SAP Digital Manufacturing (DM)
Brings on-demand scalability as your business grows
Cloud-based Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), so-called ‘Software as a Service (SaaS)’ delivers a new frontier in accelerating Industry 4.0, a smart factory and the intelligent enterprise for the manufacturing sector.
SAP Digital Manufacturing (DM) runs securely over the internet in a public or private cloud using data center hardware and infrastructure.
On-premise deployments regularly require daunting up-front time and capital investments, while a cloud-based MES can be simply accessed through an Internet browser. As a result, it does not require expensive hardware, additional IT personnel or a lengthy installation process. Furthermore, cloud solutions won’t require expensive upgrades or regular oversight by in-house IT; factors like these boost the value of ownership.
Today, cloud-based ERP such as SAP S/4 HANA Cloud runs and orchestrates business planning. With the addition of an intimately integrated shop floor manufacturing execution solution, such as SAP DM, we can deliver the final component to complete a “best of breed” holistic manufacturing solution.
The integration between ERP and MES is not insignificant but a critical tool to achieve manufacturing excellence. Let’s look at this from two fronts:
Multi-disciplinary (business) process integration
Cloud-based MES
Multi-Disciplinary (business) process integration
In the context of Industry 4.0, manufacturing execution systems need to deliver true digital transformation toward manufacturing operations management (MOM). As a result, multidisciplinary process integration must be prioritized over horizontal or vertical system integration. In reality, a single unified MES system will be unable to perform this multi-disciplined integration, and simply exchanging data records between systems is insufficient. Today, the components of these systems must be matched up to one another to avoid system gaps and mismatches.
To accomplish this, manufacturing execution systems must look beyond the shop floor to generate valuable information from all available data using big data techniques, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. This SAP capability will make advanced data exchange with ERP systems even more critical than it is now.
Cloud-based MES
As manufacturing becomes more complex, especially for multinational corporations with global facilities, integrating and connecting operations becomes increasingly difficult. As a result, many businesses are turning to cloud-based MES solutions to ensure that all of their operations, regardless of where they may be located, run smoothly. Cloud connectivity ensures a tight connection between MES, ERP, and other digital supply chain solutions.
Let’s also consider:
- Availability of relevant data throughout the lifecycle of a product
- Dynamically adaptable production infrastructure and organizational structures
SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud acts as a dynamic real-time integration system between SAP Enterprise Applications and manufacturing, providing a powerful holistic solution that closes the data gaps. From a business perspective, DM sets a new benchmark in manufacturing management and control of the complete product lifecycle value chain. The vital point is that DM “connects people, things, and disparate systems” in order to build cross-organizational value networks.
Personnel securely access real-time operational data at any time and from any location. This connects departments and enables businesses to monitor MES, ERP, and supply chains to develop integrated strategies based on the actual data they have collected.
DM CAPABILITIES / BENEFITS
Better Accessibility
With increased internet bandwidth and stability that has now become the norm, this has allowed MES to untether itself from having to be physically located at the plant. Ease of access to information also leads to greater utilization of MES, leading to increased employee operational awareness, engagement and KPI target compliance.
Real-time interfaces to synchronize ERP master data, production planning, shop floor control information, inventory management, quality management, plant maintenance, etc. The whole manufacturing process can be monitored and controlled in real-time using SAP DM to optimize resources and production execution.
Cost-Effectiveness
Cloud makes sophisticated MES solutions easily available to smaller and midsized organizations. Companies no longer require an IT staff increase or expensive server hardware hitting CAPEX.
Flexibility and Scalability
MES cloud-based systems can be scaled faster to include multiple plants, and more easily meet the needs of “any-sized” operation by leveraging the developed “best in class” MES from one plant to many plants. This “lift & shift” approach to rolling out MES to multiple plants has significant cost savings and rapid deployment advantages.
Automatic Updates
MES software is constantly updated in the cloud (99.99% Uptime) and provides database administration, monitoring and backups, all automatically without IT intervention.
Improved Security
Unlike on-site MES systems, high-level security for cloud-based MES software is maintained and constantly updated by SAP.
Enhanced Decision-Making
Real-time access to multiple plant performance data leads to better decisions as a result of a larger data set analysis, allowing companies to be more responsive to production needs or changing consumer demand and preferences. More data means better refined AI/ML decision support and prescriptive feedback.
More Benefits
- Real-time accessibility to SAP as well as non-SAP on-premise and cloud environments.
- Seamless integration with SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM), SAP Asset Intelligence Network (AIN) and many more SAP modules, out of the box with SAP DM scenarios.
- Real-time interfaces to synchronize ERP master data, production planning, shop floor control information, inventory management, quality management, plant maintenance etc.
- The whole manufacturing process can be monitored and controlled using SAP DM for execution to optimize resources and production execution.
- Production Operator Dashboards (PODs) in DM are role-specific and flexible to orchestrate and control the shop floor, evaluate overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), and manage downtime occurrences.
- The DM interfaces can be used to automate shop-floor-driven production events and data collection parameters.
- The non-conformance feature allows for the logging, tracking, and disposition of failed or faulty components or assemblies.
- Floor stock can be effectively managed to receive and record material traceability data to permit goods movements such as stock returns and scrap.
- Through SAP Plant Connectivity, SAP DM can connect to the shop floor and display real-time sensor data.
- A live connection to SAP Analytics Cloud can be established to deliver industrial KPIs to operations and management.
- Standard and custom KPIs can be easily created to provide decision-makers with opportunities for “room for improvement” and thus necessitate enhanced and more flexible analytics available in DM to drive up efficiencies.
- Report generation based on actual vs planned production with details on product quantity, quality and scrap.
- DM features a ‘Resource Orchestration’ component, which is a cloud-based scheduling tool that allows production managers to monitor shop floor resource activity.
- Allows for the planning, dispatching and performance tracking of operators to work centers to make optimized use of available resources.
- A complete view of resource load allocation or deallocation of activities based on order priority, demand situation, and resource availability.
- Respond promptly, appropriately and with backup details to shop floor events such as machinery breakdowns or manpower availability or unavailability.
- Edge computing with SAP DM enables the processing of machine data to support production closer to the data source and on the shop floor, enabling quicker, more detailed decision-making with little latent cloud connectivity.
- With the use of a Machine Model, production operators or engineers may interact with the machinery and their manufacturing applications just as they would with a physical machine, which serves as the digital twin of the real world.
Business Benefits
Of course, potential benefit analysis of MES functionality and scope is not typically generic but differs for each industry. However, quantitative components of MES project benefits can be exclusively assessed by a careful comparison or extrapolation of improved production utilization, increased quality output and preventative procedures vs associated expenses before and after the system’s implementation.
Some of the business benefits of DM focusing on ROI are:
- Manufacturers across all sectors are emphasizing predictive analytics as a means of improving operational efficiencies and gaining a competitive edge. Using DM data-driven predictive analytics, manufacturers might minimize outages by up to 70%, save up to 10% on scheduled repairs, and cut total maintenance costs by up to 30%.
- AI/ML scenario management in DM allows machine learning models to support and automate manufacturing processes, predictive quality and maintenance use cases etc.
- DM’s powerful analytical capabilities enable improved decision-making and more effective training of manufacturing staff, resulting in lower operational losses.
- Real-time information availability improves overall production cycle time by reducing anomalies.
- Since there is no need for additional IT resources, to buy host servers, or do extensive architectural analysis, the DM solution is simpler to initially deploy and maintain.
- Scalability and adaptability are crucial DM characteristics since completely digitalized manufacturing facilities generate enormous volumes of data.
- ROI is generally achieved in one to two years, assuming a standard DM implementation expenditure of 1% to 5% of the total IT budget. Advanced automation and MES innovative features may reduce the ROI time even further.