I went to SAP and met with their S/4HANA and Fiori experts this week to learn about how SAP will be radically changing in the future. This included a discussion on their brand new data story product Lumira as well.
Here is a brief summary of what to expect for SAP Supply Chain Planning in the future. You had better get prepared.
1. S/4HANA with Fiori is a robust and fast SAP Decision Support System now more than anything else.
- The user screen with folders and transactions is gone now. Transaction are apps now. Apps are presented as tiles on the user log on screen.
- This SAP Decision Support System uses embedded analytics to provide instant and almost unlimited data analysis within each app.
- NetWeaver remains in the background but the user screen is now tiles which are considered apps.
- There are now many Apps available in the SAP apps reference library.
- Many SAP tables have been combined now to enable faster performance and easier access to all SAP fields on one screen.
- SAP Business Objects Lumira helps makes sense of all the vast data now available with simplicity, dynamic visualization and you are able to present a compelling story.
- New skill sets such as HTML 5 are required to set up SAP S/4HANA with Fiori. Programmers with this skill set or training is required.
Looks like SAP is doing the right things to quickly catch up to the modern IT world. Embedding almost limitless data analytics in Apps now gives users much more information to make quick decisions in the Supply Chain.
Apps (former SAP transactions) are available in a vast SAP library and you can pick and choose which ones makes sense for your particular industry and even design new ones on your own. This gives Supply Chain users much more control and flexibility.
Lumira is an eye opening tool to turn Supply Chain data into a story and project powerful images for any individual, team or Sales and Operating executive team to use for critical strategies and execution.
SAP is the third biggest IT Company in the world and has now placed itself on the cutting edge of IT and Supply Chain execution. No more rigid SAP menus anymore. It’s all apps, lightning fast execution and data analysis. Interesting times indeed!
Terry Vermeylen is hell bent on rapidly transforming your business into a World Class Operation by major transformation or by eliminating one bad habit at a time.
Terry Vermeylen brings 30+ years of experience in SAP and Supply Chain Process improvement. As an SAP professional and Supply Chain Architect he has worked and consulted for some of the world’s largest and most successful manufacturing companies focusing primarily on the Aerospace and Pharmaceutical industries as well as the US Military.
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