Improved Supply Chain Efficiencies: Technological Innovations

: The purpose of writing this paper is to provide insights of custom enhancements in S/4 HANA in developing manufacturing execution cockpit a one stop umbrella to execute supply chain manufacturing execution transactions seamlessly. Problem: Companies implement enterprise resource planning systems like SAP S/4 HANA to streamline the supply chain business processes end to end from procurement, production planning, advanced planning & optimization, manufacturing execution, warehouse management, sales and distribution, finance and controlling, product costing, trade promotions management, quality management etc. To execute a supply chain manufacturing business process within S/4 HANA system business users must execute multiple transaction codes within the systems which is not only time consuming but also hampers supply chain efficiency and productivity. Based on the research paper Secrets of Successful SAP Integrations: Mergers & Acquisitions which talks about structured methodology for implementing SAP change management is one of the key parameters for successful SAP integrations, it’s important to keep changes to minimum as much as possible when it comes to system changes and designing a manufacturing cockpit will ease the day-to-day supply chain manufacturing work of end users to a large extent. Some of the business processes which can be optimized for increased productivity and efficiency by designing manufacturing execution product within SAP S/4 HANA are goods issue/reversals of handling units against production or process order for a manufacturing plant at warehouse management level and goods issue/reversals against production or process order for a manufacturing plant at inventory management level. Initial/Final confirmations against production or process order for a manufacturing plant to track order start and finish date/time and labor hours to make payments based on actual work performed. Goods receipt against production or process order for main product and by-product. Methods: Methods used to address the research problem are real world experiences of designing and developing complex manufacturing execution cockpit systems. Conclusions reached: It is possible to design and develop complex manufacturing execution cockpits with the help of SAP S/4 HANA functional expertise, technical ABAP coding expertise and supply chain manufacturing business expertise. Significance: The significance of this research project is quite high as several things are at stake, to name a few high investments running in to multimillion US dollars used in implementing SAP S/4 HANA systems as part of digital and supply chain business transformation programs, increased supply chain efficiencies and productivities, risks of losing business confidence in information technology systems in general and enterprise resource planning S/4 HANA systems in particular, loss of business end user trust in the organization if the systems are not designed and developed correctly for a flawless manufacturing execution etc. These product innovations are highly significant because of the visibility of senior leadership teams as they are discussed in town hall meetings on regular basis