Making a Difference inNear - Real Time

SAP’s reputation as a globally prominent, market-leading tech manufacturer brings a sense of responsibility in times of transformation. The company must lead by example, and hasn’t shied away from this pressure as it looks to reshape the image of enterprise resource planning in the current climate. Regional Vice President Digital Supply Chain & Industry 4.0 at SAP Venkat Venkataramani tells us more.

Hi Venkat. SAP has such a rich history and legacy around the world. How has your role within the company evolved over the years?

I have been with SAP now for more than 10 years serving in several different roles, but all of them in a customer facing and advisory capacity. Throughout, I’ve focused on driving pipeline development and revenue for SAP in the digital supply chain space. Prior to SAP I have worked for both large organisations and startups across areas of sales, as an account executive and even in an engineering capacity across a more-than 25-year career. Supply chain and manufacturing are where my skills lie, and I lean on that experience now to help SAP in its mission.

So, what is that mission in the present day?

I think it’s a reassessment of what ERP means in the current context, and what SAP actually offers through its renowned enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). Most people consider ERP as transactional financial systems, which may be how they were intended initially. But if you look at our 50-year history, while we started as a business system with financial capabilities, we have always looked at the overall business and operational elements of an enterprise.

The key difference here is time. Financial systems require reporting that can arrive a day or even a week after an event. However, when dealing with the portfolio of customers we have, often in the manufacturing and supply chain space, they don’t want just a transactional system to run their business. They’re looking for an operational ERP, and we have often been recognised as the operational ERP of choice, especially in manufacturing and asset-intensive industries.

This is important as it reflects these industries’ needs to be able to pivot in near-real time. If you’re using that financebased rear-view mirror approach, then you can’t react effectively or prepare efficiently. An operational ERP such as the one we offer enables the ability to drive capabilities according to data feeds that are inputs to the overall systems of operation.

How much has this mission, and the need for near-real time agility evolved in recent years given everything that’s occurred?

The COVID-19 pandemic really shone a light on the challenges in company’s supply chains, especially from the perspective of building risk resilience.

Shortages in materials and components and the challenges seen across logistics functions were serious issues. These issues also drove the need for manufacturing companies to look at ways to leverage newer technologies to implement smart factories. This was not only to gain improved efficiencies but to also address labour issues while looking at “re-shoring” their manufacturing operations as well.

Essentially, this was to address risk and improve resiliency in their end-to-end supply chain operations following the challenges experienced.

Please talk me through the role of SAP in aiding these efforts…

SAP’s approach to building risk-resilient supply chain and manufacturing operations is to leverage our S/4 ERP platform which has been recognised as the operational ERP of choice by thinktank, IDC.

The aim through this technology is to facilitate a data-led, context-based and outcome-driven end-to-end set of processes. This spans all the way across design, planning, production, operations and delivery. Data provides business context, and the ability to mine that data, coupled with a real-time in-memory ERP with S/4, provides the ability to establish “cause and effect” decisions in that near real-time. Companies are then able to drive efficiencies and pivot when there are risks identified.