The Schaeffler Group has been driving groundbreaking inventions and developments in the field of motion technology over the last 75 years. From bearing solutions and linear guidance systems to repair and monitoring services, the manufacturer has innovated a range of critical technologies, products, and services for electric mobility, CO₂-efficient drives, chassis solutions, and renewable energies.
All this hard work and ingenuity has turned Schaeffler into a reliable partner in making motion more efficient, intelligent, and sustainable across the entire life cycle.
According to Christof Heurung, head of Strategic Digitalization at Schaeffler: “We see sustainability and digitalization as key topics for our future success. By combining the right digital technologies, such as AI innovations, with our pioneering spirit, we can take sustainability to the next level and create an even more sustainable future for Schaeffler, as well as for our customers and suppliers.”
Partnering for Greener Supply Chain Digitalization
Shipping diverse offerings to customers worldwide requires a wide array of containers — all of which must be managed efficiently and transparently across internal operations, suppliers, and customers. However, to be successful, this approach demands the integration of numerous business systems and applications to access and exchange information securely, streamline processes strategically, and react to new challenges and opportunities with precision.
Unfortunately, most companies fall short of achieving this advantage. Shipping containers are often managed with a fragmented application landscape. This setup challenges the ability to respond quickly to packaging trends and new business requirements. It also limits the transparency needed to reconcile customers’ returnable-packaging accounts accurately and outsource delivery services to the right shared-service center. Suppliers using the same containers operate on a separate third-party system, leading to disjointed operations.
“After using SAP solutions for around 40 years now, during the past five years, we have established a strategic partnership with SAP to develop and introduce new IT application systems while forging ahead in our desire to run a more sustainable operation,” says Gerhard Stoessel, IT program lead for SAP S/4HANA at the Schaeffler Group. “Such a relationship is allowing Schaeffler and SAP to identify unmet industry needs and launch numerous innovations.”
Introducing Industry-Wide Circular Logistic Flows
One of those innovations is the SAP Returnable Packaging Management solution. The industry-specific solution supports circular logistic flows for returnable and reusable packaging material such as containers, boxes, and pallets — from supplier and customer deliveries to intra-company movements and the journey back to the company.
When Schaeffler first used SAP Returnable Packaging Management, it covered only 30% of container management requirements. Sven Proschek, product owner of SAP S/4HANA Cloud for logistics at Schaeffler, notes that the company’s close collaboration with SAP was key to turning this trend around: “Our partnership with SAP enabled us to enrich the solution with the industry-relevant capabilities that companies like ours need, as well as near-seamless, end-to-end integration of the container management cycle.”
Schaeffler is currently rolling out the solution across over 80 manufacturing plants in its worldwide ecosystem. This approach is streamlining the supply chain into a more efficient and robust network, resulting in fewer delivery failures and deeper transparency in the company’s packaging material inventory. The overall workload is decreasing even though the company ships products to more customers — thanks to AI capabilities such as container reconciliation automation and self-services for reordering packaging materials and checking inventory.
“We can now react quickly to new trends, support an end-to-end collaborative solution for suppliers and customers, and save time and costs through automation,” Proschek reports. “Efficient container management also helps us avoid delivery failures due to shortages.”
Making Sustainability More Cost-Efficient
Schaeffler is also exploring new AI-enabled capabilities for SAP Returnable Packaging Management that can help the business, as well as its peers, further bridge the gap between sustainability and cost efficiency.
One idea that is gaining traction is machine learning-powered returnable packaging account matching. It aims to reduce the manual effort needed to analyze unmatched items and determine whether the underlying issue is a logistical exception or a discrepancy in matching attributes between incoming statements and open line items.
With this capability, Schaeffler can perform returnable account matching with the help of machine learning models and automate the matching process by activating line-item matching. Doing so streamlines the reconciliation process and enhances efficiency, empowering packaging planners to focus on strategic tasks. Additionally, it minimizes errors and increases the accuracy of the returnable packaging material inventory across the supply chain.
Expanding the Possibilities with a Future-Minded Vision
Schaeffler’s commitment to innovation and sustainability is evident in its adoption of AI-powered solutions for sustainable packaging and supply chain management. By using technologies such as the line-item matching functionality available in SAP Returnable Packaging Management, Schaeffler is not only streamlining its operations but also reducing costs, minimizing errors, and increasing efficiency.
As Schaeffler continues to lead the way in sustainable packaging practices, it sets a compelling example for the industry, showcasing the transformative potential of cloud innovations and AI in driving sustainable business practices.
Korbinian Koblitz is Business Development lead at SAP.
