The last few years have seen pressures on UK industry increase dramatically, arguably nowhere more so than within the food and beverage sector. With higher input costs, increased volatility and unpredictability within both the supply chain and consumer demand, combined with greater demand for online accessibility and sustainability, the need to have operations and manufacturing processes that are as efficient as possible is now a business imperative.
Our latest webinar series “The Connected Food and Beverage Business” explores some of these challenges and examines how a cloud-based SAP ERP solution can help you achieve efficiencies across the whole business. The first webinar focused on the ordering process and supply chain integration. Throughout May and June, we’ll be looking at topics including
- The Connected Factory – looking at the efficiencies that can be achieved when companies start to take some of that automation and integration to the factory floor;
- Sustainability strategies and how SAP ERP can help you control, track and reduce carbon emissions;
- Logistical challenges and how to tackle them with the help of your SAP ERP.
Evolution of EDI Technology
If we think about historic processes, we’d see order entry departments manually uploading customer orders into SAP. Over the years, that has been automated, largely driven by the Multiples (supermarkets) mandating electronic purchase orders, proof of delivery, shipment notices, invoices and other documentation, leading to many manufacturers adopting EDI technology to allow this seamless transition of sales data into the ERP system and back again.
The cost of investment in EDI, however, could be a barrier – particularly for smaller companies – to trade with supermarkets. Typically, these businesses would need an on-site server, networking, software licences and IT support. However, evolution within EDI technology has front-ended a lot of that complexity and decoupled the user interface from the back-end message interchange, making EDI adoption much easier for smaller companies to access.
Such cloud-based solutions are now capable of handling multiple message formats and are lowering the technical barriers to smaller customers and/or consumers using EDI effectively to do business with food and beverage manufacturers.
Indeed, webshops and customer portals now can have EDI back-ends which automate the transfer of sales documentation from the front-end tools to the back-end ERP systems. As well as extending the addressable markets (e.g. online shopping) and enabling better margins for manufacturers, order entry costs can now be hugely reduced.
> RELATED BLOG POST: 5 Top Tips for Optimisation, Automation and Innovation of SAP FMCG Operations
Enhanced Visibility Through Rich Data
Alongside these efficiencies, manufacturers now have access to extremely rich data, both within their SAP systems, as well as through external sources such as the Internet. This data can be used to analyse long-term trends, and recurring or seasonal events.
Through analysing and understanding that data, food and beverage companies can invest more effectively in production lines; better control and optimise stock levels; and make supply chain improvements through better collaboration with suppliers, transport and distribution partners – all of which can significantly add to operational efficiency and cost control.
Additionally, external data can be used to react more quickly to changing markets in real-time; to adjust production schedules in response to this data and capitalise on these short-term opportunities.
> CASE STUDY: Learn how Absoft worked with a client to build bespoke reporting that reflects the specific operations of their manufacturing business.
An SME SAP consultancy, Absoft has supported manufacturers, large and small, across a range of industries with SAP implementations, operations optimisations and migrations for over thirty years. As a Microsoft and SAP Partner, Absoft is ideally positioned to help and advise on moving and running your SAP systems into the cloud and optimising for optimum efficiencies and cost-savings.
