provide them with predictive capabilities –accelerating productivity.

The intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core will result in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes, companies need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). High-tech organizations that have big innovation appetites or prefer to be early adopters have already begun this journey.

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Digital Transformation for the Insurance Industry with SAP powered by Approyo

Radical change in the insurance industry is occurring at a rapid pace. Changes in technologies, in business models, in standards, and in the makeup of insurance companies themselves require constant adaptation. Insurers must be able to respond to rapidly changing conditions yet still comply with all standards. How does a digital core with a true single source of truth help?

Responding to rapid changes
A digital core is an IT architecture that offers stability and long-term reliability for core enterprise processes yet also provides the flexibility to adapt quickly to new opportunities, challenges, and regulations. This solid foundation gives you a single source of truth, which, in turn, enables flexibility for innovation to accommodate new business models, new regulations, and new business events, such as mergers or acquisitions.

Simulation and analytics
The ability to respond quickly is an essential part of managing an insurance company. To do this, simulation, prediction, and analytical capabilities are important. Data is critical for gaining insight to make decisions. This insight must be at a granular level so decision-makers have the detail they need to understand trends, opportunities, and risks and quickly carry out what-if analysis using predictive algorithms.

Keeping data under control
Every insurance company needs the computing capability for carrying out complex risk assessments with large data sets to support timely, real-time analysis. Everyone in the company must have access to data they need, whenever and wherever they need it. They must also manage the enormous amount of data generated by connected networks to develop and deliver leading-edge products and services.

Addressing innovative opportunities
Customers in every industry are demanding innovation. Companies are responding with new products and services that better meet individual needs. These new offerings impact every facet of business, not just the front office. Companies must address end-to-end (E2E) processes across departments and lines of business to deliver on new customer experiences, products, and services.

The Intelligent ERP
Bringing SAP S/4HANA and SAP Leonardo technologies together as a digital core will result in a more flexible and intelligent enterprise. To achieve next-generation business processes, companies need an intelligent ERP solution that can be continuously enhanced and extended with innovative business services and applications built on emerging technologies, including machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Insurance companies that have big innovation appetites or prefer to be early adopters have already begun this journey.

An End-to-End Intelligent Enterprise for Insurance
Insurance companies need to constantly innovate across their company value chain to drive profitable growth and adapt to how customers want to apply and pay for their policies and services. The capabilities delivered with SAP S/4HANA and the preconfigured, native integration with LoB solutions from SAP help ensure processes run smoothly and efficiently across the engagement lifecycle, allowing companies to drive sustainable revenue growth and maintain margins.

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Digital Transformation for Telecommunications with SAP S/4HANA powered by Approyo

Thanks to massive investments in mobile and fixed broadband and in wireless network infrastructure from telecommunications operators, our planet is now a true “global village.” The proliferation of connectivity, Internet access, smart devices, and SIM cards has created a new digital life and digital economy. 

The growth of mobile subscribers, mobile data, mobile applications, and mobile commerce has exploded over the past decade. Hyperconnectivity has changed everything from the way we communicate to the way we work, shop, pay, and play. 

Paradoxically, telecommunications operators risk becoming front-line casualties of the digital revolution they have helped create. They are disrupted by aggressive, new, over the-top (OTT) players such as Apple or Google, which deliver services on the operators’ network infrastructure and siphon off core revenue . Operators are restricted by regulations that bind them to domestic rules in an increasingly global world. Their core services are completely commoditized, putting pressure on their margins. They are engaged in an endless round of network upgrades, causing capital expenditures to skyrocket and making return on assets unpredictable.

To succeed in this competitive market, telcos will need to put in place a coherent digital vision with clearly articulated offensive and defensive strategies. In particular, they will need to ensure they are maximizing their operational efficiencies while defining and delivering new revenue generating services to drive profitable growth. To execute on this, telcos will not only need to reengineer their business processes, but 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 the delivery of new services such as connected cars, smart transportation, connected health, and much more. 

SAP S/4HANA was specifically developed to represent the digital core in this “bimodal IT architecture.” It provides telecommunications companies with a proven framework to adopt industry best practices while attaining operational excellence – specifically across core financial and engagement management processes.

Process simplification SAP S/4HANA provides reengineered and simplified business processes that can yield significant benefits. Financial processes are transformed by using central finance functions that integrate all ledgers into a single source of truth. Disparate close processes can be consolidated into a universal journal for more-efficient processing, enabling telcos to close more quickly. Support for new revenue accounting and reporting (RAR) add-on for IFRS 15 compliance enables telcos to view multiple ledgers comparing traditional, local GAAP results with new IFRS 15 results.

An end-to-end solution for telecommunications companies
Telecommunications companies need to manage the end-to-end lifecycle of bundle and service definition, marketing, delivery, and billing. This includes segmenting customers, defining thousands of unique bundles, efficiently delivering services and devices, analyzing margins on services, and managing the demands of customers through building the workforce and talent pools both internally and externally to meet these demands, and then efficiently and profitably delivering services to delight their customers.

The capabilities delivered with SAP S/4HANA and the prebuilt, native integration with LoB solutions help ensure processes run smoothly and efficiently across the end-to-end service delivery lifecycle, allowing telcos to deliver personalized and profitable services and drive sustainable revenue growth.

View the full blog post on www.approyo.com

Digital Transformation for Manufacturing with SAP powered by Approyo

The market is experiencing a disruptive shift in customer demand for new, extensive, smart, and personalized products. Sellers are constantly reducing buffer inventory with obsolescence risk in mind. Manufacturers are competing to meet this challenge and provide individualized products in similar lead times and cost as off-the shelf products. This creates tremendous complexity for the manufacturing operations team, yet at the same time, companies are looking for growth and profitability while maintaining high quality and sustainability.

To meet these demands, manufacturing is being used as a strategic pillar, becoming more collaborative, localized, automated, integrated, and highly adaptive. Companies are adopting digital manufacturing strategies and solutions to seamlessly connect relevant business stakeholders, information and operational processes in real time. Digital manufacturing simultaneously improves responsiveness and efficiency which drives growth, while decreasing cycle time and cost. Leveraging technologies like 3D printing, cloud, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasing agility and extending the manufacturing network. Digital manufacturing has become a strategic differentiator.

SAP solutions powered by Approyo enable companies to integrate and embed intelligence in manufacturing processes facilitating Industry 4.0 principles with one source of live information. They provide an optimal coordination of planning and execution processes, covering all aspects of the manufacturing cycle from planning to shop floor and beyond.

Reduce manufacturing cost by increasing output and gaining real-time visibility into quality and costs 
Increase plant output with improved planning  and visibility into equipment utilization while also reducing the inventory held for manufacturing. Have a real-time and drillable view of the performance metrics of all the production facilities globally. This enables identifying and implementing global manufacturing best practices.

Reduce revenue loss due to plant fulfillment issues by agile planning and production orchestration
Gain the ability to respond to demand and confirmed order changes. Live inventory data and drastically reduced material requirements planning (MRP) processing time improve transparency and responsiveness. The planning system simplifies constraint based capacity planning by bringing together material and capacity constraints. Improve production tracking, labor shortage, first pass yield, and equipment availability to ensure on-time delivery.

Increase revenue growth by mass manufacturing of individualized products and 3D printing
Produce personalized products ordered by customers with minimal human intervention. Product genealogy for every unit is maintained in the system for service and compliance needs. Collaboration with Origin Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and contract service providers enables fulfilment of custom orders faster, while reducing inventory levels, time to market, and waste.

Reduce scrap and rework cost by empowering the workforce to take informed decisions
Gain immediate insights on planning, execution, quality, with analysis at the finest level of granularity available on mobile devices. Supervisors can analyze and take immediate actions on their mobile devices.

Protect people and the environment and reduce manufacturing downtime by proactively managing operational risk
Provide critical safety information to all employees –top floor to shop floor –to create an effective safety culture. Establish a holistic approach to embed safety and operational risk management into all of your operations.

Reduce manufacturing-related IT cost by using an integrated set of solutions 
With SAP S/4HANA as the digital core, integrate seamlessly with the manufacturing execution suite and manufacturing network solutions (digital manufacturing insights, distributed manufacturing). This reduces the cost to develop and maintain digital manufacturing capabilities.

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