SAP’s S/4HANA 1709 got released – Highlights from a logistics perspective

SAP S/4HANA 1709 On-Premise just got released in September 2017. With this latest version of SAP’s most modern business suite, embedded Transportation Management (TM) as well as the second release of embedded Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) are key innovations that customers can now adopt. Traditionally, supply chain processes used core ERP systems, supported by siloed applications, that provide additional, more advanced functionality around TM and EWM. This approach worked very well in the past, but is no longer sufficient through today’s pressure on order fulfillment and logistics processes like omnichannel retailing across all industries or technology innovations such as machine learning, real-time analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT). In-memory computing and cloud architectures have opened the door to a new suite of integrated in-memory enterprise applications.

With the 1709 release of SAP S/4HANA, companies now have access to a simplified system landscape with modular suite of integrated solutions including advanced supply chain capabilities that typically required separate installations.

From a transportation management perspective, the S/4HANA 1709 release is a first step to simplify and streamline business processes by allowing your company to build and maintain one set of data used by all business units. Transportation processes, such as delivery creation and creation and update of transportation requirements, are now integrated into one system. This reduces data redundancy, effort, and cost and enables our customers to run simple. Especially shipping industries s will benefit most from this first release. See the SAP S/4HANA Supply Chain for transportation management highlights at a glance:

• Order Management:
  • Embedded Order-to-Cash/Procure-to-Pay processes
• Transportation Planning:
  • Advanced freight planning and optimization in a holistic, effective, compliant and advanced way
  • Best-in-class freight planning capabilities through comprehensive visibility and powerful planning tools
  • Freight planning with Gantt Charts with manual planning and interplay with map
  • Driver Management, with drivers as business partners in master data: interactive management of driver and resources with tracking
  • Flexible and collaborative freight tendering and carrier selection
• Transportation Execution:
  • Efficient freight execution management and tracking with full process, shipment, event management and status visibility
  • Warehouse integration
  • Freight execution and monitoring
  • Document and output management details
  • International, cross-system shipment and event tracking (integrating to Event Management)
• Freight Costing and Settlement:
  • Freight Charges and Settlement
  • Integrated freight cost settlement
  • Cost distribution
  • Freight settlement
• Analytics and Reporting:
  • Real-time analytics based on Core Data Services (CDS)

So, the value of implementing S/4HANA in transportation management increases business productivity through more automated processed, electronic collaboration and reduced redundancies. Greater end-to-end visibility is achieved by real-time electronic track and trace capabilities and a cross-system document flow. The impact is tangible: SAP Performance Benchmarking shows that companies can save up to 15% of their freight spend due to freight consolidation, freight rate negotiation with simulation and what-if analysis, higher asset utilization and reduction in expedites and overheads.

Embedded EWM was introduced to the SAP S/4HANA with the 1610 release. Now, in the 1709 release, functions have been extended. The latest update simplifies the integration with TM, offers full quality management processes and additional elimination of redundant delivery objects. A new Fiori transaction for pick-cart handling and change-management for deliveries address challenges in e-commerce fulfillment while processes to consolidate partial stock quantities help optimize space utilization. Significant enhancements in Labor Management include ease of maintenance for engineered labor standards and travel distance as well as time-and-attendance enhancements for planning and reporting. Finally, new warehouse analytics powered by SAP HANA using Core Data Services views are introduced. See the SAP S/4HANA Supply Chain for extended warehouse management highlights at a glance:

• Warehouse Optimization:
  • Simplify integration with Transportation Management
  • Advanced Labor Management
  • Compliance and traceability
• Inbound Processing:
  • Inbound process optimization
  • Yard Management
• Storage and operations:
  • Inventory management optimization
  • Advanced e-commerce capabilities
  • Delivery integration / Change Management
  • Advanced integration of quality management
  • Unplanned Returns
• Outbound Processing:
  • Outbound process optimization

With SAP Extended Warehouse Management embedded in SAP S/4HANA, customers can choose to use basic warehouse management as well as advanced functionality. Thus, warehouse management is supported on different levels of complexity with one solution, which significantly simplifies the required system landscape. While basic warehouse management focuses on stock transparency and control and offers features for inventory management, inbound and outbound processing, movement of goods within the warehouse, physical inventory, and reporting. Advanced warehouse management helps you optimize all the processes of basic warehouse management and adds functionality for extended functions like yard management, labor management, value-added services, kitting, cross-docking, or warehouse billing. And the two levels serve as stepping stones to full supply chain convergence in SAP S/4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA provides a lot of benefits from a logistics perspective as well as overall advantages, like improved ease of use in a unified system with a simplified architecture. If you want to learn more about the general features of SAP S/4HANA, see enclosed a list of links.

See related blogs:

• Keeping promises to customers with S/4HANA
• Introducing S/4HANA 1709
• Embedded EWM in SAP S/4HANA – A functional comparison:
• SAP S/4HANA 1709 – Overview for planned deliveries
• How S/4HANA Can Help You Make Supply Chain Promises You Can Keep
• Customers bust three S/4HANA myths
• Top ERP SCM Limitations and how S/4 overcomes them 

Videos:

• Transforming Supply Chain Management with SAP S/4HANA
• SAP S/4HANA in 2 Minutes: Supply Chain Transformation

Useful Links:

• The 1709 page: http://www.sap.com/s4hana
• SAP S/4HANA Digital Supply Chain Special Report now available
• Early Adopter Care Program
  • Information for customers – Link
  • Customer registration form Project Scope – Link