Digital transformation to SAP S/4HANA and digital supply chain for a nationwide network of cash-and-carry and delivery service wholesale outlets, serving large and small-scale companies in the hospitality industry, leisure facilities, caterers, large-volume users, company restaurants, petrol stations, small and medium-sized enterprises, small retail businesses, and the institutional market.
The Challenge
Supporting the business strategy to continue scale-up and stabilise operating margins, the supply chain required an overhaul to overcome current challenges, introduce greater controls and move towards common ways of working in order to ensure more consistent output, productivity and predictability.
The Solution & Approach
Working as part of a wider SAP S/4HANA transformation project led by a global system integrator, Rocket are providing specialist supply chain operations and SAP digital supply chain software expertise to this project.
Updating the current supply chain solution will bring greater reliability and consistency to the customer supply and provide greater controls and management to the warehouses. However, this project impacts significant change across all areas:
Systems - moving to SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM).
Technology - moving to SAP HANA and modernisation of operational technology.
Operations - improvement and standardisation of business process and ways of working.
People - change management across multiple sites.
Acknowledging the Change Management challenges, the project is using an MVP (Minimal Viable Product) approach, first targeting the core requirements and mitigation of priority pain-points currently impacting the supply chain.
The MVP approach provides a short time to value without deviating from the longer-term strategic needs and supporting the SAP HANA roadmap.
SAP Extended Warehouse Management will be used. Running on SAP HANA this WMS will be deployed as a decentral architecture to the SAP S/4 HANA ERP system, ensuring scalability and responsiveness in the digital supply chain operations.
Creating an efficient mobile workforce is an essential aspect of the project. The supporting warehouse mobile infrastructure will be updated, including modern android based industrial mobile (RF) devices and printers allowing them to support new labels.
Other operational technology, such as the warehouse automation, will be addressed with alignment to standard SAP EWM business processes and greater integration of system and operational activities.
Accurate representation of the warehouse layout will drive up customer service by using layout-oriented processes and the creation of system driven work allocation.
Areas included in the MVP are:
Managing Change Management is a key success criterion with a prioritisation of mitigating current pain points while building a platform for longer term capability supporting the SAP HANA roadmap.
Business Outcomes
Anticipated benefits of the approach and solution are:
A refreshing outlook from this forward-thinking business, that will bring many benefits to the business and workforce.
The Challenge
The business has a large mobile workforce across multiple worldwide locations, compounded by very seasonal demand requiring a significant contingent workforce during the peak periods.
As with every business, optimising operating processes for efficiency, accuracy and cost are central to this project. However, this project is taking a more cutting-edge approach with an appreciation of the additional workforce benefits to be gained from the creation of an enhanced UX implementation.
The project goals include:
The adopted solution needs to be robust, scalable, high performance and not add technical complexity.
The project is running as part of a wider program in which the business is undergoing a business systems and process transformation around the implementation of SAP S/4 HANA platform and as such needs to take advantage of the latest S/4 development techniques to drive up performance for the high throughput operation.
The Approach - Rocket Design & Operation Thinking Mobile UX Design Methodology
Selected as the specialist SAP mobility partner for all aspects of the mobile solution. Chosen for our Enterprise Mobility approach, methodology and know-how combined with our SAP EWM experience and turn-key mobility services and extensive innovation IP:
Benefits of Approach
Using the Rocket Design & Operational Thinking UX Design Methodology puts the user at the centre of the design process to ensure the user persona and user experience is designed considering all the necessary aspects to ensure a robust, fit for purpose, high performance outcome.
The Solution
The overall solution is being built on the SAP Digital Supply Chain platform, Extended Warehouse Management (EWM), with the mobile execution.
The project includes optimisation and extension of standard EWM mobile transactions and the development of bespoke tailored mobile processes.
Mobile device selection and deployment will be carried out with the benefit of the Rocket mobile technology SAP provisioning library and SAP Digital Supply Chain mobile device validation program.
Benefits of Solution
The solution keeps the core SAP EWM application and technical architecture standard, ensuring ease of support, performance and compatibility with the SAP roadmap & release strategy.
The Rocket Mobile UX framework is built on SAP ITS mobile and keeps the solution 100% on-premise and without any middleware, while providing significant uplift to the standard capability and resulting benefits to the operation and mobile workforce:
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The Challenge
To provide a transportation management platform to reduce logistics cost of supplying products from over 350 technology brands to a customer base of 22,850 retailers and resellers and improve decision making capability.
The Solution
A UK first for Rocket who, as a trusted SAP partner, has been approved to deploy the latest Ramp-up release of SAP Transportation Management (TM) 9.3 on HANA which will be used to automate and optimise package building, resource planning, carrier selection and freight costing. Real time access to logistics business intelligence and embedded analytics has been achieved thanks to SAP HANA and Smart Dashboards from Fiori.
Business Outcomes
Planned Go-Live
Q1 2021
The Challenge
Rocket’s client required a tightly integrated logistics execution platform, supplying products from over 350 technology brands to a customer base of 22,850 retailers and resellers as part of a supply chain expansion programme. Key challenges include improving profitability of high-volume, low margin business.
The Solution
Another UK first for Rocket who, as a trusted SAP partner, has been approved to deploy the latest Ramp-up release of SAP Extended Warehouse Management on HANA. Extensive warehouse process optimisation, automation and mobilisation will form the foundation.
HANA will enable third party billing to significantly reduce third party logistics operational overheads, additionally, real time business intelligence and embedded analytics will improve visibility, traceability and operational management through Fiori’s Smart Dashboards.
Business Outcomes
Planned Go-Live
Q2 2021
S/4HANA
SAP Integrated Business Planning
SAP Extended Warehouse Management
SAP Transport Management
SAP Duty Management
SAP Health Engagement
SAP Track & Trace
SAP Cloud Platform
SAP Extended Supply Chain
SAP Development
SAP Integration
Mobilising SAP
Fiori/Smart Business
Rocket Mobile
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