Real-time data and responding to market demands using SAP S/4 HANA to face uncertainty

Consumer expectations and increased market choice mean that the speed with which manufacturing businesses react to market changes is increasingly important. Agile businesses are likely to be 20–30% stronger financially than their non-agile counterparts. They are also likely to experience a 20% increase in customer engagement and heightened employee engagement.

But the ability to respond rapidly, hinges on access to up-to-the minute, reliable and robust data. Just one of the key benefits of using SAP S/4 HANA in planning.

Changing expectations driving new organisational priorities

Market conditions have evolved, with partners and customers expecting products to be delivered in an instant, accompanied by regular updates to enable them to track their order. Falling short risks market share, with competitors always ready to fill supply chain gaps or meet last-minute demands.

The industry is also more tightly controlled by regulations. Many industries are impacted by the need to deliver instant traceability. Product safety demands consistent tracking and logging of lots and batches for instant product recall capability, without which, organisations could find themselves subject to a weighty fine.

Real-time data access in a global market

However, meeting all these expectations depends on access to data. Often different departments own different data and, with data held on multiple sites, countries or even continents, accessing the volume of data needed in real-time, can be challenging. Technology is the only way for dynamic organisations to make reliable data-driven decisions with the speed they need to respond to market changes.

Using a solution like SAP S/4 HANA in planning enables the real-time collation of data, all in one place. Self-serve real-time data replaces end-of-month data requests that can only deliver outdated historical snapshots. With technology, organisations can base decisions on a comprehensive understanding of what’s happening within a business at any moment.

A few benefits of real-time data access include:

• Improve regulatory compliance

With real-time data retrieval, you can identify all of the data needed for compliance and deliver it when required.

• Enhance market responsiveness

With visibility over the status of your production lines, inventory and capacity you can accept orders and manage customer expectations effectively.

• Optimise market opportunities

Benefit from market fluctuations such as favourable exchange rates and low prices and plan for expected resource shortages to optimise market changes.

Using SAP S/4 HANA, organisations can boost their agility, becoming more competitive and efficient, accessing the data they need in real-time to deliver informed decisions when they are needed.

In our webinar ‘Planning for Uncertainty – how to gain advantage in uncertain times with S/4 HANA’, on Thursday 29^th July at 10:00 BST, our team of S/4 HANA experts will demonstrate how SAP S/4 HANA adoption can boost your organisational agility, delivering financial and non-financial benefits across the breadth of your supply chain and the wider organisation.

To secure your place on our webinar, sign up here > https://invsol.co/3retSes.