Leading digital transformation solutions firm UST is strengthening its commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, this time, in partnership with two multinational tech giants– SAP and Intel. With a focus on northern Malaysia, the strategic alliance is slated to launch a Customer Experience hub leveraging a local UST Innovation Lab to develop custom-built, innovative solutions for Malaysian enterprises in the Industry 4.0 era.

UST, formerly known as UST Global, has been deepening its alliance with SAP this year with its adoption of RISE with SAP in March to create a portfolio of cutting-edge tools, platforms, apps, and accelerators such as the UST Rapid Readiness, UST Fast Start, and UST Evolve. Specific to Retail and Manufacturing industries, SAP and UST had signed an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) agreement in May to allow UST to integrate SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) into Cogniphi AI Vision, now known as UST Sentry Vision AI.

Today, the digital and technology transformation provider reinforces its contribution to the Industry 4.0 in Malaysia with co-innovators SAP and Intel. Commenting on the latest initiative in the country, UST’s Country Head in Malaysia, said:

“This high-profile collaboration will unite industry leaders in the hardware and software sectors to accelerate the development of meaningful Industry 4.0 solutions. By working together, all three companies will contribute towards achieving the essential business goals of Malaysian SMEs while helping them plan for the future.”

Bolstering Digitalization of Malaysian Manufacturers

Amidst the remarkable development of disruptive solutions and technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning that enable manufacturers to increase efficiencies and productivity, Malaysian manufacturers are not catching enough steam to keep pace with the fourth industrial revolution. 

In a recent report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), only less than one percent of Malaysian enterprises are embarking on an Industry 4.0 journey, a long way off from international standards. This data is also proving to be a hindrance to their capacity to compete and remain agile in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.

The collaborative alliance of SAP, UST, and Intel sees the opportunity to merge their industry knowledge and expertise to design innovative solutions that would deliver top-notch transformation experiences to Malaysian SMEs through a Customer Experience center. SAP is known as a world-leading provider of ERP software for the management of business processes; Intel for the scalable foundation for IoT solutions; and UST, for digital transformation strategies.

Hosted by the UST Innovation Lab, the Customer Experience center will provide SMEs consultation and transformation strategies to boost their enterprises. By harnessing the lab’s capabilities and facilities, idea development is expected to be faster, supported by globally connected infrastructure, solutions, and people.

Specific to Malaysia’s Northern Corridor, the collaboration intends to meet the region’s high demand for cutting-edge solutions that would drive productivity as well as offer jobs and upskilling for locals. In doing so, northern Malaysia can be regarded as a preferred manufacturing hub soon.

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As an SAP Global Strategic Services Partner for over 25 years, HCL Technologies Ltd. has established an SAP practice that seamlessly integrates across the entire SAP portfolio and the Indian multinational company’s Digital Consulting, engineering services, IoT WoRKS, and cloud infrastructure practices.

Long-standing SAP service and license resell partner HCL Technologies Ltd. has announced its latest innovation partnership with SAP that advances the Industry 4.0 by harnessing the power of the smart Internet of Things (IoT). Globally recognised as one of the leading companies with IoT expertise, HCL Technologies has collaborated with the German software enterprise giant to deliver new IoT packaged offerings and services led by its dedicated IoT business IoT WoRKS.

Sharing about the latest SAP – HCL Technologies collaboration, Sukant Acharya, Senior Vice President, IoT WoRKS, HCL Technologies, said:

“We are proud to be collaborating with SAP to create the next generation of intelligent warehouse offerings and services. HCL Technologies’ experience in enabling Industry 4.0 and connected business transformation programs, when paired with SAP’s expertise in supporting IoT applications during development and implementation, stands to benefit our customers in driving sustainable business transformation and growth.”

Reflected by the Noida, India-based Information Technology services and consulting firm’s vision “to be the best modern-SAP consulting partner in the industry”, the company’s SAP practice operates within its integrated solutions and services portfolio centred around deep technologies such as Digital, IoT, and Cloud as well as Infrastructure Management, and Engineering Services, among many others. HCL Technologies has more than 10,000 SAP consultants across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa to support its worldwide customers’ complex SAP transformation. The consulting firm was one of the early adopters of RISE with SAP and has also been recently named a leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain SAP Ecosystems Services 2021 Vendor Assessment.

HCL Technologies Ltd. Latest IoT Offerings

In the most recent collaborative partnership of HCL Technologies with SAP, HCL’s IoT WoRKS has introduced new service offerings that help accelerate next-generation intelligent warehousing. IoT WoRKS supports customers’ IoT transformation across different IoT adoption levels through service offerings anchored around ‘Define, Build, and Run’.

Harnessing the smart sensing capabilities and IoT edge of SAP IoT, IoT WoRKS packages IoT-led warehouse processes and offers the option to add relevant hardware like RFID devices or gateway servers for a seamless transformation. SAP IoT, part of SAP Business Technology Platform, enables customers to embed in and extend business processes leveraging IoT-enriched business insights to achieve transformative results.

Here are the two latest service offerings of HCL Technologies:

IoT-led Warehouse Processes 

Leveraging SAP IoT, this service offering enables companies to drive efficiency and optimise their digital supply chain by automating the identification of handling units through radio frequency identification (RFID), validating the data, and posting business context information to SAP S/4HANA or other SAP warehousing solutions.

Remote Monitoring of Edge Hardware 

This scalable offering harnesses HCL’s IoT and monitoring expertise, which helps customers achieve real-time monitoring of edge devices that, ultimately, results in lower downtime and drives productivity. The solution also provides a single UI to enhance the management of clusters and configurable alerts.

Priya Wenzel, SAP Global Vice President, Partner Ecosystem Success, Digital Supply Chain, expressed that SAP is looking forward to partnering with the Indian multinational to deliver Industry 4.0 solutions and technology powered by IoT. She derailed:

“While SAP offers the solutions and connectivity, enabling data-driven processes across the end-to-end supply chain, HCL Technologies delivers business and product expertise, coupled with an implementation approach focused on accelerating time to value with minimal effort and investment. Together, our goal is to deliver a connected, resilient and sustainable supply chain to our customers.”

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Amidst the COVID-19 situation which has forced manufacturing companies to digitally transform, leveraging partnerships to help them further move towards Industry 4.0 is crucial. With SAP systems accounting for 77{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of all global transactions, the German enterprise software giant is well-positioned to tackle the sector’s production challenges. SAP integrates every link in the customer’s supply chain to the Intelligent Enterprise by providing intelligence and automation to the whole manufacturing process.

One organisation that has invested heavily into digitalisation pre-COVID and going into the pandemic period is VECV, a leading player in the commercial vehicles (CV) industry in India. The company, which is a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors Limited (EML), develops, manufactures, and sells CVs like trucks and buses domestically. Volvo Trucks’ exclusive distribution in India, Volvo Group’s engine manufacturing and exports, non-automotive engines, and the Eicher component business are all part of the company. In October, the firm reported a 38.2{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} increase in total sales at 5,805 units.

Driving rapid business growth and reinforcing its position as a leader in the industry today, the Gurugram-headquartered company needed to address numerous challenges within the organisation. These include a shortage of skilled personnel to maintain high productivity and quality, an inability to track and trace its operations, and a lack of systems to guide operators on assembly processes. In addition, VECV also had issues with data connectivity on the assembly line, poor machine utilisation, line efficiency, and operator productivity caused by an absence of process controls and error-proofing.

VECV Selects SAP Manufacturing Suite to Gain Real-Time Visibility into the Entire Supply Chain

To solve the aforementioned problems and to deliver shop-floor visibility to the top floor, VECV opted to deploy IIoT-based SAP solutions. Paving the way to move towards smart manufacturing, the company also transformed its operations by utilising SAP Manufacturing Execution system (SAP MES), SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII), SAP Plant Connectivity (SAP PCo), SAP Overall Equipment Effectiveness Management (SAP OEE), and SAPUI5.

Furthermore, the commercial vehicles manufacturer implemented the SAP Manufacturing Suite across all its 10 assembly lines, which include around 150 assembly stations and involve more than 200 machines to assemble around 3,000 parts. Solutions within the SAP Manufacturing Suite facilitate Industry 4.0 principles with a single source of real-time data to help organisations integrate and embed intelligence into their manufacturing processes.

According to VECV, the radio-frequency identification (RFID) integration through SAP PCo has minimised manual interventions, while SAP MES screens on assembly sites increased efficiency. Additionally, vibration sensors installed on six major equipment captured data into SAP MII through the SAP PCo software that were then analysed to help predict machine failure.

Sumit Goyal, Senior Manager IT, Digital Manufacturing at VE Commercial Vehicles Limited, shared:

“SAP Manufacturing Suite has brought many tactical and strategic benefits to VECV. It has helped improve productivity, lower operating costs, and increase quality and compliance. By gaining real-time visibility into the entire manufacturing supply chain, we are able to accelerate root-cause analysis by making fact-based decisions.”

Other key benefits of implementing the SAP Manufacturing Suite include:

• Streamlining operational processes, equipment, and tasks, resulting in operational cost reductions, accelerating productivity, and enhancing quality.
• Decreasing the troubleshooting time significantly due to 100{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} tracking and traceability of all assembly procedures.
• Displaying assembly operations’ standard operating procedures in real-time.
• Ensuring strong process controls and error-proofing by connecting assembly machines that monitor 400 essential process parameters.

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In 2019, Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP) was founded under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation to bring together business leaders, manufacturers, system integrators, and software providers to drive innovation and collaboration across the manufacturing community and value chain. OMP is a global alliance that aims to accelerate manufacturing companies’ innovation at scale through platform-agnostic solutions, open standards, and technologies that enable smart manufacturing, break down silos and solve real problems.

In a short period, the collaborative initiative started by Microsoft and BMW has now been gaining more members that share the common goal of supporting the manufacturing sector’s digital transformation through innovative technologies to give them the competitive edge, deliver operational efficiencies, greater factory output, increased net profits and drive agility amid disruptions.

Contributing to Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management Advancement

Similarly, enterprise software giant SAP has been supporting organisations to navigate the complexities of manufacturing and supply chain with customer-centric, sustainable supply chain management software. To further drive innovation along the digital supply chain, this time, using open standards and open source, the German company has recently joined the OMP initiative.

Recognising that a networked, sustainable and agile supply chain management requires a more modular, flexible, and transparent production, SAP will be collaborating with OMP to deliver an SAP-supported Platform Industrie 4.0 initiative that would bridge the gap between manufacturers and customers.

Nils Herzberg, SVP and global head of Strategic Partnerships for Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0 at SAP shared SAP’s mission of accelerating supply chain innovation at scale harnessing the power of open collaboration. He stressed:

“Not only do we live in the century of shared economies, but we also live in the time of collaborative development. The focus for the future will be stronger, more resilient supply chains coupled with agile production facilities. SAP has the supply chain applications to achieve this. As a member of the OMP, we will work with our customers and partners to create access to these future-oriented applications.“

SAP and OMP aim to:

• Create solutions based on open standards that overcome the complexity of proprietary systems and vendor lock-in
• Safely connect operational technology to the cloud to enable better data-backed decisions and predictions
• Contribute to solutions and standards that drive automation and autonomy into production and logistics systems

Christoph Berlin, Partner Group Program Manager for Azure Industrial IoT & Manufacturing at Microsoft, said that OMP gains from SAP’s industry knowledge and expertise.

“The goal of the consortium is to bring together technology and applications to enable the next frontier of business value in manufacturing. This requires all levels of the stack to embrace open principles, open-source and open standards. We also welcome the extensive knowledge that SAP brings to the table from a supply chain and manufacturing reference architectures perspective. This will further strengthen OMP’s technology partnerships and collaboration across the manufacturing ecosystem,” Berlin explained.

New OMP Members

Other organisations that have recently joined OMP initiative are Teradata, a leading multi-cloud data warehouse platform provider, and Delta Electronics, a leading provider of switching power management solutions. 

Teradata, with offices located across every region including Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Asia, brings to the OMP community its extensive experience, expertise, and solutions in cloud-based data analytics with a specific focus on the “Manufacturing Reference Architecture and “Semantic Data Structuring” working groups. Aside from delivering a blueprint for an industrial IoT architecture, Teradata will also be developing a semantic structuring layer to help manufacturers easily share, reuse, and evaluate heterogeneous data.

Meanwhile, Taipei-headquartered Delta Electronics, which has been listed on the DJSI World Index of Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for 10 consecutive years, brings into the fold decades of rich industrial experience, expertise, and solutions in cloud-based data analytics with a specific focus on the “Manufacturing Reference Architecture” and “ATS Core services” working groups. In collaboration with other members, Delta Electronics, the first Asian member in the OMP community, will develop a standard carbon footprint solution that meets international compliance.

The post SAP Extends Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management Expertise to OMP appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As 2020 nears to a close, many organisations are already looking into a more hopeful 2021 regardless of the coronavirus situation. For SAP Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the aspiration is that the upcoming 2021 Budget will be directed towards supporting small-medium enterprises’ (SMEs) readiness for Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4) along with the transition to intelligent technologies on the cloud as well as upskilling and youth employment. 

SAP Malaysia Sdn Bhd Managing Director Hong Kok Cheong shared the company’s initiatives and plans that are geared towards economic recovery, supporting SMEs, and empowering the workforce of the future.

A Sustainable Future for SMEs

Earlier this year, Hong has already stressed that technology is the silver lining at these challenging times for SMEs. He encouraged SMEs to consider technology as an investment more than a cost to be able to, first, thrive, and then eventually sustain growth in these uncertain times.

Recently, the SAP Malaysia MD also emphasised that SMEs must equip for IR4 and embrace cutting-edge digital technologies to realise productivity and efficiency gains. He said: 

“The SME landscape is especially crucial as many still lag in technology adoption within their business operations. SAP Malaysia hopes that there will be more SME awareness, before increasing uptake on digital platforms.”

Recognising the pandemic’s impact on Malaysia’s economy, which is currently going through a period of ‘reset’ before the ‘rebound’, Hong explained that now is the time for SMEs to innovate and transform to remain competitive and become intelligent enterprises.

“For SMEs that are complacent with a ‘wait and see’ attitude, they could be left behind – and may even become irrelevant.

In the ‘new norm’, intelligent enterprises can ‘do more with less’, deliver best-in-class customer experience, build resilient supply chains, while inventing new business models and revenue streams,” Hong further said.

Hong previously said that ‘SAP is for everyone’, highlighting SAP Business One (SAP B1) as one of the German company’s ERP software solutions designed for SMEs. Another affordable solution for local SMEs is currently available in the SAP Business One Starter Pack offering developed by a local solutions provider priced from RM1,488.

Upskilling the Workforce

Before COVID-19, the ICT industry in Malaysia has been significantly contributing to the country’s journey towards becoming a high-income knowledge-based economy. With the pandemic happening, SAP Malaysia has focused on ‘people first’ policies and initiatives for economic recovery and the wellbeing and sustainability of livelihoods. 

The SAP Malaysia MD stated the need for upskilling of present employees to become the ‘workforce of the future’ and address the shortage of qualified talents in emerging roles. He stressed that every member of the workforce including the C-suite should upskill to survive and thrive in the new world of work. He said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for companies to move towards a ‘digital first’ workforce.” 

He shared that the company’s training and technology-enabled learning initiatives will be announced within Budget 2021.

Prioritising the Youth

Referring to the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) study stating that 40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of core skills would change by 2025 with some 50{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of all employees needing re-skilling by that time, Hong foresees further increase due to the rising demand for digital tools and processes.

“We support the government’s lead to continuously promote access to digital technologies coupled with digital literacy and transferable skills. Youth employment should be prioritised coupled with initiatives to improve online learning experiences,” Hong stated.

For the young learners, aside from partnering with ASEAN Foundation in hosting ASEAN Data Science Explorers at both national and regional levels, SAP also collaborates with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) on the MyUniAlliance programme. The programme provides training for some three thousand students annually. These initiatives aim to encourage youths to embrace analytics skills through various projects that would benefit communities and countries.

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Continuing SAP’s success in the Vietnamese market, the homegrown talent Nguyen Hong Viet has been appointed as the new Managing Director of SAP Vietnam directly reporting to Verena Siow, President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia.

SAP SeA MD Siow expressed:

“As an employer of choice, SAP makes every effort to support our employees to reach their full potential, and Viet’s promotion is testament to the rising local leader that we have in the talent bench. His appointment comes at a very exciting time as Vietnam is powering its way to claim its place in the new digital economy – supported by a young population, high growth rate, and a location in the heart of high-growth Asian economies. Viet is a proven leader who embodies what it means to be customer-centric and employee-focused. I am confident that he will lead the Vietnam business to greater heights”.

Homegrown SAP Leader

Starting as an SAP Account Executive in 2012, Viet progressively rose from the ranks and was most recently the General Business Sales Manager for SAP Vietnam. The sales team that he led contributed to the achievement of company revenue while delivering customer value and innovation through cloud transformation with strategic and key clients.  

Viet’s strong work ethics and excellent long-term planning and execution abilities have been welded with the Vietnamese business culture that is based on fundamental trust. Several SAP customer success stories in the public sector, financial services, and manufacturing industries can be credited to the hard work and expertise of Viet coupled with his 19 years of experience in the technology industry across software, hardware, and cloud.

Continuing SAP’s Legacy

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, the Economist Intelligence Unit predicts that Vietnam will experience stable growth and continue to be one of the fastest-growing economies in the region between 2019 and 2023. The government’s commitment to Industry 4.0, recognising the private enterprise as the core engine of the economy, makes it the most opportune time for SAP to grow and expand in Vietnam.

Coming in at an extremely challenging time, the new SAP Vietnam MD sheds light and hope to SAP customers and partners in the country. He said:

“COVID-19 has adversely impacted Vietnam’s economy. In the past months, SAP has been supporting our Vietnamese customers and partners to tackle disruptions caused by COVID-19, leveraging intelligent technologies to support remote working, digital supply chains, and manage customer and employee experiences. SAP will continue to help our customers accelerating their digital transformation journey towards becoming Intelligent Enterprises.” 

Focusing on Gen Z

In 2018, the Nielsen published an article titled ‘How to engage with Generation Z in Vietnam’ reported the Gen Z will comprise 25{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the labour workforce in the country by 2025. With a relatively young population of nearly 100 million people, of which 60{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} are under the age of 35, Vietnam focuses on developing HR for a digital economy.  

Sharing some of SAP Vietnam’s initiative in equipping the youth, MD Viet said:

“SAP Vietnam will also focus on equipping youth with knowledge and skills ready for the digital future through programs such as the ASEAN Data Science Explorers and SAP University Alliances. Our recently announced collaboration with UNICEF Vietnam to provide quality education and essential digital skills training to adolescents in disadvantaged communities in Viet Nam will further accelerate our continuous efforts to help improve people’s lives in Vietnam. No one should be left behind in this digital race.”

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Diverse Infotech is gearing up towards the Industry 4.0 leveraging SAP’s Digital Manufacturing Cloud to ensure seamless adoption of the company’s new integrated approach to optimize production planning and decision-making.

SAP’s Digital Manufacturing Cloud is an advanced manufacturing execution system (MES) of near real-time data and analytics. It offers a cost-effective, high-quality, and resource-efficient method based on Industry 4.0 in executing and analyzing manufacturing processes and business data. Thus, providing actionable insights of manufacturing data for businesses.

Meenal Grover, CEO, Diverse Infotech said:

“As India is transcending through a digital transformation journey, organizations are scouting to gain value from the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Connecting the four M’s of manufacturing – Man, Material, Method, and Machine, helps get the manufacturing intelligence and visibility one needs to run in real-time. Cutting-edge technologies around robotics, automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc. are revolutionizing the way companies’ function.”

He explained that manufacturing firms should be willing to go through the learning curve in making the best decisions as they adapt to these structural changes. As in any organization that is going through digital transformation, companies require a sound plan to be successful in the process.

“We are also unveiling our new ready-to-plug manufacturing solution ‘MAFEX” primarily addressing the distinctive use of Diverse Infotech, we conduct regular information sessions, webinars and meetings to share knowledge and educate customers on what’s in store for them with the new possibilities,” the CEO added.

Diverse Infotech serves the automotive, distribution, and manufacturing industries, which belongs to the most impacted industries by digital transformation alongside with the pharma and the telecom industry.

About Diverse Infotech

Diverse Infotech specialises in SAP new implementations, Applications Maintenance and Support, System integration, SAP Training, Web Development, Mobile Development, and SEO and SMM optimization. As a leading services provider in the ERP marketplace, the company is future and customer-focused as they embark on new journeys to broaden their service offerings.

Infotech has a talented resource pool of experienced certified consultants, solutions architects and project managers. The company boasts of its resources knowledge and expertise that are backed by proven end-to-end project execution methodology.

The company has offices in Gurugram, India; Texas, USA; and Hangzhou, China.

More about SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud

SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud, launched in 2018, is a ‘bundled’ set of solutions enabling manufacturers to deploy Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and predictive analytics, in the cloud. It promises to improve operations visibility and boost manufacturing performance with integrated cloud MES and analytics. Below are its key features:

•    Cloud deployment

•    Visibility across the top floor and shop floor

•    Powerful key performance indicators (KPIs) and analytics

•    Detailed execution of production processes

SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud is available as software as a service (SaaS).

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