Industry 4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the unprecedented change the world is seeing with the breakthroughs in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things (IOT), Cloud computing, Edge Computing, 3D printing, Augmented Reality etc.
It’s market size is estimated at around US$ 116.14 bn in 2021 and is expected to reach US$ 337.10 bn by 2028 (estimated CAGR of 16.4%).
At the core of Industry 4.0 is the ability to generate and process large amounts of data quickly to derive real-time insights. With insights, it is possible to make decisions faster by using artificial intelligence or human intervention.
While many definitions restrict Industry 4.0 to the factory shop floor, sensors and operational dashboards, its full potential can only be realized only by looking beyond the four walls of the factory. Connecting smarter design and manufacturing processes with the rest of the logistics, planning and procurement processes is key. This is the integral link between Industry 4.0 and the broader Digital Supply Chain.
Some key benefits gained from Industry 4.0 adoption include:
- Better insights
- Faster decision making
- Real-time visibility
- Reduction in asset downtime
- Reduction in safety incidents etc.
This article provides an overview of SAP’s strategy, solutions and showcases for Industry 4.NOW, and vision.
What is SAP Industry 4.NOW? Relationship with Industry 4.0 ?
Resilient Digital Supply Chains have been a key priority for many customers worldwide. The term ‘resilience’ here refers to the ability to react quickly and reliably to situations such as demand supply fluctuations, business model evolution, workforce patterns, regulatory changes etc.
By definition, Industry 4.0 enables interconnectedness between the broader supply chain processes and hence, becomes a key enabler to build this resilience. Together, SAP and its broader ecosystem partners are capable of delivering this resilience through Industry 4.0 today!
Hence, the term Industry 4.NOW represents SAP’s call for immediacy in realizing the benefits of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.NOW represents SAP’s confidence in delivering the Industry 4.0 vision NOW!
What is SAP’s Industry 4.NOW Strategy?
SAP’s Industry 4.NOW strategy addresses the end to end requirements of an enterprise from Shopfloor to Topfloor. It covers both Discrete and Process industries.
- As an example for Discrete industries, scenarios relevant for the Automotive industry include quality control, automation and adaptive production
- As an example for Process industries, scenarios relevant for the Mining industry include design, plant simulation and predictive maintenance
SAP Industry 4.NOW covers the following 4 pillars:
- Intelligent Products covers the interlock between the design and manufacturing process to design smarter products that the end customers need
- Intelligent Factories covers agile and flexible manufacturing process with clear visibility of the production & logistics process
- Intelligent Assets covers asset onboarding, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance
- Empowered People covers the ability to react to unforeseen events and overall worker safety
What is SAP Leonardo Industry 4.0?
SAP Leonardo was launched in 2017 as a digital innovation system from SAP. It included software and microservices that enable customers to leverage future-facing technologies like the Internet of Things, machine learning, blockchain, analytics, and Big Data.
SAP Leonardo IOT was an enabler of Industry 4.0 that included an IOT platform, accelerators such as SAP Connected Goods, SAP Global Track and Trace etc.
SAP Leonardo brand has been dropped and its IOT component has now been renamed to SAP IOT and is an integral part of SAP’s Industry 4.NOW strategy.
Digital Supply Chain and SAP Industry 4.NOW
The core processes within SAP Digital Supply Chain include:
- Idea Formulate: Formulate tailored recipes based on customer demand
- Design: Continuously innovate to shorten design cycles based on customer demand
- Plan: Ability to run demand-driven supply chains
- Manufacture: Increase agility and quality by optimizing manufacturing processes
- Deliver: Improve speed and efficiency of logistics and fulfillment
- Operate: Improve asset efficiency and reduce asset downtime
- Consume: Deliver the tailored end product for the customers
By combining them together, we have two end to end processes for Discrete & Process industries. Both these end to end processes are covered by Industry 4.NOW.
- Design to Operate for Discrete Industries e.g. manufacturing, automotive, high-tech, aerospace & defense etc. that includes:
DESIGN → PLAN → MANUFACTURE → DELIVER → OPERATE
- Idea Formulate to Consume for Process Industries e.g. chemicals, consumer products etc.
IDEA FORMULATE → PLAN → MANUFACTURE → DELIVER → CONSUME
SAP Solutions enabling Industry 4.NOW
SAP offers a multitude of solutions across the 4 pillars covered by Industry 4.NOW. Please find some of the key solutions listed per pillar below.
Intelligent Products covers the interlock between the design and manufacturing process to design smarter products that the end customers need
- Enterprise Product Development (EPD) is a cloud solution that covers requirements acquisition, collaboration, visualizations and simulations
- Siemens Teamcenter & Engineering Control Center (ECTR) are on-premise solutions that cover product lifecycle management including product configuration, visualization, project management etc. for discrete industries (read more on the SAP and Siemens partnership here). Please note that ECTR is also offered as a cloud solution.
- Enterprise Product Formulation (EPF) is an on-premise solution that covers management of recipes, materials, visualization, information required to handover to manufacturing for process industries
Intelligent Factories covers agile and flexible manufacturing process with clear visibility of the production & logistics process
- Digital Manufacturing Cloud (DMC), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Manufacturing Integration & Intelligence (MII) cover manufacturing execution, manufacturing network and manufacturing insights. DMC is a Cloud solution whereas MES and MII are on-premise solutions.
- Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) is an on-premise solution that covers inventory management and goods movement in central / distributed warehouses.
- Transportation Management (TM) is an on-premise solution that covers freight planning and optimization, freight cost management, event management etc.
Intelligent Assets covers asset onboarding, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance as an Intelligent Asset Management (IAM) suite
- Asset Intelligence Network (AIN) is a cloud solution that covers on-boarding of assets and collaboration with suppliers
- Asset Strategy and Performance Management (ASPM) is a cloud solution that covers asset information management, risk and criticality assessment, failure modes and effects analysis
- Predictive Asset Insights (PAI) is a cloud solution that covers predictive maintenance based on operational and business data collected
- Asset Manager is a cloud solution that offers work order management using mobile devices both online and offline
Empowered People covers the ability to react to unforeseen events and overall worker safety
- Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) is an on-premise & cloud solution that covers incident management, health & safety management, environment management and compliance management
These solutions are supported by SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP) which enables application integration, interactive analytics, building extensions and leveraging machine learning capabilities.
Experience SAP Industry 4.NOW
There are 3 ways for customers and partners to experience SAP’s Industry 4.NOW solutions:
- SAP Industry 4.NOW Experience Portal: Launched in 2020, this portal provides a comprehensive, guided and immersive online experience for the D20 and D2C processes
- SAP Industry 4.NOW Innovation Hubs: Launched in 2020 and 2021, these 3 innovation hubs can be leveraged for curated workshops and meet the experts sessions with customers and partners. In these sessions, end to end demonstrations of the D2O and D2C processes can be shown which includes robotics and factory systems as well.
- Partner innovation Hubs: These are Industry 4.0 hubs run by partners that can showcase end to end D2O and D2C processes. Some examples are (non-exhaustive): Atos Smart Factory Showcase, Deloitte Smart Factory, Accenture Industry X.0 Innovation Centre etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. SAP is a founding member of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance since 2019 along with Beckhoff, Endress+Hauser Group, Hilscher, ifm, KUKA and MULTIVAC.
SAP brands its IOT offering now as SAP IOT instead of SAP Leonardo IOT. This indicates the move away from the Leonardo branding used a few years ago.
SAP has 3 state-of-the-art Industry 4.NOW Innovation Hubs in the following locations:
– Newtown Square, USA
– Walldorf, Germany
– Tokyo, Japan
References, image credits : SAP Industry 4.0 Strategy Whitepaper