Artificial Intelligence to enhance SAP

Did you like our article?

In many news or conferences, we frequently hear the same terms today: Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things), Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain. How do we relate this to a SAP solution?.

Ever since SAP launched its new ERP S/4HANA, it introduced the Digital Core concept, which constitutes a centralized system of the company’s business processes but is also capable of integrating with other internal or external systems or applications. For example, a vendor marketplace, a customer website, cloud apps for employees, data originating directly from the company’s assets such as facilities, vehicles, etc.

Consequently, the SAP (SAP ES) company itself is visualizing the new and heterogenous business solutions as another digital transformation requirement. The SAP Leonardo solutions themselves are incorporated in the current SAP ERP as an external element, as could any third-party solution.

On the other hand, the rise of the Internet giants is largely based on the development and application of Artificial Intelligence techniques. These techniques are not new, but the novelty is that these tools are now available to companies of all sizes, as costs have dropped significantly. The same goes for the processing and storage requirements of these applications, which today are affordable, thanks to these same public clouds.

How can a SAP client take advantage of this?

Today, having the necessary elements to implement an external solution to enhance a SAP solution with artificial intelligence is quite accessible. In public clouds such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) there are storage options available for large volumes of data (Big Data or Data Lakes) at very reasonable costs. It is also possible to use high levels of computing power for the periods of time strictly necessary; for example, in the training or learning phase of a predictive model. To accomplish an operational solution, the integration mechanisms between the SAP solution and the cloud-hosted predictive solution must be implemented.

What types of solutions may be implemented for SAP?

At Novis we have been exploring all these new technologies for some time now. Of all the possible use cases, which are quite varied, we believe that the most feasible for our clients are those related to optimization and predictive tasks. Mostly:

• Demand forecasts and replenishment optimization.
• Fault prediction and maintenance optimization.
• Customer purchase recommendations.
• Credit line assessment.

While SAP has traditional solutions for some of these functionalities, there are others in the market that are simpler, cheaper, and easier to use.The advantage of solutions based on Artificial Intelligence is that they do not require an expert user, nor previously designed models. Having the adequate data, in substantial volumes, is sufficient to make use of different learning tools. Once an acceptable predictability is achieved, the model may be applied in the actual operation, as well as continue to improve its predictive capacity.

We want to share these experiences with our clients and are preparing a webinar for May 2018.

Author, Glen Canessa, Presales Manager at Novis

If you would like more information about our services, please contact us