Co-Located with:

Hot Topics Research Report

March 26-28 2018

Hyatt Regency, Austin, Texas

Powering the SAP Materials, Logistics, Supply Chain & Procurement Community The SAP-Centric Materials & Logistics conference is the go-to event for inventory, procurement and supply chain

professionals to learn the latest strategies and best practices for SAP solutions. The event features case studies from

fellow SAP users across various industries as well as expert training from SAP and solution providers. Now in its

second year, the growing community includes a network of users, decision-makers, partners, experts, analysts and

more. The 2018 conference is co-located with the 14th annual SAP-Centric EAM conference, providing even more

value to your entire asset management and supply chain teams.

To prepare for the 2018 event, Eventful Conferences embarked on an extensive research project to uncover the top

challenges and opportunities in the materials and logistics space. We interviewed over 50 professionals who operate

in supply chain, procurement and inventory at focus groups throughout the country. The following research report

reflects their opinions and will be the blue print for the upcoming SAP-Centric Materials & Logistics conference to be

held from March 26-28 in Austin, Texas.

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Produced by Supported by

Table of Contents

Inventory Optimization & Inventory Management 04

MRO & Spare Parts 04

Track & Trace Visibility 05

Mobility 05

Sourcing & Procurement 06

Transportation 06

Warehouse Management 07

Master Data 08

Reporting 08

Change Management 09

Dynamic Landscape & SAP Roadmap 09

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Inventory Optimization & Inventory Management

MRO & Spare Parts

Forecasting and predictive analytics are top of mind as supply chain professionals constantly

look to free up capital while maintaining optimal inventory levels. Inventory managers must

find the perfect balance to prevent stock-outs, improve demand response time and asset

utilization, reduce inventory, and enable faster order cycle times.

• ForecastinginventoryvaluesforMROsuccessfullytoreduceinventorycarryingcosts

• Balancingtheneedtokeepinventorylevelslowwhileplanningfortheunknown

• Usinginventoryanalysistohighlightinefficienciesinsupplychain

• Effectivelyusingcyclecountstomanageinventoryandverifyaccuracy

• UsingSAPMaterialsRequirementsPlanning(MRP)toprovideaccurateforecasts

• Understandinghowotherorganizationshavesuccessfullyforecasteddemand

• Trackingservicepartsinventorydataforplanning,monitoringandforecasting

• Automatingtheprocessofsparepartusageandreplenishment

• Reducingexcessivepartsholdingtofreeupcapital

• Maintainingmasterdatatoallowforsmoothplantmaintenanceintegration

• IntegratingaccountingrulesandaccountspayablewithMROprocesses

• UnderstandingsupplierleadtimesforfulfillmentofMROpurchaseorders

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Asset intensive industries struggle to maintain optimum levels of spare parts in inventory for

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO). Preventive and routine maintenance rely on the

proper management of spare parts to complete their work. MRO & Spare Parts management

teams must keep inventory carrying costs low while having enough parts on hand for

maintenance to get the job done.

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Track & Trace Visibility

Mobility

As organizations continue to operate across the globe it is even more important to have

visibility and traceability on where products and parts end up. Regulatory requirements

continue to become more complex and organizations must have a defined strategy to

guarantee quality through the entire process. As track and traceability becomes more

advanced, organizations are better equipped to operate safely and more efficiently.

We are now operating in a mobile based society with unlimited capabilities at our fingertips.

Supply chain departments are better equipped now more than ever with a plethora of tools

to use. Inventory management has been radically transformed from barcoding to RFIDs and

now organizations seek best practices for using these technologies effectively.

• LeveragingRadio-frequencyidentification(RFID)andbarcodetechnologytodelivertraceabilityinreal-time

• Improvingvisibilityandfeedbacktimetoincreasecustomerandbusinesspartnersatisfaction

• Uncoveringexceptionsquicklythatdonotmatchplannedprocesses

• Accuratelymeetingrequirementsoftraceabilitycompliancereportingandbatchgenealogy

• Usingbatchmanagementtoimprovesafety

• Handlingremoteworkersandtheabilitytoworkofflinewhereconnectivityisanissue

• Makingmobileuserfriendlyacrossgenerationaldifferencesandskillsets

• UnderstandinghoworganizationsareleveragingFiorivs.Personasvs.GuiXT

• Havinganintuitive,notrainingrequiredmobileappexperience

• Usingmobiledatacollectionontheshopfloortoincreaseinventoryintegrity

Sourcing & Procurement

Transportation

Sourcing & procurement departments strive to develop streamlined procurement processes

across the organization to create better business controls while eliminating redundant data

entry efforts. With the digital disruption of new technologies, like Ariba, many companies are

struggling to understand which of the technologies make sense for their business challenges.

• Identifyingspendchannelsandcostsavingswithinthesupplychain

• Buildingastreamlinedprocure-to-payprocess

• UnderstandinghowtoleverageAribaandSAP’sSupplyNetworkCollaboration(SNC)toimprovecollaborationandvisibility

• Findingwaystoachievetimeandresourceefficienciesduringsourcing

• Leveragingaccesstonewsupplierstoimproveoperationalefficiencyandbusinessperformance

• Buildingabusinesscaseformoresophisticatedprocurementandsourcingtools

• Designingeffectivecatalogcontentmanagementtocreateasinglesourceoftruth

• Capturingprocurementcontractsanddatainonetool

• Costconsiderationsarounde-procurementandinsightsintotheuseofe-catalogues

• Addressingcomplianceissuesinsuppliernetwork

• UsingSAPTMtomanagetheentiretransportationprocessthroughordermanagementtofinancialsettlement

• Understandingwhattheprocesslooksliketoupgradethesystem

• Connectingwithfreightmanagersmoreefficiently

• Improvingtransportationdecision-makingprocesseswithautomation

• UtilizingTMfore-Tendering

• Learninghowtoincorporatetransportcostsintoyourmaterialvaluation

• Understandinghowothersareharnessingmobiletechnologyintransportation

• ExaminingthevalueofSAP’sTransportationManagement(TM)9solution

As supply chain continues to focus efforts on optimizing operations, transportation

management departments must also seek ways to be as efficient as possible. Transportation

management plays a huge part in reducing costs and properly controlling materials &

inventory when operating effectively.

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Warehouse Management

Underperformance in warehouse management can negatively impact the entire supply

chain. Organizations recognize this impact and are interested to hear how SAP’s Extended

Warehouse Management (EWM) can help improve their operations. From better visibility

& management of inventory to workflows and space utilization a successful warehouse

operation is key to success.

• LeveragingSAP’sstandardwarehousemanagementtoolstotheirfullcapability

• IntegratingEWMwithoutbounddeliveryprocessesfromPM

• Discoverhowvoicetechnologycanimprovewarehouseefficiency

• Dealingwiththeprocesschangearoundnewtoolsforwarehousemanagement

• Insightsintothefutureofwarehousing,transportationandlogisticsfromanSAPperspective

• ExploringSAPEWMtoimprovestockaccuracyandobtainagreatervisibilityofprocesses

Master Data

Reporting

Successful and sustainable supply chain operations cannot exist without accurate master data.

Having accurate and up-to-date material masters is critical to MRO operations. Organizations

must first recognize how imperative accurate master data is to the overall business and then

design processes and data governance policies to maintain the ongoing integrity of the data.

• Remainingconsistentwithdataentryandprocessesacrossvariouslocations

• Trackingchangestopartnumbers,modelnumbersetc.andensuringitdoesnotslowdowntheorderprocess

• CollaboratingwithvendorstogetdataformatsthatcanbeuploadeddirectlyintoSAPforcriticalparts,etc.

• Makingsureyouarerecordingtherightdatacorrectlyinthesystem

• Understandingwhattoolsareavailabletoevaluatemasterdatagovernance

• Developingadataarchivingstrategy

• Identifyingwhoshouldownthematerialmastersintheorganization

• Quantifyingtheriskof“baddata”inyourorganization

• Creatingaccurateservicemasterstoeaseservicepurchaseorders

• Leveragingdataforgreatervisibility,predictivecapabilitiesandprocessoptimization

• Havingreal-timedatavisibilityoninventoryandspareparts

• Usinganalyticstomakesenseofthedatainaconsumableformat

• Identifyingbestpracticesdatavisualizationtechniquesfordashboardsandreports

• Makingsuredatasetsacrossvarioussystemsaretalkingtoeachother

• Harnessingcomprehensivecross-functionaldataforquickandinformeddecisions

• Effectivelygettingmaterialdatainthehandsofourpeopleiswhereitisimportant

• Developingbusinessintelligenceskillsetstoviewdataanalytically

• UnderstandinghowSAP’sHANAtoolcanenhancesupplychainreporting

• Leveragingreal-timereportingandpredictiveanalytics

As more data becomes available, it is important that the business leverages this information

to make strategic decisions. Real-time reporting and dashboards are reshaping the way

executives look at their business. Using predictive analytics is slowly becoming the standard

for an effective asset management and supply chain team.

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Change Management

Dynamic Landscape & SAP Roadmap

With new advancements in technology, new ways of doing business emerge. Creating

buy-in from all areas of the business, from supply chain to finance creates an organization

that is prepared for successful growth. Best practices and processes for on-boarding,

adoption and on-going support are desperately needed.

• Breakingdownsilosacrosstheorganizationtooperatebetterinachangingenvironment

• Gaininganunderstandingofhowalargesystemimplementationwillaffectsupplychainfunctions

• Communicatingtheimportanceofchangemanagementinanytechnologytransformation

• Organizationalalignmentacrossgroupstounderstandwhatoverallbusinessobjectivesareimportant

• BuildingtherelationshipandcollaborationbetweenbusinessandIT

• Obtainingstrongmanagementsupporttopromotebusinessengagementfromthetop-down

• Workingwithlegacysystemsandhowtotakestepstobereadyfornewtechnology

• UnderstandingIT’sabilitytoupdateandmakechangesinacomplicatedlandscape

• UnderstandingthedifferencebetweenHANA&S/4andtheimpactitwillhave

• LearningfromSAPwhattechnologiesaregoingawayandwhataresaying

• UnderstandingSAP’sRoadmapforAribaandhowtoevaluateifitisrightforyourorganization

• Gettingexecutiveleadershiponboardtokeepupwithevolvingtools

• HowtoleverageSupplierNetworkCollaboration(SNC)tosynchronizeandautomatetheflowofinformationbetween

your company and your supplier

• Addressingcomplianceissues

Supply chain departments are tasked with forecasting and operating in a business

environment that is constantly changing. SAP continues to offer a wide variety of tools that

are leveraged differently based on each organization’s unique needs. From the Materials

Management module to Ariba, organizations are asking what does the SAP Roadmap look

like and how will that impact how to prepare for the future.

an company

©2017EventfulConferences,anASUGCompany.AllRightsReserved.

www. sapcentricmaterialsandlogistics.com

March 26-28, 2018, HyattRegency,Austin,Texas

Co-Located with: