SappyMOM: How to take local needs into account in a central system

• SAP S/4HANA
• Article

In the world of corporate ERP systems, two opposing tendencies have long been clashing. The managers' demand for standardisation of the central system conflicts with the specific needs of local plants, for which the "mere" standard is not enough. This corporate dilemma is then often dealt with at the local level by non-conceptual interventions that result in fragmentation of the system by modifications without appropriate documentation. Aimtec's SappyMOM digitization platform (SAP add-on) satisfies both headquarters and specific plants by enabling flexible implementation of the solution directly in SAP ERP systems while maintaining their standards, including the possibility of comfortable migration to the new SAP S/4HANA system.

Virtually every manufacturer operating multiple production plants faces the problem outlined above. The usual course of action seems to be that the head of the central IT department receives requests for system changes in local plants due to the non-functionality of the standardized solution. If headquarters agrees to local adjustments, there is room for "home remedies". An SAP consultant comes in and starts bending the system, usually without proper documentation. If too many modifications are made, the stability of the entire SAP system will be compromised. If the whole system needs to be re-implemented, no vendor will be able to reconstruct such a system with all the undocumented modifications.

Internal solutions

As an automotive specialist and a long-standing SAP partner, Aimtec strives to improve the system's functions and make them available even at the "lowest" level, i.e. on the shopfloor. The abbreviation MOM in the name of the platform is related to this. "Manufacturing Operation Management, or MOM, is the layer of the information system that is completely underneath and provides the link between the IT world and the physical processes in production and the warehouse," says Jan Vápeník, Business Development Manager at Aimtec.

"The valuable thing about Sappy is that development takes place directly in our corporate SAP system. It does not require any external solutions or the need to maintain data in two places at once," explains the main advantage of the solution Martin Kozaczuk, IT Project Manager at Eissmann Group Automotive. This company is one of those that is gradually introducing the Sappy solution in its plants around the world. "Aimtec builds on existing SAP functionality and brings these extensions to the warehouse or production floor through an intuitive, easy-to-use mobile interface, which supports automation and digitization of the shop floor," Kozaczuk adds. It is a sustainable, conceptual, documented process that does not place a burden on SAP and its standard.

Sappy building kits

How is the adaptation to local requirements carried out? Aimtec has its own comprehensive template and compares it to the customer's requirements. In doing so, it uses its own "kit", which consists of approximately 800 defined processes including their variants, designed specifically for automotive companies. "Usually there is some intersection, and if not, we assemble it from the kit. We will produce a pilot project and lay the foundations for a customer template in the pilot plant. We will use this template for the next one . Thanks to the flexible architecture, we add new processes that are important for the second plant, thus updating the corporate template to a higher version, and we are ready for the next branches,” says Vápeník, describing the usual SappyMOM implementation process.

This solution covers all key functionalities for manufacturing companies - logistics and material flow management (WMS), production data collection, manufacturing process and maintenance management (MES), quality management (QMS) and customer logistics support (JIS). The Sappy add-on also has tools for connecting advanced technologies that support automation and digitalization in the aforementioned areas.

There is no time to waste

It's no secret that SAP will stop supporting legacy systems within five years, and all users are expected to migrate to S/4HANA. It probably doesn't take much effort to imagine how difficult this migration will be with a crippled system. SappyMOM works with Sap's ECC 6.0, EWM and also with S/4HANA and is therefore ready for easy migration to a new system. It is not advisable to hesitate in preparing the transition to the new standard, and the shortest way is through SappyMOM.

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