KUALA LUMPUR — Over the years, Business Today has tracked the progress of SAP in Malaysia. After all, the company is today the world’s largest provider of enterprise application software with the broadest portfolio of modular and suite solutions available on premise, in the cloud and hybrid.
According to its fact sheet, SAP customers generate some 98% of total global commerce (USD46 trillion, or approximately RM192 trillion) while 99 of the world’s 100 largest companies are SAP customers. In addition, 85 of the 100 largest companies in the world are SAP S/4 HANA customers, while approximately 80% of SAP’s customers are SMEs.
SAP S/4 HANA is described as “market-leading intelligent enterprise resource planning (ERP), delivered with intelligent capabilities and best practices for every industry, available in the cloud or any premise”.
With SAP Malaysia celebrating its 30th anniversary later this month, numerous local organisations have already benefited from SAP’s innovative technologies to realise greater efficiencies while opening new revenue streams.
Business Today had previously reported on how glove manufacturer Aspen Glove Sdn Bhd had implemented SAP’s S/4HANA Cloud – Private Edition for its new glove manufacturing plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park running 96 productions lines. As a result, it moved beyond smart manufacturing with its Industry 4.0 initiatives, connecting production with end-to-end process execution across the supply chain – so it can reach a new level of connectivity and adapt to change on the fly.
Then, there is also one of Malaysia’s favourite spice and curry manufacturers Baba Products Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BABA’s) which successfully accelerated its digital transformation programme to to become more lean, agile, and resilient. It had transitioned from its previous all-manual, paper-based processes to the SAP S/4 HANA platform, complemented by Direct Store Delivery with CRM (customer relationship management), SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Payroll. As a result field personnel are also able to plan and schedule store visits and deliveries efficiently and improve product placement and in-stock levels, access key information about customers, orders, and deliveries in real-time on their mobile device, while verifying product returns, process orders, and settle bills on the spot, while sharing pricing, promotions, and discounts.
SAP Malaysia managing director Hong Kok Cheong (pic above) had told us previously that businesses adopting a ‘wait and see’ attitude towards digitalisation could be left behind – and may even become ‘irrelevant’.
“Many solutions that were once the exclusive domain of large corporates have been scaled in capacity – and price – and are now within reach of local SMEs,” said Hong.
To continue staying relevant with the market, SAP had also introduced the ‘RISE with SAP’ value proposition that outlines what’s needed to provide, protect and prosper in today’s digital society.
Hong described RISE with SAP as “our approach to pave your way to run as an intelligent enterprise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, connectivity to SAP Business Network, access to the SAP Business Technology Platform, and a selection of industry cloud solutions – all wrapped up in a single package with business process insights and technical migration tools”.
“The benefits you can expect include significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO), more innovation for your business, more speed and agility, and seamless collaboration with suppliers, customers, and service providers. While many businesses have already taken this step, it’s a journey for large enterprises running multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and a wide range of additional enterprise applications. With ‘RISE with SAP’, customers get everything they need to simplify their transformation journeys – all in one bundle – and without high upfront investments.
“SAP will work with customers to manage their entire business transformation process, including service-level agreements, operations, and dealing with any issues that may arise,” said Hong.
And with the company turning 30, the commitment is as strong as ever.
“SAP is committed to enabling every enterprise to become intelligent, networked and sustainable,” said Hong.
“This means bringing together the solutions, technology and best practices needed to run integrated, digital business processes in the cloud.”
Note: This article was first published in Business Today Malaysia.
