Enterprise software giant SAP unveiled its newest modern cloud ERP specifically designed for mid-market organizations, a little over two years since the launch of RISE with SAP offering that garnered massive adoption by global companies and accelerated SAP’s pivot to the cloud. Dubbed GROW with SAP, the ready-to-run cloud ERP harnesses the tech multinational’s in-depth industry knowledge based on decades of experience and the power of advanced cloud technology to help midsize companies drive innovation and improve business agility. 

Verena Siow, president and managing director of SAP Southeast Asia, shared during the launch of GROW with SAP held in Phuket, Thailand that since the pandemic, small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) have shown marked uptake of the SAP cloud portfolio. The German company is ensuring that the SMEs, which take a big chunk (80%) of SAP customers in the region, are empowered to keep pace with the rapidly changing digital economy. 

“Digital has become the forefront for companies to survive and continue running their operations,” commented Siow. “We see huge interest from SMEs because they can’t rely on Excel and custom apps anymore. That’s why we launched Grow with SAP to help them run faster, be more agile, and deploy cloud ERP more easily.”

Modern SAP ERP Solution for SMEs

GROW with SAP enables midmarket companies seamlessly move to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, with confidence in optimizing industry best practices, supporting ready-to-go and pre-configured processes to drive business growth and innovation. In addition, the new ERP solution enables midsize enterprises to engage with customers and get support from SAP’s global partner ecosystem. 

As a true exemplar of innovation and collaborative alliances, SAP is partnering with Thailand’s I AM Consulting and Delaware to drive the GROW with SAP offering in Southeast Asia. 

“The biggest advantage of S/4 HANA public cloud is that you can start with a limited scope at a very fast pace of six to eight weeks, so the entry point is quite easy,“ said Christophe Derdeyn, partner and director of Delaware’s Singapore and international business. “And from an internal operations perspective, you will need an implementation provider like us, but once you go live in the initial phase, you don’t need to have a big IT team. Over time, you can adopt new functionalities and evolve the platform as you grow as an organization.”

SAP’s chief partner officer in Southeast Asia, Vipin Chandran, explained the significant role of SAP partners in the successful adoption of GROW with SAP in the region that will ultimately help SMEs embark on business transformation with faster deployment and ROI despite the lack of in-house IT support. Down the line, SAP will tap the Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan markets along with regional cities such as Surabaya in Indonesia and Danang in Vietnam. 

According to Siow, early adopters of GROW with SAP could be new customers with greenfield implementations of S/4 HANA Cloud, with financial transformation as a key priority followed by other capabilities such as supply chain management. One of the pioneer customers of the GROW program is Singapore’s Temasek Public Resilience Infectious Disease Emergency (T-Pride) fund, which was established at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“By moving to the cloud and leveraging Grow with SAP as our digital core, we are able to enhance the way we operate with greater governance and visibility while continuing to deliver on our mission,” stated Judy Hoie, CEO of T-Pride.

GROW with SAP Features

Here are some features and benefits of the GROW with SAP offering:

• Includes packaged activation services for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, with experts to support ready-to-run processes to speed deployment timeline and improve time-to-value
• Being a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, companies can move to the cloud at a predictable cost and time frame
• Includes the SAP Activate process, utilizing an innovation-as-a-service methodology that offers self-service tools to help enterprises choose capabilities that are tailor-made according to their needs
• Includes SAP Business Technology Platform that features SAP Build, allowing both experienced coders and citizen developers to build applications and business sites rapidly as well as automate processes without coding
• Offers Access to SAP Learning portfolio and SAP Community

The post GROW with SAP: ERP Solution for SMEs appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

A new leader to take the helm of SAP Malaysia has been announced today by German software multinational SAP. Saqib Sabah, former Chief Operating Officer of SAP Pakistan, is taking the Managing Director role in SAP Malaysia Sdn Bhd to further drive digital transformation in line with the accelerating cloud adoption and digital economy in the country.

Sabah’s new role follows after SAP’s consecutive leadership announcements in the past weeks anchored on helping the organization, its partners, and customers thrive in the new era– from the nomination of Punit Renjen as a new member of the Supervisory Board and as the designated successor to the current Chairman, Professor Dr. Hasso Plattner, to the appointment of Ryan Poggi as Managing Director of SAP UK & Ireland. In the latter part of 2022, several SAP leaders were also given new roles including the appointment of Dr. Carl Jones as SAP Concur South East Asia (SEA) Managing Director, Rudy Abrahams as Managing Director of SAP Philippines, Dominik Asam as the new SAP Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and SAP Executive Board Member, replacing Luka Mucic, and Lloyd Adams as SAP North America President. 

New MD to Continue on the Commitment of SAP Malaysia Sdn Bhd 

In July 2022, a national strategic initiative to accelerate the growth of the country’s digital economy for the benefit of Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) was launched by Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob. Dubbed Malaysia Digital, the initiative is driven by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) through Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). The latest initiative aims to attract and encourage companies, talents, and investment to boost local businesses and bring the Rakyat (citizens) as a key player in the global digital economy.

Through the years, SAP Malaysia has been one of the technology companies supporting the nation’s digital transformation efforts, especially for the SMEs. Most recently, the enterprise software company forged a strategic alliance with leading digital transformation solutions firm UST and another global tech corporation Intel 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. Currently, SAP Malaysia caters to about 1500 customers from across 25 industries, including Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), Johor Corporation, and PXL Marketing Sdn Bhd which have adopted the RISE with SAP offering

Now, under the new MD Sabah, SAP Malaysia is determined to continue its support to the country’s advancing digital economy and national transformation objectives according to Verena Siow, President and Managing Director, SAP South East Asia. She said:

“As one of the market leaders in enterprise application software, SAP is committed to help empower our customers and partners to become sustainable, intelligent, and networked enterprises to run at their best. We are proud to have Saqib join us in SAP Malaysia to contribute to driving sustainable success in the cloud, meaningful change, and digital inclusivity to aid in spurring the goal for national competitiveness for all Malaysians.”

Commenting on the country’s progress, Sabah shared:

“I am extremely passionate about Malaysia’s growth and am a firm believer that technology is one of the keys for Malaysia to realize its aspirations of becoming a high-income nation.”

“During and post-pandemic, it has been demonstrated how critical digital technologies are, such as cloud and artificial intelligence (AI), for business continuity and to thrive amid uncertain times. In Malaysia, we have seen more businesses adopting cloud technologies to remain competitive and ensure that they adhere to the demands of their end-user customers,” he added.

Sabah also expressed appreciation of the government’s national strategy, Malaysia Digital.

As the new MD of SAP Malaysia, Sabah will lead the company in enabling Malaysian organizations and communities to embark on today’s pressing challenges, including business transformation in the cloud, creating a resilient supply chain network, and driving a sustainable future. 

The post SAP Malaysia Sdn Bhd Powers Through Under New MD appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As the German enterprise software giant honored its 50th year in Southeast Asia (SEA), the company celebrates organizations and individuals that lead the way in adjusting to the constantly changing business landscape despite the disruptions that are present in today’s modern economy. In the most recent SAP Best Run Awards for SEA, customers that have utilized SAP products to drive innovation and generate better business outcomes are being celebrated with two brand new awards namely the Sustainability Award and the Most Adaptable Award.

SAP SEA President and Managing Director Verena Siow acknowledged that the world is living through the process of how digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the way that businesses conduct their operations. She explained that customers are embracing SAP technologies to transform their operations, address difficulties in order to prevent being disrupted, and modernize mission-critical infrastructure in a manner that minimizes the risk to their enterprises.

Thrilled to be working with some of the most innovative and sustainable organizations in Southeast Asia, SAP MD Siow noted:

“With the SAP Best Run Awards, we are delighted to celebrate their achievements and resilience amidst changing business environments. SAP has been at the forefront of leading our customers through the pandemic and I look forward to empowering our customers for the next decade of growth in Southeast Asia and beyond.”

Becoming an Intelligent Enterprise with SAP

NUHS, an integrated academic and regional health system in Singapore, received the Most Transformational Award because of its ability to undergo significant transformation in a short amount of time in order to successfully navigate the external factors that affect their sector. According to NUHS Group Chief HR Officer Priscilla Teo, the organization obtained two legacy HR systems when the country re-clustered the healthcare services in 2017, making the operations laborious and complicated.

Teo went on to explain that despite stringent government security regulatory requirements and limited internet connectivity on the office network, NUHS was able to successfully transition to a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution on SAP SuccessFactors. She added that the project became the first cloud-based human resource information system (HRIS) implementation in the country’s public healthcare industry.

“This implementation provided NUHS 15,000 employees 24/7 access to HR related information via a single mobile app called myHR mobile, and within the first month of go-live, over 90% of the employees have logged in, with a whopping 85% activation rate,” Teo revealed.

It can be noted that NUHS also deployed robotic processing automation (RPA) bots in order to automate and simplify the process of handling COVID-19 swab patient records within an SAP system. The organization drastically cut down the patient registration time from two minutes to just 30 seconds, enabling personnel to devote more of their time to the most important tasks.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Most Adaptable Award was given to SATS, a provider of gateway services and food solutions. With the intelligent enterprise resource planning (ERP) system SAP S/4HANA serving as the company’s digital core, SATS incorporated standard SAP functions in order to enhance its capabilities and make it possible for the company to pivot and scale.

Medical technology firm Terumo Asia Holdings, on the other hand, was recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and was given the Emerging Frontier Market Award. The company was able to improve compliance and controls while also standardizing regional procedures and travel and expense (T&E) regulations after implementing SAP Concur across Terumo Asia to unify policies, processes, and systems.

Lastly, the DKSH Corporate Shared Services Center was the winner of both the awards for Best Customer Experience Management and the Sustainability Award. Sharing more about the SAP transformation project, DKSH Corporate Shared Services Center Chief Information Officer Sam Oh said:

“In early 2020, we built an online Product Information Management (PIM) system to create and standardize digital product contents. By leveraging the SAP Commerce Cloud, we have seen increased activities in the chemical business by 900%, digital leads by 500%, 45% increase in customers and a 48% increase in order value for our E-commerce business.”

Participants of the SAP Best Run Awards for SEA were encouraged to emphasize new ways of thinking, adopting the new standards, and deployments of technology that not only set the trend for their industry but also make their business work more efficiently. In addition, the German tech giant will contribute a total of US$30,000 to the ASEAN Data Science Explorers Program on behalf of the winning firms.

The post Awarding SEA Customers’ Efforts to Be an Intelligent Enterprise with SAP appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

The enterprise software giant is reinforcing its digital innovation investment in Asia with the launch of SAP Labs Singapore established to accelerate research and development for SAP key solutions in the region. The opening ceremony held on the 23rd of March was graced by esteemed SAP leaders: Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE for SAP Product Engineering, Eileen Chua, Managing Director, SAP Singapore, and Manik Saha, newly appointed Managing Director for SAP Labs Singapore; and Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) Managing Director Jacqueline Poh.

SAP Labs Singapore joins the global SAP Labs Network comprised of 20 labs in 17 countries including China, India, Japan, and South Korea. As the pioneer SAP Labs in Southeast Asia, the digital innovation facility is strategically located in the city-state, one of the world’s leading technology hubs and a country that has been significantly contributing to SAP’s regional achievements. SAP in Singapore currently employs over 1,100 professionals and caters to large and global enterprises such as Changi Airport Group, Hilleman Laboratories, JUMBO Group, Love Bonito, Singapore LNG Corporation, and Sunningdale Tech Ltd., among many.

“SAP Labs Singapore joins a network of strategic high-tech clusters, reinforcing SAP’s strong confidence in Singapore as an innovation and investment hub, its highly educated and skilled talent, and its position as a regional beacon of excellence in technology innovation and a digital future,” stated Saueressig.

Partnering with Singapore Economic Development Board

Aside from driving innovation on deep technologies such as AI and machine learning, SAP Labs Singapore is also anticipated to accelerate digital supply chain transformation, strengthen the intelligent business networks and develop sustainability solutions. In addition, the newest innovation hub in Asia fosters digital talent and bolsters the SAP ecosystem and community engagement in Singapore.

Furthermore, SAP has garnered the support of EDB, a government agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry responsible for enhancing the nation’s position as a global centre for innovation, business, and job opportunities for Singaporeans. Under the SAP Labs investment, tech multinational will be doubling its existing product engineering with the addition of over 500 highly skilled digital professionals locally by 2025. The massive team of SAP professionals will be located at the company’s regional headquarters in Pasir Panjang.

Commenting on the latest SAP venture in Singapore, Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director, EDB, said that having the SAP Labs in the country demonstrates SAP’s confidence in Singapore as a strategic centre for enterprise software product development and innovation. She added:

“SAP Labs Singapore will create exciting job opportunities here in areas such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning that will further deepen the skills of our workforce. We look forward to its continued growth as we work together to enrich our digital ecosystem.”

Deepening Innovation Alliances

SAP Singapore MD Chua stressed that gaining the support of EDB on top of the recently launched Centre for XM Innovation in Asia strengthens the position of the nation not only as a leader in innovation but also a collaborative partner helping customers, partners, and the community achieve success in the digital economy leveraging cloud technology.

“SAP has a deep history in Singapore, and we recognise its status as a regional economic, financial, technology and innovation powerhouse, and its embodiment of a skilled population and a leader in cutting-edge innovation, which has helped propel the nation to the global stage,” said Chua.

“As companies look towards a new era of growth, businesses need to be agile and continually re-invent themselves. In a digital-first future, organisations must rapidly develop an innate ability to innovate – not just to adapt to the changing customer landscape, but to also create new sources of value and competitiveness as they consider broader challenges like sustainability. We aim to empower all organisations to embrace an innovation mindset,” SAP Labs MD Saha stressed.

The post Singapore Economic Development Board Backs Latest SAP Labs in Asia  appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Since the pandemic disrupted the world almost two years ago, SAP has been one of the global companies in the foreground of workplace transformation supporting the survival and success of organisations while ensuring the wellness, health, and safety of the workforce through intelligent technologies and services. Internally, the enterprise software giant has also seamlessly adapted to the new world of work since it has been supportive of a location-agnostic work model for decades now. 

Under the COVID-19 environment, SAP solidified its advocacy on remote working by implementing Pledge to Flex in June, a 100{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} flexible and trust-based global framework where people can work from home, at the office, or remotely to support employees’ productivity and creativity as well as meet business requirements during these dynamic times. Most recently and in addition to the company’s initiatives on hybrid working, the SAP Southeast Asia office in Singapore has been completely redesigned to adapt to today’s new workspace and workforce requirements.

SAP Labs in India Redesigning Workspace

Echoing SAP SEA’s new hybrid workplace design, SAP Labs India, the largest Research and Development center outside SAP’s Germany head office, has also transformed its iconic building BLR01 on the Bangalore campus. In an article written by Sindhu Gangadharan MD, SAP Labs India & SVP, SAP User Enablement, she shared how SAP’s new and the first hybrid office in India covered several key design considerations for a sustainable hybrid workplace that would further enhance the employee experience. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic represents an inflection point that will significantly re-shape the future of work over the next five years – and likely beyond. At SAP Labs India, we are proud to lead this change and eager to learn more to create an employee-centered experience for an inclusive global workforce,” she said.

Open Office Layout

Taking into account the results of SAP’s internal findings that a resounding majority (88{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) of its employees spend less than 50{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the day at their desks, SAP Labs India’s BLR01 hybrid office now has conferences that are not entirely walled. The office has also covered the remote work collaboration needs with high-tech communication tools.

Collaborative Spaces

The office design is comprised of three primary courtyards that incorporate social spaces and pocket meeting areas that offer flexibility according to employees’ engagement needs.

Health and Wellness Areas

The pandemic has amplified the need for work-life balance as well as health and overall wellness. SAP’s new office design incorporated open fitness areas located around the office to encourage employees to do a quick workout or stretch after long hours of working.

Sustainability Driven

In relation to SAP’s ambitious global goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2023, SAP Labs India currently runs 95{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of its campus operations, including BLR01, on renewable energy, specifically from green energy sources. The hybrid workspace utilises an onsite solar power grid along with Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting systems and 70{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the company’s fleet is powered by EV. The newly redesigned campus has placed EV charging stations to encourage employees to embed sustainability in their daily activities.

Expressing appreciation for the new hybrid office, Sudhansu Mohanty, DevOps Tech Lead at SAP Labs India, wrote on LinkedIn: 

“An office building like none other. SAP Labs India renovates their oldest building in Bangalore to welcome colleagues to work in a new hybrid model. The office space is almost like a 5-Star resort!!! Amazing SAP!”

The post SAP Labs in India Pioneers Hybrid Workspace in the Country appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

The recent virtual event “A Growing ASEAN, A Hungry Population: Building Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply Chains” organised by SAP underscored the critical role of technology in backing the anticipated food security challenges in Southeast Asia on account of the region’s increasing food demand from rapid population growth– on top of the pressing climate change and global supply chain disruptions. The forum’s moderator Simone Pigason, Head of Digital Supply Chain SAP Southeast Asia, was joined by panelists Verena Siow, President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia; Leonardo Rabelo, Chief Finance Officer of Dole Asia; and Nguyen Duy Thuan, Chief Executive Officer of Vietnam’s Loc Troi Group.

The impending food security issues in Southeast Asia are posing a significant hurdle in region’s achievement of its sustainability ambitions. With the region’s economy, GDP, and even the workforce being highly reliant on the agriculture and food industry, Siow emphasised that food producers must utilise the most appropriate solutions to be able to contribute to tackling the increasing food demand as well as wastage. Citing the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) report, she stated that around 1.3 billion tons are wasted annually across the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics. 

Specifying how technology and digital transformation can deliver change, the SAP SEA MD said:

“As a start, we need to better utilise the food we produce to minimize wastage. Food security and sustainability are more of a resource management challenge, where technology can be a change agent.” 

“Given the diverse food industries across the region which spans from production to retail and restaurants, businesses need help in gaining better end-to-end oversight over their operations, forecast demand through big data to deliver food in a timely manner, and improve supply chain efficiency – all of which could greatly contribute to the reduction of food scarcity in a sustainable way”, she further stressed.

SAP Technology Supporting the Agriculture Industry

SAP has been at the forefront of innovation, creating solutions for agribusiness to support sustainable food supply chains and increase farming efficiencies. During the fireside chat, Nguyen and Rabelo shared how their companies embed technology in agriculture processes to accelerate sustainability, enhance efficiency, and drive competitiveness.

In 2020, Loc Troi Group, a Vietnamese manufacturer and supplier of agricultural products and services, embarked on a modernisation journey leveraging SAP S/4HANA. The transformation project enabled the group of companies to:

• Streamline processes following International standards
• Enhance planning capacity
• Track activities across its business
• Increase agriculture competitiveness

Nguyen shared about the company’s achievement of pioneering the world’s first rice sustainability standard with the help of Mekong Delta farmers anticipated to deliver a Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP)-certified rice locally and overseas. He explained:

“Today Loc Troi works with more than 200,000 rice farmers and aims at 1 million farmers in 2024, on top of an annual rice milling capacity of 6 million tonnes. We leverage our foundations in agricultural knowledge in developing new crop varieties and resource-saving farming methods, along with applying technologies like drones and hospital mobile apps to provide consultancies for rice and fruit farmers.”

Meanwhile, Rabelo emphasised how technology enables Dole Asia Holdings’, a global leader and innovator in packaged fruit and healthy snacks production, to work towards zero fruit waste. He said:

“Technology in Agriculture or Agtech is vital in shaping our progressive and proactive waste reduction agenda. The in-farm IoTs, phase tracking, and end-to-end digitalisation will be the new superpowers to enable us to improve our quality and overall product value like never before and remarkably reducing waste.”

SAP has more upcoming innovations for the agriculture industry including new SAP Fiori apps for SAP Agricultural Contract Management to create, maintain, price, and mass-price contracts and integration of SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain with SAP Farm Management by Vistex, among others.

The post How SAP Technology Can Tackle Food Sustainability Challenges  appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Singapore is one of Asia’s industrialised countries and one of the most competitive economies in the world that has a vibrant free-market economy, reasonable income distribution, and an established financial business framework. Since its independence in 1965, the city-state has demonstrated remarkable growth with much credit given to the government’s sound economic strategy, excellent infrastructure, numerous foreign investors, and highly skilled workforce.

Singapore’s Food Story

However, like most nations, Singapore was not spared from COVID-19’s massive global economic disruptions, especially that the country heavily relies on international trade including importing food for its 5.7million people. According to Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the country imports more than 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of its food from more than 170 countries and regions– a strategy that has worked for the country for many years now. Recognising its limitation in land area and agriculture, Singapore employs long-term planning and proactive actions to safeguard its food supply, earning the nation the top spot in the Global Food Security Index for the second year running in 2019.

Moreover, the country has acknowledged that emerging trends affecting food supply such as climate change, an increasing population that is projected to grow by 50{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} in 2050, and prioritisation of local needs over international trade need to be addressed urgently. The SFA has designed three broad strategies aptly called the 3 Food Baskets to further back Singapore’s food security: Diversify Import Sources, Grow Local, and Grow Overseas.

Leveraging New Technology in Agriculture for ’30 by 30’ Goal

According to U Chee Lioy, SAP SeA Industry Cluster Lead for Public Sector, technology is key to unlocking Singapore’s food production potential. Emerging technologies in agriculture can help increase farming processes efficiencies, ensure food safety, and overcome manpower challenges– all critical to achieving the ’30 by 30’ goal.

Though all of Singapore’s 3 Food Baskets leverage technology in some ways, the Grow Local initiative is one wherein Singapore can maximise the capabilities of new technology in agriculture in securing food supply and quality. Even before the pandemic, SFA has already plotted its ambitious goal to produce 30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the country’s nutritional needs locally by 2030, a significant jump from its current food production at 10{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}. The ‘30 by 30’ initiative aims to transform Singapore’s agri-food industry into one that is highly productive and employs climate-resilient, resource-efficient, and sustainable technologies.

Chee Lioy mentioned emerging technologies in agriculture that Singapore can maximise to improve farming efficiencies such as sensors that can measure soil and weather conditions, camera-equipped satellites, and drones that can even help distribute bugs into fields as a form of natural pest control. He also mentioned that robots will soon bring automation to farming processes such as weeding, fertilising, seeding, and pruning plants.

He highlighted that these technologies have become more affordable and accurate in providing data that will allow farmers to take necessary actions to ensure products are of high quality.

SAP’s Solutions for Agribusiness

With regards to ensuring food safety, Chee Lioy emphasised the importance of keeping track of the sources of food supplies and how SAP can support this critical challenge. Organisations can leverage SAP’s Agribusiness Platform, a single logistics platform, to help manage their supply chain, which includes quickly identifying any unsafe food sources and creating accountability in the supply chain.

SAP offers a wide range of solutions that helps organisations run core business processes along the entire agribusiness value chain more efficiently. SAP’s Agribusiness Platform touches various areas of the agribusiness such as Agricultural Production and Farming, Origination and Trading, Commodity and Food Processing, Food Supply Chain Management, and Marketing and Sales.

Chee Lioy stressed that using the right skills and tools will help Singapore overcome its manpower challenges. For instance, Ukrainian grain producer MGrain leveraged SAP S/4HANA to help the company streamline business processes and reduce manpower requirements, which resulted in increasing the company’s exports sixfold with only double its previous manpower.

SAP has more upcoming innovations for the agribusiness including new SAP Fiori apps for SAP Agricultural Contract Management to create, maintain, price, and mass-price contracts and integration of SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain with SAP Farm Management by Vistex, among others.

The post How New Technology in Agriculture Can Boost Food Security in SG appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

The judging panel includes Cathy Ward, APJ Head, Customer Engagement and Experience, SAP Asia Pacific and Japan, as well as other respected business leaders from around the region. Participants were evaluated based on how SAP technologies have been used to achieve improved business outcomes.

In an online event, Verena Siow, President and Managing Director at SAP Southeast Asia, kicked off the SAP Best Run Awards 2021 for SEA with an illuminating look at the power of business transformation. She said:

“The SAP Best Run Awards is a significant milestone not just for our customers and partners, but also to SAP as well. Following a year of uncertainties, it has been an absolute honour for us to recognise and celebrate the grit, resiliency and creativity of Southeast Asian organisations as they pivoted swiftly to respond, adapt and accelerate their growth in a challenging business environment.”

Winners of the SAP Best Run Awards for SEA have the opportunity to increase their organisation’s visibility and marketing mileage. These companies have used SAP products to reinvent their businesses, drive innovation, and thrive in today’s disrupted economy. 

Becoming a Best-Run Business with SAP

Changi Airport Group, Globe Telecom, Inc., TrickleStar (M) Sdn Bhd, Zuellig Pharma, and PXL Marketing Sdn Bhd topped the categories they competed in and were the winners of the SAP Best Run Awards 2021 for SEA.

Best Innovation Award – The Disruptor

Changi Airport Group, the manager of Singapore Changi Airport, bagged the Best Innovation Award – The Disruptor. The major revamp of the company’s iShopChangi platform with SAP Commerce as the Commerce Engine was deployed within 10 months from the start of the project, delivering more capabilities than the initial system. 

Despite introducing the platform in mid-2020, Changi Airport Group was able to pivot and scale beyond pre-pandemic levels. The company has expanded its merchant base and acquired over 70,000 customers using SAP Commerce Cloud as its engine.

Most Transformational Award – The Game Changer

Bringing home The Game Changer – Most Transformational Award is telecommunications company Globe Telecom, Inc. (Philippines). The firm successfully created new methods to stay flexible, scalable, sustainable, and maintain business continuity using SAP HANA DB and SAP S/4HANA, resulting in up to 14,200 hours of savings and a 99.99 percent uptime.

Most Promising Startup or Entrepreneurship Award – The Rising Star

TrickleStar (M) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian company that offers smart energy solutions aimed at increasing household and commercial energy efficiency, won The Rising Star – Most Promising Startup or Entrepreneurship Award. SAP enhanced TrickleStar’s ability to accelerate digital transformation, deliver value to customers, and save more than 65 percent on costs, personnel, and accounting with minimal increase in staffing.

SAP Business One was chosen by TrickleStar due to its extensive capability, ease of use, and flexibility to integrate with external supplier systems. The company’s requirement to reduce support staff was met by the capacity to run SAP Business One on the cloud.

Emerging Enterprise Award (Small and Midsize Enterprises or SMEs) – The Small but Mighty

Malaysian disposable food packaging supplier PXL Marketing Sdn Bhd took home The Small but Mighty – Emerging Enterprise Award for Small and Midsize Enterprises (SMEs). The company used SAP’s solutions to enable digital transformation and revolutionise its approach to change management, streamline user experiences, and increase efficiency, resulting in a 40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} boost in inventory management and a 30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} improvement in supply chain productivity.

Most Promising Next Generation Leaders – The Trailblazer (Individual)

Zuellig Pharma, one of the largest healthcare services providers in Asia, bagged the Most Promising Next Generation Leaders – The Trailblazer (Individual) Award. SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (RPA) was used by Zuellig Pharma to install and scale robots across the company. 

The adoption of SAP Intelligent RPA has helped the enterprise to pioneer the deployment of digital bots that meet the expected standards in terms of innovation. Additionally, this has further enabled Zuellig Pharma to continue daily operations during the COVID-19 pandemic while serving customers with an enhanced experience.

Best Customer Experience Management – The X Factor

Adding to the list of Zuellig Pharma’s achievements is earning the Best Customer Experience Management – The X Factor Award. The company’s eZPay platform uses the SAP Cloud for Payment portal for customers to identify invoices for payment and view Statement of Account documents. With SAP’s solution, Zuellig Pharma was able to fully utilise its cloud capabilities, eliminate all manual processes, and design a seamless customer experience in real-time, all while saving up to 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} on collection expenses.

Moreover, winners of the SAP Best Run Awards 2021 for SEA walk away with a total of US$30,000 charitable donations made by SAP to the ASEAN Foundation on behalf of them. This is in addition to professionally shot productions for their business promotions, as well as a personalised award trophy and an award certificate to commemorate their achievements.

The post Celebrating SEA Customers’ Journey to Becoming a Best-Run Business with SAP appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

In the recent six months, some SAP executive roles in Asia have gone through revamping with the same and ultimate objective to propel digitalisation in the continent, especially during the pandemic.

In the last quarter of 2020, some major role changes include the promotions of homegrown talents Nguyen Hong Viet as Managing Director (MD) of SAP Vietnam and Verena Siow as President and MD of SAP Southeast Asia. Last month, SAP APJ President Scott Russell has been promoted as Customer Success lead replacing Adaire Fox-Martin and as a new member of the Executive Board. SAP veteran Paul Marriott took over Russell’s role as SAP APJ President to further propel the software giant’s remarkable growth in the region. 

This March, SAP Indochina welcomes its new MD Atul Tuli, former Vice President and Head of Customer Experience of SAP South East Asia. As MD of Indochina, he is responsible for the overall performance of Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal.

Siow, who was the Managing Director of SAP Indochina before becoming SAP SeA President, shared her confidence in Tuli taking on the MD role emphasising the critical role of SAP Indochina in the SAP SeA’s growth strategy. Siow is responsible for leading the digital growth in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam markets as well as other emerging ASEAN countries. She said:   

“We remain focused and committed to supporting our customers with technology solutions that can elevate their business for the long term. I am confident that Atul’s deep industry experience and understanding of the diverse Indochina region will be a key driver in accelerating our customers’ business transformation and contributing to their success.”

Driving the Intelligent Enterprise with SAP

Tuli brings with him over two decades of experience in enterprise software with expertise on cloud applications in the area of Customer Experience (CX). He held various sales leadership roles in Salesforce, Oracle, and Microsoft before joining SAP in 2019 as Vice President and Head of Customer Experience, SAP South East Asia. In the past two years and amidst the extraordinarily challenging 2020, he has led SAP customer adoption and success of many organisations in the region.

Expressing optimism in his new role in SAP Indochina, Bangkok-based Tuli shared:

“The Indochina region presents economic growth opportunities.”

“In Thailand, the government launched the Thailand 4.0 initiative as part of their push into the digital economy and grow industries of the future. We are also seeing an uptake of digital transformation in industries such as Telco, Public Sector, Utilities, and Manufacturing. I am thrilled to help our customers and partners thrive and succeed in the digital economy,” he added.

Thailand 4.0 is an economic model designed to propel the country’s recovery and development from the economic challenges of past economic development models that focused on agriculture (Thailand 1.0), light industry (Thailand 2.0), and advanced industry (Thailand 3.0). Thailand’s economy is projected to rebound to 4.0 percent in 2021 according to The World Bank. In sync with the fourth industrial revolution, the country’s IoT is forecasted to reach THB 65.74 billion by 2030 with consumer, manufacturing, transportation, and logistics industries driving growth.

As Indochina’s new MD and an expert in cloud solutions, Tuli will be instrumental to the success of RISE with SAP– the software giant’s latest concierge service to the Intelligent Enterprise offered as a Business Transformation as a Service package.

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RMIT University Vietnam students Hoa Phung and Thinh Nguyen of Team Catfish were named the ASEAN DSE Regional Finals 2020 grand winners for their presentation that was focused on People with Disability: Unlocking the economic bottleneck. 

This year’s virtual ASEAN DSE Regional Finals named the top 10 teams from 10 ASEAN nations that have presented data-driven solutions that can make a difference to its people, supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region. The selected six SDGs themes that the participants covered in their proposed solutions are Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Thomas Zipperle, Chief Financial Officer at SAP Southeast Asia said:

“The ASEAN DSE program underpins the cultural diversity that SAP celebrates and embraces in the ASEAN region. Digital skills are essential for the workforce of today and the future. SAP Analytics Cloud aims to bridge the digital gap in ASEAN and empower youths to create sustainable innovations to address socio-economic issues.” 

ASEAN Foundation and SAP Data Science Competition Winners

The participants’ innovative ideas were judged on the best all-rounded concept, which includes creativity, feasibility, and the team’s ability to demonstrate the implementation of the solution. The young contenders addressed issues such as social inequalities, relooking into and managing new energy sources, mental and physical health, empowering people with disabilities and youth to be active contributors to community and society, and growing ASEAN’s workforce through digital integration.

Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation, Dr. Yang Mee Eng, highlighted:

“ASEAN Foundation and SAP share the common objective of equipping youths with future-ready skills that will enable them to thrive in the new normal era and supporting the theme of Viet Nam’s ASEAN Chairmanship, which is building a ‘Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN.” 

As the regional champion, Team Catfish received the grand prize of USD 1,500. Sharing about their momentous win, the RMIT students said:

“The journey of ASEAN Data Science Explorers has taken us from our observations of the surroundings to data-driven solutions, and ultimately actions. From this, we now truly believe that, even as young people, we can contribute to building a better future. And as we’ve said in our presentation: ‘Let’s work together for a future that works.” 

The National University of Singapore and Yale-NUS College students Koay Tze Min and Ng Yi Ming of Team Halcyon Seraph took the first runner-up position and the USD 1000 prize for their presentation that was focused on ASEAN Women-UP Township Network covering SDG 5 – Gender Equality and SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth. 

Universiti Teknologi Brunei students Oscar Fang Jack Ling and Quah Chun Meng of Team Psyduck tackled SDG 4 – Quality Education, SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities in their presentation that was focused on Digital Integration – the Key to Growth. The team took home USD 500 as a prize.

The top three presentations were part of the 852 proposals submitted this year.

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